At first I was skeptical about anything helping me be a better reader because I’ve kind of built my learning brand around being good at this. Then I realized that being good at one kind of reading doesn’t necessarily translate to reading for another field of study or for another purpose.
Being reminded of how to preview texts was really important. I tend to do this with academic articles when I’m helping students find relevant research but I tend to not apply this as well to my own research practices. Some of this might be emotional in the sense that even experienced researchers panic when they feel like they are reading something that is “above their heads.” When that happens, you need to both not be so judgemental towards yourself but also go back to some basic strategies. 
Sometimes the advice you give others would also be helpful to apply to yourself; it’s important to not give up but also be compassionate towards yourself when you’re learning something brand new.