… And now for that more-reading-time life hack that I mentioned last week.
Like anyone who no longer commutes, I’ve lost that bit of the day where I could sit quietly and undisturbed with a book - guilt-free. While I was studying in the first half of 2021, I was able to make time in the day - also guilt-free because I should be reading, that’s what students do. These days, sadly, I hardly pick up a book.
Obviously, this isn’t a new topic. Even before working from home became prevalent, billions of articles had been published about carving out more time to read… I’m sure the irony isn’t lost on anyone.
Nonetheless, last week, I was inspired to give it another try by one such article. The excellent Sian Meades-Williams wrote on the topic for The Flock. Apologies to anyone who’s not a Flock subscriber as it’s behind a paywall, but the gist of it is “take back the commute time and read in bed before you get up”.
Now, that definitely isn’t going to work for me. I like to stay asleep until it becomes absolutely necessary for me to get up. And to be fair to Sian, she acknowledges that her approach won’t work for everyone, least of all anyone with children.
But there was something else I took from her piece - that she tries to recreate the conditions of a commute. Just the good bits, naturally, not the bit where you have to kill a man to get a seat. Which made me wonder what it is about commuting that’s so conducive to reading. Let’s look at the evidence:
Limited entertainment options or opportunity to work, often due to patchy phone signal or circumstantial interruptions
A need to distract oneself from cramped, uncomfortable conditions
Blessed solitude (if you’ve successfully avoided eye contact with Steve from accounts)
No wonder I don’t read at home - there’s loads to entertain me and it’s really quite comfy. Alternatively, a more positive version of why we read while commuting might be:
Fills the time productively when we can’t do the things that we either want or need to do
Takes us away from boring or testing situations
Because the opportunity is there
Could it be that instead of looking for a comfortable, tranquil spot in which to make dedicated time to read, we should be looking for the total opposite? A snatched moment when our options are limited and we’re trapped in a confined space? Is the breadbin the best place in the home to get a bit of alone time?
The jury is still out but I’ve found my new “reading nook”: perched on a footstool in the kitchen while dinner is cooking. Waiting for something to heat up or boil. Sometimes I stand up and stir a thing with my free hand.
I’ll let you know whether it sticks but in the meantime I’m definitely open to other suggestions. If anyone’s found a way to successfully reclaim their commute-reading time, I’d love to hear about it.
PS: Freelance writers everywhere! If you don’t already subscribe to Sian Meades-Williams’ newsletter Freelance Writing Jobs, then you really should.
This time last year …
… I was exploring ways to make my head less noisy, inspired by the deluge tips for coping with ‘Blue Monday’. (I barely registered Blue Monday this year - was that just me? Or is everyone finally over the idea?)
A year later, I can report that yoga really does help turn the volume down, if you can find the time. But the one thing that really has stuck is The Daily Respite newsletter. I highly recommend it if you haven’t signed up already for the free, daily dollop of calmness and joy. This week alone, you’ve missed out on the sun sparkling on the ocean in Maine and a dachshund and a tortoise playing football.
In my CV clinic, I advised everyone to keep their appraisal forms because they provide a good reminder of what you actually did during the previous year, which gives you a lot more to work with when you’re looking for transferable skills.
I definitely stand by this - it served me well. But now it occurs to me that, since I’ve gone freelance, I may never have to fill out a form like his again. While that’s obviously a massive relief, it also means I probably should be keeping some sort of log book of things I’ve made and done so that I don’t forget.
Badge pinboard
Strawberry Shortcake. For the uninitiated, there was a range of tiny, collectable dolls in the 80s, each with a food-related name that smelt of that thing (although, in reality, I think they all just smelt of new plastic and vanilla).
I received this badge from a school friend for my 7th birthday and it remains among my most treasured possessions (although for rather different reasons from when I was 7 years old). I still have the matching necklace too. I didn’t wear either for many years, fearing the other people’s reactions. Now I wear them with pride and judge people by their reactions.
Not quite the same, but when I take books out from the library I feel the need to read them so that I can take them back and other people can read them. This negates some of the guilt of taking time not to do anything “productive”