better focus. 3. Actively learn. There's nothing worse than sitting at your computer or in front of a book and blankly reading. By the time you realize that you are not registering much of the information and not understanding any of the concepts, you may be pages beyond the part where you first averted your attention. You have essentially performed a brief stent of self-hypnotism and you are forced to backtrack to a point when you understood what was going on. At this point, you've lost who knows how much time and created a barrier to further learning by giving up your place in the text. To avoid this, I've found that I need to make myself believe that what I am reading is the most interesting thing in the world at the moment. Then when I read, I try to make connections to past concepts and allow my mind to think of comments or questions to the material in the text. It can also be helpful to keep a notebook and pen or computer (if it isn't a distraction for you) close by to document your thoughts or important ideas. Your posture and location matter too. Through timed reading, I have discovered that I can read two to three times faster when I am sitting at a desk undisturbed as opposed to lying down on my bed. Doing work on my bed or a comfy chair gives my body the easy option of sleeping which is always tempting for