10 Reasons Why You Should Read More

One of the Botswana vision 2016 pillars is to have an educated and informed nation, but sadly not so many people are into reading. Research proves that the benefits of reading starts with the first book a baby hears and continue into childhood and throughout the child’s life. Consider the following reasons that can motivate you to start reading.

1. Reading Exercises Our Brains.

Reading is a much more complex task for the human brain than, say, watching television is. Reading strengthens brain connections and actually builds new connections.

2. Reading Develops Our Imagination.

This is because when we read our brains translate the descriptions we read of people, places and things into pictures. When we’re engaged in a story, we’re also imagining how the characters are feeling. We use our own experiences to imagine how we would feel in the same situation.

3. Reading Is A form Of Entertainment.

A paperback book or an e-reader doesn’t take up much space so you can take it anywhere and you’ll never be lonely or bored if you have a book in your bag.  You can read while waiting in a queue, while waiting for a friend who’s running late or during a flight delay at an airport.

4. Reading Relaxes The Body And Calms The Mind.

This is an important point because these days we seem to have forgotten how to relax and especially how to be silent. The constant movement, flashing lights and noise which bombard our senses when we’re watching TV, looking at a computer or playing an electronic game are actually quite stressful for our brains.

5. Reading Develops Your Verbal Abilities

Although it doesn’t always make you a better communicator, those who read tend to have a more varied range of words to express how they feel and to get their point across. This increases exponentially with the more volumes you consume, giving you a higher level of vocabulary to use in everyday life.

6. Reading Makes You Smarter

Books offer an outstanding wealth of learning and at a much cheaper price than taking a course. Reading gives you a chance to consume huge amount of research in a relatively short amount of time. Heavy readers tend to display greater knowledge of how things work and who or what people were.

7. Reading Improves Your Concentration

Unlike blog posts and news articles, sitting down with a book takes long periods of focus and concentration, which at first is hard to do. Being fully engaged in a book involves closing off the outside world and immersing yourself into the text, which over time will strengthen your attention span.

8. Reading Exposes You To New Things

Through reading, you expose yourself to new things, new information, new ways to solve a problem, and new ways to achieve one thing. You might actually explore one thing you really like and it may end up becoming your career and success in the future. Exploration begins from reading and understanding.

9. Reading Is A Tool Of Communicating

Communication is the most important tool which can be transmitted through reading. As you communicate through reading, you understand more, and thus you can communicate better with people. As with a person that knows nothing, he hasn’t had anything to share, and he probably doesn’t even understand what people are sharing. Reading connects you with the world.

10. Preparation To Action

In today’s world, getting reviews and feedback from other people can make a big impact on your next decision, and the pros and cons of each choice. Read about how to cook a meal; how to play chess; which place is nice for the holiday family trip; read the menu before ordering food, read the manual before using a new gadget. These all can help you become more prepared before you really get into it.