Motivation to Start Reading

Growing up, I’m sure all our parents stressed the importance of reading a good book. A lot of us grew up avid readers, but lost our love of books once high school hit. The love of reading has been lost in our generation because of how addicted we all are to social media. So many of us would rather spend hours of our free time on Tik Tok than reading a good book. We at The Edge have reaped the benefits of reading, and we are going to share some of these benefits with you. Hopefully this will motivate you to pick up a good book next time you find yourself aimlessly scrolling through social media.

Reading is entertaining

Believe it or not, reading is entertaining! Just because you may have read a book that you found to be boring, doesn’t mean you should give up on reading altogether. Not all books are like the boring ones we were forced to read in high school. You can find a book that fits your specific interests that is bound to get you out of your reading slump.

Reading improves your focus

Focus is required while reading so naturally, when you read you are practicing focus and improving your concentration skills. Improved focus is something that will help you in all areas of life, and you may even see your performance in classes increase if you start reading more books. Our attention spans are shortening because of the content we are receiving every day. Tik Tok videos average 15 seconds long, and you are only spending a couple seconds on each post or story while scrolling through social media. It’s so important to do activities that exercise your ability to focus, and reading is one that’s fun!

Reading can improve your sleep

As college students, we all know how hard it is to get a good night of sleep. Whether it’s a snoring roommate, a neighbor who blasts music all night or the stress of school lingering over you as you try to fall asleep, sleep is sometimes difficult to get. But what if I told you reading could actually improve your quality of sleep? When you incorporate reading into your bedtime routine, you will have a better night of sleep. The light on our phones prevents us from having the best night of sleep possible, so if you replace using your phone before bed to reading a good book, you will be able to sleep better. Even if you are only reading for a short amount of time before bed, it will help, and we all know how important a good night of sleep is.

Reading reduces stress

Reading is a healthy way to escape the stress of your daily life and indulge into another world. There is nothing like diving into a good book to help you forget about the stresses in your life, even if it’s only for a little bit. Studies even show that even 30 minutes of reading can decrease stress levels, lower heart rate, and reduce blood pressure. Books also have many lessons in them that you can learn from, and these lessons might help you with the problems you are currently facing.

Reading increases empathy

Research shows that people who read fiction have an increased ability to understand the feelings and beliefs of others. Fiction is such an important genre because it allows us to explore a character deeply from their perspective, which is something we can’t do often. Empathy is a vital skill for building, navigating, and maintaining relationships. Empathy is such an important trait to have, especially in a time as divisive as now.

We hope these benefits will encourage you to pick up a book and start reading. In case you want to start reading but don’t know where to start, we at The Edge have some book recommendations for you!

Book Recommendations from The Edge:

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Into the Wild by John Krakauer