6 Reasons Why You Should Read More Often (One For The Cool Kids)

Just 6 reasons why reading will guarantee to make you a more awesome person.

1. Vocabulary Development

Definitely one of, if not the, biggest perk of reading has been how much my vocabulary has expanded as a result. This has not only helped me in my professional life, (when applying for jobs, interviews etc.) but my daily life also. If you're usually the nervous-wreck that I am just before an interview, reading daily will definitely help boost your confidence.

2. Expands your analytical-thinking and problem-solving skills.

Reading novels especially, has definitely expanded my analytical thinking skills. (Particularly with novels such as the Da Vinci Code where you are literally left with a code to decipher nearing the end of the novel). Reading books has led me to question/analyse more things in my daily life and has definitely made me a better problem-solver as a result.

3. Expands your writing skills

It goes without saying that in order to become a better writer, you must first become an avid-reader (IMO). That is definitely where my love of writing derived from. My style of writing has developed as a result of different elements of writing I have picked up from reading novels written by different authors. Reading will help to accommodate your own style of writing.

4. Improved concentration

An increase in social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook etc has, no doubt, confined our attention span to that of being able to read no longer than a sentence or two. Reading definitely helps tackle that - by immersing yourself in nothing but the novel will definitely improve your level of concentration/focus regarding other tasks you would normally find tedious to complete.

5. Mental Stimulation/Knowledge

Neurologists have found that reading novels especially has shown to improve brain connectivity and theory of mind. (This goes hand-in-hand with the advancement of your analytical-thinking and problem-solving skills and also expansion of vocabulary). Reading loads makes you a better conversationalist and personally has made me more opinionated.

6. Helps reduce stress/anxiety

Personally being someone who suffers from Generalised Anxiety Disorder, I have always found it hard to focus on one task, be more outspoken and consistently maintain a positive frame of mind. Whenever I have been in distress, I've always been able to turn to a novel to make me feel better. To be able to walk in the shoes of a different person for a bit is always a good distraction and at times helps you judge your situations from a more rational point of view afterwards. (Also couldn't hurt to be doing it by the beach on a hammock, but you know).