MAKING TIME FOR BOOKS
This year I’ve set a big goal to read 50 books. This is a pretty big goal for me personally but I felt excited, energized & ready. I genuinely believe that by prioritizing more time with books I will eliminate some other negative habits & grow in ways I’ve been striving towards. I’m only a handful of weeks into the year but I already feel like I’ve made big shifts that have helped me keep pace with this goal— I’m shooting to read one book a week & right now I’m on book number 5, 3 weeks into the year.
Some background: I love reading books & always have. However, in recent years, I’ve been notorious for starting books & not finishing them, not because I haven’t enjoyed them but because I’ve bounced around from book to book without finding time to finish them. My reading habits have been completely sporadic. I currently work from home taking care of two toddler boys & running my own business. We don’t live near any family & our babysitter assists for an occasional date night every 6-8 weeks or so, our boys are under my watch 98% of the time.
When I decided to commit to reading more this year I took a long hard look at how I could carve out space & time (just like everyone else on the planet I felt like I didn’t have any more of to give) to read. The following are ways that I have planned on, & ways that I have stumbled upon, making time for books.
+ SET A GOAL. I was actually quite resistant to setting a reading goal for the year but once I did I felt a lot of clarity for what I was setting out to accomplish & how to break that down to the day-to-day. For some, a goal may feel discouraging, but since setting my goal I know that I am the type of person who is highly motivated by them. Sharing my goal with my husband, on my social media & on my Goodreads profile has made me feel even more accountable to making it happen. I landed on 50 books for 2020 as my goal for no other reason than it simply felt ambitious yet feasible & I liked the way 50 sounded. It boils down to about 1 book per week which felt exciting to me.
+ TRACK YOUR PROGRESS. Along the lines of a goal, I have been using the Goodreads app to track my progress towards my goal & it’s been very satisfying. I love marking a book as completed or updating my progress on a given book to see what percentage of the way through it I am.
+ SET SOCIAL MEDIA LIMITS. Reducing my time on social media has been the most significant way that I have found more time for reading. This has been a space in my life that I have been striving to reduce anyway, but having a good book to reach for has been a great replacement for it. On my iPhone I set the screen time settings for Instagram specifically to be limited to 1 hour of daily use. I’d still love to pair this down but for now this feels like a good starting point for me. I also replaced the Instagram app location on my phone with the Goodreads app so when I subconsciously go to open Instagram I end up opening the app focused on my reading goal.
+ BRING YOUR BOOK EVERYWHERE. Keeping my book at an arms reach from me wherever I go has helped me stay on track & use any random opportunity of downtime to pick up my book & read. I’ve found that squeezing reading into unforeseen moments quickly adds up over the course of a day.
+ UTILIZE AUDIOBOOKS. Do audiobooks count? Absolutely! And personally I love them for the books that I really want to read but know I’d get about 18 pages in & then move on from (again not because I don’t like it but because I get distracted). Audiobooks have been particularly awesome for times when I am driving, cooking or cleaning.
+ SANDWICH NON-FICTION BETWEEN FICTION. I looooove non-fiction books but, they just aren’t quite as gripping as fiction & that’s one of the reasons why I start so many NF books without finishing them. I’ve started using fiction to motivate my non-fiction efforts & I’ve found that fiction books have given me a lot of reading momentum. By having a fiction book to treat myself to I’ve been able to also devour my non-fiction desires. Win-win!
+ DESIGNATE READING TIMES. Reading every night at bedtime has become part of my routine & I have a set time for when I get into bed to read. My phone does not come into the bedroom with me & bedtime is now my designated reading time. I know others who do this with their morning routine, or read during naptime, etc. I think this will look different for each person but the main point is to determine when your daily routine reading time is & commit to it.
+ CREATE A TBR LIST. A TBR list simply means “To Be Read”. Through researching new books, reading reviews & talking with friends about books I’ve created an extensive TBR list. This list makes me excited, knowing that when I finish a book I have a variety of options to choose from next. Again, I use the Goodreads app for this & then utilize the library, my local bookstore or Book of the Month to get the books I want to read next into my hands.
+ REWARD YOURSELF WITH A NEW BOOK. This year I finally signed up for Book of the Month as a treat to look forward to each month to help me stay on track with my goal. I’ve also set certain targets & milestones where I am rewarding myself with a trip to the bookstore to pick up a new book. These incentives not only reward my progress but they contribute to it since a new book ultimately supports my reading goal.
+ TALK ABOUT BOOKS. While I’m not officially part of a book club, I love talking about books with my friends, sharing reviews & swapping faves. I love reading reviews on Goodreads & seeing what my friends are reading. In sharing about books I am experiencing another joy in my goal, connecting with others, which continues to reinforce the joys of books.
+ WRITE IT DOWN. Write down the ways you can prioritize more time with books & revisit your intentions often to stay on track, but most of all have fun & enjoy a good book.
Want more tips for making time for books?
I love these 13 practical tips from Gretchen Rubin & this blog post from Taylor Sterling really inspired me to approach my reading goal more thoughtfully.