Be honest, how long has it been since you actually finished a book? For most people, reading for leisure is a nonexistent part of their day. If that sounds like you, you’re missing out on a ton of perks. Reading is great for us, and is one of the best forms of entertainment and growth, at least in my opinion.
I always loved reading growing up, as soon as I started I found that I couldn’t stop. It is easily one of the most important aspects of my development as a person, and reading has taught me an incredible amount over the years. I understand struggling to find the time to read, and it’s something I’ve even struggled with lately (my leisure time seems to be constantly shrinking). Fortunately, if you just read 10 or so pages a day, you’ll see all sorts of benefits. Let’s be honest, getting through 10 pages isn’t a lengthy endeavor, so we can probably all fit that into our busy schedules.
Reading Keeps You Sharp
For starters, reading is great for keeping your mind in its best shape. It’s unclear just how much it helps (there are many studies on it), but most everyone can agree that it is definitely a boon. Your mind, just like your body, needs consistent exercise and reading provides that. The best part is that it’s also a fun type of exercise.
When you read, you can focus solely on things you enjoy. Interested in history? Read history! Like reading science fiction and fantasy? Read those instead! It’s a painless way to keep your mental acuity in good condition. Another plus is that reading helps you build up your ability to focus for long periods of time.
I probably don’t need to point it out to anyone, but we live in an era where it is increasingly easy to fall into the habit of feeding a short attention span (after all, we have so many things that pull our attention elsewhere at our fingertips) and the ability to sit down and focus on one task for a long period of time is becoming more uncommon.
On top of that, it helps you with your reasoning skills and attention to detail. Often, as you read, you’re analyzing aspects of it and putting all the pieces together to fit some bigger picture. The classic example of this is mystery novels. A more subtle example would be reading a lot on a historical period, and your understanding of the motivations and reasons for some conflict finally clicks and starts making sense. Another example is just any good plot twist that makes you go back and rethink different aspects of the book.
Reading Keeps You Relaxed
We all have our preferred ways of winding down after a long day, and reading can be one of those. Whatever you’re dealing with in your personal or professional life, a good book can suck you in and make you forget about all of that, if only for a bit. If you’re in a rut, or about to burn out, try to relax with a good book.
Books Are A Great Teacher
All of your experiences help shape you into the person you are, and all of them teach you valuable skills. Believe it or not, you can end up picking up a lot of useful information and skills through reading. At a minimum, reading can expand your vocabulary and show you new perspectives and ideas that you hadn’t considered. To some people that may not sound like much. However, better vocabulary makes you a much better communicator, and being introduced to new ideas and perspectives can have a positive impact on your soft skills (again, like communication), as well as your general attitude towards life.
If nothing else, the knowledge you get from reading can help boost your confidence and make you a more well-rounded person.
Reading Is One Of The Most Cost-Effective Forms Of Entertainment
Sounds odd, doesn’t it? If you do the math, it checks out for the most part (exceptions are sure to exist). Per dollar, you generally get a lot of time spent doing something fun when you invest it in a book. A good comparison is probably video games. A new game may cost around $60. For the average game, you can probably spend 10-20 hours on it before getting bored. That isn’t the case for every game, especially large RPGs, but that is probably a fair estimation for most new releases. That means you’re spending at least $3 per hour that you get out of the game.
Now, let’s compare that to a typical novel (of around 100,000 words). Most people can probably finish that book in 5-8 hours. On amazon, the typical mass market paperback book sells for about $8-10. That means books generally give you 1 hour of fun for every $1-2 you spend. Of course, in this example there are exceptions in both cases and readability and replayability factor into the “value” you get out of games and books, but it illustrates the point. Per dollar spent, books have good entertainment value, and they’re easier to space out in smaller chunks which helps if you’re on a tight budget.
If you’re on a particularly tight budget, you can go to a local used bookstore (where books are just a few dollars) or use the library. In terms of cost-effectiveness, you can’t beat the library – it’s free after all.
As a bit of a disclaimer, I’m not saying that video games are bad, or even that they should be avoided in favor of books. I’m simply saying that books are cheap, and they can certainly provide a lot of value for their price.
Conclusion
There is a good book for everyone out there, no matter your personal tastes. With such diverse categories like biographies, self-help, poetry, classics, fantasy, and mystery you’re bound to eventually find something you like. So, go to your local library or book store, find a good read, and get to it! As always, if you have anything you’d like to add, let us know in the comments. I’m sure you have tons of great recommendations!
For more content like this, and a free budgeting template and financial goals worksheet, be sure to sign up for the Bitter to Richer newsletter.
