How I Find Time to Read as a Mom
Reading makes me feel more human, less automaton. If I were to envision a heaven, in fact, it would be a library (maybe a library that serves coffee, garden fresh foods and craft beer….but I digress). The books – when my kids were little I hardly touched a book except to glean parenting ideas here or there. Some days it felt like parts of my brain were shrinking and blowing away.
Then I found something that gave me back time for reading again.
Perhaps the most critical part of reading more again is that I realized how important it is to take care of myself – reading is a much more nurturing activity than staring at Facebook, or working more. So I read. This post includes Amazon affiliate links.
But as far as tools one things stands out above all:
The digital collection from my library. You've got to see if your library has a digital collection like this.
I can check out books on my phone (I occasionally have asked my kids where my book is, but mean my phone). We also got a Kindle Paperwhite, which is nice because of the larger and more book-like screen, but I find myself using my phone most. The screen on My Google Pixel is VERY dimmable, so I put it on night mode with a black screen, and I put on airplane mode so it doesn't beep at me, then I can read at night without waking my husband. I'm never late with a return since it's returned automatically, the library will order books I request and I can browse for books at 2am. So nice.
Other ways I find time to read:
- I discovered Audible (try it and get two free audiobooks, yay!) so now I listen to books in the car, when I'm folding clothes or sometimes in the shower (we have a speaker that links to the phone with bluetooth, so I can perch it nearby and hear the book).
- I want my kids to see me reading, as they'll imitate my actions more than my words, so I began making an effort to bring out a book and read in front of them when they're playing with something like LEGOS, when they're working on school work, or when they're reading too. Every once in a while we enact a “quiet reading” time during the day after lunch and I read then.
- I read in bed. For a while I tried reading when I got up in the morning for a bit like Hal Elrod suggests in Miracle Morning, but I found that I don't want to stop reading, so that doesn't work for me as I wind up not getting going – at night is fine though. In fact, since I'm usually reading digital books, I don't have to worry about a nightlight to read now. I turn my phone to airplane mode so I don't get woken by notifications, and if I can't sleep, I read my book on it.
- On the advice of a Homeschool Journal I used for a while, I put a selection of books I want to study in a basket where I see them easily so I can to remember how much I enjoy learning (again with being an example to the kids). I usually read non-fiction in little bits here and there – having these collected in a basket keeps me coming back to the topics.
- And maybe this one doesn't work for novels, but I have some beautiful cookbooks, so for now I designated Monday as Thai night and it gives me an excuse to come back to this lovely Thai cookbook and explore it bit by bit.
With all that reading, I have some books I'm really excited to share with you – books that changed my life this year. You can find the Books That Changed My Life Lists Here.
Alissa Zorn is an author, and founder of the website Overthought This. She's a coach and cartoonist passionate about helping people overcome perfectionism and shame to build authentic, joyful lives. Alissa is certified through the International Coach Federation and got her Trauma-Informed Coaching certification from Moving the Human Spirit. She wrote Bounceback Parenting: A Field Guide for Creating Connection, Not Perfection, and is always following curiosity to find her next creative endeavor.