For those of you who would prefer to listen:
It’s back to school time. Students all over the country have returned to campus or shortly are headed that way. Despite Labor Day being a week away, Summer’s over for kids. For the record, I still think it’s un-American for school to start before Labor Day.
People don’t read like they used to. A recent survey found the percentage of Americans reading for fun on any given day dropped from 28% in 2004 to just 16% in 2023. That’s a 43% decline in 2 decades’ time. First, it was television that drew away people from books and periodicals. The Digital Age has exploded that trend away from reading. Less than half of American adults polled read a book last year, according to Federal Data.
It’s not that Americans can’t read; The literacy rate is historically quite high. It’s just that people have chosen not to. The obvious reason is hyper-busy schedules and the proliferation of digital devices. Videos and short social media posts have taken over what used to be downtime activity.
A case can be made that people actually read more words than ever before when you consider emails and text messages. What’s changed is the reduced reading for pleasure, which can offer an escape from the daily grind while enhancing your mind.
Studies have found that parents don’t read to their kids as much anymore either. What’s more, a RAND Corp. study found that both Middle and High Schools across the country are assigning fewer full-length books than they did decades ago. U.S. Census data indicates the number of 13-year-olds who read for pleasure was cut in half from a decade and a half ago. At just 14%, it’s the lowest on record.
The constant flow of texting and social media posts can actually be stressful and distracting. Attention spans keep shrinking. Reading for pleasure isn’t just a great way to unwind; It actually changes how our brains work. Reading boosts emotional intelligence and sharpens cognitive health over time.
Reading requires our brains to process language, visualize scenes, and follow narratives simultaneously. MRI studies have shown that deep reading strengthens white matter tracts in the brain, improving connectivity between regions responsible for vision, language, and attention.
Reading is a gift that keeps on giving. Testing has shown that engaging in cognitively stimulating activities like reading later in life is linked to a slower rate of memory decline by over 30% compared to non-readers. Of course, there are no guarantees, but reading is clearly good exercise for the brain.
Knowledge is power. Regular leisure reading continually exposes us to new words and different sentence structures. It also helps expand our vocabularies and knowledge far more effectively than passive screen consumption.
You don’t have to be a marathon reader to get the benefits. Many studies have found that reading for just 6 minutes can reduce stress levels by up to 68%. That leads other popular stress relievers like listening to music, taking walks, or sipping a cup of tea. I never knew tea was a stress reliever before researching this piece.
There are physical benefits too. Reading can lower heart rates and ease muscle tension by immersing our focus elsewhere. Nighttime reading is particularly helpful. Reading a physical book before bed serves as a screen-free wind-down ritual. Eliminating the blue light, which suppresses melatonin, signals to our bodies that it is time to rest. Chances are, you fall asleep faster and achieve higher sleep quality. Now, who doesn’t want that?
You know who understood the power of reading? Dolly Parton. She established the Imagination Library, which provided over 300 Million books for kids, free of charge. Dolly grew up poor in East Tennessee.
Her father couldn’t read. He inspired her into action. Nothing stopped Dolly Parton from chasing her dreams. Her words: “The seeds of dreams are often found in books and the seeds that you help plant in your community can grow across the world”. We lost a great one this week. Dolly Parton was an American treasure.
The fact that you’re reading this piece apparently puts you in exclusive company. You don’t need to read an hour a day to reap the rewards. Just 15–20 minutes of daily leisure reading is enough to trigger measurable gains in focus, stress relief, and cognitive stamina. That sounds like a powerful formula in the business of life. We are firmly invested in that.
I hope you find these weekly pieces informative, enjoyable and valuable. I like mixing it up with subject matter. They’re designed to be unique and always written from scratch. It’s a form of storytelling. Thanks for reading.
Have a nice weekend. We’ll be back, dark and early on Monday.
Mike
