From Plan to Action: Strategies to Help You Implement Your Reading Goals

You know that there are times when you are not spending your time the way you want to, but it just seems like nothing changes.

In today's episode, I offer some questions to ask yourself about how you’re spending your time, so that you can start implementing that extra reading time you planned for!

CLICK BELOW TO LISTEN

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. As always, I hope you're doing well, and I hope you are reading some great books. Today we're going to talk about implementing our plan to read, because as I've mentioned before, making the plan and implementing the plan are two completely separate things. So the last couple weeks we have been talking about doing a time audit in which we are going to start finding pockets of time or big chunks of time for our reading. Areas that we are not spending our time how we want to be spending our time. And then last week we talked about making the plan, finding that time, and saying “okay, this is the time I'm going to try to fit in reading.” And today we're going to talk about making that happen.

So I would bet that all of us at some point in time have said to ourselves, ‘I know what I “should” be doing. I know what I want to be doing; I'm just not doing it. And we just think or hope that we will get motivation, and we will just do that thing, but that very rarely happens. We need a plan. You can't really implement, on a consistent basis, without a plan. We need to be intentional. So today I'm going to walk you through some questions to get you thinking about how you're spending your time, how we can implement that reading plan, and some other tips for helping you start to be aware of your time and spending that time in a different way.

As I said earlier, because you are human (and not a robot!) I know you have been there: You know what you need to do; you know what you want to do, but you're just not doing it. Whatever the reason - you're not thinking about it, or it feels like you need more time in your day rather than these little chunks, whatever the case may be, you're not doing what you know you want to do. After today's episode, you're going to have some questions to start asking yourself, as well as some other tips to help you start changing how you're spending your time and start implementing that reading time. So let's dive in!

Number one, (or a pre-step, if you will): you gotta have the plan! You need to know where you want to start reading - the time in which you've allotted for yourself to read instead of…fill in the blank - instead of watch TV, instead of scroll on social media, instead of listen to music in the car. If you've listened to last week's episode, you may have already done this and If you have not you might want to go back and listen to that episode. We need to make a plan and it can be as easy as fitting reading time into a commute. So instead of listening to the radio, you’re going to pop in an audio book, or when you get done with dinner and go sit on the couch and usually watch TV until it's time to go to bed, you could maybe watch one episode of TV and then pick up a book or maybe you do want to check social media, but set a timer for 15 minutes (or whatever time you want) and then after that's done, pick up a book. Just begin to think and notice how you’re spending your time and where you are going to fit in more reading time. So that's really kind of the first step, or even a pre-step: You have to have a plan to implement it.

Then, number two: After you’ve made the plan and are in the moment, the question I want you to ask yourself is - is this how I really want to be spending my time? For instance, going back to the television example, sitting on the couch, watching TV, if you're in a habit of once I sit on the couch and I start watching TV, , I just watch TV until it's time to go to bed. I just binge Netflix. And so if you've watched the first episode and after one episode you say, I'm going to stop and read, but then you start watching a second episode and you just become aware that you are not following that plan, this is where the question comes in! Is this how I want to be spending my time? You’ve said that you can use this time for reading and do you want to be watching TV or do you want to be reading? As we ask ourselves this question, let’s also be realistic because if you’re at work and are thinking “Wow, this meeting is real boring. I would certainly rather be reading,” you might not be able to do that. So that is not realistic, unfortunately. So we are just becoming aware of our habits and patterns, so that it really then becomes a choice rather than a mindless activity that we just end up doing without realizing it.

And the second question, when you are realizing you’re falling into a habit or you’re not spending this time reading is “How will I feel later?” That could be later in the evening, later tomorrow, later next week or month. This is also a great question in other areas you are trying to make changes in. How will you feel later if you continue to spend my time in this way that you’ve identified could be used for reading or something different. And how will I feel later if you do spend my time reading or doing that thing that I said I was going to be doing? Personally I usually use this question when I need to walk on the treadmill! The plan you’ve made becomes an intentional choice of how you're spending your time rather than just mindless, and then you think “Oh my gosh, I sat on my phone all night. I didn't even realize it. I've wasted the whole night.” You start recognizing that it's a choice. Again, going back to the television example, if I'm watching a new show or a new season, (at the time of writing a new season of Only Murders in the Building is about to come out!) and I will probably be watching the new season a few episodes at a time. So in this particular instance, if I say, “I'm really excited for this new series or this new season, and I am going to watch a couple episodes , or, you know, spend a day binging the show” And I can say this is exactly how I want to spend my time today, and I’m happy with that decision - That's okay! Because it is a conscious choice I am choosing to watch more television right now, rather than read my book. However, if you find yourself on a regular basis saying “actually, I don’t want to be watching this much tv, I want to read more” going back to review these tips and questions. It’s really all about being aware and making a conscious choice rather than just going through the motions.

Lastly, as we go through the questions and figuring out if this is how I want to be spending my time? How will I feel later if I spend my time in this way versus reading is to be compassionate it with yourself; to be nice to yourself. Because starting to increase awareness and trying something new, can be really difficult. It's not going to be perfect. There will be times when you are not aware and you are mindlessly scrolling social media. And be nice to yourself. When you do become aware don’t judge yourself and say things like “you're such a loser because you said you were going to read and you spent the whole night on Instagram.” Just recognize and acknowledge it, for instance “Oh, I wasn’t aware and that's because that's what I've been doing, and my brain just fell back on that. It didn't have to think about it.” Then, maybe the next day you can try and be more aware and intentional.

So just to review, obviously you need a plan! Then the first question to ask yourself is, “is this really how I want to be spending my time?” The second question, “how will I feel later if I continue to spend my time in this particular way? And how will I feel later if I do pick up the book that I made the plan for that I said I was going to do?” How will I feel knowing that I followed through on something I said I was going to do? And then last and always most important is to have self compassion. Be nice to yourself about it. You're doing something different. So I hope that is helpful, not only in reading, but in other areas of your life that you may be wanting to make a change in, but we are certainly here for more reading! I hope that gets you to start thinking about making intentional choices with your time, and how you want to be spending it.

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.

Also, if you've enjoyed this podcast, it would mean so much to me if you head over to Apple Podcasts and rate and review this podcast so that other book nerds can find it. And until next time, fellow book dragons, keep those pages turning.