Only skip steps if you already know the answer to that step. Predicting prepares you for skimming through priming, skimming improves your comprehension of the text which prepares you for scanning.
Know yourself. Do you get more information from pictures or are you more linguistic? Do you prefer to read in the morning or in the evening? How long can you concentrate? Adjust your strategy to your own preference.
Bonus tips:
Read daily. The more you read, the more words you know and the more practiced you become in using the different strategies.
Also use the reading strategies for exams. First, briefly skim the exam as a whole to determine what gives you the most points and which questions you think are easiest. Read the question first, so that you can read the text in a targeted manner.