Finding Time to Read - Part 2
Yesterday, I talked about finding time to read and I promised you a few suggestions and ideas for ways I fit in reading right now (they may or may not work for you--take what works and leave the rest!):-Always have a book handy. I try to never leave the house without a book and I try to always have a book close by throughout the day. You never know when a few minutes might pop up where you can crack the book open and read a few pages.
This morning I read about 10 pages of a book while doing my stair-climbing exercises. Yesterday, I plowed through quite a few more while cooking waffles for dinner. Even if you only have a minute or two, you can get through a page or two in that time. And a page or two here and there adds up!
Please note: I'm not suggesting you walk around the house with your nose in a book oblivious to anyone and anything else, but do be alert for those little cracks of time and use them to your advantage!
-Read fast. Except for reading God's Word or something I really want to slowly digest, I've learned the art of speed-reading. I read fast and if I come upon a section of a book that I can tell doesn't apply to me, I normally just skim over it quickly. There's no sense in reading every word all the time--at least that's my mantra!
-Read a variety of books. One of the biggest ways to squelched enthusiasm for reading is to get stuck in a rut. I try to have a variety of books going at once that way I can pick up whatever I'm in the "mood" for. Sometimes I might want something light and practical, sometimes I might be more in the mood to challenge my thinking, sometimes I need encouragement. I also have found it helpful to read books of varying lengths.
-Turn off the TV. Seriously, this is probably one of the biggest reasons I have more time to read--I don't watch TV pretty much at all, ever, unless it's some major political or news event. In my opinion, reading is much more intellectually stimulating and profitable most of the time.
-Cut back on your blog-reading. You might find it strange to hear a blogger tell you to cut back on blog-reading and read a book instead, but I really encourage people to guard their online time and make sure it is being productively used. It is so easy to fritter away time by blog-hopping, I know all too well myself as I've struggled with this. I've personally set a boundary right now of only allowing myself to subscribe to 30 blogs on Bloglines. There are lots and lots of great blogs out there, so be particular so that it doesn't eat up all your free time!
-Set aside time on Sunday to read. At our home, everyone usually takes a Sunday afternoon nap--everyone but Mom, that is. Instead of napping, I usually have an hour or even two to read my Bible and read other books. I can often finish a short book in this amount of time or finish up another book that I'd been slowly plodding through all week. It is such a relaxing, refreshing, and encouraging thing for me to do on Sundays and a great way I've found to rest and recharge. In fact, it's normally much better than a nap!
-Read aloud to your children. This is a great way to get in extra reading time and it doubles as quality time spent with your children. We're reading through the Little House on the Prairie series right now and while it's written for children, I'm learning quite a bit myself. (I keep thinking how incredibly easy my life is compared to those pioneering families!) For more of my thoughts on reading to young children, see this post.
-Set goals for your reading. Keep it simple, though. The Girl Talk bloggers posted a great series encouraging us to read last year and I loved this quote from John Piper:
"One of the most helpful discoveries I have made is how much can be read in disciplined blocks of twenty minutes a day. Suppose that you read slowly, say about 250 words a minute (as I do). This means that in twenty minutes you can read about five thousand words. An average book has about four hundred words to a page. So you could read about twelve-and-a-half pages in twenty minutes. Suppose you discipline yourself to read a certain author or topic twenty minutes a day, six days a week, for a year. That would be 312 times 12.5 pages for a total of 3,900 pages. Assume that an average book is 250 pages long. This means you could read fifteen books like that in one year."Maybe you don't have twenty minutes to devote to reading every day, but perhaps you have five minutes? Make a goal to read at least five minutes five times per week and see how far you can get. You might be surprised!
Those are a few of my thoughts and what works for me at this season of my life. What about you? If you didn't have a chance to comment on the other post, I'd love to hear what your best tips and suggestions are for fitting in reading to a busy schedule. Also, just for fun, do you normally only read one book at a time or multiple books?
Graphic from AllPosters.com
Labels: Finding Time, Reading
posted by Crystal Paine at 9:15 PM
15 Comments:
I have found my best tip for finding time to read is to ALWAYS have a book...the minute I am finished with a book I find another one so when those opportunites arise I have a book. Otherwise other, less important, things get done instead of reading. I really like to read in the bathtub after a long tireing day
I LOVE to read and found it quite difficult to fit it in when we first brought our daughter home last March. Since then, however, as part of her training, I have been doing a daily "reading time". She sits quietly on the floor beside me and "reads" her books while I read my book. Elizabeth learns not only how to sit still and be quiet, but also that reading is important to mommy, too, and actually gets to see mommy read.
Elizabeth wouldn't sit still and quietly right from the start- she had to be trained, of course. :) We started with 1 minute and have built up to 20-30 minutes. She LOVES looking at all the pictures in her books and will smile when I look at her and say "Okay Elizabeth, let's gather our books. It's reading time!"
His,
Mrs. U
My tip is to listen to books on tape. I get mine from the library (I am in the UK, but I'm sure that you can do this in the US too). I then listen to them whilst I am doing other things.
I do try and not listen when my children are with me and need my attention. But it is a great way of cheering up doing the washing up!
I absolutely agree with all of your comments. I read more than anyone else I know and when I'm asked how I manage it, virtually no tv is my biggest answer, but using snippets of time and always always always having a book with me are definitely reasons as well.
I usually have 5 or 6 books going at a time (not including the Bible which I'm continually reading as well). They're all of different sorts so I don't have a problem with getting them confused, and that was I can switch around to whatever best fits my mood.
Related to the multiple books going at a time is the fact that I usually have around 50 or so (yes, 50) out from the library so I always have a great variety from which to choose my current reads. That's in addition to the books I own which I fit in with the library books.
I often read while breastfeeding. It is a quiet time for myself and my daughter. This often works for me while I nurse her down at night. While she is falling asleep, I am relaxing and having some down-time with a book.
We instilled in our children a love of books at a very early age. Now that they are 11 and 14, we all enjoy having our quiet time in our bed with a good book each night. At 9:00 everyone is in their room, ready for bed and reading before it's time for lights out. The girls enjoy it and hubby and I manage to get our quiet time in too (which I require in order to be able to function!).
Thanks for providing so many good ideas on how to have more reading time. I am always amazed at how people fill 3 hours or more a day with television and then complain they don't have enough time to do anything else. I also think it's a great idea to have more than one type of book on the go, then you never get bored with your reading choices.
Oh, and children will read if they see parents doing it and enjoying it.
I get a lot of reading done while nursing...sometimes this is part of one of my 7 YO's homeschool reading, sometimes just a book for me. I've managed to read at least a dozen books in the past three weeks or less this way.
And yes, I read a variety of things at one time...usually one fiction book, another about cooking, something about finance, something about parenting or marriage, something about health and in between, magazines such as MomSense from MOPS, Above Rubies, etc... .
Cathy
One thing that works really well for me in my current season of life is to use nursing my son as an opportunity to read. When my daughter (who's 3) is up and desiring my attention, it's a great time to read to her. When she is otherwise occupied, napping, etc. it's the perfect time for me to get in 10-15 minutes of napping (he's 9 mths now, so he's a quick nurser).
When my daughter was a newborn, I used nursing to get through the biggest novel I ever read (over 1000 pages), in addition to many other books. You can read a lot when a baby nurses 8x a day for a half hour!
I like the suggestion about keeping a book with me at all times. I don't go out too much, but there are often times when I do that I wish I had brought reading material with me. I think I will make more of a conscious effort to do that.
And so fun that you're reading Little House on the Prairie. That is one of my favorite children's series, and I was just thinking the other day that I would like to make that one of the next things I read with my kids.
I love the Little House books. I've yet to read the entire series and just might make that a challenge for myself. Crystal, do you know how many books are in the series?
Although they are mainly for children, I find them to be inspiring. Like you mentioned, we have it very easy compared to that way of life.
Which post were you referring to in your section about "read aloud to your children?" I believe there's supposed to be a link, but I can't find it. I would be interested in reading that post. Thank you!
"I love the Little House books. I've yet to read the entire series and just might make that a challenge for myself. Crystal, do you know how many books are in the series?"
There are 8 books in the original series, plus one other book that was completed after Laura passed away.
The titles:
LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE
FARMER BOY (her husband's childhood)
ON THE BANKS OF PLUM CREEK
BY THE SHORES OF SILVER LAKE
THE LONG WINTER
LITTLE TOWN ON THE PRAIRIE
THESE HAPPY GOLDEN YEARS
THE FIRST FOUR YEARS (final book mentioned above)
The books become more "mature" reads as the characters grow older.
I also recommend the BETSY-TACY series by Maud Hart Lovelace, which, like the LITTLE HOUSE books, are based on real people and which become more detailed as the characters go from childhood to teens. The B-T books are set in Minnesota in the early 1900s.
Best wishes,
Laura (a Laura Ingalls Wilder namesake!)
I use my time wisely. I read in the bathroom. Yes! While am sitting there any way I might as well do something productive. I can usually get a pargraph or two in. It's quite. Who wants to bother you in the bathroom.
Thanks so much for the list, Laura!
Thanks for this post Crystal. I am in the process of "catching up" on your blog, so I am a bit behind on the comments. You have been a great blessing. Linda
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