Advances in technology today make books no longer as popular or hunted as they used to be. People are now starting to switch to digital reading. Even though reading through smartphone media can cause eye strain to headaches.
As Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele wrote in their essays, “reading is for the mind as exercise is for the body.” This quote is also confirmed by a study conducted over the last few decades.
Contains proof of the scientific benefits of reading, namely as an activity that is not only fun, but also good for one's mental and emotional health.
In 2009, the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68%. Reading can even relax the body by lowering the heart rate and easing muscle tension.
Five benefits of reading books that are so amazing.
Launching from Newsbyteapp, Saturday (9/7/2022), the following is the review.
1. Reduce stress and anxiety
If you are experiencing excessive stress and anxiety, reading books can help distract you and keep you busy in interesting ways. As you read and continue to read, the mind tends to travel to other realms which helps you to be more relaxed.
Maximize the benefits that you may get through the right way, which is to get into the habit of reading books in a comfortable place and position. Also make sure the reading room has good lighting for your eyes.
Benefits of reading books
2. Improve memory and concentration
Reading is like a regular exercise for the mind and keeps it healthy and fresh filled with new information. If an application is used, the brain system also needs to be updated to work better, by reading books.
According to one study, reading can also help slow down mental disorders such as dementia or Alzheimer's. Because reading requires full attention which helps in increasing concentration.
Reading therapy is also able to stimulate mental activity as well as improve a person's memory, because when reading you have to remember the characters in the book or the plot or storyline.
3. Improve vocabulary
Reading more books will introduce you to new words, this can indirectly help increase the vocabulary in your brain's dictionary.
Reading a well-written book also improves your communication and writing skills when you find yourself in a different writing style than usual.
Vocabulary improvement also builds confidence. According to research, students who are accustomed to reading books regularly from a young age have greater self-development abilities than people who are lazy to read.
Other benefits of reading
4. Improve sleep quality
Reading a book before going to bed is better than playing with a cell phone. Because the continuous use of smartphones or cell phones can hinder your sleep.
Before bed is also the best time to read a book. This will relax your body, mind and help you get the best quality sleep.
However, you have to pay attention to the lighting when reading. Even in the light, reading a book will make you sleepy and allow you to sleep early.
5. Reading teaches a person to empathize
Reading books helps you escape from life. At the same time, you will be invited to enter and understand other people's perspectives through different character narrations.
Reading will help someone to understand the views, feelings and emotions of other people who are directly related. At this time you will also be taught how to empathize with thoughts and scenarios that differ from our own beliefs or desires.
Tips for Building Reading Habits, Especially For Those of You Who Don't Like Reading Books
Jakarta Children's Reading Day or Hanjaba is celebrated every August 24, as quoted from the official website of the National Library of Indonesia. Hanjaba is one of the activities that aims to develop literacy and foster interests, hobbies, habits, and reading culture of the people of DKI Jakarta.
According to UNESCO, Indonesia is ranked 69th out of 127 countries in reading competence, and only 1 in 1000 people in Indonesia are fond of reading. This ranking strengthens the evidence that the habit of reading is something that is increasingly difficult to find in Indonesian society.
Since childhood, we have been taught to build the habit of reading. However, growing up, we often associate reading activities with something that is boring and not interactive. In fact, the habit of reading has various benefits on health, such as improving the quality of brain function, to preventing cognitive decline due to age.
One study from the Haskins Laboratory even showed that there is a strong relationship between reading skills and a person's ability to concentrate. Someone who is used to reading books without pictures, is proven to have a longer focus period because they are used to maintaining focus on an article without being distracted. Having this high level of focus can of course also provide more benefits in every activity we do.
Then, how do we build the habit of reading books, if we don't have the habit of reading? Calm down, maybe you can refer to the following tips so that reading can become a new positive habit.
Tips for building a reading habit
1. Determine the purpose of reading
Having a clear vision of the purpose of our reading is a very important first step. Ask yourself is the book you read for entertainment or motivation? Do you want to learn a certain skill? Or maybe want to improve vocabulary? This question will then refer to the type of book you want to read and how to read it.
2. Read slowly and don't be too ambitious
For those of you who are not used to it, reading a book 5 hours a day might feel very heavy. To build a habit from scratch, start reading a book one page per day. Slowly, increase your page reading constantly. Remember, consistency is the key to building a new habit.
3. Find a short video or synopsis of the book you want to read
Just like watching a movie, finishing a book will take a lot of time. Understanding the general idea, concepts and thinking behind a book is important, so you can determine if the book you want to read is worth the time you will spend.
More tips for building reading habits
4. Habits of stacking
As a child, we may often see our parents drinking coffee while reading the newspaper in the morning. This can be considered as habit stacking, which is combining two habits in one activity. So, try to find out what habits you often do every day, and insert reading books in it.
For example, the habit of drinking tea at night before going to bed. This time, you can include the habit of reading a page of a book along with drinking tea. This will make it much easier for you to build new habits.
5. Audiobooks as reading companions
Reading only involves one sense. Maybe this is what makes you think reading is boring. In this day and age, you can access millions of audiobooks on the internet.
Try reading books and listening to audiobooks at the same time to increase interaction and reduce distraction from reading. This method is also very good as an exercise in increasing reading speed.
6. Change your mindset
The last tip that is no less important is to change our mindset about reading. If we continue to think that you are a person who does not like to read, the tips above will be very difficult to implement. From now on, think of yourself as a person who likes to read, surely the tips above will be very easy to do.
In addition to books, you can also start reading habits by reading articles or blogs on the internet. One of them, you can read fun and interesting facts in the reading room by Ruangguru!
Well, those are simple tips that hopefully can start to increase your reading interest. Next, we just have to decide what book we want to read first.