Anyone use PX Method or other speed reading methods?

[walkingparadox]

Tim mentions speed reading as well as his product, PX Method in the bonus section of the webiste and I was just wondering if anyone has explored this? The idea of increasing my reading drastically is very appleaing especially since I read a lot but I dont want to invest my time/money into something that wont really help.

I've looked at the sales page for PXMethod that Tim links to but i was just wondering if the $200 price tag actually delivers what's promised? Has anyone had any success with other speed reading systems?

[gnathon@gmail.com]

I bought a book on the Evelyn Wood speed reading program on eBay for $7 shipped. It's a great book and I've easily tripled my reading speed.

I'm sure Tims program rocks, though.

[walkingparadox]

I just briefly looked through some Evelyn Wood speed reading sites on google. It seems to offer teh same promises as Tim's PX Method but i must admit the sales page on Tim's site is much more compelling. Maybe this can go beyond speed reading info to a sales page case study? hey why not hit 2 birds with one stone!

[jimdmcd]

I learned from dirt cheap tapes on eBay by Howard Berg (claims he is the worlds fastest reader).
Berg's stuff is usually available on p2p networks if you are into copyright violation.(Not advocating that just telling you it is available there)

[final_id]

Just the mandatory comment from a literature major:

Speed-reading is best for reading which is designed to gather information. It is worst for reading which is designed for experiencing the beautiful rhythms of the language. Please don't speed-read any great works of Western literature -- you will only get the plot! Which is generally almost beside the point! But speed-reading makes perfect sense to me for something like blogs, or business how-to books (including ... ahem ... 4HWW), statistical reports about your field, etc.

Just thought someone should say that. :)

[walkingparadox]

@ jimdmcd
I've never actually thought about finding this stuff on ebay but I'll definatly give it a try now!

@ final_id
Good to have a literary perspective on this. Just like the above I never really thought about anything like that but it makes perfect sense. However, I'm not TOO intrested in reading classics at the moment as I'd like to get on top of all the concepts in the book so any suggestions/direction into consuming information faster is highly welcome.

Since you both seem to have experince with this, is it actually helpful? Do you ever end up reading whole books in a matter of a few hours but then have to go back to get the specifics? I mean if its just to glance at something here and there thats fine, but if you end up re-reading the books I find that rather redundant?

[PhoenixDown]

If you read more, you will be able to read really fast without missing the best parts of it.

[final_id]

My experience with speed-reading is, that it can increase my "eye rate" to about 1.5 or 1.75 times the "regular" rate. After a month or two of not using a speed-reading coaching thingie, my eyes revert to their normal rate. More factual or complicated information generally cannot be absorbed at a more rapid rate -- my brain doesn't really absorb at any speed other than "normal." But a narrative, or a simple explanation, can be absorbed more rapidly. Any of the narrative boxes in Tim's book would benefit from a speed-reading method; but the specifics about how to click-through-test would not, and I would find myself slowing down as necessary to the point that I really wasn't "speed reading" at all.

Some people who have an "abnormal" or unconventional eye-pattern find that a few speed-reading courses can jump-start them into a more rapid "normal" method, which they then never need depart from. But they were kind of "handicapped" to start with.

So, it depends on what you're reading. Government reports which you don't have to know any specifics about, to the point that you can ignore all the statistics, would be great for speed-reading. Dickens would not.

[jimdmcd]

just checked eBay and Howard Berg courses are available for darn near nothing

[walkingparadox]

Alright, I think I'm intrested enough to check this stuff out, so I'll be on ebay reseraching that Berg guy. Thanks a lot guys!

[ericnyc]

Has anyone else tried PX Method?

[JKohlbach]

Check out Tim's old blog. It contains alot of information on the PX Method techniques than the book does. In fact there are some very informative posts still on there.

http://cubicleescapeartist.com/blog/?p=39

[seminarproduction]

Actually the PX Method is not available for sale. Its not actually a product (no audio book, no nothing). Do a search for "PX Method" on this post on his blog and you'll see that the whole web page is a mock up.

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/01/21/the-holy-grail-how-to-outsource-the-inbox-and-never-check-email-again/

[kamakiri]

Interesting list of posts here. I am surprised that no one mentioned that the PX method was vaporware. There is no such product people! Tim uses that site as an example of how to sell. It was professionally written, so of course the sales copy is compelling.

Resources for speed reading are all over the place. Do not spend month on them. Most do not work for everyone. There are a lot of ways to do it, so spending money on many of them is a sure route to failure. Get to a library, and take out 2 books on speed reading. Read them and try the techniques. Even Tim's small description, if done regularly, will do the trick to help you increase reading speed and comprehension.

I have been studying and working on increasing my reading speed and comprehension and have made some serious gains. Even my normal reading rate is faster.

[final_id]

Go to law school. You'll learn to speed-read ... :p