selenicseas

So, the ongoing pest control issue has thrown me entirely out of whack with respect to my hobbies. I haven't had the chance to read after work because I'm busy doing things. But that doesn't mean I haven't been reading – I have! I've just changed when I've been reading.

Instead of reading after work, I've gone back to reading a couple chapters of my current book before bed. I think this is what I'll be doing for a while. Not only am I making pretty good progress on getting through the book, I'm also avoiding screen time so soon before going to bed – which is making it easier to fall asleep.

I've been reading a lot of short fiction since 2020. In fact, short fiction has been most of what I've read since 2020. I've read very few books since. I literally have a stack of 20+ books on my bookshelf that I've bought and haven't been able to get around to, and just as many ebooks on my PC.

I've been thinking for months on how to fix this. I'm already reading fewer short stories than I was in the years I was unemployed for months at a time (2020 and 2021). I even unsubscribed from a few magazines for a couple of months (before re-subscribing because it felt wrong). None of that has helped me read more books.

Reading almost exclusively takes place on weekends. I deliberately set aside an hour or two each Saturday and Sunday specifically to get through the backlog of short stories I have bookmarked. Sometimes I end up reading five. Sometimes I only read one.

Sometimes, I get the chance to read a chapter or two of a book before I go to bed – even on weekdays. It never happens too many days in a row because I'm commonly doing other things right until it's time for me to go to bed.

Maybe I should try reading earlier in the day – like when I get home from work. Read a chapter or two of the current book, then go check social media and do other stuff.
 
I think that's what I'll be trying to do this week.