When I Make Time to Read

I like to read.  A LOT.  As an introvert, I need a certain amount of silent recharge time in a day or I feel like all my nerves are completely fried.  This happened recently, on a day where, after working from home for an hour and eating lunch, I had planned to spend the rest of naptime finishing a blog post and reading.  Then Matt called to say that he could get off work early so we could look at a vehicle we were considering buying (that could hold 3 kids in carseats/boosters so we are ready if we get that 3rd baby we are listed for).  We already had a few things going on in the evening and I KNEW it would make the evening easier if we looked at the car now.  Especially since I should be test driving the car since it'll be the one I'm driving with the kids.

I debated, checked to see if Sam was awake and then we went to do the test drive, dangerously close to when we needed to get Luke from school.  Thus, I lost my reading and blogging time and didn't get it back in the evening since I had to parent then.  And by the time we got home from all the things I was just DONE.  I couldn't take the noise, couldn't take the decision making, I needed silence and now.  Matt took over homework and after school snacks and let me go upstairs to sit in relative silence to read for 20 minutes and by the end I felt much more human.  Turns out, I was also hungry but getting in that quiet reading time that I had missed out on earlier in the day was SO important.

Knowing I need quiet reading time is something I've long known but seeing it played out so recently was really eye-opening.  It's become even more important to me lately to make sure I have that time built into my daily schedule.  Also, I always have books I want to read, always have books almost due back at the library, and I always want to hit at least 10 hours of reading time during a week (this doesn't always happen).  I also hate wasting most time and so using my time effectively and efficiently during the day is important to me.  ESPECIALLY those precious nap times when Luke is at school and Sam is napping and I get a house completely quiet, unless I choose to turn on a podcast or music or the tv while I work (95% of my solo tv time in a year is having the tv on in the background when I am working from home).

So when do I read?  And read enough to finish 175 books each of the last two years?  Well, I am glad you asked.

1) Before Bed
I read before bed at least 360 nights a year.  The only time I can think of that I didn't in all of 2019 was the night I got home from my Backstreet Boys concert at 2am.  And even that one I'm not 100% sure that I didn't read before bed.  Some nights it's just 10 minutes.  Some nights it's an hour.  Often I am staying up past my "bedtime" and reading more than I planned because I can't put a book down (or am determined to finish it before it's due back).  I probably get in at least 5 hours of reading before bed in a week.

2) In the Pick-Up Line
I don't know how much longer I will be able to keep this one up because Sam is, shockingly, not entertained by me reading to myself.  I walk to get Luke from school in the fall and spring but through the winter I drive (50° is my cutoff, and not raining) and we're usually sitting in line at least 10 minutes that I can read.  We're about to turn Sam's carseat around with his 2nd birthday coming up so once that happens I might have to take a tip from my sister and use that time to read to him in the pick-up line.  But, for the last year-ish, that has been some reliable reading time for me.

3) During Nap/Quiet Time
I've been playing with how I use my treasured naptime hours over the last couple weeks and that, along with working more hours this year, means I usually don't get as much reading time in during naps as I would like.  Ideally, I'd like at least a half an hour of reading time but even that is pushing it somedays.  It does take some discipline to pick-up a book instead of my phone.  Or not to get lost in tidying up the house.  Weekend naps, when I'm usually not turning on my computer, are more reliable, especially on Sundays.  I've had Sundays where I've gotten in 4 hours of reading and I've discovered that that is about the max I can do in a day.  But it really helps me speed through some books on the one or two times a month I can get that in!

4) When the Boys are Awake and Around
It's not often that I get to read when the boys are awake and around.  It's pretty much only if I have a book I Can. Not. Put. Down. that I try to sneak in some reading time when they are playing (or asking me for things) nearby.  It happened recently, after we had finished homework and they had both had snacks and there was no pressing food prep to do, and I was excited to make progress on my current book (this one) in the late afternoon.  But that doesn't even happen every week, it's just SO RARE that I have nothing else I should be doing, like parenting or making supper.

5) Evenings without TV
Matt and I are doing a variation on this this winter/spring and so that means we do not watch tv together during the week (we do on Sunday evenings, Fridays with Luke, and Saturdays a movie together).  There are a couple weekday evenings that I specifically work on computer things - Mondays I update photo books and Wednesday I do our bills.  But that leave Tuesday and Thursday without screens.  So we talk and I prep for the next morning but we often end up with extra reading time, like an extra hour which is awesome.  That has really helped on some of our busier weeks where I just don't get the reading time I plan during the day.

6) Special/Rare Occasions
I read in the car when we are on long road trips, I read more on vacation.  Occasionally, super occasionally, over summer or Christmas break, the boys sleep in enough that I can get in working out, showering, getting around, AND still have time to read before they are awake.  This is rare but so enjoyed when it happens!  The couple times a year I go to a doctor's appointment solo and get in some reading while waiting.  There are also the occasional times Matt takes the boys to go somewhere or run an errand with him and I have the house to myself, also super rare because willingly taking an almost 2 year old on an errand when he doesn't need to go isn't something we subject ourselves to often.   Or Matt's getting them out of the house so I can get in some more time working.  But I really do treasure those bonus reading times when I get them!

My weekday goal is to read for 1 hour and 15 minutes each day, Monday - Friday.  I can usually get in a few extra hours on the weekend to get to 10 hours for the week.  I am writing this in a week where I haven't hit my 75 minutes a single day this week when last week I had my best reading week of the year.  That's life!  Sometimes I can get in more reading times than others!

I know my sanity and mental state is much better when I do get it in.  Getting some time for me is so helpful in keeping me in a good head space to parent and do all the household things I need to do.  I can better give my boys time when I've had a little time to myself or know I have some coming later in the day.  Reading is part of my self-care and I enjoy it so much!