How To Make Time For Reading
Are you wondering how to make time for reading? You’re in the right place.
Imagine you have been dropped down from the planet Booktopia in a simple cross galaxy trip back from bookshop gone haywire. You find yourself on planet Earth and the stress immediately hits you… and it’s not the rising levels of CO2.
The love of your life- the large 8 part book series- resides safely in your arms. She is safe, that is the most important thing.
You begin to walk through town, the sky is grey and no one seems to notice you. It begins to rain, and not the freshy juicy raindrops that seem to make everything greener, but big, heavy bulbous things that make you shiver.
It’s busy and you can’t move through the hullaballoo of suits. A cat in the distance meows loudly as it faces the crushing prospect of being stepped on.
You’re hero prerogative takes over and you remember the laser stowed safely in the back pocket of your jeans.
Arms straight and reflexes of a ninja, you zap your way through the bustling crowd. The 8 books rock precariously as you zip zap your laser, stunning civilians in a momentary petrification. You cut your way through with elegance and grace, and scoop up the cat in your already heavy arms.
Now you have ten things in your arms, a cat, a laser and 8 very large books. It’s time to drop something.
Maybe we got away from ourselves…
Maybe we got away from ourselves… but the secret to mastering your time and reading more books may just be letting somethings go. We are hardwired to take in everything all at once, the bed needs making; there’s dust on the mantle piece; my partner didn’t clean his dishes; I forgot to do my taxes; and so much more. Our brains are lit up like a Christmas tree trying to find focus.
Look at what you spend your day doing. Most of it, granted, is stuff you may prefer to not do and is therefore not really a choice. Here’s how we can fix this.
Learn to prioritise time for yourself
Most of us feel we must be social as often as we are called upon. I say no. Hide away if you have a book good enough. Or better yet, ditch those plans at the bar and invite your friends to come over and read together. If your friends are real they will respect you taking time to yourself, you can always make it up to them at another point.
Ditch TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat.
I haven’t used social media in many of years. I used to delete it when I had exams at school and I was always blown away by how much time it gave me. The average person worldwide spends roughly 141 minutes on social media daily, which adds up to 51,465 minutes yearly. That is a lot of time you can’t get back. I do consume some social content, I have a real problem with YouTube reels at the moment, so I try to stay far away from them.
Set Goals, read first, watch tv later.
My goal is always to read a minimum of 50 pages a day. That doesn’t always happen of course, I’m only human, and not really from Booktopia. But I love to know I have met my reading goals before I get comfy in bed, this gives me the noble satisfaction of knowing whatever I choose to do next is extra. It’s like a big gold star on my to do list.
Set your priorities straight.
If you’re carrying too much you can probably put down books 2-8 of that book series, and that laser- you can keep the cat and book 1. Sit down and figure out what is priority 1 on your to do list, and navigate your list in order of importance.
Remove the Christmas tree lights.
No, not literally. But by setting your priorities right you are dismantling the distractions that are consuming your peripheral. Yes, you could probably just put a blanket over the mess in the corner, I won’t judge you if you did, but tackling it will bring you closer to focus. Maybe the taxes can wait.
Mute the notifications.
This is a real problem in my life as my partner will tell you, with no phone sounds and a screen time of roughly an hour a day, I lose my phone CONSTANTLY. And this, I believe, is the secret to reading lots of books. If you want to reach me you probably can’t. I don’t know where my phone is, but I do know where I stowed that 8 part book series for later.
Now you are a hermit, you live in a cave but at least it has twinkle lights. You flick back open your book you have been cradling like an infant and the world is suddenly purple again.
Happy Reading.
Check out the brand new witches book club on substack!
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