Reading as much as I used to have taken a back bencher in the past couple of years, my Goodreads.com account is evidence of this; but I have a plan which seems to be keeping me on track with my library rentals.
Before this downturn in how much I read, I used to borrow ten books a week from the library and read them all, then it lessened to just three per week, now it is around four to six per month and I haven’t been able to read them all by the end of the three week period either.
At the moment I have six books out from the library and some of those I have re-borrowed the maximum amount of times, one such book has only nineteen days left for me to read it and it is only halfway and I have already re-borrowed this book three times in the past and I can have it no more after that! So, noticing that I have just nineteen days left to read this book, I panicked, because there are approximately two hundred pages to read of this enormous essay about “The History of Judaism”. Why am I reading such a book? I will explain later in another post…
So how do I solve the problem of reading things in time? I have only just started this idea from yesterday, so who knows how well it will work for more long term! The plan is this… I calculate with a calculator as I have dyscalculia, the number of pages per book I have and divide that by twenty one, which represents twenty one days, the average length of time to keep a book without re-borrowing. So, I did this will all the books I am currently reading on Goodreads that are borrowed from the library currently. This breaks down each book into littler bites and gets every book picked up daily!
To a lot of people who love reading this sounds like a nightmare plan, because I know a lot of readers can’t put a book down until it’s completely read for another book. But for me this works a treat because I lack focus and have a very shoddy attention span. Paul believes I may have undiagnosed attention deficit disorder, because I can’t stick to one thing solidly and concentrate on it for more than fifteen minutes at a time.
So for me, the idea of skipping through books one after the other in the same day works well.
So my current list is broken down like this;
History of Judaism by Martin Goodman 11 pages per day for the next 19 days
Fermentation on wheels by Tara Whitsitt 9 pages per day
Preservation book 17 pages per day
Abundance by Aly Fowler 10 pages per day
Burning the books by Richard Ovenden 11 pages per day
The last book from the library is actually currently completed, so I shan’t add that here.
To me, each from the above would take around twenty minutes to accomplish when not having a bad sinus day, which in comparison to how fast I used to read, is very, very, slow.
But it is doable if I break it down throughout the day, rather than sit back with sixty two pages a night in bed in around ninety minutes.
It is not a maximum requirement, it is a minimum requirement, if my attention span is enjoying the book naturally I will read more if I feel I can and have the time.
Yesterday, so far, I have read more in a day, than I would have otherwise, if I had not had given myself a schedule and deadline. I think I have mentioned before I am a person who thrives on deadlines?
Yes I am one of these weirdos who literally rot away in a corner without some kind of schedule or motivational person hounding me to do things all the while. Unfortunately Paul is rather passive on this matter and so, Henry, my doting eleven year old son, has taken it upon himself to be my butt kicker and I thank him tremendously for it!
So, any future postings, writings and art and even YouTube videos and podcasts, will really be, to the thanks of my son who is prodding me to accomplish things. He too, has made a sort of pact with me that I should do the same for him and we will together, become a successful family. Totally Henry’s idea and isn’t it brilliant? I am so proud of him!
Happy reading!
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