I wish I could open this post by saying I’d found the magic one-step solution to never having enough time. I wish I could say I’d finally figured it out and that I’m here today to share my perfect solution for reading endlessly when you seemingly have no available hours, but the reality is that I’m struggling more than I have in a long time to find any real time for reading.
The fall is always a particularly busy time of year for me, but this year has been nearly unmanageable. It’s my busy season at work (though admittedly there seems to be no other type of season lately), I have heavier travel requirements than I do in the rest of the year, kids activities have commenced again, and to top it all off, the daycare colds have already started. Layer on trying to keep my house even minimally presentable, ensuring everyone is eating healthy, trying to get in some exercise, and an additional travel schedule to see family and I am pretty much collapsing into my bed every night without a second thought for my book.
So how exactly am I reading anything at this point?
Earlier this month I sat down during baby girl’s nap time and looked at my entire life to try to figure out how I could squeeze out any time at all for myself, and what I discovered was that I could find small pockets of space, but they were largely unpredictable.
Sometimes, I can get in 15 minutes of reading in while baby girl is entranced by Elmo.
Sometimes, I can get in 10 minutes if I take my book to an appointment and read in the waiting room.
Occasionally I can swing a handful of minutes before my day kicks off if my husband has done daycare drop off and I happen to be running ahead.
None of these timeslots are guaranteed but ensuring that I’m prepared with my book when they do occur is slowly starting to make a difference.
Gone are the days where I had three uninterrupted hours in the evening to sit with a book. A lot of days, I’m lucky to read 10 pages. But that’s my current reality, and rather than coming at reading with an all or nothing mentality, I’m just doing my best to squeeze in little bits of time for this hobby that is so close to my heart.
All of this to say: I am very much in a slow reading season. My large book reviews are slowing down in favour of appreciating reading in real life. This might mean 20 minutes before bedtime, or an audiobook on the commute to work, or even savouring one book over multiple months without feeling rushed or the pressure to start the next new release. Life is really chaotic right now, but it’s also really wonderful. I want to continue to balance my love for reading with my love for the rest of my life too, so how I show up here with that in mind may look a little different.
So after a long hiatus, I’m happy to say that my intent is to be back to the blog much more regularly, but also with much less pressure. I have a huge backlog of reviews I’d like to make it through, but they’ll largely be released over time and mixed in with other snippets of what reading in real life looks like during this wild season of life.
How are you currently squeezing reading into a full life?
