Reading is one of the most important fundamental skills you can have as a student. Reading is not just a skill, it is an essential ingredient required to succeed in life. Reading helps develop your vocabulary, it keeps your attention retained and adds tremendously to your analytical reasoning.
Advantages of reading
Reading:
- develops your mind and makes you think deep
- teaches you so much more about your field
- reduces anxiety
- helps you sharpen your skills
- can enrich your life experiences
- can inspire you
- can be a lifetime entertainment
- will help you generally grow
How to develop your reading culture
Even though you know all these good things about reading, you might still find it very difficult to concentrate and read a book. You easily get distracted and do not seem to be able to finish. You doze off while reading and generally do not enjoy reading. This article is meant to help you develop the right habits that will make you enjoy reading.
Remember to also see Steps to understand mathematics easily
Below are the tips on how to cultivate a reading habit:
Set your reading goal
For you to develop a reading habit, you must start with a reading goal. Make the goal glaringly clear accompanied by a purpose.
Think about how consistently reading will effect several spheres of your life, be it academics, relationships, careers, spiritual, and many more. When you have a reason attached to your goal, you will be inspired to keep working towards your goals and realizing them.
Your goal could be reading 60 books a year, somebody else might decide that their goal is to read 200 books yearly, somebody else might say 10, etc. Once you've set your goal for the year, you can divide them into bits for monthly, weekly, daily, etc. For example, consistently reading 5 books monthly will mean you achieving your goal of reading 60 books yearly, consistently reading 2 books every month will also mean you achieving your set target of reading 24 books yearly, and so on.
Create a study space
You don't need to have a library to call it your reading space. A corner with a table that is well lit can be a very comfortable space to read. This will create a sense of connection that will relate to reading with comfort and relaxation.
Make a list of books to read every month
It is essential that you make a list of books you want to read each month or each year. This will help keep you focused on your goals. You can ask friends, colleagues, and families for recommendations.
If you realize that reading books on programming will be helpful to your career growth, make a list of some great programming books and religiously follow them through.
Making a list will keep you organized. To make an extra leap, you can add logs to your list, you can include a start and finish date, lessons, etc. This will help you tick off each book when you are done.
Read 10 to 20 pages daily
Reading a particular number of pages daily will help create a consistent pattern in reading. Make it at least 10 to 20 pages. This will help keep you focused and achieving your daily page targets will lead to reading efficiency which will eventually lead to a reading habit in no time.
Make sure to be proactive when reading, avoid rushing through but take time to comprehend and engage in the reading process. This will help you understand deeply the subject of discourse and keep you mentally aware to be able to teach others if/when necessary.
Go to the school library when you can
Libraries house a lot of books of different varieties. This is an excellent place to explore new books.
Also, going to the library gives you the feel and vibes to study. Seeing people in the library reading will definitely motivate you to pick up and read through no matter how small.
Set aside specific times of the day to read
Set aside specific times of the day to read daily. At this time, make sure to put away all forms of distractions like your mobile phone, television, music, and many other things that may distract you. Consistently doing this will prepare your mind and make you ready whenever the time to read for the day comes.
Join a book club or get a reading partner
There will be times you won't feel motivated to read. This is perfectly normal and those days, reading partners will help encourage you to read. Reading partners will also serve as accountability partners who will keep motivating you to read.
Book clubs are a great place also, you will attend gatherings where you will discuss lessons learned and relate with like minds.
Know when to rest
Reading is meant to be enjoyed and relished. If you find yourself trying too hard to read a book, move on to another book. For example, if you find a book really boring that you yawn, stress over, and find it difficult to read up to 10 pages in a stretch, give up on the book so that it doesn't frustrate you.
Reading books that excite us usually motivates us to read more.
In summary, following the following steps religiously might be difficult at first, but when you consistently follow a pattern, with time, you will start enjoying your reading.
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