Reading, like all activities, becomes easier with practice. It also becomes more challenging as the material becomes more complicated. However, people often impede their own skills by distracting themselves while reading.
Readers are often most distracted by sounds. These include background noise from people, television sets, or music.
Though people often say they like to listen to music while they read, studies consistently show that music with lyrics actually distracts the brain from comprehending the information being taken in visually as text.
Catherine Bishop, author of "Distracting Music or Distracting Lyrics?: A Study of the Effects of Background Music on Learning," argues that the brain simply cannot process verbal words and textual words at the same time.
To read more efficiently and more productively, settle yourself in a quiet environment with few distractions, choose a text at the appropriate level for you, and then focus on the text without reading aloud. Your own voice will probably distract you, too.