Two Hours of Reading Time A Day

When I was writing up my end of the year post, I mentioned that I had roughly two hours of reading time a day and a couple of you asked some questions about that which I thought I would take the time to answer in a separate post.

Q1: I have a practical question about your blogging practices, which you don't have to answer: does the 2 hours a day include your blogging time? If not, how much time (and more importantly, when?) do you blog? To write a thoughtful review takes me quite a while!

A1: Yes. It does. So if I spend about an hour writing up a post then I only have one hour left to read. Because of that I really try to only sit down and write up my thoughts on books when I'm in the mood to do so. If I'm not in the mood I end up clicking around on Facebook or checking my Google Reader about a thousand times hoping someone else said something interesting.

Just like the person who asked this question, a thoughtful blog post on any given book takes me anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to think through and type up. I can type fast but the thoughts need to be ready to flow or else I feel like I'm sitting down next to the computer to waste time.

My two hours of available time typically takes place between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. (During that time I really don't like visitors at the house and I dislike talking on the phone. I particularly do not like talking on the phone. When the kids are down for their quiet/nap times I like to be able to focus on reading and writing and that's the only time of day I have for either! I guard it rather ferociously as a result. I used to feel guilty about this. I don't anymore.

Q2: Does your blogging time include reading others' blogs?

A2: It's not supposed to, no. (But sometimes it does when I'm feeling lazy and distracted.) I try to read other people's blogs in the morning when I'm eating breakfast. Jonathan is the Morning Hero around here. I'm a slow starter and I'm also, by nature, a rather quiet, introverted person. Three kids making noise for several hours every day holds me to certain limits. Before Jonathan goes to work, he feeds the kids breakfast while I eat mine and that's the time I usually scroll through my Google reader and play catch up. I also save my reading of other blogs until the evening after the kids go to bed.

Bekahcubed wrote a post once about valuing time and cleaning out her Google Reader. She wasn't trying to be mean or suggest bloggy rudeness. But she did prompt me to start thinking about setting my priorities. While I think it would be fun to read a great many more blogs than I do, I also know the following about myself and my time:

a.) Time is limited and my reading/blog habits need to be contained and manageable.
b.) I either personally know (in "real life") people who blog and/or I've gotten to know a few of you really well and I like tracking with your lives.
c.) I also like leaving comments as I follow along with people's lives and thoughts. (We all like comments, right? So I try to follow the "do unto others" bloggy rule and leave comments consistently.)

What this results in is my following (closely) about a dozen-ish blogs. I cleaned up my Reader a bit and got it down to a manageable amount so that I'm never TOO far behind in my blog reading and I'm also able to glean valuable information to think on from the blogs I do read.

I have a "real life" friend who models a great deal of self-discipline for me when it comes to observing a personal time of refreshment/devotion and also makes sure that she is spending time where it really matters - with her kids and family, building a home. She'll be quick to tell you that she's still working on balance and using her time appropriately -- as we all are, I'm quite certain. She has been a great source of encouragement to me to find balance in what I want to do and ought to do and love to do.

Honestly, I never thought I'd be a person who liked structure and consistency but now that I have three little ones I see a great deal of beauty in structure and stability! (Are you chuckling at me? I'm snickering at myself!) Times and seasons in life change and I imagine I won't always have the same morning routine. I also know that there are periods in life (such as the period after Bookworm3 was born) where I won't have those valuable 2 hours available to me each afternoon. For now, this sort of schedule seems to work for me, for us, and for our family. It gives me time to do "my thing" (while still being in the home, which I am very grateful for!) and also forces me to be disciplined with "my" time so that I am not neglecting the family. It allows my kids to have some quiet time themselves in the afternoon to sleep, read and play. (I think that's very important also.) And it keeps the house stable. It really works for us!

Now, I know I have the two hours for now. The question is - do I use it well and will I keep using it well? This is the constant battle.