Your brain is a muscle; you must work it out, darling, or you will become cognitively lazy. Reading at least 20 min per day, every day, is an effective way to increase your cognitive ability. Yes, you can become smarter! The brain has neuroplasticity: the ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. New neural connections make it possible for us to think more critically and to be more productive.
Reading every day is not just for students studying for the ACT reading or the GRE. Reading every day helps us all become better thinkers, writers, and communicators. Find the time, and read every day.
21 Day Reading Challenge
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Day Four
Day Five
Day Six
Day Seven
Day Eight
Day Nine
Day Ten
Day Eleven
Day Twelve
Day Thirteen
Day Fourteen
Day Fifteen
Day Sixteen
DAY Seventeen
Day Eighteen
Day Nineteen
Day Twenty
Day Twenty One
5 suggestions to maximize your success:
- Read the article in its entirety. Skimming is not going to help you here. It's called a challenge for a reason; challenge yourself.
- Invite someone else to do the challenge with you. Sometimes a team effort helps with accountability and accomplishing goals.
- Read critically and ask yourself questions:
- What is the point of view of this article?
- What is the main idea of this paragraph and the article as a whole?
- Why would the author write this article? To entertain? To inform? To persuade?
- What is the tone of this article? Optimistic? Cynical? Informative? Apathetic?
- Identify challenging vocabulary.
- Work hard and have fun. This challenge is good for you. Take advantage of it.