Discussion Post: Finding Time to Read and Blog

I know what you're thinking, "oh wow, a discussion post. How long has it been?" And honestly, I don't even know. I was trying to do at least one a month but I failed miserably at that goal and then at some point I just kind of gave up. It may have been around the time I moved and started a new job. But honestly I'm not even sure. It could have been way before that.

But this topic has been bouncing around in my head for months now, since about the time I moved and started a new job in fact. So I am finally taking the time to write this post so I can get this out of my head. And also to share with you all to see if you have any thoughts or tips for me.

This will probably come as no surprise but all of my problems on this subject started when I moved and got a new job. Did you know that I moved and got a new job? Anyway, I had a good system going for reading and blogging before. To be honest, I did a lot of blogging at work and I can't really do that anymore. My job is a lot more computer work so I can't do my blogging. I also can't listen to audiobooks like I used to because I have to listen to podcasts at work. Weird problem, I know. Finally, I don't take the bus to work anymore so I don't have time to read while I'm on the way to and from work.

Basically what this means is that the only time I have to read and blog are the few hours in the evening after I get home from work and before I go to bed. That's not a lot of time considering that I also have to make and eat dinner, and do other stuff like shower and such. Plus I now have a roommate so I can't really hide in my room and read like I used to. And I do have time on weekends to read but for some reason I never end up reading as much as I did before.

All of this has significantly reduced the amount of books I read in a month and that has reduced the amount of blog posts I have in a month. I used to be able to post five days a week and these days I am lucky if I can post three times. And I used to easily finish 12-15 books in a month and now I'm lucky if I can finish 10. I know this doesn't sound that bad but everything is relative and this feels like failure to me. Anything less than what used to be normal feels like I'm not doing my best. In my head I know I should feel bad about this because it's pretty good, but I can't help it.

But I am still plugging away. I listen to audiobooks when I drive to work and when I do stuff around the house, I read a little bit in the morning before I leave for work, I read on lunch, I spend my weekends doing nothing but reading. But I still wish I could read more. I know I used to not read at the level I did when I left Pittsburgh, and I just need to develop a new system but it's hard to get there and I want to be there now! Maybe in a year. We'll see.

So my question is, how do you get reading and blogging done? When do you find the time to read and blog? Do you have any tips that can help me get more read in a month and get more blogged in a month. Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!