Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ PhotoReading, Memory Optimizer I'm new to PR. This is what I have found so far about my reading...

First off, I 'm very excited about PhotoReading and I would like to use it to it's fullest so I can learn more so I can earn more, etc... I read Paul Scheele's PR book.

I have a technical book that I really want to be able to retain a fair amount of information from. I'm a techie and I constantly challenge myself to learn more. I'm currently begining my studies for the CCIE practical and lab exam. I have a stack of books that I must read at least twice and be able to retain a huge amount of information and be able to apply it to various scenerios and I will with time. I see I can use Synoptic reading to accomplish this.

The book is 430 pages cover to cover. I read the first 10 pages the way I always read, it took me 19 minuets. I figure it would take me 13 - 14 hours to read the book in this fashion. I can set aside an hour a day to read, so it would take me two weeks to read teh book and by the tiem I get to the end I won't remeber what I should have learned.

Next I read ten more pages, but this time, I used a beginners speed reading technique. I used my finger as a guide and looked at teh words instead of sounding them out. (This worked really well for me 3 years ago, but I have not used it since.) It took me 10 minuets to speed read ten pages. I am very rusty and comprehension sucked and it would take me about 7 hours to finish reading the book.

Next I took the book and broke it in, opened it up flipped there it. Then I relaxed and told myslef that I will retain the informatin I see and continued to relax until I entered the optimal state of learning. I Photoread the whole book in about 30, I was not timing myself. I cahnted relax to myself when PRing.

When you read with photofocus do you just look at the blip and turn the page or do you see teh blip look at teh left page and then the right page and then turn the page?

It has been 2 hours since I PR'ed the book, now. Look's like I never really previewd or postviewed. I am gonig to do a postview now and get some trigger words and write them down and formuate a few questions. How many question should I write down, I want to know almost everything, narrowing it down is tough.

Now comes the activation step, how long should this step take, do I superread the whole book?

It is generally advised for large complex/technical books that each chapter be read as a seperate book.

You would then do all the steps on each chapter, it seems like a lot more work but you are needing that level of retention so you would want to do that.

The questions and triggers you write down have no limits, obviously you wouldn't want 100 of each but you want enough to intrigue your mind and make you "think".

When I'm ph'ing, I don't focus on the blip I just stare at the center seam and just go into photofocus, I turn the pages but I don't move my eyes to follow the page I just keep them in the center. This helps me regai n my focus quickly.

Hope this helps.

Tracey

Turning one page every 2 seconds a 430 page book would take you about 7 minutes to photoread.

quote:

---

When you read with photofocus do you just look at the blip and turn the page or do you see teh blip look at teh left page and then the right page and then turn the page?

---

In photofocus you view both pages at the same time. You should be aware of the edges of the book.

quote:

---

Now comes the activation step, how long should this step take, do I superread the whole book?

---

Remember to make your activation sessions about 30 minutes long, no longer than 45 minutes each. Activation is done chapter by chapter.

However your first superread will be about 40 minutes for the whole book. This is to give you an overview of what the book is about

Once you've photoread and superread a technical book once, activation is usually done chapter by chapter. So do a quick preview of the chapter you intend to activate, pull out some trigger words (the number will depend on how much is covered by the chapter however 6 to 8 is a good place to start)

Prior to activation Photoread the chapter again and include the 2 chapters before and 2 chapters after the chapter you wish to activate. You may then start to activate the book immediately after photoreading.

Draw on your mind map your findings (this is useful for later review/recall and helps you to activate the book more fully.)

Alex

Thank you for the responses.

Can I spend an entire day, in 30 minuets bursts activating the entire book or should I dedicate a chapter per day?

I assume that after super reading and dipping I can rapid read the chapter and then move on to the next or rapid read the whole book once I am done activating the whole book chapter by chapter?

[This message has been edited by Gingko (edited January 09, 2003).]

You can do as much of the book as you feel comfortable with in a day. Suggest limiting it to 4 hours at a burst. Your schedule would look something like this

#Activate 30 minutes, mind map 10 to 15 minutes break 5 minutes - repeat the activation MM then have a 15 to 20 minute break then repeat.% Cycle from # to % a few more times... however, after 4 hours studying take a longer break of at least an hour.

Alex

Do I rapid read the chapter after Iam done activating it or do I just activate each chapter and then rapid read. (I'm afriad iif I skip the rapid read phase taht I might miss out on something).

Either way will work fine... you may skip the rapid read altogether so to find out if you are getting the information you feel you need I suggest rapid reading each chapter after activation... after a while you will find you know, when you know, what you need to know. And be better able to determine if you need to rapid read or not.

Alex

Thank you for all the help.

Photoreading techical books is not a problem... I do it all the time (Cisco, Micro$oft, etc).

If you are reading the CCIE practical and lab books though, they require A LOT of hands-on practice in addition to the theory.

It's better than nothing, but I don't think PR will replace the need to practice (I wish it did though)

I photoread for my Pilot's License, but I still had to practice LOTS. You can read all you want about landings, but you need to actually do them

Humphrey www.not5150.com

I have every intention of practicing the labs. I have a ton of books that I have bought through out last year; on various subjects that I think would be beneficial for me to know for the CCIE exam and in the real world. Some books have labs some do not. the books that have labs Iwill do the labs after PR'ing.

[This message has been edited by Gingko (edited January 13, 2003).]