And Now For Something Completely Different
When people ask me how I find time to read as much as I do, I don’t really know what to tell them. “Um, how do you find time to breathe?” I want to ask them. Because it’s pretty much that simple, for me. If I’m not doing a specific task, I’m reading. So here are some ways I squeeze in time between the pages (only slightly exaggerated for comic effect).
12 Ways to Find Time to Read When You Don’t Have Time to Read
1. Read when you eat. This is best done when eating alone, or your dining companion may feel offended. Breakfast is a good meal to do this: I read my Bible in the morning, enjoying a peaceful time with the Lord until my four-year-old interrupts, demanding a toaster pastry. I’m sure God understands.
2. Read on the way to work—if and ONLY if you take public transportation. I live in Texas, where commuters live in their cars, and I’ve actually seen people reading the newspaper while driving. Which is NOT OKAY, the rest of us sane people would like to warn you.
3. If you need to use that car time for books, get some books on CD. You can even check them out of the library for free!
4. Or download books onto your iPod. I wish I had one so my exercise time would go by faster.
5. Read at work. This probably only works if you have a job in which reading on duty is allowed. Two such jobs I’ve had: substitute teacher and library assistant. In Joshua Ferris’s novel of office life, Then We Came to the End, an aspiring novelist uses the office copier to copy a book so he can read it at his desk without being caught. I don’t think even I would go that far.
6. I read a lot when I nursed my babies. (Sorry, male people, can’t help you here.) Peaceful and relaxing for mama and infant.
7. Read during action/chick-flick movies that your sweetie insists on watching despite your complete disinterest. Be prepared to act like you’re paying attention during “the good parts” or suffer the pain of rewinding.
8. If you have dial-up internet service, read while you wait for the pages to load.
9. Develop insomnia and read to make yourself sleepy. I recommend the book of Numbers and economics textbooks. Unless you are interested in economics.
10. Lock yourself in the bathroom to read a chapter. When people knock on the door, call out, “Just a minute!” Do this until their requests become urgent. They didn’t really need the bathroom until then anyway.
11. Bring a book with you to the doctor’s or dentist’s office. Otherwise you’re stuck with dogeared magazines.
12. Go to your local bookstore-with-a-coffee shop. Enjoy your favorite coffee and some magazines or a book of short stories.
Happy reading!
12 Ways to Find Time to Read When You Don’t Have Time to Read
1. Read when you eat. This is best done when eating alone, or your dining companion may feel offended. Breakfast is a good meal to do this: I read my Bible in the morning, enjoying a peaceful time with the Lord until my four-year-old interrupts, demanding a toaster pastry. I’m sure God understands.
2. Read on the way to work—if and ONLY if you take public transportation. I live in Texas, where commuters live in their cars, and I’ve actually seen people reading the newspaper while driving. Which is NOT OKAY, the rest of us sane people would like to warn you.
3. If you need to use that car time for books, get some books on CD. You can even check them out of the library for free!
4. Or download books onto your iPod. I wish I had one so my exercise time would go by faster.
5. Read at work. This probably only works if you have a job in which reading on duty is allowed. Two such jobs I’ve had: substitute teacher and library assistant. In Joshua Ferris’s novel of office life, Then We Came to the End, an aspiring novelist uses the office copier to copy a book so he can read it at his desk without being caught. I don’t think even I would go that far.
6. I read a lot when I nursed my babies. (Sorry, male people, can’t help you here.) Peaceful and relaxing for mama and infant.
7. Read during action/chick-flick movies that your sweetie insists on watching despite your complete disinterest. Be prepared to act like you’re paying attention during “the good parts” or suffer the pain of rewinding.
8. If you have dial-up internet service, read while you wait for the pages to load.
9. Develop insomnia and read to make yourself sleepy. I recommend the book of Numbers and economics textbooks. Unless you are interested in economics.
10. Lock yourself in the bathroom to read a chapter. When people knock on the door, call out, “Just a minute!” Do this until their requests become urgent. They didn’t really need the bathroom until then anyway.
11. Bring a book with you to the doctor’s or dentist’s office. Otherwise you’re stuck with dogeared magazines.
12. Go to your local bookstore-with-a-coffee shop. Enjoy your favorite coffee and some magazines or a book of short stories.
Happy reading!
posted by Alison at
7/20/2007 08:44:00 AM
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