Pushing the Limits on Content Consumption
In 1911, the average time spent on content (information) consumption by a person was 2 hours per day.
Today, the average time spent on content consumption by a person is 11 hours per day.
TV news, newspapers, blogs, online news, social media, etc – Wherever we are, we can, and do, consume content on TV, print, PC, laptop, tablet and smartphones, but how much more can we squeeze in? No one has more than 24 hours in a day, and no one that I know of can live without sleep or eating.
So what can we do?
One approach can be to hold the line at amount of content we consume, but consume that content at a higher rate, thus reducing the hours per day required to ingest the information we need or want.
You probably guessed the skill that can help in this regard is speed reading and reading comprehension training.
I tried a couple different approaches from different sources, but never really obtained the results I expected. However, I recently came across a training program that finally worked for me, Rev It Up Reading.
Rev It Up Reading, which is set to launch a new version of their online training program, dives in deeply and pragmatically into training your brain and your eyes to work much more efficiently and effectively.
The program covers concepts like chunking, increasing peripheral vision, background knowledge, pacers, pointer pulls, point-to-point, and more, a virtual plethora of tools where everyone is sure to find the best one for themselves.
With automatic timers and scoring, I really enjoyed experiencing and watching my progress improve, and now I am finding my stack of reading material finally shrinking!
Applying speed reading and increased comprehension training has helped me reduce my daily content consumption time while increasing content consumption quantity.
“Content Shock” is something real for many of us. For businesses and marketers, this phenomena is critical to be aware of because of the strong challenges of getting the messages seen and heard in a very crowded ecosystem.
For me personally, the pill that cured part of the ill was solid speed reading and reading comprehension training.
If you have a preferred source for training in better reading, jump into it. You will be doing yourself a big favor. I give a big thumbs-up to Rev It Up Reading, which was created by a nationally recognized reading coach, speaker and author, Abby M Beale.
If you have tips or thoughts on the subject of “Content Shock”, please share them in the comments below. Some pros are of the opinion that “Content Shock” is a bit melodramatic, but it is generally accepted that people today are receiving, and have access to, more content than ever before.
Please share this article with anyone who might be interested in the discussion!
This article first appeared on LinkedIn Pulse by our head “Sherpa”, Rob.