Reading is an excellent way to expand your knowledge, improve your cognitive abilities, and relieve stress. In fact, it’s so good for you that it can’t just be one of a few things you do—it needs to be the main thing.
I’m not saying you have to read every day for hours at a time or even read non-stop for days on end; but I am saying that in order to keep up with all the benefits of reading, you need to make sure it’s at least part of your daily routine. If you want to be able to relax after work and still retain what you’ve learned during the day, reading is an essential skill.
Here are some of the benefits of reading and tips for making it a habit:
Improves Cognitive Abilities
Reading helps improve your cognitive abilities, including vocabulary, memory, and critical thinking skills. It’s no surprise that reading is good for you—it’s been proven to help you live longer and even make you more attractive! But did you know it also improves your cognitive abilities?
Reading can improve your vocabulary by helping you understand new words and their definitions. It can help you memorize facts and figures in an easy-to-digest format that makes them easier to recall later on. And it can help you think critically about what you’re reading, which means that not only will you retain more of what you read in the future, but it will serve as a foundation for further learning.
Boosts Creativity
Reading can help boost your creativity by inspiring new ideas and ways of thinking. Reading is an activity that allows you to learn, grow, and challenge yourself. When you read a book, you are taking in knowledge from someone else’s perspective. This helps you develop a new way of thinking and can help you open up your mind to the possibilities in life.
Enhances Empathy
Reading can help enhance empathy by exposing you to different characters and their experiences, helping you better understand and relate to others. Reading is a great way to understand the world around you. It helps you learn about different cultures, get perspectives on events that happen in your community or around the globe, and understand how other people think and feel. Reading also allows you to meet fictional characters who might be similar to some of your friends or family members, but are also completely different from them. This helps you see things from another perspective and understand how people may react differently than you would under similar circumstances.
Reduces Stress
Reading can help reduce stress levels and improve mental health by providing an escape from daily life and promoting relaxation. By immersing yourself in a good book, you’re able to forget about all the stressors of your day and focus on something entirely different—whether it’s a fictional story or an essay on a topic that interests you. Reading also helps you sleep better at night, so if you’re having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, try picking up a book before bedtime.
Tips for Making Reading a Habit:
Set a Reading Goal
It’s hard to know where to start when it comes to setting a reading goal. There are so many books out there, and it can be hard to choose which ones you want to read—and how many of them you want to read. But if you’re serious about making reading a habit, setting a goal for the number of books or pages you want to read each day, week, or month is a great way to stay motivated and track your progress.
Whether you want to read more novels or more non-fiction books, whether you want to finish one book per month or six books per week—goals are key in helping us achieve our goals!
Schedule Reading Time
The second step towards making reading a habit is to set aside a specific time each day for reading, whether it’s in the morning, during your lunch break, or before bed.
How much time should you spend? That depends on how much time you have available and how quickly you read. If you’re someone who can read a few pages per minute, 30 minutes would be a good goal to shoot for. If you tend to read slower, try starting with 15 minutes and slowly increasing it over time until you reach 30 minutes.
The important thing is that you stick to it—make sure that part of your day is locked down so that when it’s time for reading, you know exactly what to do!
Limit Distractions
The third step towards making reading a habit is to avoid distractions like social media, TV, or your phone while you’re reading. This will help you focus and make the most of your reading time.
If you need a little help staying focused while you read, try putting all of your devices in another room so they aren’t within reach. Or turn off notifications so that they don’t distract you from what you’re doing. You can also use an app like Freedom or StayFocusd to block websites for specific amounts of time—this way, if you do get distracted by Facebook or Instagram, it won’t be for very long!
Choose Engaging Books
When you’re trying to start a new habit, it can be tempting to choose the easiest option. But if you choose books that don’t interest you, or that aren’t really your style, it’s going to be hard to stay engaged with them. You’ll find yourself losing focus and not making progress on your reading. So before you start reading for the sake of reading, think about what kinds of books really grab you. Then choose one! It will make all the difference when it comes to sticking with your new habit.
So the bottom line is reading is a great way to enrich your life and open yourself up to new ideas and experiences. By making it a habit, you can enjoy all the benefits it has to offer and you must make reading part of your daily routine.
RUCHI RATHOR Founder & CEO
Payomatix Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
FOUNDER AND INVESTOR | PAYMENTS PROCESSING EXPERT | MERCHANT ACCOUNT SOLUTIONS | WHITE LABELLED PAYMENT GATEWAY | Dreamer, Creator, Achiever, Constantly Evolving
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