6 Reasons Why It's Time To Add A New Book To The Shelf
Reading is a great addition to a complete lifestyle and self-care routine. It strengthens your brain, improves mental health, and prevents cognitive decline. There are many mental and physical benefits to reading, so read on below to find out why you should make reading a part of your daily life, and how to do so!
““People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.””
The Benefits Of Making More Time To Read
Reading is A creative outlet
Reading inspires your imagination, feeds your dreams and hopes, and introduces new ideas and thoughts and positivity into your life in a very organic way! In a world that screams in your face and offers endless entertainment, reading is a self-sought and self-maintained stimulation that requires you to engage your brain cells and stimulate your creativity.
Reading lengthens cognitive life and keeps you mentally active longer
Did you know that reading reduces mental decline up to 32% in old age? Do it for your older self! Reading aids cognitive development, expands your vocabulary, demands your concentration and attention, and increases your common world knowledge. It also is supposed to improve your decision-making, analytical, and problem-solving skills. One UK study shows that regular readers have around a 50 percent larger vocabulary and 50 percent more fact-based knowledge!
Reading replaces bad and time-wasting habits
Reading is a better use of downtime. Cutting out wasteful habits and adding a wholesome, healthy, mentally stimulating habit like reading leaves less time for time-drainers.
““Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.””
Reading offers precious quiet alone time
Life is busy. Cozying up on your couch is a great sunny morning or rainy afternoon activity, curling up with a glass of wine or a steaming cup of coffee. It is also a great way to relax and be outside soaking up Vitamin D. We all deserve to set aside peaceful time to be with ourselves (and a great book).
Reading reduces stress and anxiety
Research published by Sussex University states that reading could reduce stress as much as 68 percent! It is an easy, free, and rewarding form of self-care to add to your routine. It is a type of self-investment and education and offers a mental escape from reality and the world as you get lost in the separate world inside the paper pages you flip through.
Reading increases emotional intelligence
Books educate, broaden our perspectives, and change outlooks on different cultures, countries, history, and opinions. It increases empathy for others and builds social consciousness! Books unlock a part of your brain that is otherwise untouched and opens our eyes to new thoughts. It is incredible how much you can learn and feel when reading. You put down a book, sometimes with tears in your eyes, and feel and think differently, even if in a small way, than you did before the book.
““Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.””
Fiction unleashes the imagination and allows us into another person’s heart, mind, soul, or maybe many people’s. Books are studies of human nature and (good ones) leave us wondering how we had previously lived without the ideas it introduced or the questions it posed to us. Books are deeply personal and moving. And, like J.K. Rowling said: “If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book.”
“If you would tell me the heart of a man, tell me not what he reads, but what he rereads.”
How To Make More Time To Read
We know you have a busy schedule and it can be difficult to find the time to incorporate regular reading time into your daily life. Below are a few ideas to find time for reading!
Replace Screen Time With a Book
Open your eyes to different forms of relaxation and decompressing other than TV and your phone screen! Wouldn’t it be great to get in the habit of reading instead of flicking on that TV series that you know you’ve already seen seven times all the way through?
Read in the morning or at bedtime
Reading is way more rewarding, aids your sleep quality, and healthy bedtime habits improve mental health. If bedtime isn’t an ideal time, try waking up 30 minutes earlier every morning to set aside some quiet time with a book and a cup of coffee. Just picking a consistent, regular time and making it a habit will make reading a natural part of your routine.
Read on your commute
If you take public transportation, you can utilize that time as well. Or, although it is not-quite-reading, you could listen to audiobooks on your daily driving commute or on your runs.
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Bring a book with you wherever you go
Have a book at the ready! Getting in the habit of not leaving the house without a book will provide a startling number of opportunities where you have some downtime during the day, and if you have your book with you, you can spend those moments well!
Set goals for yourself
Set realistic goals for yourself to add some self-accountability and motivation, such as deciding how many hours a week you want to devote or how many books a month you want to finish. Keep a list of the books you have read in the past year or record the hours spent inside a novel in order to look back and celebrate your accomplishments!
““A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one.””
Choose books you actually want to read
Maybe this should be obvious, but reading the material you actually want to read will make reading a pleasure, not a chore. You should be excited to read! Experiment with different genres and don’t listen to others’ opinions about what you should or should not be reading. If you want to read a beachy, chick-flicky novel or you like denser historical fiction, you go ahead and do just that. Both are valuable in their own way.
Start a book club
Get some of your book-loving friends together!. A club may help keep you on track and motivated to read regularly in order to meet your own personal reading goals. Chatting about books you love with other bookworms is a great deal of fun, and keeps you invested and motivated! It is also an excuse for an intellectually stimulating social event with cute charcuterie boards and wine. You will likely find that the club will be a huge hit with your pals!
Keep in mind we have a book of the month every single month so keep an eye out for our book selections! We choose from diverse genres and love to select from female authors.
““I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.””