How to Make a Plan for Reading Time in a Hectic Schedule
Do you ever find yourself saying “I wish I had more time to read” ? Check out today’s episode to find out how to find time in your busy schedule!
In today's episode, I help you figure out a realistic plan of action, so that you can begin putting reading time in small moments in your day.
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Full Show Notes (Transcript)…
Hi there, I'm Stephanie Leopold and I am excited to welcome you to the Readerly Collective Podcast, where bookworms unite and geeking out is highly encouraged. Join me as we explore the world of books in the reading life, celebrating all types of readers and all types of genres. Grab your favorite beverage, cozy up in your reading nook, and let's dive in.
Hey there, fellow readers. You are here because you love books! Well, I have a special gift for you. I have a free audio that guides you through the five questions for your reading life to help you get the most out of your reading life. Head on over to www.thereaderlycollective.com/5questions. to grab your free audio.
Hey there readers! Welcome to another episode of the Readerly Collective podcast. I hope you are all doing great and reading some great books. Today, we're going to talk about making a realistic plan for adding more reading time to your life. In last week's episode we talked about a time audit, in which we start to examine how we're spending our time: if we can find little pockets of time or big chunks of time, that's even better! Ways to fit more reading in, and today we're going to talk about making the plan to actually read.
So, if you're a human and not a robot, we all know what we ‘should’ be doing, what we ‘need’ to be doing, what we want to do, but we just don't do it. That can be true in any aspect of life, and this happens because we just hope or wish that it's just magically going to happen. And that's a beautiful thought, but most things happen with a plan and with intention, which is what we're going to talk about today. You've been there - “I know what I need to do, but I either don't want to, I don't know how, or I just don't think about it in the moment.” After today's episode, we're going to talk about starting to be more aware of the time we have and where we want to be spending that time so that you can have the plan for more reading. And we're going to talk about implementation next week because making the plan and doing the plan are two completely separate things. Today we're going to talk about making the plan. So stick with me - we're gonna figure out how we can make intentional time for reading.
The first step, and it's probably the most important, is it needs to be realistic. I have had many clients, and I myself have said this before: “can we just quit our jobs and read? That would free up a lot of time, that would be so great!” That would be a wonderful universe, however, that is absolutely not realistic for most of us to quit our jobs so that we have that chunk of reading time. So, let's make it realistic. What is doable for your schedule? What is doable for your phase of life that you are in, or that your family is in, or that your work is in, that will actually get you some time to read? Maybe you think you want to start reading on your lunch break. That may be a great time for you to read, but if you know during your lunchtime that you’re usually with other coworkers or employees and you get interrupted a lot, maybe that's not realistic, right? So , another example (from personal experience) is reading before bed, which I still love to do. Realistically, for me, if I lay down and start reading, I am not going to make it very far before I actually fall asleep. So while I do still read before I go to bed, I know that I'm just not going to be able to read a lot; maybe a couple pages, if I'm lucky. If I am really enjoying the book and I want to set a chunk of time aside because I really want to get into it and see what happens, I know that that's not going to be before bedtime. So, realistically, think about what works for you, what works for your schedule, and what works for your time of life that you're in.
On to number two. Just like the time audit where you are examining and observing with no judgment, it’s just data, making a plan where you're finding time to read may also be trial and error that you will have to examine with no judgement. This is true especially if you are trying something new. For instance if you don’t typically read before bed, but want to try that out, then you may find that you can only read a page or two before you fall asleep, or maybe the flip side of that coin, is you are so involved and enthralled in the story that you stayed up till 2:00 AM and finished the book and then were tired at work the next day. And maybe we also don't don't wanna do that. We're just going to observe it; it's just data. We are just going to figure out what works, what doesn't, with no judgment because we all just want more time to read. And even if you're trying it and it's not working out, guess what? You're still getting some reading time in - maybe it's only five minutes but it is what it is.
Next, after examining where you're spending time where you don't want, and putting reading into that, it still may be small chunks of time. You may not have hours that you can free up to read. It may look like “I have found 15 minutes here that I want to try and get some reading or listening to an audio book in, or I do have 30 minutes, or I've got 10 minutes.” Even if you start with 10 minutes, (I know it doesn't sound like a lot), but 10 minutes reading a book will still get you through to the end of that book, versus ‘it's only 10 minutes. I'll do something else, I'm not gonna read unless I have a lot of time".” And then we get back into this idea that “I’ just not doing the thing I ‘should’ or want to be doing.” Even ten minutes here and there, you will finish a book! It may take you longer than reading for hours at a time, but you'll be reading!
I can't stress enough that it’s about doing what works for you, making it realistic, no judgment. It's just information, as you are trying to adjust how you're spending your time. I also want to point out this isn't going to be perfect, right? If you have been in a pattern for a while. And you're used to, let's say, sitting on your phone after dinner or during your lunch break, there are going to be times where that still may happen, even though you've made a plan to read. You still may have moments, or times where you'll realize later, “ Oh gosh, I was sitting on my phone all night and I wanted to be reading.” Have some self compassion. Habits are hard to break; not impossible, but difficult.
Next week we're going to talk about how to implement those plans because again, making the plan is great and then doing what you planned is a little bit different. So, make a realistic goal of what works for you. This may require some trial and error, and recognize this may be in small chunks. If you are able to free up an hour in your day, I mean, how fantastic is that? But for those of you who are busy humans, as most of us are, just recognize that if you only read for 10, 15, 30 minutes a day, you're still reading and you're still building that muscle and that habit. So keep going. You're doing great!
Before I hop off, I wanted to let you know, if you are listening to this, live-ish, in the month of August, I want to invite you to a dedicated reading hour that I'm going to be hosting over Zoom. And that is going to be Saturday, August 24th at 10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern, 12 noon for all my Central Standard Time people. You can go sign up for that and learn more about that at www.thereaderlycollecitve.com/august2024. I hope to see you there! What a better way to get more time, make more time for reading than to join us for a dedicated hour of it! And also, if you have a cooler name, suggestion, reach out and let me know. And until next week, friends, take care
Well that closes another chapter on this week's episode of the Readerly Collective podcast. Remember the conversation doesn't have to end here. Connect with me on Instagram at the Readerly Collective or over in our Facebook group. All you have to do is search the Readerly Collective.
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