Time, gentlemen, please

    

I was astonished to read Elaine's post this morning on how speedily she reads (do go and see what she has to say). This dovetails neatly with our thoughts on TBR piles, and presumably Elaine can look at hers and feel satisfaction that she can get through it - no matter how large - in little or no time, so no guilt and shame for her, unlike the Guardian man.
    There are two issues here, of course, one is how quickly you read, and the other is how much time you have available for reading. I am moderate in my speed, but reading to deadlines as I do means I arrange to devote enough time to what I have to do, if not what I'd like to do. I'm quite envious of friends who travel a lot on trains and can spend some of that time just reading - I am usually at someone's beck and call, my study door is always open, and the book has so often to be put down in favour of some other pressing task, but still, I recognise I read more than many people manage to do.
    On the question of time, the comments on this post raised the issue of finding time and I teased Peter the Flautist that in a philosophical sense, if not a physical one, that is possible. Time can be freed up unexpectedly, multi-tasking can achieve this, as can division of labour, but there are only twenty-four hours in a day and we often unwittingly squander them. Still, if anyone has any tips on maximising reading time, please let us hear them.

    And lastly, Litlove's comment on Elaine's post makes mention of brain waves while reading - I'd like to know more about that - and this article talks about perceptions of time, but suggests we close our books in order to stop time passing so quickly! (I'm afraid I'm off to re-open The Behaviour of Moths which so far is very good indeed..)

Comments

[Rebecca]

The discussion on "finding time" is an interesting one. As one of those "stay at home mothers" it seems that my suplus of time is often the envy of acquaintances (many of whom are childless). I frequently here the unfit one say, "well I'd love to walk/practise yoga like you do but I just don't have time". In fact I get up early to practise yoga and run or walk because I am actually quite busy during the hours the children are at school. "Well, I'd love to knit or craft, but I don't have time", hmmm, why not do it in the evenings while watching television, that's what I do!

You make the point that you must arrange your time in order to meet your deadlines and I think that is the crucial point, we all feel short of time but if we really want to do something we can undoubtedly make the time. Right now, I am on my lunchbreak and taking the time to read through my favourite blogs while eating my sandwich, occasionally moving to the stove to stir the simmering chutney and waiting for the bathroom cleaning spray to take effect.

Now, I do have a question for you Karen, have managed to master the art of reading whilst knitting? I eyed up one of those hands free gadgets in Waterstones today and wondered about the possibility. That would surely be a wonderful sort of multi-tasking!

[Peter the Flautist]

I just don't agree that "one can make time" is anything other than a euphamism for "give up something else and use that released time". Of course with good planning and the reduction of interruptions there is an efficiency increase, and I suppose that it is possible to read a book deeply while doing something else (I can't). To comment on Cornflower's envy of those of us who regularly travel on trains, well yes I do read quite a lot (work related) BUT I also think a lot too, and on long (non-tube) journeys I work pretty much all the time I am in transit. To read more non-work books means giving up time that might have been allocated to work. I'm not sure I'm persuading anyone here ...

Dark Puss

[Lisa]

I too read at a moderate pace. I find that I've increased my reading pace over the years somewhat. I find that I make the time for the things that I want to do. However, there is never enough time to do all that I want to. But, rarely does a day go by that I don't read and knit.

[adele geras]

I've just put up a comment on Elaine's post. It's very interesting this question of how people read, isn't it? And I am going to move on to Behaviour of Moths any day now...just a couple of proofs to read before that, for friends of mine who have sent them to me. Then it's MOTHS all round.

[Erika]

Finding enough time to read has been a problem for me since I had children! Or rather, once I had my second child--babies nap so often and drink bottles so often that I took that time to read and refuel for the child-minding--because once they are toddling about you do have to keep an eye on them almost constantly. Now I have three children under 3 1/2, and evenings seem to be subsumed with cleaning up and exercising to lose the last few pounds of pregnancy weight, and my only reading time seems to be in bed when I am already half-asleep. But my to-be-read pile gives me great pleasure just thinking about all that I have to anticipate once my children become readers too and thus free up my time as well!