Things Getting in the Way of Reading

Top Ten Tuesday is an awesome meme previously hosted by the lovely folks @ The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl

Things Getting in the Way of Reading

Well, I’m two-for-two with TTT this past fortnight haha! This week’s topic is related to things that get in the way of reading. To be fair, not much keeps me from reading for long but there are some things that have been known to distract me a time or two…

1. Blogging

Yep, you read that right – one of the things that eats into my reading time is blogging but not in the way you would think. Yes, some posts can take a while to compile (hey, I’m rhyming lol) but what can sometimes hinder my reading is thinking of books I need to read as opposed to ones I want to read. I am very much a mood reader so although I do request ARCs from time to time, the pressure to read them is crazy. Sometimes it prevents me from reading at all when I feel guilty for not reading one of the books I have requested or received in exchange for a review.

2. Gaming

This is a pretty big one for me. When I’m into a game I tend to play it for ages and even replay after completion if I’m still in the zone. When my gamer mode activates it tends to override everything else and I get pretty obsessed with playing whatever game has caught my attention. Conversely though, when I am done with a game I generally ease of playing anything else for a while (except if something else really catches my attention). I’ve been known to request AL from work solely to play new releases I’ve been anticipating (I do that for books too). Gaming is probably one of my biggest passions after reading.

3. Instagram/Bookstagram

I have been known to get a little obsessive about taking pretty pictures of my books rather than spending more productive time reading them lol. I have to admit, I’m not super-creative with my feed and I definitely don’t have the patience for anything too elaborate (though I do spend oodles of time viewing other bookstagrammers accounts and marvelling at how stunning their layouts and photos/themes are). Still, even though I’m not the best at it, I still find it really fun and definitely spend a lot of time scrolling through everything.

4. Lazing about/Pampering

I am nothing if not lazy! Seriously, I could spend all day schlubbing about doing very little except eating rubbish in my comfies. Some days I am not productive at all and I really couldn’t tell you what I actually did with my time. Sometimes I will read but other times I don’t even have the energy so I usually flick through the telly while scrolling on my laptop or phone. Happy days!! 😉

5. Sleeping

I love my sleep, I’m not gonna lie. I used to suffer from terrible insomnia but I am now on medication (for anxiety too but it has a sedative effect) so I generally get a full nights sleep. I’m used to being up early during the week but I love a long lie on the weekends or days off. I also have started napping more during the day (it’s totally an age thing – I was always getting on at my loved ones for being tired and falling asleep when watching TV but now it has started happening to me so they got their revenge!!)

6. Watching Movies/Television

My other big love is watching movies and binging television shows. I have always been a movie buff and that hasn’t changed as I’ve gotten older. I can watch pretty much anything – comedies, thrillers, horror – I love it all. I also enjoy watching TV shows (especially genre shows) and I am also partial to a documentary (especially true crime ones). I just really enjoying settling down with snacks and relaxing and switching my brain off at times.

7. Planning/Planner Stuff

This is a recent thing because mostly I’ve been a seat-of-my-pants kinda person (except when I was at University – I was super-organised then!) but I’m finding I take way more joy in having all my stuff neatly organised and have been spending loads of time sorting art prints and postcards in albums, using washi tape liberally, and actually having (and using!) a planner/diary. To-do lists and checklists are my new best friends and I quite often spend time organising everything which does take away from reading a bit (okay, quite a lot at times!)

8. Home Stuff

Hey, sometimes you just gotta get them chores done! It’s not the most glamorous thing but needs must. However, I also spent a lot of time re-arranging my homewares and I love getting new things to spruce up the place! Keeping on top of it all is a job in itself and as much as it can pain me to take time away from my reading to get things done in the house it is just something every homebody needs to deal with. I like my surroundings to be comfortable and aesthetically pleasing.

9. Music

I love music so this is a definitely something that can take my time away from reading. I can’t really listen to music as I read for some reason – even though I can listen pretty much doing anything else. I prefer to either dance around like crazy when playing music but I also like to lie and listen quietly in bed too. Music powers me through blogging and nearly all of my activities except reading. Funny, huh?

10. Work

This is a pretty obvious one. Work is something that will always take time away from your other activities. We all have to work and I actually enjoy my job for the most part but I would be lying if I said I would continue working if I won the lottery or something (well, so I say but who knows – maybe that time to myself might get boring!) When I’m busy at work though (which is pretty much always) I don’t always feel like reading when I get home. That’s just how it goes, sometimes… 😉

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