Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Losing your reading rhythm

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Losing your reading rhythm

    I started a new job in April and I have to wake up most mornings at 5am to attend meetings with people in UAE. This has messed up with a lot of things, but works out well with the school run.

    However, what has really got knocked off kilter is my book reading. I can't find a time to enjoy reading and if I'm not reading regularly, I find it hard to maintain the habit. I'm too tired at night, due to the early mornings and I have less free time than I had before, so there's no free hour after catching the end of Countdown.

    I guess this could go in World, because exercising has also gone awol. But then you see something like Barrack Obama's end of year book list and you think, if he can read that much, why can't I? I enjoy reading so much when I get in the habit of it, but then I go for a year or so without reading a thing and I want to avoid that.

    #2
    I can empathise with the getting up at 5am (actually 4.30am in my case) and then being too tired to read in the evenings. These days, I quite often put podcasts on before falling asleep, but generally hear no more than one or two sentences of them and have to replay them after getting up.

    It's train travel that's saving my reading. I have a 30-minute commute to and from work, and I read during that. Though perhaps if I didn't have that, I'd get up later in the mornings and thus feel more like reading in the evenings.

    Comment


      #3
      I've started a regular 15 minute period reading with my son most nights. He reads his book, I read mine. That's a really nice way to encourage more reading for everyone while working it into the daily family routine and winding down for his bedtime. It's sort of a win-win-win situation or something like that.

      Comment


        #4
        I haven't read many books in almost a decade. After I had that head accident, I couldn't follow the text very well so I got into Audible books so that's now my preferred format, for better and worse.

        I've never had the patience for books. I can never read fast enough.

        Comment


          #5
          I don't mind admitting I'm often a fairly slow reader. If I like a page or a passage, I often end up re-reading it. Plus, books are often really goddamn long, aren't they? Like gigs, it's often rare to find ones which you think 'hey, that was too short'

          Comment


            #6
            Reading is about the only applied intellectual activity I've time for these days. Being a carer and housekeeper take most of my waking hours, so photography, writing and other applied pursuits take a back seat. I've always a book or Kindle with me to kill time in waiting rooms, coffee shops or other stolen moments. Fortunately I'm a fairly fast reader, unfortunately my declining retentive memory sometimes makes it hard to remember much about what I've actually read!

            Comment


              #7
              I just get so discouraged by all the books I haven't read that I should that I've just sorta given up.

              Comment


                #8
                A fair amount of the time these days when I'm out and about I read a book in large part as it avoids running down the battery on my phone. Particularly when travelling.

                Comment


                  #9
                  The pandemic broke my reading mojo and its not come back yet. I set myself a target of reading a book a month this year. I've read two and it's almost June.

                  My book group going on hiatus hasn't helped.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    If I devoted my OTF time to a book, that might be more productive.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      YouTube has ruined reading habits.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        One of my usual approaches to regain my rhythm is to just start a new book, which is especially easy in the age of 99p bargains on Kindle. But not even that is working right now.

                        I had a great run between February and April, I think I read 5 books and only 2 of them were music related. Musician biographies are my happy place, I try to limit them, but may need to crack open a new one in an attempt at getting back into the groove of things.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Mine went out of the window when after two years shielding I opted to avoid train-tube travel into central London to work and opted for the hell of the M25. One year later and the TBR piles hardly been touched. Half way through the first book in ages after returning to the train-tube commute this week.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by diggedy derek View Post
                            I've started a regular 15 minute period reading with my son most nights. He reads his book, I read mine. That's a really nice way to encourage more reading for everyone while working it into the daily family routine and winding down for his bedtime. It's sort of a win-win-win situation or something like that.
                            That sounds lovely, how old is he?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha View Post

                              That sounds lovely, how old is he?
                              He's 11. We all love it.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Lots of books seem designed for commute reading, and have fairly self-contained, independent chapters. Two recent ones I've enjoyed are The Dueling Neurosurgeons: https://www.amazon.com/Tale-Dueling-...s%2C102&sr=8-1

                                and Mine:
                                https://www.amazon.com/Mine-Personal-Space-Ownership-Shapes/dp/1786497816/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2IG68JDI6N8PO&keywords=mine+book&q id=1685145375&sprefix=mine+book%2Caps%2C797&sr=8-4

                                These would certainly fit half hour commutes and other short time slots for reading.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  I can’t remember if I lost the book thing before the pandemic, but I think I did. I drive to work, which removes a sizeable bit of time. I could listen to audiobooks then, but with podcasts and music there’s not the time. I could read during work lunchtime but tend to catch up on OTF. Evenings are usually in front of the TV with Mrs. S, and I will also have the iPad in front of me for OTF, watching bike races or doing fantasy sport games. That just leaves before bed, when I will read between zero and ten pages before nodding off.

                                  But I think the “ability” has gone; when we were away in March I did no book reading. Also I think my attention span has been smashed.

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    Originally posted by diggedy derek View Post

                                    He's 11. We all love it.
                                    I'm hopeful this is something we can do with our daughter too, she loves books and has learnt to read well for her age, she's only in reception.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      I can not begin to fathom how anyone can lead a life without looking forward to a huge pile of books still to be read. Don‘t be stressed by them, think of them as a pleasure yet to be experienced.

                                      Since insomnia hit me in middle age, I‘ve taken to getting up in the night and going to read, rather than attempting and failing to get back to sleep. I especially love the time between 5 and 7 with the first coffee of the day and something ambient coming out of the speakers. Peace, caffeine and literature - best part of the day.

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        A fellow 'pandemic hit my rhythm' victim here. I used to get through one or two books a month while commuting, but since 2020, I've probably read no more than six or seven books in total. Returning to commuting two days a week, I had hoped to get back into the reading habit, but my commute is now much shorter (20 mins on the train) which isn't quite clicking yet. This hasn't been helped by being a bit disheartened by some of the books I have managed to read (I think I have high expectations that each one will be 'the one' to reignite by habit in full, so when it doesn't, I end up a bit sad)

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          I read as much if not more than before due to the internet tending to supplant more traditional sources and online material being much more readily accessible.

                                          But is this necessarily bad? Our son never reads novels, for example, but hardly seems a lesser person for not doing so.

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Originally posted by diggedy derek View Post
                                            I don't mind admitting I'm often a fairly slow reader. If I like a page or a passage, I often end up re-reading it. Plus, books are often really goddamn long, aren't they? Like gigs, it's often rare to find ones which you think 'hey, that was too short'
                                            Yeah, every word of this. The caveat being that I can fly through an interesting non-fiction book, while even the most interesting fiction is like a slog up a steep hill. But yes, books are too goddamn long. Bring on the promised return of the novella.

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Sporting View Post
                                              I read as much if not more than before due to the internet tending to supplant more traditional sources and online material being much more readily accessible.

                                              But is this necessarily bad? Our son never reads novels, for example, but hardly seems a lesser person for not doing so.
                                              Ditto. On both counts.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                When I wanted to pick up the habit again, I found books of short stories helped to get the rhythm back initially. Since probably late 2019 or early 2020 I've got into the habit of reading a bit of a book every night right before bed, even if I can barely keep my eyes open and only manage two minutes. It's normally the only time I'll read a book all day (because proofreading for a living means I don't always feel like picking up the Kindle when I take a break), but even those few minutes make a huge difference, for me.

                                                I don't disagree with Sporting, but my sense is that people on this thread aren't saying it's a bad thing or makes anyone a lesser person. Just that they'd like to get back into the swing of things again.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Well if a proofreader is consuming books the way I am, I will stick at Pride and Prejudice at bedtime, a few pages a night.

                                                  Comment

                                                  Working...
                                                  X