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Learn How to Read Efficiently with OPIR Method

I found this method to work very well for reading any book with the exception of novels.

What Does OPIR Stand For?

Overview-Preview-Inview-Review

Overview

Read the front and back covers. Look at the flaps inside each cover. Read the table of contents from beginning to end, looking for a subject or heading that is of special interest to you at the moment. Then flip through the pages quickly, one at a time, to get a feel for the way the book is structured. At this point you can decide whether or not the book is worthwhile to continue reading.

Preview

Flip through the page one at a time. Stop and read an occasional sentence or paragraph, usually the first sentence or paragraph of each section. If there are questions or summaries at the end of each chapter, read them through carefully to get a better sense for what you will learn when you start to read the book seriously.

Inview

Read quickly from page to page. Use your hand to move down the page just below the sentence you are reading. Read with a colored pen inn your hand, and make notes whenever you come across an idea that you find interesting or important. Turn down the corners of pages if the material is important and you want to come back to it later.

Review

Go back through the book again, from cover to cover, page by page, and reread the parts that you noted are most important to you. Then dictate or outline the key notes from each book you read. I also like to use mind maps for this purpose.

For more, check out “Time Power” by Brian Tracy.