Time management has never been my strong suit. I struggle with the concept of time. I think I have more time than I have when I don’t, which can make me late at times. Conversely, I will think I don’t have enough time when actually I have plenty of it, which can make me actually lose time.
Time plain confounds me.
However, I have never had a problem finding time to read. Lately, though, this has been confounding me as well. Once upon a time, I could come home from work and spend hours curled up reading. Or I read late into the night on weekends. Not to mention reading on work breaks and lunches, on commercial breaks, or standing in line.
Since I’ve been working at my current job I have set the commute, my two breaks, and my lunch “hour” for reading. When I first started I could a read a book a week with just this time alone. It’s not a lot of time, but it’s enough.
Now I am finding other things encroaching upon my break time at work. Sometimes I don’t even take my fifteen minutes because I am too busy and I save it for my lunch time. And since I’ve started reading the New York Times, which takes up my whole commute time, I find I have seemingly less time for books.
I find this interesting as I’ve never had a problem making time to read. It could be I have too much on my plate. Or it could simply be that I just am in a reading slump.
I am curious about you, dear reader. How do you manage your time for reading, keeping abreast of the news, and your fellow bloggers? Do you have any tricks or tips? Are you a time management expert? Please do share your secrets in the comments. 🙂
a thinker
cloverautrey
izzybella
jehara
Margot
thebumbles
quirkygirlsread.wordpress.com 
I’m not great with time management but I always have an audio book going in my car, and I also listen to an audio book on my iPod at work most days. Then I have (1) hour at lunch each day and more time at home. I watch the news from 6-7pm each evening and for one hour in the morning as well.
i can’t seem to figure out how to put books on my ipod; however, i think i would find that distracting in my work, as much as i’d love it too. i take the train to work, which is my good solid reading time. it’s only a twenty minute ride though. what i am finding difficult is stealing evening hours to squeeze in more reading.
I’m pretty good with time management, although I wouldn’t think it applies so much to reading (because I KNOW I should sleep, which I love so much, but just one more chapter won’t hurt . . . ). For me, it’s a matter of place. For example, my commuting time to work on public transit is just for reading. My sitting time in front of the TV is for knitting. Before bed, it’s reading again. Everything else just struggles for attention . . .
commuting time is definitely reading time!! 🙂
i have stopped reading before bed because i can’t stop myself. i will stay up all night reading and that is just not good for me the next day. i am not a person that function on less than seven hours. it’s terrible, i know.
Like Diane, I “read” audiobooks on my work commute. The only day I’m really good about reading the paper is Sunday morning. I don’t have time to read every day, but usually I reserve a few hours on either Saturday or Sunday just for reading. I also keep my Nook charged and accessible in case I’m ever stuck in one of those situations where I’m stuck waiting for something.
Having said that, though I do have ebbs and flows where one month I’m reading a ton and the next month I just…don’t. No rhyme or reason. Sometimes I’d rather just watch a DVD. 🙂
definitely. sometimes i’d rather veg out than read. i think maybe i’ve just been too tired and too sick this year and that is affecting my reading. i have a difficult time focusing on reading when i am ill, despite the fact it is perfect reading time.
i do enjoy having my kindle handy in my bag for those stolen moments. i just need to block our more solid time, i suppose.
My only problem is stopping myself from reading incessantly. I read in the tub. I read before bed. Sometimes the book is so engrossing that I end up staying up far too late, which means I get up too late, which means I’m 5 minutes late for work, which isn’t great but my manager doesn’t mind, thank goodness. I don’t really care too much about staying on top of current events. I get the breaking news headlines in my email from CNN, and if something interests me I’ll go find out more about it.
i never watch the news; however, i do enjoy reading the paper. i do not like the AZ republic though so i decided to seek out other sources. and i was tired of reading news online. i wanted an actual paper with the arts section and everything. so i turned to the NYT, which I LOVE. it feels really good knowing what is happening in the world, as it is happening. i felt so out of the loop last year that i decided to make this change. but now i love this paper a little too much and it takes so long to read. it is sucking up a lot of my reading time. i am trying to find a balance for it all, which is proving difficult. 😉
p.s. i know you and your bathtub ways. hee hee
I’m not much for planning. I pretty much do things when I have to, but when I have to I get out a sheet that has a time schedule and plan my day down to the minute. If it’s a big event (like a wedding) I have a folder and plan when things have to be done month by month. I went to a training once for planning a Cub Scout Day Camp and believe it or not the planning method was so efficient that I use it for everything. They taught us to plan backwards and write down every detail that needed to be taken care of. “Take care of the details and the day will take care of itself.”
Before I started blogging I only read books when I felt like it. But since I’ve been participating in reading challenges I’ve found that I do have to plan my reading . . . sometimes I find it annoying and think I’ll give up on the challenges. But then I find them challenging and I like how it makes me stretch myself and expand my mind. So my reading schedule goes like this.
Week 1–take another chance challenge
Week 2–book club
Week 3–I read a book just for fun (no challenges)
Week 4–I choose from the other challenges I’ve signed up for.
Wednesday’s I read my chapters for War and Peace
Sunday’s I read a gospel doctrine book
As for blogging, I blog from 8 am to around 10 ish. I have blogs in my everyday folder that I read everyday. I read book blogs on Tuesday and I read photo blogs on Wednesday and Friday. I also make it a rule to clear my reader each day after I’m through reading. It’s hard when the posts pile up. I don’t blog on weekends and I usually spend monday–catching up with weekend posts.
Kaye, Your schedule is amazing (which seems to be a word I use about you a lot). I like how you have divided up your blogging for each day. I keep trying to stick to my blog-visiting schedule but I often get de-railed. Great idea also on your reading schedule.
wow, kaye!! you are so organized!!!
i fail miserably when i try to get this organized. i really like how you have different blog reading for different days though. great idea!
I wish I had the answer. If you find it, do let me know! I am in a constant struggle to find time to read. Between job, commute, family, friends, etc. there are only so many hours left in a day. I take it a day at a time. Some days I might get an hour or more to read, some days I might not have 5 minutes. I try to relax about it since this is something that really used to stress me out.
i wish there were more hours in a day for reading! reading itself doesn’t stress me out; however, not having time to do it sort of does because it is one of my favorite activities in the whole world. it is my pleasure and stress relief. so. . . not having time for it feels like i am missing a limb or something. it’s weird, i know.
I used to read all the time too. A couple of years ago I was complaining to my husband that I wasn’t reading much anymore. He wisely pointed out that I was still reading – just not reading all the books I used to. When I examined it, he was right. I was reading a lot on the internet – blogs, online stories, and other websites. So I’ve had to set limits to my online time and move back to the books I love. It’s hard because the online world is so attractive and interactive. It’s just a matter of priorities and balance.
so true, margot!! so true. B did point this out me a while back as well. it is difficult to find the balance of keeping up online and staying connect to physical books.
My designated reading time is at the gym after work. My commute only lasts about 15 minutes. At work I try to eat my lunch at my desk and read through my daily blog folders in my Feed Reader. When I get home from work I write blog posts and watch TV – including the news before I go to bed. So the only time left for reading is that hour at the gym each day. It makes the exercise painless and something that I actually look forward to.
I decided this year to more and better read. So I choose to spend less time on internet and TV, and to blog instead of stiching or knitting (I only do this by TV looking, two or three hours a week..)
I choosed to read the Bible while sipping my morning tea, and to read the books I read in english after lunch. I read the “serious” book after 5pm, at my desk, and less serious ones in bed. I have a big chance : I’m retired !
The absolute joy of retirement! We are bragging, Annie. It’s okay. We earned the right to spend an entire day reading, and in our nightgowns too, if we choose.