Katerine Chung Chen
SLEEP LESS,
READ MORE
At the beginning of the summer, teens fantasize about how fun their summer will be or how much time they will have to relax. Although there are tons of productive activities to do, most teens end up wasting a lot of their summer on social media, video games or watching television.
There are others who find the thrill in good books, which is productive in itself. Reading is important to everyone; it gives you knowledge, vocabulary expansion and more.
When was the last time you opened a book, newspaper or a magazine? Or, are the only things you read your Facebook posts, Tweets, and texts messages? If you are one of those thousands of people who don't have the habit of reading, you might have missed one of the greatest opportunities of your life. Although more and more books are published every year, people don’t take advantage of them; they would rather ditch the book and watch the movie. Reading has thousand of benefits, and one of them being that it fights Alzheimer’s. By reading a book, it put your brain to work, which is good because your brain is a muscle, and if you don’t work it out it just becomes idle. According to studies, people who do brain activities such as playing an instrument, playing chess or puzzles and especially reading, are 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who just spend their time doing nothing.
Also, reading before bed could help you sleep. According to Mayo Clinic, creating a reading habit before bedtime could help you fall asleep faster. When you read, it sends a signal to your brain to slow down and relaxes your mind. Reading on the phone wouldn’t count because the light on our phones is too bright, and they will keep you awake even longer. It is recommended to read on a Kindle or an actual book. Another benefit of reading is that it improves your attention and focus and analytical skills. When you read a book, all your attention goes to the story. As long as the book is interesting for you, all your focus will be on it; so always choose books that interest you. It strengthens your analytical skills because you develop the skill when you start analyzing the character and start guessing what’s going to happen next.