What if I told you that reading a book for 5 minutes a day could change your life?
What if you knew that reading affects tremendously your physical and mental health in a positive way?
And what if I told you that there is scientific research which concluded that reading a book reduces your stress levels far more effective than listening to music, having a cup of tea or going for a walk?
Did I catch your attention?
Is 5 minutes of Reading enough?
5 minutes of reading might seem to you too short to offer any practical outcome.
Time is relative though, so 5 minutes might seem to you too long on some other occasions.
Imagine that you are trapped in an elevator for 5 minutes, or that you -having a nasty diarrhea- have to wait for 5 more minutes before the toilet is free.
Keep also in mind that by 5 minutes of reading every day you will have read around 5-10 middle-sized books in a year (depending on your speed in reading and comprehension). I reckon that reading 5 books is better than no books at all.
If you are aware of the expression “appetite comes with eating” then you should know that this expression finds a great application in reading. Getting into the habit of reading for 5 minutes a day will make it easier to get to 6 and then to 7 minutes.
There will also be days that you will easily read for 30 minutes or more.
Why don’t we read?
I can accept the argument that we are all busy and that there is no time for reading.
I have been there.
But I believe that in the majority of cases, “lack of time” is a well self-accepted misconception which in reality is a disguise of procrastination.
If you can identify part of your reality in the last sentence, then have a look on some tips on how to overcome procrastination.
We can always prioritize our time and offer ourselves a breath of wisdom. You can spend your 5 minutes, on reading a book about time-management.
You will be surprised how much valuable information is out there waiting for you to discover.
And if you don’t have 5 minutes to read, this is a clear indication that you are doing something wrong with your life and you need to find out how to stop just being and start living.
Benefits of reading
I briefly mentioned in the introduction of this article some of the benefits of reading. Allow me to give you a few more:
- Exercises your brain and keeps it active
- Allows you to disconnect from reality for a moment, giving your body the chance to get rid of toxic thoughts
- Educates you
- Improves your memory
- Reduces the progress of Alzheimer’s decease and dementia if there is a tendency to develop those deceases
- Exercises your concentration
- Entertains you
- Enhances your vocabulary
- Allows your imagination to be stimulated for new ideas
- Improves your writing skills
- Trains you analytical way of thinking
- Helps you sleep easier and quicker
Opportunities to read in the day
You don’t necessarily have to explicitly reserve some time in your day, to read a book (although that would be a great thing to do).
There are more reading opportunities throughout the day that you can imagine. Just think of all time “lost” while waiting for something else to be finished.
Here are some examples of clever ways to make reading part of your day:
- in the car/bus/train while commuting to/from work (and if you are not driving of course)
- during your morning coffee
- in the toilet
- while waiting for the laundry
- during the lunch break at work
- in the doctor’s waiting room until your name is announced
- while waiting to pick up your child from school
- replacing time spent on TV
- waking up 10 minutes earlier
- while waiting in any queue (bank, airport, public service etc.)
It was never so easy as today to have access to reading material and devices.
We live on the 21st century and we are lucky enough to have an abundance of devices we can use in order to read.
In the past the only option we had was the printed version of a book.
Nowadays we can read our books on smart phones, tablets, laptops and E-books (electronic books) like Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, iBooks, Sony Reader etc.
Those devices can store hundreds of books and have the size of one middle-sized book.
So go on, start your “5 minutes reading per day” journey and discover a brand new world of joy, entertainment, wisdom and mental health. You deserve to be given the chance to explore the possibilities for a better life out there .
The good news is that you are the only one preventing you from taking that decision.
Or would I rather say that you “were” the only one preventing you? You have already “consumed” your 5 minutes of reading today, since you reached the end of this article.
Congratulations!! Keep on!!!