I spent around 2 hours total time (multiple 7 minute sessions)
You're not really very accurate with your time. You do multiple layers but say "around 2 hours" Really keep a check on the time you spend with the book 6 7 minute activation seem like a lot especially if you've taken a break between activation but that's barely 42 minutes with the book.
Also if you're applying the 5 day test, each activation is 30 minutes.
If you're not getting the story for the book you're not really asking relevant questions. What is the story about, who are the relevant characters, how would I tell the story to my nice (notice your purpose here.) And the secret question to ask before you activate the next chapter in a story book (or even non-fiction book) What do I think will happen next or what do I think the author would say in answer to my question.
If you're building comprehension of a story book with multiple activation layers, mind map. However short stories I'd set aside about 30 seconds a page (children's books) Less if they are picture books or have a pictures and use rapid reading. Work from beginning to end of each story. Books with multiple stories naturally focus on one story at a time.
An yep comprehension from reading is very short lived. That's why I recommend mind mapping and activating more often and activate for that "I feel I'm missing something." to build the body mind connection which also trains the remembering.
Watch out for that "I'm missing something" though. When we learned to read, our instructor, the person sitting next to us while we read often said, no you missed something go back and read that again.
That's fine for learning to read, Now our purpose of reading is to be informed. Not every word on the page informs.
Read for meaning not the words.
In the beginning activate the book until you feel it gels. Then Rapid read it. [Rapid reading is reading from beginning to end using the appropriate reading technique for the section of the book that you are reading.] Consider the 80/20 rule. 80% of the information you can obtain in 20% of the time you spend reading.
After rapid reading, did you miss something? If yes, check was it part of your original purpose. Don't get mad use it as a learning point for improving your purpose and just say to yourself, when I activate this is the sort of information I want to pull up.
Again it's building the body mind connection.
When I PhotoRead a book I usually have the purpose of finding something new and useful to me [so that I can... it's a long list of possibilities here]. Then I PhotoRead the book (works great in bookshops) Yes, no? If my feeling says yes I Postview, My purpose then is finding my greatest purpose for the book. So that I can get the most value out of the information in this book, if you like.
Point here is, I developed my body mind connection. I flip a book and know whether I want to spend more time with the book.
For self help books
that i can live a better life/ do this particular activity better way/ help people around me.. etc
don't be surprised if you get very little from the books with that.
For one, what you might actually need, use, be comfortable with, might turn out to be nothing more than one paragraph from the book or a quote. And that can be obtained in 10 or 15 minutes. And the rest of the book is, for now, redundant.
There's nothing wrong with that. It's a case of need. What do you really need [Forget want - you never get what you want]. However this is often where people get the feeling they might have missed something. Reality check here, how much information can you realistically apply in your life? If you take away one idea and it makes things better, purpose met, problem solved.
Generally a lot of self help books are read without a real need. People might read the whole book and take away nothing. Because slow reading is boring. And most non-fiction books are not read beyond the 3rd perhaps 5th chapter. 30 to 40 minutes of reading. With PhotoReading you don't really miss anything, unless you want to, program yourself to, your mind will play games to give you what you believe. With PhotoReading you've at least absorbed the book, unlike the passive reader who quit the book somewhere around page 33. So if you take away one idea which matches one purpose and apply it, you have more value for money already.
What I'm saying, don't negate your experience, build on it. If you rapid read because you feel you missed something even after 6 x 20 minute activation layers. And lo and behold you did miss something. Pat yourself on the back. You followed the cue that you missed something. And can check why you missed it. Perhaps purpose was off, you discovered something that just became relevant today. I find it amusing how often I've found answers to someone else's question in a book I happen to be reading. Not my purpose and yet I found "that" was the most useful information in the book.
You'll also be surprised how much information the brain can process from data, infographics, charts and maps.
Alex
