There are a lot of things you can do to improve your career success and the trajectory of your career, but few are as easy as picking up a book and reading it. Whether you’re an avid literary connoisseur or a reluctant reader who would really rather not if you read every day your career will thank you! Here are 5 career benefits of reading every day.

1. New Knowledge:

Although this primarily applies to reading non-fiction, there is a lot of new knowledge to uncover in every book you open. If you want to improve your career, you need to be prepared to continue learning and growing your skills throughout your entire life. Reading is a time-honored, traditional way of soaking up new knowledge that you can implement on the job.

2. Strengthened Analytical Thinking:

That’s right, reading every day sharpens your problem-solving skills because it strengthens your ability to think analytically! If you read on a regular basis, you will be able to make decisions that you’ve carefully analyzed and solve problems more efficiently.

3. Improved Concentration and Focus:

It takes a lot of concentration and focuses to read a book, while it takes none whatsoever to scroll through social media. For most of us, spending more time doing the latter has reduced our ability to focus and concentrate, which could be killing our productivity at work. The solution? Get off your phone for a bit each day and pick up a book. The ability to concentrate and focus for long periods of time is like a muscle, if you don’t use it regularly it will be too weak to work properly when you need it to.

4. Improved Writing and Communication Skills:

Whether you’re emailing coworkers, messaging them in Slack, or document projects, you probably do a lot more writing at work than you realize. And you certainly do a lot of communicating! One of the easiest ways to improve your writing and communication skills is to read on a daily basis.

5. Reduced Stress:

While watching TV at the end of the day may feel relaxing, it doesn’t actually help you reduce your stress levels. You know what does? Reading! That’s right, reading in the evening will help you wind down and reduce your stress levels right before bed, helping you fall asleep faster, get better rest overall, and wake up ready to start your next work day off with a clean slate.

Now that you know the numerous benefits you can expect from reading every day, you need to find the time to actually do it. This can be incredibly challenging for many busy professionals, but these 5 tips should help you find more time to read during the day.

1. Wake Up Earlier:

This is the least popular advice in the world but really is the most effective for finding more time in your day! If you can’t find the time to read, it may be time to set the alarm 15-20 minutes earlier so you can make time in your morning routine for a little bit of reading.

2. Read While You Commute:

Audiobooks still count as reading, I promise! Whether you commute on foot, by car, or by public transportation you can listen to an audiobook while you do it and get your reading done while you’re commuting.

3. Read While You Eat:

If you’re not eager to have a social lunch break with coworkers or clients you can sneak away to a quiet spot in the office and read while you eat. This will help boost your productivity and concentration skills for the rest of the workday.

4. Save Reading as an After Work Treat:

If you really enjoy reading, set aside one or two nights a week where you don’t turn on the TV and instead settle in with a nice book. This will be more effective if the material you’re reading is a book you’re excited to sink your teeth into rather than a dull, lengthy tome you feel like you should be reading.

5. Read to Fall Asleep:

Want to sleep a little easier? Read a book right before bed! This only works effectively if you’re reading an actual book because screens can be detrimental to your rest. But, if you have a book or an audiobook, get into bed 10-15 minutes earlier than you normally would and use this buffer time to read. It will help you fall asleep faster and get a more restful slumber and you’ll be happy you made the time to read.

If learning never ends then reading regularly shouldn’t either! If you want to boost your career with 5 distinct benefits and find more time to read every day, keep this article handy to reference in the future. And feel free to share it with anyone in your professional network whose career could benefit from this daily practice.

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