Credit goes to Alikhadija, a Medicine and Surgery Student of UDUSOK
Like any skill worth mastering, a reading habit requires time and dedication to develop. It is, however, a lifelong source of enjoyment and entertainment and an affordable hobby for anyone who wants to adopt it.
Nowadays, most students are less keen on developing their reading habits. While others don’t care about developing it, others want to develop it but don’t know how to.
Even though most students pass exams their reading habit isn’t continuous. Most students in Nigeria only read for exams, that’s why a week after exams they’ll forget more than 80% of what they’ve read.
Also most students only read books related to their field and don’t care to read about other fields. Not knowing that it’s extreme important to know about other fields as well.
Don’t forget readers are leader.
“The more you read, the more you know. More you know, the more places you’ll go.
In this post we’ll discuss 8 tips on how to develop a good reading habit.
How to Develop a Good Reading Habit
1- Place reading as your priority:
As a student reading should be your number one priority. Learn to read & explore in your field and other fields.
If you get sidetracked with other things, you should know that there’s something you can do to change this. Give importance to reading. Don’t just read to pass exams. Read to learn & acquire knowledge.
2-Plan your reading habit:
Identify a certain time every day when you can reduce one or more of your time-wasting activities and then create a daily calendar reminder that blocks off that hour for reading. Make sure you read during that time every day.
You’re to choose the best time that suits you, when you’ll have maximum focus on what you’re reading.
Put a pen and a notebook on the stack of books so you can write down any ideas you get from reading. Set a simple timer to make sure you read for at least 20 minutes. Or start by reading 20 pages per day, meaning about 30 minutes.
Although it may seem small, it adds up fast, the volume gets higher as time goes on and you’ll notice the difference!
A good idea is to start your day by reading at least 20 pages in the morning, even if that means waking up one hour earlier. In the morning, your mind is clear and your body is relaxed after sleeping, so it’s the perfect moment to invest in yourself.
Also you’ll be more focused at that time because your mind is at rest. But this doesn’t mean you must read in the morning.
Because one man’s food is another man’s poison. Some may find other hours of the day must suitable for them. So it’s good you find out what suits you most.
If you are reading faster, you will finish books faster, but you must make sure you retain what you read. Speed reading allows you to balance speed and comprehension.
Start by removing all the elements that distract you and turn off your TV or Phone. Then pick a book, get a timer, start the timer, read 10 pages and record your result.
I always do this, when I started I understood I usually spent about 8 minutes on each page of my handout (to read & understand the context) I tried to reduce the Time spent on each page as well as improving retaining what I read. And with time I was able to attain what I want.
Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair (don’t lay down unless you’re going to sleep) and curl up with a good book without interruptions.
There should be no television or phone near the place to minimize distractions, and no music ( except for those that enjoy while listening to music) or noisy family members/roommates. You can also choose to visit the nearest library. If you don’t have a place like this. Create one.
I usually do this in school. I’ll set a goal of what I want to read in certain hours,days or weeks and I always try to stick to it though it’s not easy.
Tell yourself that you want to read two or three topics daily. Then set about trying to accomplish it. Just be sure you’re still enjoying the reading though — don’t make it a rushed chore.
7-Share your reading experiences:
Share with colleagues, friends and students. Tell them what you have been reading, what you have gained or learned from these texts, what you recommend,this will enable you to Share ideas.
8- Know when to give up a book:
Reading is meant to be an enjoyable, eye-opening experience. If you find yourself stressing out (or yawning!) over a difficult or boring book or course, do give it a try for a few more pages but give up if it ends up frustrating you. Take the one you enjoy reading and read it. Remember Quality first before quantity.
Reading habit in Conclusion and a piece of advise for parents&teachers.
Parents are the first teachers to children. However, parents fail to nurture their children in this habit while they are young.
Thus, resulting in the situation we are nowadays. In my opinion, based on the current reading habit of the Nigerian students, Nigeria has a long way to go before it can compete with a reading and successful societies around the world.
We hope the above tips will help the students develop a good reading habit that will help them in their academics and also daily life as reading is an eye opener.
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