Guest Post: Laura McNeill

Five Ways to Get More Reading Time in Your Life

Laura McNeill

Everyone’s time is precious—and it seems we’re all trying to squeeze in a few minutes more for our families, our jobs, and those extracurricular activities we really adore.

For bibliophiles, it’s especially crucial. Reading is like breathing, after all. Words and stories are sustenance. Books help us think, they make us feel emotion more deeply. Characters become our friends. Great novels sweep us away to new places, and we crave that feeling—that high—which only comes from discovering a really spectacular story. We love the feeling that comes from an insatiable need to turn page after page just to find out what happens next.

So, how to get more reading time in your life? Here are five ways:

1.     Turn off the Television. I don’t have cable. And while it might sound strange, my children don’t complain, and I have a more peaceful home. If we want to indulge in a TV show or movie, we use Netflix or go to Red Box. I also have the television hidden in an armoire, so it’s not the first thing everyone sees or thinks about when they walk in my front door.

2.     Listen in the Car.  I sneak in hours or reading time in the car. I am an Audible member and subscribe to the Daily Deals, which allows listeners to snag incredible books priced below $3.95. Nook owners can check out the Nook App for deals, too! I easily make it through one new book every two weeks, just at carpool, going to the grocery story, running errands, and on trips to visit family and friends. (I even listen when I am folding laundry!) NOTE: Free audio books are also available on Apps like Overdrive, LibriVox, and Hoopla.

3.     Carry a book with you. During the day, there are five minute snippets of time that often go wasted…waiting in line, waiting on hold, waiting for a meeting to begin, etc. On my smartphone, I’ve loaded the Kindle App and the iBooks App, so I always have a book ready to go. If, by chance, I’ve just finished a novel, I can download as many book previews as I like and decide (during that time) what will be up next on my reading list. That said, you can always pop a “real” book in your bag and carry it wherever you go!

4.     Join a Book Club. When you belong to a book club, you are expected to read a book and contribute to a monthly discussion, whether online or in person. This creates a sense of urgency, responsibility, and ownership. I love the exchange between readers and often, if the whole group chooses the title of the month, I find that I’m reading and enjoying books that I never would have picked up in the first place!

5.     Shop at the Library. Once a week or once a month, get yourself to the library. If you want to get in and out, before you go, shop the library website for your new selections. The library will hold your selected books, put you in a queue if there is a waitlist, and notify you by email, phone, or text when your books are ready and waiting! If you have a pile of new books by your bedside, ready and waiting, it’s more likely you’ll be tempted to get in a quick chapter.

6.     Get in your Steps. Like to exercise? Have a Fitbit? Listen to audiobooks while you’re walking outside or on the treadmill at the gym. Getting in those 10,000 steps means you’ve just logged 5 miles and burned lots of calories. Think of how many chapters you can sneak in every day! Listening to a great audiobook seems to make the time go by faster…and just think, you’ll probably walk even more quickly when you’re listening to a great thriller or suspense book!

I especially like taking thirty minutes on a Sunday morning, especially in the Spring, to sit outside, listen to the sounds of nature, and lose myself in the pages of a wonderful story.

There are so many ways to squeeze in more reading time. I’d love for you to share your ideas about getting in an extra chapters each day. What works for you?

Want to connect with Laura McNeill? 

Social Media for Laura:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LauraMcNeillBks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauramcneillauthor/

Link to Sister Dear on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26371025-sister-dear

Laura McNeill is the author to Center of Gravity (July 2015) and Sister Dear (April 19, 2016). When Laura is not writing or reading, she makes time to run, share pictures to Instagram, and adores the color pink!