Monday, June 08, 2009

Musing Mondays-- Penciling in Reading Time

Do you have a set reading time (before bed, perhaps)? Do you read more at night or during the day? Is there a day of the week, perhaps, that you set aside to catch up on reading?



Although I always have an aversion to appearing regimented, I do have certain times that are set aside for reading. None of them are carved in stone, but things seldom get in their way.

I'm one of those people who take forever to wake up and get going in the morning. I wake up three hours before I'm scheduled to be at work. (I live less than five minutes from work by the way.) Besides breakfast, shower, dressing, etc., about 40 minutes of those three hours are spent reading.

Once I get to work, I sit in the car out in the parking lot and read for another 30 minutes. This began in 1998 when my grandfather came to live with me. Oscar and Felix of The Odd Couple had nothing on my grandfather and me, and I desperately needed some time to myself. That 30 minutes in the parking lot was the Me Time that I found. Once it became a habit, I found no reason to break it!

I normally read each afternoon from 2-4 PM, and in the summer, that block of time finds me reading in my pool.

The other block of time I have for reading is the 30 minutes before I turn out the light and go to sleep. I'm disciplined enough that I very seldom read past my bedtime. I'm all too aware of the consequences if I do.

I don't have catch-up days. With those daily blocks of time, I really don't need them, although occasionally I find myself with the gift of unexpected free time, and I often use it to read.

I would imagine that most of you can tell from my reading "schedule" that I don't have children. What adds contentment to it all is that for a couple of those time blocks, my husband is sitting/lying next to me reading, too!

What about you? Do you have blocks of time set aside for reading, or are you so busy that you have to grab them whenever you can?

Thanks to Rebecca of Just One More Page for hosting this meme. If you'd like to join in or read more responses, just click on the Musing Mondays graphic at the top of this post!



10 comments:

  1. You are quite regimented, I'd say. I read more in the evening than during the day and I have to read for a little while in bed or I'll never sleep.

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  2. I'd say disciplined is good! :)

    A great habit to get into your 30 min read before work. Good for you.

    Here's mine.

    I'm new to this, by the way. I don't think I wrote enough.

    Happy reading!

    Sassy
    :)

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  3. I used to read before work too!! It just seemed to relax me before facing the day at work. I try to read each evening - but with kids - sometimes other things get in the way. Now that they are getting older - I am getting some of my reading time back.

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  4. I used to take Me Time too - sitting in the car and reading. Mine was at lunch time when I had to escape from the job. (I'm retired now.) I also read at night to help myself relax mentally and sleep.

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  5. Now that the warmer weather is here, I spend a lot of time reading around the pool too!

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  6. I need to get more disciplined - not reading enough - I do read every night b4 turning out the light though

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  7. My work day is scheduled enough that I deliberately don't schedule too much for my leisure time. I always find some time in the day for reading. As a minimum I normally walking to work and I listen to audio books most of the time, and before bed I read print.

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  8. I read whenever I have time, but bedtime is engraved in stone. I cannot sleep even if I only manage one or two lines. Other times, I don't know when to quit--my wife will grumble to turn out the light at 2 a.m.

    I still have no idea how you manage to do all the things you do each day, Wonder Cathy.

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  9. Kathy--I have no idea how I got to be so regimented. Evidently those blocks of time just came about and I decided to smack a Post-It on each one so they wouldn't disappear! LOL

    Thanks, Sassy! One thing about these memes...you can write as much or as little as you like. There's no "wrong way" about it! :)

    Kara--It's good to hear that you're getting some of your reading time back!

    Kaye--I'm glad you like my photos. I'm so behind on reading everyone's answers, but that's what I get for going out of town for a week!

    Margot--Reading is one of the best ways to relax, isn't it?

    Nise--Wonderful! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks of pool and reading together!

    Kerrie--If I don't read before turning out the light, I can't sleep!

    Bernadette--Like I told Kathy up above, I'm not sure how I became so "scheduled". I think I realized I had these little blocks of time showing up and I slapped Post-It notes on them so they wouldn't disappear!

    Charlie--I used to read until all hours before I got married 7 years ago. Odd how a spouse causes all these little changes. ;) (And I'm far from being Wonder Cathy. Don't ever ask me about the herd of registered dust bunnies I have grazing here at Kittling Ranch!)

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