It can be all too easy to become too busy to take the time to read, although, reading can truly be one of the best pastimes around! Not only can people benefit from becoming smarter by reading, people that read have been shown to have improved analytic thinking, reduced stress, increased vocabulary, and improved memorization capabilities (and who doesn’t need a better memory?). There we are, then: a person that reads is pretty well a more awesome human being than a person who does not spend much time reading, right? Below are a few pointers for people that want to read more, and just do not find themselves sitting down often enough with a good book in-hand.
Put Yourself to Bed Earlier
Heading to bed at a scheduled time, earlier than you would normally go to sleep, is an excellent way to make the time to read. Start with a half hour. If you find yourself reading late into the night, and you need more time, then tomorrow night is another night! If you fall asleep because reading makes you tired, then try re-positioning your body: sit upright, choose a comfortable chair instead of the bed, or read in the bathtub if you know you won’t fall asleep in there.
Plan it Out
What doesn’t turn out better when it’s planned? Well, we can think of a few things…But, really? Most things turn out better when they are thought through and organized nicely. Reading can be one of those things. Make a list of the books, website articles, or educational material that you would like to read. Once you have a list, you have a beginning point. The next step is to acquire one of the titles on that list. It doesn’t need to be the first thing on the list. It can be whatever piece of reading that you would most like to ingest.
Make Reading a Habit
If you schedule your reading into your regular activities, reading often will become the regular occurrence. It is said that any task repeated for 30 days in a row will become a habit. So, try it out! Read every day for 30 days, and see how much more you are reading after 30 days than when you hadn’t planned it out. Remember to keep the list handy so that you remember which books and articles are on your to-read list, and read, read, read (it will make you smarter)!
Read more about the 8 major benefits of reading!