I am always on a relentless pursuit to find ways to squeeze more reading into my day. Too many books and not enough time is one of my life’s biggest struggles. I prefer long reading sessions, but those are difficult to find time for, especially during the work week. Below are the ways I find time to read every day.
Bathroom Reading
The bathroom is my favorite place to read. I find that bathrooms consistently have excellent overhead light for reading. Bathrooms also offer quiet time alone where you can get some serious reading done. At least until your pushy pug forces her way through the door and stuffs a soggy toy into your lap. To make the reading experience even more immersive you can find a playlist for reading on Spotify. There are many and you can even find one that matches the genre of your book. Most times I find myself reading on the toilet long after my bowel movement is complete.
Reading Rewards Between Chores
This method may only be effective for the true book lovers, but I enjoy using reading as an incentive to get chores/tasks done. Some days there’s no motivation to meal prep, do laundry, take out the trash, clip my toenails etc. So, I turn my to do list into a game. I reward myself by reading 10 pages or a chapter after completing an item on my to do list. I consider this a healthy form of procrastination.
Cardio Reading
Recently, I tried combining reading with one of my other favorite hobbies, fitness. Normally when doing cardio, I stream a TV show on my phone. I’ve tried audiobooks in the past but found that my mind wanders without having printed words to focus on. I find myself constantly rewinding to hear back portions of audiobooks I missed, while I was daydreaming of buffalo wings. Since I’ve been doing more cardio recently, I’ve been determined to get some reading done at the same time. Luckily, I do low impact cardio. I either use an elliptical or walk on a treadmill set at an incline. If you’re a jogger I’d imagine focusing on printed words as you bounce up and down can be challenging. Hopefully in that case audiobooks work for you. I choose one book as my cardio book, and I only read that book when doing cardio. If I pick a book that I’m excited to read, there’s extra motivation to get to the gym each morning. While I prefer physical books over electronic, it’s been great to get some use out of my neglected Kindle. Whether you use audiobooks or eBooks the Libby app is an excellent resource for downloading free books, many libraries are connected to Libby.
Reading to Start and End the Day
I try to begin and end every day with some reading, even if it’s only 5-10 pages. When I’m not starting my day with cardio at the gym (where I’m likely reading anyway) I enjoy reading a few pages while sipping my morning coffee. My bed routine, which always leads to a great night’s sleep is putting my phone on do not disturb and reading. How many pages I read depends on how tired I am and how exciting the story is.