Are You Overwhelmed By Your Reading List? by LA Bourgeois
Let’s welcome back LA Bourgeois as she shares with us “Are You Overwhelmed By Your Reading List?” Enjoy!
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Me too! Twenty-six paper books (and I don’t even know how many digital ones) still wait for me to crack their covers and discover a new writing technique or another tool for my creativity coaching. More get published each Tuesday.
Even more sit in the wings, waiting for me to stumble across them in a wander around a bookstore, newsletter, or blog post.
And these lists don’t count the book piles for research and pleasure, the novels and memoirs and nonfiction texts that make me tingle each time I touch their covers or sift through the library on my e-reader.
But how can we work enough reading into our days to make a dent in that To Be Read pile? We barely have time to write, let alone read!
Sound familiar?
So how can we read more? Or find the time to read at all?!
Don’t worry! I’ve got your back with some suggestions that will get you rocking that pile of books!
1) Start and/or End Your Day with a Book
Each morning of the work week, I start my day with tea, toast and ten pages. These ten pages usually delve into the writing craft or contain tools and inspiration to hone my creativity coaching skills.
With an average length of 200 pages, one craft book gets finished each month. This small bit of reading delivers an energetic boost to start my day.
As well, I end the day with some fun reading in bed. This could be fiction, a memoir, or an entertaining non-fiction book.
Reading these sorts of texts relaxes my body and mind. It’s also been proven to improve the quality of sleep we experience.
However, if you do your reading before bed on an e-reader or cellphone, make sure that your blue light filter is on as people who are exposed to blue light tend to have more sleep interruptions.
Though speaking of sleep interruptions, I have to admit that is where I do the majority of my fiction reading.
When I wake during the night (which is more often than I’d like to admit), I pop open my e-reading app and dive into the latest novel until my eyes close again.
2) Read in the Cracks
Reading in the cracks means finding those little pauses in your time throughout your day. That moment when you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, pharmacy, or post office.
I used to haul a paperback around in my purse, but now my cellphone delivers books to my fingertips. Anytime a spare moment pops up, words get consumed by my hungry mind.
Plus, this practice alleviates impatience and delivers a more pleasant experience when you finally reach the front of the line.
3) Read Audiobooks
Who says that words have to be read with your eyes?
I bet any blind reader would fight you on that point. Audiobooks can accompany you in the car, on a walk, as you do your chores.
I had a neighbor who read the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy while mowing. Another friend knits and listens to audiobooks while her husband watches sports.
Right now, Steven Rowley’s “The Guncle” joins Mack the Dog and me for our daily walks.
Audiobooks deliver knowledge and entertainment wherever you go. Give them a try!
4) Find Encouragement from a Reading Group
When I say “reading group,” I don’t necessarily mean a book club. Though that can be fun, too!
Reading groups are groups of people who like to read. And when I start hanging around people who like to read, I find that their enthusiasm seeps into me, influencing me to read more so I can share like they do.
For example, I love Litsy, an app built around readers and sharing books. You can also find groups of readers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media spaces.
Make friends with other readers! Though this can also cause your TBR to grow. Whoopsie!
5) Enjoy A Reading Retreat
In my perfect world, a reading retreat would be a place where all of my needs are supported while I read in a little cranny, curled around a cup of warm tea.
Making progress through a stack of books over a weekend, reading cozy mysteries, ingesting a difficult piece of queer history, delving into a luxurious bit of comic writing.
All while someone else makes my meals, tops up the hot water in the tea kettle, and suggests breaks from reading with easy walks to the local bookshop.
You can create your own reading retreat by rejecting all invitations for a weekend and devoting yourself to reading.
Make sure to schedule breaks every couple of hours to relieve your eyes and move your body. But other than that, you’re set to go.
However, if you’re already struggling to find time to read, then doing an “at-home” reading retreat might be too much. If so, consider taking a mini-break at a hotel or joining me at my Reading Retreat weekend this autumn in upstate New York.
Those are my suggestions, but I bet you have tons more ideas! How do you shoehorn reading into your day? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Reading!
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ABOUT LA BOURGEOIS
LA (as in tra-la-la) Bourgeois is a Kaizen-Muse Certified Creativity Coach and author who helps clients embrace the joy of their creative work and thrive while doing it.
Get more of her creativity ideas and techniques by subscribing to her newsletter at https://subscribepage.io/unlockyourcreativity.
