I have always loved to read. I remember loving the Golden books as a child, begging my mom to read The Monster at the End of This Book repeatedly. As I entered my adolescent years, my love of reading grew. I devoured Nancy Drew books and kept a journal so I could track which books in the series I had read. My grandma was always a big reader, and she got me hooked in the mystery suspense genre as a young adult and they are still to this day the books I turn to and enjoy the most.
Being a busy working mother, with kids involved in so many activities, I found my reading decrease in the last several years. During 2017, I made a goal to read 2 books a month, a big change seeing in that I was only reading probably 2 books a year in the last several years. Making a choice to increase my reading meant I had to figure out HOW I could broaden my reading time.
There are several things I did to meet my reading goal and perhaps can help you increase your reading time as well.
- Make a plan: One of the many things I struggled with was deciding what to read. I am not one to just hit the bookshelves and decide on a book. I have a limited amount of time to read and so I rely heavily on recommendations from others. I started creating a What to Read list so when I was ready for a new book I could go to my list. I find recommendations from several sources: Entertainment Weekly, podcasts like What Should I Read Next? By Anne Bogel, and from Blogs I read by moms like me.
- Listen to books: I also began listening to audiobooks. This has allowed me to increase my reading substantially. Now I can listen while I am in the car running my kids all over town, doing dishes or laundry, or cleaning my house. I check out audiobooks with my library card on my iPhone through the Ohio Digital Library and Axis 360. The Dover Public Library and its friendly staff members can help you set this up.
- Quit it: Never finish books if you are not enjoying it. This was a huge breakthrough for me. When I finally gave myself permission to give up on books if I was not enjoying them, I was able to read more and more.
- Schedule reading time: I live by my planner and calendar, I am a huge scheduler and love to follow my lists and check completed tasks off. I decided to build reading time into my day instead of reading when it fit into my schedule. I scheduled 30 mins of reading into my bedtime routine. The added bonus is this also allows my brain to shut down for the day and I seem to sleep better.
- Find a reading guide or join a bookclub: The last way I increased my reading was by having some sort of accountability. I found a reading guide for the summer from the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog, which recommended books, based on genre. I also joined a book club, an online community that connected me with other readers and helped me stay on track with my reading goals.
With the tips listed, I was able to meet and exceed my goal for 2017 and I have increased by goal for 2018. I hope this list is as helpful to you as it has been for me.
Jamie Rieger
Fiscal Officer