Books can benefit you in more ways than one. That is why it is always a good idea to read books.
However, what happens if you don’t read books?
Is there is any disadvantage of the same?
Today, I will answer this question in great detail. By the end of this article, you will not only know the answer to this question but also whether you should force yourself to read books or not.
Without any delay, let me now answer this question once and for all.
In short, what happens if You don't read books?
Not reading books can slow down your cognitive growth, deteriorate your communication skills, reduce your probability of success, and slow down your reading speed.
As you can see, there are quite a few disadvantages of not reading books.
I will go into the details of all these disadvantages. Once you are aware of these disadvantages, it is easy to understand why it is good to read books. Even if you don’t like reading, there are ways in which you can aid yourself to read. I will cover these below as well.
1. Slows down cognitive growth
Reading consistently certainly improves your cognitive growth. Your concentration power, comprehension power, and focus increase as you read more and more.
When you’re not reading books, the stimulation of your brain does not happen. Consequently, your thinking process does not improve in the absence of reading.
The lack of reading can certainly slow down your cognitive growth. Not reading can hamper your natural cognitive growth as well.
It is one of the main things which happens when you do not read.
2. Degrades communication skills
The more you read, the more your communication skills improve. The reason for the same is that when you read, you increase your comprehension of the language.
With increased comprehension, you can communicate in a much better way. Not only that, you will retain a lot of the information which you have read in the book as well.
With the help of this information, communicating will be easy. You can express yourself in a much better way.
When you’re not reading, the opposite is true.
It will degrade your communication skills over time. That is because you’re not learning something new. Not only that, you are likely to forget a part of your current knowledge as well.
Consequently, your communication skills will degrade over time. To avoid this, the only solution which you have is to read regularly.
3. Reduction in the probability of success
Reading can certainly increase your probability of success.
Wondering how?
Many books cover topics like:
• Time management
• Habit formation
• Positive thinking
• Self-development
• Productivity
• And so on
When you’re reading these books, the probability of your success increases multifold.
Not only that, when you’re reading consistently, you always upgrade your knowledge. If you’re reading in your field, you will develop more and more skills as well. Doing so will certainly increase the probability of your success.
However, when you do not read at all, the probability of success will reduce. That is because others in your field might be sharpening their skills and reading consistently as well. That is why they have a competitive advantage over you.
If your competitors have an advantage over you, your probability of success decreases.
It is another danger which you face when you’re not reading.
4. Slowing of reading speed
As you read more and more, your reading speed improves consistently. That is because of the neurons that fire together while reading form a connection between them. Consequently, you form the habit of reading.
When you form the habit of reading, you can read at a faster pace.
When you do not read, the opposite is true.
Your reading speed will slow down more and more. If, for example, if you haven’t read for a few years, not only your comprehension power will decrease but also your reading speed. After that, it will become difficult for you to read the blocks of text.
It is another danger if you do not read consistently.
So, there are a lot of disadvantages of not reading books. Rather than taking the risk of facing these disadvantages, it is a much better idea to read from time to time.
Of course, by now, you might have the question, how much time should you read for?
I will answer that below.
What’s the minimum amount of time I should read daily?
Ideally, you should read for at least 30 minutes a day. Of course, if you can surpass that, it is good. However, that is the minimum amount of time that you should devote to read daily.
The question is, how to achieve that if you don’t like reading?
I will share with you a few tips below which can help you with the same.
What to do if I don’t like reading?
If you do not like reading, there are still a few tips that will allow you to benefit from the same. I will highlight these tips below.
1. Try audiobooks
The most effective tip to gain reading benefits even if you don’t like reading is to resort to audiobooks.
The advantage of audiobooks is that you will not have to feed them. You will have to just listen to them. It can be similar to listening to a podcast or music.
Additionally, when you listen to audiobooks, the amount of time you need to complete the book is also on the lower side. You can accelerate the playback speed as well. It will help you save even more time.
Moreover, since you can listen to audiobooks almost anywhere, the amount of time you can dedicate to reading increases manifold.
You can skip the habit of reading altogether as well.
Keeping all these factors in mind makes perfect sense to try audiobooks if you do not like reading.
2. Read just one page a day
In case you do not fancy audiobooks, you will have to resort to physical books only. However, with the help of this step, it will become easier to start reading.
You have to start by reading just a single page daily. A single page will take a couple of minutes at most. However, that will undoubtedly help you get into the habit of reading.
When you develop a habit of reading, it will become easy for you to read more over some time.
It seem like a simple tip, but it certainly works in every case.
3. Start with light reading
Another tip that you can follow if you do not like reading is to go with light reading. Reading a novel or a magazine is the way to go. Since these reading materials are often interesting and short, it will become easier for you to instill in yourself the habit of reading.
If there is a certain genre that you like, you can start with that as well. Reading novels or magazines of your genre will catch more interest in reading. However, if you hate reading, it is a good idea to start with lighter articles.
You can start reading on the web as well. It will allow you to read entertaining articles and instill the habit of reading at the same time.
4. Keep distractions at bay while reading
When you do not like reading, you might welcome distractions. That is because distractions will take you away from reading.
The best way to read in that case is to keep distractions at bay.
You have to enter a quiet room for reading. Not only that, you have to keep all the gadgets out of the room. When you do so, it will become easier for you to avoid any kind of distractions.
Thus, if you do not like reading, then too you can instill such a habit in yourself. With the help of these four tips, reading at least 30 minutes a day eventually is certainly possible.
It brings us to the very last question which you might have. I will answer that in greater detail below.
Should I force myself to read?
No, you shouldn’t force yourself to read. That is because if you force yourself for something, you will never be able to instill it as a habit.
Instead, you have to just follow the four tips which have been highlighted above. Once you do so, forcing yourself will not be a necessity. You will develop the habit of reading on your own.
Thus, there are quite a few dangers if you do not read books at all. To avoid these it is, it is a good idea to start trading soon enough. You have to inculcate in yourself the habit of reading as well. The easiest way is to follow my guide above.
The guide above consists of everything which you need to start reading. Even if you do not like reading at the start, following my guide above can certainly help you start reading and continue with the habit as well.
