Too much of everything is bad and this post will examine whether its a bad idea to read too much or not…
Most people spend their free time on books, which can easily be hours per day. These hours can easily turn jnto half the day being spent reading.
For most people, such reading is simply too much. The reason for this is simple. A lot of people are not accustomed to reading for long.
Reading is usually perceived as a leisure activity that need not take up a huge portion of a day.
With that said, is reading too much bad?
Reading and consuming too much information can be eventually bad because it can overload your brain. This could lead to weak comprehension and the inability to practically use what you read in everyday life. Reading with no regard for comprehension becomes a means to an end and gives the reader the illusion of progress.
Good practices of reading involve spending a fair amount of time on books but not surrendering full days of your life to reading.
Reading is great for knowledge acquisition, but when you do it too much…you’ll find it difficult to sort through what you have read or comprehend it enough for it to actually make a difference…
The Downside to reading too much
Memory problems
Reading too much is one of the reasons why people can’t can’t remember anything after studying or reading.
Your brain is certainly powerful, but pushing it to the limit and stuffing it with too much information can make it easily forget.
This is one of the downsides to reading too much.
Most of the times Reading too much may be a total waste of time because it can be hard for you to access everything through memory.
Which is why it’s important to limit how much you read and allow your brain to rest and have time to process what you’ve fed it.
Connecting dots
Memory problems are definitely something you have to look out for but another thing that you’ll experience is difficulty in connecting things when you read too much.
Most people these days read self help books.
Most self development books discuss several concepts that have to be understood and applied in real life.
Reading too much can limit your ability to connect what you read.
This is because the brain is being fed too much information making it harder for it to process everything at once, make sense of it and correlate it.
Overwhelming
Other than memory problems and failure to connect ideas, reading too much can also be overwhelming for the reader.
If you’ve ever stuck to doing the same thing for days or weeks or months then you know just how exhausting that can be.
The same goes for reading.
Your brain can only consume so much and reading too much pushes it to limits that can easily overwhelm it and stop it from working to your advantage.
Therefore, you have to be careful with how much you read.. because if it gets too overwhelming for your brain…it will most likely be a waste of time.
To make the most out of your reading; learn how reading can induce mental fatigue.
Headaches
The other downside to reading too much is headaches.
I’ve experienced headaches in the past whenever I read too much in a particular day.
The reason for this is, reading too much doesn’t only stress the brain, but also stresses the eyes.
The eyes have to be focused on words for long periods of time which make them eventually give in and signal your brain to induce a headache.
If you’re reading until your head hurts, you’re probably reading too much and should step away from your book for some time.
You won’t be able to think or reason well when you have a migraine.
This is why it’s not advisable to read for prolonged periods.
Poor comprehension
Inevitably, overwhelming your brain with too much information will lead to poor comprehension.
Comprehension is a tricky subject when it comes to reading.
It’s not always about how much you read but it’s almost always about how much you understand and comprehend.
Over working your brain by forcing it to grasp and hold on to different ideas for long periods of time will over loaded and make comprehension nearly impossible.
When you read and don’t comprehend what you’re reading, you’re simply wasting your time. This might also be a good time to step away from the book.
It may seem like a good idea to binge read but its not always productive at all.
Some times you’re just feeding into the illusion of progress.
Less productivity
The more time you spend on reading, the less time you’ll have to actually use what you read to influence and impact your life.
Which is why you have to read in moderation.
If you’re reading to gain new knowledge then you obviously have to apply what it is you’re reading…
This can be difficult if the majority of your time is being spent on books.
Reading has the ability to give you a false sense of productivity just because you know the concepts.
In reality, knowing ideas is just the beginning, it’s always about what those ideas can do for you and how they can shape you to become what and who you want to become.
This one of the reasons why creativity is the highest form of learning. When we create, we progress because we engage our productivity.
Reading is great but productivity through creativity is where you learn a lot.
Time consuming
Spending too much time on reading is not only unproductive but time consuming.
Reading is a great hobby of course but it can be bad if it takes up more of your day than anything else.
There’s more to life than reading books and you can only understand this for yourself when you do other things.
So go out there and apply what you read and let it make a difference in your life.
How to gain control of reading
Define your goal
You have to decide what you want reading to do for you or else you’ll spend a lot of time wasting hours that could otherwise be used for more productive things.
Are you reading for recreation or are you reading to gain knowledge?
Answer that question with honesty and you’ll atleast come up with a plan around your reading…
If you’re reading for recreation then it shouldn’t take up hours upon hours of your day…for example, there’s no reason for you to spend half your day reading fiction novels… if there’s no purpose around your reading.
If you’re reading to gain knowledge then get the best books on that and read them to understand.
Spend time refining ideas and improving yourself.
Don’t spend all your day on reading alone.
Read, reflect and write
Reading is a crucial component of self development. You want to spend your reading days gaining knowledge.
Once you gain that knowledge, you need to reflect on it and understand how it changes everything for you.
This is pretty much subjective because meanings and concepts can only be understood at each individuals perception.
Finally you have to write your reflection of the material you’ve read. Writing is important because it helps you externalize your thought process.
You can easily break down ideas and make sense of everything this way.
Don’t rush to finish a book
If you want to be a more effective reader .. atleast one that is able read and comprehend material…you have to become a patient reader.
Smart people read slow, smarter people read slower…
When you take your time to read…you inherently allow yourself to consume information better.
If you rush to finish a book, you will not read it thoroughly. This is because your mind will be set on finishing the book and not on necessarily grasping everything about it.
Therefore, seek understanding from books and not the validation that comes with being “well-read”.
Know your limits
Your strengths matter just much as your weaknesses.
in reading, this is very important to understand.
Every reader has their limit. Which is essentially a limit of how much information they can read and comprehend.
You need to know when reading is too much so you can step aside and take a break before you get back to read again.
This can help you not waste time reading when you should really be resting.
Therefore, take time to understand your reading habits and know when it becomes hard to read.
Take days off
Being a bookworm is great and can help you get through a lot of reading…
but, do you know what’s better than being a book worm?
Being a well rested book worm.
I understand we all have our obligations and we read for different reasons. However its good to take days off from heavy reading.
Avoid reading heavily everyday because the information you read may lead to information overload which can affect your memory as well as your retention.
As a reader, you want to have a strong memory and good comprehension otherwise the reading is all for nothing.
Therefore take days to cool off and get your mind right before returning back to reading.
Read what is necessary
Stay away from reading unnecessary things so you can protect your knowledge base and save time.
Many people spend time reading things without a reason. If you read this way, you’ll spend your precious time devouring books that won’t do anything for you.
Therefore, read with a purpose and read with goals. This is the only way you’ll fully develop as a reader and this is how you’ll ultimately gain knowledge.
Utility
As a continuation to the previous point I have to stress the importance of utility.
Utility is simply the use or application of what it is you’re reading.
Books have to make an impact on either your mind or your everyday life.
Which is why it’s important to read material that has some sort of application in your life as a whole.
Whether it’s fiction novels that expose you to diverse story plots and various insightful things or non fiction novels that teach you a particular skill or teach you something new… it doesn’t matter… ultimately, you’ll want to gain something out of reading.
Brain Care For Readers
Hydrate
Taking care of your brain is very important because it is essentially the organ that allows you to read.
A good way of taking care of the brain is drinking enough water to make your body function better.
One good practice that I’ve found useful is having a water bottle each time I read a book…
Also making sure I take water at regular intervals to maintain a good level of water in my system.
Get 8 hours of sleep
If you want to read better and be more productive in general… you need to get enough sleep because that is what will ultimately determine how functional you’ll be during day time.
Therefore, schedule resting times and sleep early but try and get up before 8am.
This way you can be well rested and have a full day of increased productivity.
Plus, your body needs to rest.
Exercise
Make exercise part of your routine to maintain a healthy life style.
You don’t always have to go to a gym you can YouTube various indoor exercises that you can do in your home..
You can also hire a personal trainer to help you exercise better and exercise with a purpose.
Maintain a good level of exercise and you’ll become a better person and better reader.
Eat well
Eating well will make your body get the right nutrients necessary for a healthy lifestyle.
Read books on health and gather various diets that can help you minimize eating junk.
If you eat better, you think better.
Therefore, structure some healthy eating into your day-to-day life and it will do wonders for you.
If you feed the brain, you’ll notice the improvement in bodily function.
Helpful Resources
Is Reading Too Much Bad? | illogicalscript.com
10 Dreadful Things That Will Happen If You Read Too Much – Paper Fury
Negative Effects of Reading [Protect Yourself From These!] – The Book Buff
