Never Stop Reading: Here's Why
You have very likely heard that reading is good for you and that you should do it more often, but why exactly is it "good" for us, and what is it about reading that still makes it a valuable skill in our society?
Whether reading paper-based literature or digital, both can have impactful and long-lasting positive impacts on our life. If we start young and build a steady reading habit of reading at least a couple of average length books per year, then that just means we will reap even more benefits as the years go on.
Reading is an action so simple and "basic" that it is often neglected, but scientific research is, again and again, proving just how much of a positive effect it has on our life and overall well being.
So if you are interested as to why it is worth to put aside some time each day to read, keep on reading. A long term habit of reading can be one of the best things you can do for your mental, physical, emotional and social health.
LITERATURE FACTS AND STATISTICS
To start off, I want to first bring out a couple of statistics on reading that show how reading has progressed in our society throughout history, how big the global literature industry is and how many of us actually read on a regular basis.
In the year 1820, only about 12% of the world above the age of 15 was literate, meaning that they knew how to read and write, but in 2016, that figure dramatically increased to 86%.
Since the year 2017, more than 1 million books have been self-published in both paper and digital format.
Between the years of 2017 and 21018, the sales of audiobooks in the world increased by almost 25%.
In 2018, 44,500 audiobooks were produced which is 5% more than in 2017.
An American study has shown that "Over 80% of people who read books have at least some college education, if not a degree".
Based on a study done in early 2019 by Pew Research Center, they found that 27% of adults did not read a single book in the previous year, 2018.
It is estimated that there are more than 90 million e-reading devices in the United States
BENEFITS OF READING
DECLINE OF MENTAL CONDITIONS
Mental stimulation, in various forms, has been shown to have a beneficial effect on our brain health and cognition, wherein elderly people it has reduced rates of cognitive decline; ultimately slowing an ageing brain. Mental stimulation can come in many forms, one of them being reading, but generally, it is any time that we use our brain muscle and keep it active. Its either use it or lose it.
In relation to this, it has been scientifically shown that those who regularly read have lower rates of mental conditions such as dementia and Alzheimers that appear in the later years of life.
ENHANCED MEMORY
Memory is something that we often begin loosing with age, but that can be slowed down if we keep our brains mentally active and fit.
In order to understand what you are reading, your brain has to interpret that information and visually represent it. All of these different levels of information processing mean more work for your brain and more time going through that information - both of which make the information more memorable and likely to stick.
MAKES YOU SMARTER
Many times it has been proven that those who read, generally have high er IQ scores and a greater depth of knowledge in various fields. it is not to say that in order to read you have to be nerdy, but it’s actually the opposite; the more you read the smarter you get.
It does not matter what you read on, whether it is fiction, autobiographies, historical accounts, self-help books or travel guides, whatever it is, you will learn from it and your brain will become enriched with new knowledge.
This becomes useful, especially when we read a wide variety of books, ranging both from fiction to non-fiction, which not only raises the quality of our knowledge but also the quanitity.
ENHANCED PROBLEM-SOLVING ABILITIES
Reading allows us to gain new knowledge and more penalty, new ideas about how to tackle and view problems. It enables you to become more open-minded and welcome to new solutions - a skill that is always looked for.
IMPROVED IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY
With reading, we also develop a more vivid and adventurous imagination, especially if we commonly read fantastical fiction, which is often written ina creative fashion with high levels of description, which makes us immersed in the story and lose track of time.
Being imaginative and creative are again appearing as really valuable skills, where they are useful for the previously mentioned problem solving and any creative work such as writing, painting, playing or writing music etc.
IMPROVES OUR FOCUS AND DISCIPLINE
Reading is an activity that requires consistency as if we want to finish a book from start to end we have to regularly set aside time to read it, which is why a long term reading habit can also help develop discipline and a greater ability to focus - two crucial life skills that are useful to anyone
RAISES YOUR SELF ESTEEM
As we previously said, reading makes you smarter and raises your intelligence since you generally learn more just from the literature that you are reading. And the more knowledge we are able to acquire both about our world and about us, the more self-aware we become, which in turn raises our self-esteem and confidence levels.
BECOME MORE EMPATHETICAL
Seeing a story from the perspective of someone else
Development of feelings and emotions
Empathy: the ability to understand and relate to someone’s feelings is a very important quality and skill, that allows you to make more meaningful social connections and just generally makes you a more compassionate and approachable person.
Through reading, we can develop empathy by reading a narrative through someone else perspective and trying to imagine the story from their shoes, which allows us to develop emotions and feelings towards the storyline and characters in it.
BECOME A BETTER COMMUNICATOR
Better speaker and writer
More knowledge of vocabulary, grammar, intonation and sentence structure
The more we read, the better we become at communicating, both through speaking and though writing.
The reason for that is because when we read, our brain is exposed to new vocabulary, sentence structure, grammar and intonation, all of which your brain is able to remember and use in your writing or speaking. Therefore the more you read, the more you remember and the more efficient you can become at communicating
REDUCED STRESS
You have probably experienced that reading before bed makes you drowsy and your eyelids heavy, that makes it easier for you to drift off to sleep.
The reason why we become sleepy is that usually when we read we are sitting or laying down in a comfortable position and the actual act of reading is a demanding activity for our brain; Having to move our eyes to follow the lines, having to interpret the words, making sense of the paragraph etc. This makes it a perfect combination to fall asleep, especially if we read in the evening when we are at our most tired from the day behind us.
Apart from that, reading also makes us calmer, since we have to focus on what we are reading, which is why it makes us more clear-minded and potentially even rational.
HOW TO READ MORE
Make it part of your morning or evening routine and decide for how long you will read, what you will read and where.
State why you want to start reading
Read about what interests you; Don't force yourself to read something you don't want to read. Reading should not be a chore but an enjoyment
Set realistic reading goals
Listen to audiobooks on your commute to work or school, such as Amazon Audible
Keep a book or e-reader with you in a bag, so you can read it when you have some spare time
Share what you read with others online or in real life
Studies have shown that people who have an e-reader tend to read on average more books
Stock up in an inventory of books you want to read
Make a reading list of books you want to still read and books you have read
Find a place with minimal distractions and a quiet environment
Enrol in a reading challenge or book club
Don't feel forced to finish a book if you don't enjoy it
CONCLUSION
Reading is such a simple exercise that can be done by anyone who can read, but it offers an incredible amount of benefits for various aspects of our health.
Done underestimate the power of reading because a little can go along way. Even just having a habit of 10 minutes of reading per day can stack up to a lot in the long run; A little is always better than nothing, especially since many of us do not necessarily have a couple of spare hours each day to read. Set a target for 10 or 20 minutes each day and that is already a fantastic start.
The sooner you start the better and the more time you have to learn more. Pick up a book you are interested in or start listening to an audiobook on your way to school or work.
Happy reading :)
