You should read more fiction. But why is this on a productivity blog? At first glance, productivity and reading fiction are not two things you would link together. But what if I told you that reading fiction can bring you joy and make you more productive in the long run? It’s a win-win situation!
The very act of reading itself has huge benefits for people in terms of health, stress and having a wider vocabulary. When we think about being productive, our minds turn to non-fiction. Books on forming habits and managing your time efficiently are usually what we think of first. Reading these kinds of books is of course a good thing. But let’s be honest, whilst these books are interesting and useful, fiction is fun. Fiction can take you to other worlds, drag you back into the past and ask you: who dunnit?
Not everything you do has to be productive but it’s nice to know that taking a moment to relax and read some fiction can indirectly contribute to how productive you are. So let’s run through some of the key points:
Reading Fiction Reduces Stress
Experiencing a certain amount of stress is practically impossible to avoid nowadays, with pressure coming from all different areas of life. But long-term stress can lead to health issues such as high blood pressure, anxiety disorders, decreased immunity and more. Stress affects both your body and mind, which in turn affects your quality of life. It affects your relationships with family and friends. It changes how effective you are at organising and completing tasks.
To keep being productive you need to reduce stress.
How? By reading.
A study in 2009 looked at the effect reading had on students’ stress levels. After reading for thirty minutes, there was a reduction in their blood pressure and heart rate, the variables measured to indicate stress. Thirty minutes. No matter how busy we are, we should be able to take a break and read for thirty minutes. Go one step further and go for a walk whilst listening to an audiobook.
Thirty minutes. Then you are physically less stressed.
There are plenty of other studies that show reading can reduce stress. So next time you are stressed and feeling overwhelmed, remember that taking a break is the best thing you can do for yourself. Then go grab a book and get lost in a new world.
Reading And Your Brain
Reading has some amazing benefits for your brain. Think about it, reading is a lot more complex than it first appears. It’s a process of eye coordination, image processing, language processing and understanding, which in turn is linked with our memory. So it’s not a surprise that multiple regions of the brain are involved in reading.
Reading regularly is like exercise for the brain, firing up neural connections that already exist, whilst creating new ones when you stumble across a new word or piece of knowledge. If you want to sharpen your mind and hone your memory, reading is the best place to start.
Indeed, there is growing evidence that reading regularly can prevent cognitive decline. One study, carried out over 14 years, found that those who read two or more times a week were likely to suffer a lower rate of cognitive decline. Other studies have found similar results and so for anyone worrying about growing older and the seemingly inevitable loss of cognition, there is hope.
Reading and Academics
Students who read more, fiction or non-fiction, tend to do better academically. Which makes sense because the more you read, the more exposure you get to words you haven’t seen before. Over time, because these words are introduced to you within a sentence, in a certain context, you get an idea for what that word means. So even without picking up a dictionary, your vocabulary widens over time.
Whilst not the first thing to come to mind, reading also increases your general knowledge. You could be reading a novel set in London, but you’ve never been there before. But by the end of the book you’re going to know more about London than you did before. And your knowledge will be gained passively. Sure there may be some paragraphs explaining council politics or housing facts, but characters actions and movement around London can tell you so much. A character could be described going onto the London Underground, scanning their Oyster card before and after. A passing comment from a character about the ULEZ system could inform a reader from Australia that yes, vans have to pay a daily charge to drive around London. All small little things but if you read a lot, you end up with a greater knowledge base.
Did you know reading more helps with maths too? Varying levels of problem solving and analytical thinking is involved in reading. Think back to when you last read a murder mystery. As more clues surface, you are constantly building and discarding theories as to whodunit. Maybe you read a crime thriller, trying to figure out how they are going to get away with a heist. Analysis and solving problems are all key skills in maths and studies have shown that those who read more achieve higher maths scores.
Reading Fiction Affects Your Empathy
There are also some nice benefits to reading fiction that you may not know about. Did you know, reading fiction increases your empathy? Empathy is defined by the Cambridge dictionary as:
‘The ability to share someone else’s feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person’s situation.’
Having empathy helps us be more understanding of those around us, their actions and their beliefs. Empathy is a vital skill and the good news is it can be learned. In fact, it is mostly learned skill that allows us to build connections to others, connections which studies show lead to lower rates of depression and anxiety. Our wellbeing is so important to not only our own happiness but to our ability to getting things done. In this way, reading fiction and increasing our ability to empathise, aids productivity.
For those in leadership roles, empathy is a required skill to interact positively with your team and also with clients. After all, their needs and your ability to anticipate them are interlinked to your success.
But what about non-fiction?
Unfortunately, non-fiction does not have the same effect according to research. This is because the narrative we read in fiction is not fully present in non-fiction. A narrative builds up a story and forms vivid mental images that allow us to connect with the characters we are reading about. Strong emotions tie these images to us and when we read the story from a character’s point of view, regardless of whether it is in first or second person, we are transported into that world and ‘experience’ their experiences.
Generally speaking, non-fiction does not do this. In fact, some studies have shown that reading non-fiction can make us less empathetic over time!
The exception to this perhaps, is a non-fiction with a narrative throughout, for example a biography. Written in a way that transports the reader ‘into the shoes of the person’, this would then be classed as a narrative. There is a bit more nuance to it than this and there are a lot of interesting studies out there if you want to know more, but for the sake of this post, these are the overall findings.
So never feel guilty about reading a novel instead of a non-fiction book that’ll ‘teach’ you something. Emotional intelligence is just as important in life and empathy is a key component of it.
I should write a disclaimer here and say I love reading fiction, so I may be a bit biased here. But the studies back me up!
Read More Fiction: A Summary
Reading is great for you. That’s all there is too it! Whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, we should all try to read a bit every day. Read what you like in whatever format you like, be it a physical book, an e-book or an audiobook – maybe a mix of all three. Just read. Keep an eye out for deals as well, there are lots of companies out there offering free membership trials, so reading doesn’t have to break the bank. Even physical books, think about buying second-hand or swapping books with friends.
The main point I would like everyone to take away from this is that it isn’t ‘better’ to read non-fiction over fiction. Sometimes I come across people who look down on fiction, see it as a waste of time compared to the more fact-filled non-fiction books. I hope you have never experienced this and I hope after reading this, you feel more secure in the knowledge that fiction is amazing for you.
Whether it be a cosy romance or an adventure in outer space, you are reducing stress, off-setting cognitive decline, increasing your empathy skills and passively learning all sorts of things.
So reading fiction really is being productive.
Hello! I hope you’re having a great day. Good luck 🙂
Thank you! I hope you enjoy reading something good today 🙂