How Reading Books Helps Your Brain
Recharge
Entrepreneur: 2.14.2020
by Aytekin Tank
Imagine being the founder of not one but two companies dedicated to books and not finding the time
to read any. That’s the situation that Hugh McGuire, founder of LibriVox and
Pressbooks, found himself in a few years ago. Like many of us, he was
battling an onslaught of digital information, and his beloved paperbacks
were collecting dust. After a while, though, he realized he sorely missed the
quiet time he used to spend with a book in hand. He also realized that he was
tired all the time, and struggling to focus in every area of life.
Writing for Harvard Business
Review, he explained:
“I was distracted when at work,
distracted when with family and friends, constantly tired, irritable, and
always swimming against a wash of ambient stress induced by my constant itch
for digital information. My stress had an electronic feel to it, as if it was
made up of the very bits and bytes on my screens.”
He found that a slower form of
information, books, was the antidote to his information overload. So he made
them part of his routine again. According to McGuire, “Reading books again has
given me more time to reflect, to think, and has increased both my focus and
the creative mental space to solve work problems.”
As any entrepreneur will tell you,
problem-solving is critical for launching or running a business. But so is
giving our busy brains a rest, and books help with that too. According to
neuroscientist Daniel Levitin, focused reading uses about 42 calories per
hour, whereas absorbing new information (e.g., scanning Twitter or the news
headlines) burns around 65 calories per hour.
Research has found that reading novels improves our
brain functions on a variety of levels, including the ability to put yourself
in another person’s shoes and flex your imagination. It also boosts our
innovative thinking skills.
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1. Stash your devices
It seems simple, but detaching from our
phones and tablets is often easier said than done. New information — like the ping of a new DM or
refreshing our Twitter feed — triggers the release of the neurotransmitter
dopamine in our brains.
2. If you don't have hours, read in short
intervals
As CEO of my online form company, I don’t
have uninterrupted hours each day to dedicate to reading. But as Wharton
professor Adam Grant writes, “Leaders who don’t have time to read are leaders
who don’t make time to learn.”
3. Choose your material thoughtfully
It’s no surprise that if you choose
something you genuinely enjoy, you’ll be more likely to follow through with it.
Plus, fully immersing yourself in one captivating book will give you so much
more than speeding through a dozen books while your mind wanders elsewhere. READ MORE >>
Based on (7) readability formulas:
Grade Level: 9
Reading Level: standard / average.
Reader's Age: 13-15 yrs. Old
(Eighth and Ninth graders)
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