How Reading Helps Your Thought Process

Different people have different thoughts about reading, or the different books to read, or even the different things that they can get from reading.

People also have different genres that they enjoy reading, or that they can devote maximum attention to – not to mention the knowledge, information or excitement gained from the book.

Despite all these different ideas about reading, there is something common that can be gained from the activity irrespective of the genre. It is the improvement of your thought process. Reading helps your thought process.

Before we go further, I will quickly define what your thought process is. It is simply how you form and organize your thoughts. It involves mental activities such as thinking, remembering, solving problems, making judgement and so on.

How people react to different situations in life is dependent on their thought processes, how they see and interpret things. Therefore, it is important to have a healthy thought process, and this can be achieved through reading.

Below are some of the ways reading can help your thought process:

1. Reading strengthens your brain

As funny as it may sound it is very true. In the brain, there are lots of neurons and circuits, and the more a person reads, the stronger and more sophisticated the circuits become. This then helps in the way activities are done in the brain, and in the way individuals react to different situations.

2. Reading helps to reduce stress

Apart from providing knowledge and information, reading helps to calm the mind and sometimes clear thoughts.

Research has shown that reading can be as effective as yoga or humour in relieving stress. Once the stress level in an individual is reduced, thinking and acting become easier. A person undergoing minimal stress has been proved to be more effective and efficient than a person who is acting under stress.

3. Reading improves cognitive intelligence

Reading has been said to rewire the brain to boost the vision and the speaking part of the brain. It helps to filter the amount of visual information we receive every day.

4. Reading helps to build emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence is a form of intelligence that everyone should have. From reading, you would be able to understand the different points of view in different situations and know when and how to act in each one. It helps us to adjust to the way others are thinking, thereby allowing us to act differently and appropriately.

5. Reading helps to improve writing skills

As a writer, student or whatever occupation you find yourself in, you will always have the need to write. Whether a book, a report or an article, you would need to have a basic understanding of writing.

And to write well, your thought process is important. You need to understand and then properly decipher the concept of what you are writing, and then plan how to go about it.

Aside from these five points mentioned above, there are still more indirect ways that reading helps your thought process. Such as helping you get better sleep. When you sleep well, your brain and mind are well-rested to enable you to think better.

It also brings about memory improvement and enhanced social skills that can help build healthy relationships with people.

Olamide Omolawal is an avid research enthusiast with interest in creative and content writing.