Where Did All My Reading Time Go?

I looked at my Goodreads challenge today.  I’m 14 books behind.

Ever since Goodreads came out with the reading challenge in 2011, I have read 50 books a year.  Actually, I have always read 50 books a year even before the Goodreads challenge came out.  I could read 50 books a year without even trying.  I would read 30 minutes before I went to bed every single night and I would read for an hour or two during the day.  And that was all the time I needed to read that many books.  It wasn’t even a challenge really.  I set my Goodreads challenge at 50 books because I knew I’d hit it.  It was like setting a weight loss goal for like 1 pound.  I mean lets not get crazy and push myself too hard, right?  So since it’s supposed to be an easy goal, I’m having so much guilt about not finishing 50 books this year.  This is the first year that I’m not even close to finishing.

I love accomplishments and awards and checklists.  Look at all those complete banners!!

I can’t express how sad I am that my 2015 challenge badge won’t have a finished banner on it.

And it’s not just the completed banner that I want.  I want the completed banner to say 50 books so it matches all the other years!  Lowering the goal feels like cheating.  But I’m running out of time. I am usually ahead of my goal by this point in the year because the holidays get crazy.

What’s different about this year? Why all of a sudden a screeching halt in how many books I read? Am I reading slower?  No.  But I am falling asleep faster when I do read at night.  My kids have so much energy and sometimes they wear me out.  Ten minutes is the most I can read at night now before I pass out.

I have a cute little baby now, but I’ve kept up with my reading goal other years that I’ve had babies.

Maybe it’s my smartphone.  My phone tells me that I spend an average of 1 hour per day on Facebook.  By the way – is that a lot? Like, is there a “normal” range for how much time you spend on Facebook like there are for other things?  Cooking for 2 hours is too long; 30 minutes is just right.  Sitting on the toilet for 30 minutes is too long; 5 minutes is just right.  What’s the average time spent on Facebook for most people? 30 minutes a day?  Or do most people spend like 3 hours??  Why do I have a Facebook addiction?  Have you seen Facebook recently? It’s turned into all those forwarded emails with cat pictures that I used to get from my mother-in-law.  Facebook is like scroll … scroll … junk …. crap … OH MY GOSH GILMORE GIRLS IS GETTING RENEWED!!! … scroll …. scroll ….. more crap … scroll … scroll …

It’s that gem of beautiful information hiding in all the crap that keeps me coming back for more on Facebook.  I love and hate Facebook.

Anyway. Wow got sidetracked a little.  I had a smartphone last year so I don’t think that’s it.

Maybe it’s because I’ve spent more time blogging and less time reading.

I think the real reason, though, is guilt.  I have this feeling that my kids are growing up too fast and I’m going to miss it if my nose is stuck in a book.  I used to live in a cluttered house and not care. I would push all the toys on the floor and happily read on the couch.  Now I care about all the clutter.  Why do I care so much?

I need to get my reading time back.

I don’t know how to do that.

I’ll start with a list of small goals since I love lists

• Take a book to the bathroom
• Read for 30 minutes before I go to bed instead of only 10 minutes
• Read during the day on Mondays
• Read on the weekends
• Read instead of scrolling Facebook

Maybe it’s a combination of lots of little things taking away my reading time so I hope these goals will work.  If not, I’ve got a backup plan which I will post about tomorrow. ;)

Do you set yearly reading goals? How many books can you read in a year?  If you read 100 books a year, what’s your secret? (I’ve always wanted to read 100 books in a year)