Free Reading With the Right Brain: Read Faster by Reading Ideas Instead of Just Words by David Butler Page A

result in faster and faster typing.
    In the 1960s, psychologists Paul Fitts and Michael Posner described the three stages of acquiring a new skill. The first phase is the "cognitive stage," wherein you consciously think about the task. The second phase is the "associative stage," wherein you improve your accuracy and efficiency and the task requires much less concentration. The third phase is the "autonomous stage," wherein you basically perform the skill automatically with barely any conscious effort at all.
    This third stage is—of course—useful, because you can then pay more attention to what you are typing instead of how. All repetitive skills eventually reach the stage where you can free your mind to concentrate on other, more important things. This is true whether the skill is typing, driving, playing a sport… or reading.
    But this final automatic stage can also be considered a plateau, because once you’re good enough to no longer think about a skill, the skill no longer improves.
    Some people, however, manage to surpass this plateau—continuing to improve and becoming true experts in their skill. Somehow these people find a way to avoid the plateau; this “way” is the process of deliberate practice .
    These top achievers use a strategy to consciously stay away from that third, "good enough" stage. This strategy consists of three elements:
Focusing on technique.
Keeping attention on the goal.
Getting constant feedback.
    By following this strategy, they force themselves to stay in the first cognitive stage.
    The secret to reaching higher levels of any skill involves retaining conscious control while practicing and staying out of autopilot mode. This is why consciously concentrating on technique is so much more effective than simply putting in more hours of practice.
    Maintaining conscious control of your practice works in a similar way to how conceptual reading works. Just as your comprehension and speed improves by staying consciously mindful of the concepts you are reading, your reading skill improves by staying consciously mindful of how you are reading.
    All this additional concentration may seem challenging, but think about what you’re doing—you are literally strengthening your brain. New discoveries about the neuroplasticity of the brain have demonstrated that the brain actually restructures itself to meet new cognitive demands. Training your brain to handle more information faster actually improves your brain’s ability to assimilate information.
    If your improvement slows down or plateaus, realize it’s still all forward progress, and that the plateau is just something to pass through on the way to your goal.
    Consistency
    Practice is important, but if you want your mind to get the most return from your practice time, it helps to remember a few things about how the mind works. Memory storage is based on a web of neurons. Each new memory alters this web to leave what is called a memory trace. Each repetition of this memory further reinforces this trace, making it stronger and easier to access. These repetitions create long-lasting enhancements in the signal transmission capabilities between the neurons in this web. As a result, the more you practice a skill, the stronger your memory of that skill becomes.
    Because repetition is such a powerful force in strengthening memories, consistency is an important component to learning any new skills. This is particularly true with reading, where you are trying to reprogram a very engrained habit which may be several years old. If you only work at it sporadically, your brain won’t know you’re serious and might try to ignore your attempts to change its way of thinking.
    To maintain consistency, set a goal for yourself and plan the time period you will devote to practice; this will enable you to make use of the compounding effects of consistent practice.
    You should also consider the length of time of each practice session and how far apart to space your