7 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day

When was the last time you read a book, or an article? Does your daily reading center around Facebook posts, tweets, Instagram posts, or the directions on your instant noodle packet?

If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out.

Reading has a significant number of benefits, and here’re 7 benefits of reading to get you to start reading.

Video Summary

1. Stimulates the mind

Studies across the world have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it from losing power.

Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind.

2. Reduces Stress

No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, all stress slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will help you to relax.

3. Increases Knowledge

Anything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.

The books you have read and the knowledge and inspiration you have gained can never be taken away from you.
Paula Gruben

4. Expands Vocabulary

The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary.

Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem.

Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.

5. Memory Improvement

When you read a book of fiction, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvelous things and can remember these things with relative ease.

6. Improved Focus and Concentration

In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a hundred different directions at once as we multi-task through every day. But when you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing.

7. Better Writing Skills

This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary:

Exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work.

In the same way that musicians influence one another and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.