In 2008 I made a “What I’ve Read” page and by the end of the year it turned out that I’d read about a book a week. So I started a new page for 2009 and was shocked to notice that by February I’d only managed to finish two books. I’d started several, but somehow kept putting them aside, which isn’t like me at all. In part I blame getting an iPhone for Christmas because my main reading time is in bed before I go to sleep, and I found myself checking email, twitter and reading blogs in bed half the time. But I think it was more to do with the not-being-able-to-focus thing (plus a few duds for book choices). It’s as if my attention span can only deal with snippets of information these days, or that I’m extra easily distracted. Even as I sit here writing this I’m “watching” a movie on TV and spacing out a lot. And so, a few days ago I decided to make a conscious effort to learn how to read again.

I’ve been putting aside a specific hour each day in which I do nothing but read. I’ve gone back to a novel that was sent to me awhile ago by our very own Sledpress (and written by her too!), and definitely not one of the aforementioned duds. And it’s really making a difference. I also think it will help with focusing in general, because even after hours in front of the computer I find I’ve spaced out so many times that I never get as much done as I’d planned to.

So I think that just as I put aside a couple of hours every day to go to the gym, I also need to start dividing up my days into “bite-sized” chunks that I can assimilate better.

When do you get most of your reading done?