5 Reasons Why You Should Read Every Day
Reading is often compared to listening to music as it transports you to a whole other world. Whether it is fiction or nonfiction, a good book can capture all of your attention, and everything else becomes a blur. If you are an avid reader, you will already know all the amazing benefits of reading books. If you've tried reading but just couldn't bring yourself to pick a book, the below scientific reasons should give you that final push.
1 | Reading Helps Reduce Stress
Let's take a look at the most apparent reason. As I already said, a good book can be so immersive that it can transport you to another dimension. Obviously, when your mind is taken off of your day-to-day activities and concerns, your stress levels drop. Has it ever happened to you that you became so engrossed in a story that you didn't even realize that several hours had passed? It certainly has happened to me!
The reduction in stress due to reading has been confirmed in scientific studies. In one such study at the University of Sussex, it was found that reading a book can lower your stress levels by up to 68 percent! That is quite a lot if you think about it. The same study found that walking outside reduces stress by 42 percent and drinking coffee by 54 percent. So, the next time you feel the need to plug out, you know what to do!
2 | Reading Makes You A Better Person
You might not have heard of this before, and it might sound something like your reader friend would tell you to motivate you to read. However, it is actually true. Think about it for a second. When you are reading a story, for instance, you start relating to the characters in it. You begin to understand their motivations, fears, behavior, and what they might do next as the story unfolds. Essentially, you become an empathetic person.
This carries well over to the real world. A study done in 2013 compared the brains of readers after reading something to people who didn't read. They found that the former group of people were able to visualize what they read. They were also able to feel the emotions that the characters were feeling. If done regularly, reading can thus make you more aware of other people's feelings in the real world. This is always a good quality to have and makes you a better person.
3 | Reading Makes You Smarter
This is a pretty straightforward one, and I am sure you don't need a scientist to prove it to you. The more you read, the more knowledgeable you can become. Reading books also expose you to several different types of world views, especially if they are non-fiction. This expands your perspective, and you are able to look at life and the world with a greater understanding. Obviously, all of this makes you much smarter, and this can be quite handy for your day-to-day life.
This is what has been seen in children too. Younger students who read independently are more likely to do better in their schools. They are also more likely to have a greater knowledge of the subjects. That is why researchers keep suggesting that children should have early exposure to reading.
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4 | Reading Makes You A Better Speaker
Ask yourself, what makes a person a good speaker? I think one of the first things would be a rich vocabulary. Another great one would be the ability to communicate complex thoughts in simple words. Reading helps you do both of these (among other things). When you read different books, you are obviously going to come across words that you have never seen before. Over time, you will catch some of these words and start using them in your life (sometimes without even realizing it).
Also, when you read books, you somehow gain the ability to explain yourself more fluently. This helps tremendously when you are speaking to other people. Of course, there are other skills associated with speaking that may not be enhanced due to reading. But you can't deny that it doesn't help! I think one of the best ways to improve your speaking with reading, is to read aloud.
5 | Reading May Help You Live Longer
This is an interesting one, and I am sure it caught your attention too. How would you feel if reading for just half an hour every day adds years to your life? This is what a team of researchers at Yale University discovered in their study. They followed more than 3600 adults above 50 years of age for 12 years. They did so to find out if reading has any impact on their life. What they found was quite amazing.
They discovered that people who read for 30 minutes or more every day lived almost two years longer than those who read magazines or newspapers. They also found that those who read for more than 3.5 hours a week were 23 percent less likely to die. This is most likely because reading keeps the brain sharp and reduces the chances of developing mental illnesses associated with old age.
To Wrap Up
Reading has forever been suggested as a must-have habit for everyone. There are so many benefits of reading that it should be a no-brainer. Unfortunately, not many people read actively. This is where scientific research comes in as a source of motivation. If science has proved it, you should probably listen more carefully. You can start off small and read for like 15 minutes daily. Soon, you are bound to realize the changes this small habit can bring to your life.
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