Tuesday, February 20, 2018

Tell Me Something Tuesday: How Do You Find Time to Read?

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly discussion post on Rainy Day Ramblings where we discuss a wide range of topics from books to blogging.

This Week’s Topic: How do you find time to read?

Every Sunday, I participate in The Sunday Post, where I share the books I have read and whatnot, and many people often comment on how many books I read. I am flattered, but in all honesty, my life is the perfect storm for accomplishing this feat. 


Why I am able to read so much:
  1. I have a sort of long daily commute, and I take mass transit. Therefore, I use that 3-3.5 hours to read. 
  2. I am an empty nester. Now that I am no longer a real mom, I have a lot of spare time. 
  3. I watch a lot less TV lately. I feel like every time I get too attached to a series, it gets canceled. I have developed some trust issues and am very hesitant to watch any new shows. Less TV = more reading time. 
  4. I wake up early. I mean really early. I wake up without a clock by 3 am EVERY DAY. Since I can't really make a ton of noise, I read until 5:30am, which is when I take my shower and get ready for work. 
  5. I listen to audiobooks. Not all books work for me, but it is a great way to work through the contemporary romances on my TBR. I listen when I am driving, shopping, doing chores. I never thought I would like audiobooks, but I sort of love them now. 
  6. I carry my Kindle in my purse whenever I leave the house, and will read if I am waiting or eating alone. 
  7. I have always had trouble sleeping, and therefore, go electronics free one hour before I plan to go to sleep. I use that hour to read, since it is usually relaxing. 
  8. Confession: You know how it's socially acceptable to stare at your phone when you are at a family gathering or out to eat? Well, I make sure I whisper sync my current book with my Kindle app on my phone, so while everyone else is checking their feeds, I am sneaking in a chapter. (sorry, not sorry)
These are some of the ways I find time to read. How do you?

Now it's your turn!


How do you find time to read? 
Let us know in the comments!

48 comments:

  1. I can definitely see where you are able to fit in a lot of reading time. I am stuck on the fact that you get up at 3 am everyday. I can't even imagine.

    I can listen to audiobooks while I am at work which really helps me get through more books. I also make sure that I have a book on my phone or my kindle with me in case I have to wait around somewhere. I try to read at least a couple of hours in the evening as well. I get a lot of reading time during the weekends.

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    1. I spent 15 years being treated for insomnia and am over the moon, that I get 5 solid hours a night now. I sort of like being up so early. It's peaceful.

      I listen to audiobooks at work too, which is such a plus. Oddly enough, I am reading less on the weekends, but that is because I am not blogging, and use the weekends to write my posts. I used to read 2 or 3 books a weekend, and now I maybe finish one and a half.

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  2. I listen to audio-books when I walk the dogs and I make sure I read for half an hour after my alarm and for half an hour before I go to bed. Otherwise if I catch myself on Reddit and Twitter...I tell myself to pick up a book.

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    1. It's too easy for me to fall into the online blackhole, so I have allotted time for it. I used to lose myself on Pinterst. I just start pinning and I can't stop.

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  3. woah, that's definitely an early time to wake up!! I try and bring my kindle with me whenever I leave the house too, in case I end up waiting somewhere. Other than that, I don't watch a ton of TV either. :)

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. I used to love TV, but with some of my favorite series being canceled without giving me answers, I just cannot do it to myself any longer. At least most books give me the closure I yearn for.

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  4. Wow, that is an early wake-up time and such a long commute! But so much good reading time! My husband goes to bed really early, so I usually have a lot of alone time at night, and that's when I do a lot of reading.

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    1. I relish my quiet time. I guess after a decade+ teaching HS, I now savor the quiet and love doing quieter pursuits, like reading.

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  5. I always find it easy to read on a mass transit commute, it is easier to tune everyone out.

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    1. I would never survive my commute without my kindle or audiobook. People on the train/bus make me nuts!

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  6. Wow, I don’t think I could wake up that early. I read instead of watching TV. I also lock myself in my room at 8pm every night and read for 2-4 hours before bed.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. If you wake up early, you go to bed early. My eyes hurt so much, I don't stay up late. So early to bed, early to rise. It's all relative. 2-4 hours at night is amazing. I am too tired for that. I get a good 2.5 hours in the morning before I shower though.

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  7. I ride the school bus to school, but it's just a 15-30 minute drive. Also, I'm always asleep then because I have motion sickness. XD I usually read 30 minutes to an hour before I sleep, which is why I read so slow. T_T

    - Aimee @ Aimee, Always

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    1. I sometimes suffer from motion sickness too, that's why I sit up front. I do ok up there. Reading before bed is necessary for me to relax and it always works.

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  8. Oh my goodness I have to laugh at #8, it's so true that family is always checking their feed. I'm still can get over you get up at 3 am, that's very close to the time I go to bed because I enjoy reading when the house is quite and everyone is in bed. I rather be reading instead of watching tv, if I do watch I always record it so I can fast forward through the commercials.
    I do love audiobooks, I listen while cleaning, driving and walking the dogs.

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    1. Right! I used to berate my daughter for the cell phone and forbade her to take it out at family functions, but my sister's family always has their's out. So, I may as well use it to my advantage. I go to bed early, so I wake up early. I do not sleep more than 6 hours, ever. I also DVR my shows. Life is too short to watch commercials.

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  9. I am glad you have found so many creative ways to get in more reading time. You have your priorities straight for sure. Totally agree about the tv thing. I don’t like getting hooked on a show and then having it cancelled. I love audiobooks, they really make it easier for me to get lots of reading done.

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    1. TV has left me with so many questions. It think that is why I have not been too keen on starting book series either. My trust is shot.

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  10. Wow! You do know how to find reading time. I have also all but stopped watching TV shows, and just stick to the news, so I can read more. Plus it's so relaxing before bedtime.

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    1. I only read the news. It's so frustrating, but I need to be informed. It's just hard to find actual news and not opinion. I have to read the same story from like 10 sources, and then try to construct the truth. But yeah, reading always relaxes me and is perfect to get me in the bedtime mood.

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  11. I also don't watch TV :) and I've been listening to my text-to-speech books while I clean, etc :)

    You wake up at 3 xD when do you go to bed? I sometimes GO to bed at 3 xD I'm SO not a morning person.

    But other than that, our reading habits are quite similar :) <3

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    1. Isn't it awesome having the book read to you, so you can do something else? Multitasking!!!! I go to bed between 9 and 10 pm. I only sleep about 5-ish hours, but it's really good for me, as I used to struggle with insomnia.

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  12. OMG you wake up at 3am?! That is so very early! I'm a night owl so I prefer to stay up til midnight to read and then watch tv before falling asleep, though sometimes I only make it two minutes before I'm out. lol I still have 3 kids at home but I imagine when they are grown I will have more time to read.

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    1. The early thing is relative. I go to bed early, because my eyes hurt so much, so I wake up early. Without all my daughter's activities and a lot less laundry and cleaning, I have a ton of "me" time.

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  13. Finding time to read can be difficult - I have an 8 year old and a 5 year old (who isn't in kindergarten yet so she's home with me), plus a freelance writing job, the blog to update, and I clean and cook pretty much all the meals we eat. I have to be in the mood for an audiobook, which can be difficult to find time to even listen to, because I literally get 0 alone time.

    I know when my youngest daughter goes to school though I'm going to be crying at how much alone time I have to read, lol.

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    1. My daughter is 23, and I started pleasure reading again when she left for college. It filled the holes she left. Every step our babies take away from us is tough. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted all the actives and obligations back, just so I could have that time with my daughter again. It's been almost 3 months since I saw her, and I won't see her until grad school ends in May. It's terrible when our babies grow up.

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  14. You wake up at three am every morning? And here I thought I was a morning person. Since I became a blogger, I've been really bitter about having to keep up with T.V. shows. I could be using that time to read! So I've slowly been either stopping or reading/blogging while the television is on. I don't even know if I'm retaining much as a result.

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    1. I have always been a morning person. Even as a kid, my mother said I was up and about pre-dawn. I used to have to wait for the test patterns to go off and TV programming to begin again (yes, it was thing. I listened the the national anthem every morning before some shows came on). I definitely read more since my daughter left home. I think it's because we used to watch TV together, and I will blog while the TV runs in the background, though there are a few TV shows I pay full attention to.

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  15. I take my Kindle or a paperback with me everywhere. I love reading when I'm riding in the car.

    I totally get you on the trust issues. So many of my favorite series get cancelled. So I don't even watch too much anymore either.

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    1. TV has been letting me down big time, but the silver lining is that I am reading a ton more. I love ebooks because of how easy they are to tote around. My kindle is small, but I can also load up books on my phone, and I always have audiobooks on my phone too. I usually download them 3 at a time from the library.

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  16. Getting up at 3 am sounds exhilarating and scary at the same time. I probably couldn't function as a human being if I were to start waking up that early. I fell in love with audio books because I was having a hard time falling asleep. It's helped quite a bit as well! Knowing me, even if I had long commutes I would probably pass the time listening to music intend. I've been super picky with books lately. It's getting in the way of me trying to keep a reading average of 1 book a week :)

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    1. I like being the only one up. It's very peaceful. It's all relative. I wake up early, but I go to bed early too. One book a week is better than most people, and if you are listening to audiobooks too, you must be getting a decent number of books "read" per month. Audiobooks have been a wonderful way to pass time and help ease my anxiety when I have to go out shopping and what not.

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  17. And I thought I got up early at 6am (whether I have to work or not) lol

    I can't do audio or read on my phone or in public but I do read fast so I read a lot too.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. I am on my way to work by 6:20am. I liked so few things about teaching, but the schedule worked so well with my lifestyle. I would get there about 6am and was home by 2pm. It was awesome. There are quite a few people that are saying they cannot read in public. It is that you get distracted? I love to shut out the world with a book/audiobook.

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  18. I also travel by bus and subway a lot, 2 hours to read. Also, I don't have a TV so....But I'd like to try audiobooks again.

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    1. It took me a few tries to find audiobooks that work for me. I love contemporary romances and they are perfect for listening to. Fantasy books were a total fail. I just could not follow without having the words in front of me. Good things about mass transit: lots of reading time. =)

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  19. Number 8 on your list! I love it, lol. I confess that I do that at work since everyone brings their phones into every meeting and training session that we have. While they're checking their messages and doing who knows what else, I'll also try to sneak in a few pages.

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    1. Right. The Kindle phone app is awesome for sneaking in a few pages. It would certainly make any meeting better.

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  20. WOW. You wake up at 3!? I go to bed around 3 hah. I feel you though, I definitely have insomnia- but also I am just a night owl and I dont know how I will function in the real world. I read for generally around an hour to 1.5 hours in between blogging and TV time. It's... not ideal, but it's all I've got!

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    1. When I visited my daughter, I was waking up when she was going to bed too. I am used to this, but it's great. Lots of quiet time for me. But you read really fast. So, 1 - 1.5 hours a day can probably get you pretty far in a book.

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  21. Wow, I have no idea how you manage to get up at 3 to read?! It's crazy - though I get it, once your body is used to it, it doesn't feel weird anymore ahah :) It's so great you manage to squeeze in so much reading time! I have about two hours of commute every day so I use that time as much as I can to read a little bit, as well as my lunch breaks at work and some times on the weekends too :)
    Lovely post :)

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    1. I don't get up to read, I just get up. My body clock is set for exactly 5 hours from when I fall asleep. I have tried to change this, but I cannot. And I cannot fall back asleep either. Once I am up, I am up. Commutes stink but at least we can use it to read. I read on my lunch break too. I actually eat at my desk, because I am always worried about getting my work done and I take my "lunch" break really late, like 3pm. If all my work is done, I read.

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  22. Wow, I can't believe you get up at 3 am everyday. I could never do that, getting up at 7 is already enough of struggle for me. I usually don't read much during the week, because my schedule is too hectic, but once Friday hits I power through my TBR. I don't watch much TV either, and I feel like that's part of what makes it easier. Though the times I do start to binge watch a show, I start to fall behind on my TBR. I'm also guilty of #8! I read the majority of Abbi Glines's Sea Breeze series on my phone during family functions and I have no regrets.

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    1. When you read, you read like a beast. I am always amazed when I see all your reading updates. #8 is the best! It helps me survive family functions.

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  23. That is awesome! I have about and hour and a half commute time, rountrip, but since I drive myself I can't exactly read lol. I listen to a lot of podcasts during that time, but have not delved into audiobooks. I probably should though, right? lol. I also watch a lot of TV shows... ooops! Lol.

    For me, I actually find a lot of time to read at work! I'm a home care nurse and I take care of a 3 year old little girl, who is actually very stable, so there's not much that needs to be done with her besides monitor her airway. I read when she's sleeping and also when we go to preschool, as she is busy doing school work and playing. I also carry books/my knidle with me everywhere! I have actually needed to buy a new purse that's big enough to carry a Cassandra Clare book because they are so huge! Lol.

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    1. I listen to audiobooks all the time when I drive. It's just a matter of finding the books that work for you in audio. That awesome that you have that downtime at work. I listen to audiobooks at work, but I would rather read. =)

      I don't think I would have read a lot of fantasy books if I read them in physical book format. They are so long. But you know, ignorance is bliss. The kindle just tells me the percentage left.

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  24. I feel you on shows getting cancelled which you love. I feel like I can never get too attached to a show until it's been going a couple of seasons and by that point it's gone on too long and I can't be bothered to catch up.

    I remember I used to read a whole heap more than I have lately and the thing I find is I'm not reading as much on my commute. Also, I find myself doing other stuff with my freetime but I do think it's surprising how much freetime you can make for reading when you're motivated enough. Everyone reads differently, though.

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    1. I am almost afraid to like a show too much, because I fear that will get the show canceled. I swear! Me liking something is the kiss of death for that something. Even at restaurants, I will love something on the menu and then POOF! It's gone.

      Long commute + empty nest = lots of reading time.

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