Discussion: Time Management

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single bibliophile in possession of a good book to read must be in want of time to read it. Am I right or am I right? As bloggers, I think we all struggle - a lot - with managing our time, reading, commenting, reviewing, and formatting our blogs. It's time-consuming and it doesn't really give us all that much in return. Except, you know, that little thing called happiness. ;) 

I've been asked - multiple times, actually - to write up a post about how I manage my time. Many people seem to be in awe of the fact that I comment on roughly 12-18 blogs a day, post reviews once in two days (max.), and manage to read at least three hundred books a year. 

Well, I'm here to tell you it's not all that unusual.

A List of Reasons Why I Can Read As Much as I Do 

1. Adulthood = Sucks. Many bloggers who read YA are adults, which means you have to take care of kids or cook meals or pay bills. I don't have to do any of that. I wake up, go to school, come home, study my butt off, and repeat the process. So, if there's any secret to my reading habits, it's probably my age.

2. Boring Blogging = Easier Blogging. In case you haven't noticed, my blog is very green. (It's my favorite color.) Maybe your blog is blue or red or purple or maybe it's ALL of those colors. What I'm saying is this: I don't spend a lot of time formatting my blog. I know my header and button aren't very pretty. I'll change it. Eventually. I know my posts are plain. "Title, Author, Rating, Review. Add a picture." BAM. But this works for me. I know tons of bloggers who have gorgeous blogs with reviews that have links to bookstores or include a synopsis or do a number of other creative things. I also know tons of bloggers who are active meme participants or vloggers. I don't make vlogs or participate in too many memes, which is a personal decision I made because I found that (a) I look/sound terrible in videos and also happen to get a lot of my books on my Kindle and (b) back when I participated in memes I used them as placeholders for reviews instead of enjoying the meme itself, which I recognized as incorrect and stopped. For a lot of bloggers, though, these memes and vlogs really work and I absolutely love seeing them (so don't stop!), but it does take a lot less time to organize my posts when I don't have to edit videos or format ten pictures for Top Ten Tuesdays. 

Now, I just wanted to get that out of the way. I'm not here to boast about how many books I read (honestly, I feel awfully embarrassed writing up this post, but a good friend convinced me that many readers were interested in this topic, so here I am, writing this post!), but I am here to tell you that although you may not be reading as much as you like, you're probably doing a lot of other wonderful things, like spending time with your family or on other areas of your blog. 

Time Management Tips & Tricks: How to Squeeze in Reading & Blogging into Our Everyday Lives

1. Read Fast. I read roughly a hundred pages an hour. I don't know if that seems like a lot or not, but it will help to keep that in mind as this list progresses. 

2. Read Everywhere. I mean this statement literally. I, for instance, manage to read for seventeen minutes before I even leave the house every morning to catch my bus. How? (1) I read my Kindle while I brush my teeth for two minutes and (2) I read my Kindle while I eat breakfast every morning which usually takes fifteen minutes. Which means that before I've even left the house, I've read roughly twenty-five or more pages. I also find time to read in school, especially if I've finished a test earlier and have free time. Or on the bus back since my friends and I usually stay after school for various activities, so I find myself a nice twenty minute reading slot, so on a normal school day, I return home at 3 PM having read a total of fifty pages, combining my morning and afternoon reading slots. 

3. Read Regularly. No matter how busy my day is, even if I'm pulling an all-nighter and only finish my physics project at 3 AM, I make it a point to read for thirty minutes before I go to bed. Which means another fifty pages, usually. If you're doing the math with me, this equates to roughly a hundred pages in one day. If I'm reading a normal, four-hundred page novel, I can have this done within a week. And over the weekend, I put in some extra time to have another book finished within those two (or three) days. Which means that during the school year, I finish two books a week. 

If you commute via bus, train, or even car, your regular reading time could be during this time period - an audiobook while driving, an e-book on the bus or train? Just make it a point to read every day at one certain time (maybe after you make dinner but before you eat it?) and you'll likely find yourself reading more during the week. Otherwise, I used to read kind of any time I had free time, but that free time takes forever to present itself and before you know it, it's been three days since you last even looked at a book. It happens. *sigh*

4. Trust Yourself. Now, this is probably easier for some people and harder for others. I say trust yourself because I know a number of reviewers who write their reviews and re-write them and edit them and edit them again. Well, I'm telling you now: don't. Does your review read better when you edit it? Yes. It does. But does it really have a whole lot of different content? No. And this is an important thing I began to realize. I used to edit my reviews a lot - and I still edit any guest posts I hand it - but now, I've learned that just typing out a first draft of a review and running over it for spelling errors is more than enough. Ask yourself: what do you want your readers to know about this book? Characters? Plot? Flaws? If it's all in your first draft, then post it! We're not rating anyone on their best writing capability; we read reviews to find out whether or not we want to read that particular book. And if a reader can figure that out from your review, they're good to go. So: don't stress. Just write. (And post.)

5. Technology is Your Best Friend. I'm sure you've heard this one, but one thing that always surprises me is how few bloggers use their i-Devices or phones to comment on blogs. Both Blogger and Wordpress have very accessible websites on technological devices which have made my life about fifty times easier. I sometimes have mornings where I just want to snuggle in for a few extra minutes, although I'm already awake, so I use those mornings to log into Blogger and start reading and commenting on blogs. It's so much easier to read blogs on my iPhone, believe it or not, and I've become very adept at commenting as well. I also comment on blogs all the time. When I'm waiting for the microwave to heat some food, I'm commenting on a blog. When I'm waiting for my computer to boot up, I'm commenting on a blog. When I'm changing or packing my bag for the next day I'm usually reading a blog post. I carry my phone everywhere, which also means I have an ability to comment everywhere I go. It's quick and extremely efficient too.

Also: USE APPS! I use the Twitter App all the time to read author interviews or just find new blogs that have reviewed a book I'm curious about reading. The GoodReads App is my favorite, though, since I can read & like reviews (without the distraction of those shiny polls and thoughtful quotes) and occasionally jot down a few thoughts on a book I finished to help guide my reviews. 

6. Inspiration...Use It! I tend to review books in one of two ways. Either I finish a book and immediately know exactly what I want to say, in which case I type out my review immediately and format it on the blog as well. Or, I usually have no idea what to say and leave it on my GoodReads shelf to return to. And once in two or three weeks, I am struck by an intense urge to review. I don't know if this happens to a lot of other people, but it happens to me, and I usually manage to belt out three or four long reviews and have them formatted for the blog over the course of an afternoon. Which usually means that my "draft" shelf on Blogger is a lot longer and I don't have to worry about reviewing for almost another month, in-between guest posts and "Showcase Sunday" memes. I know writer's block can be a pain, but when inspiration strikes, drop everything and run to the nearest computer. Also: don't just stop at one review. When I get my reviewing done in chunks, I feel so relieved afterwards and can really just focus on enjoying the reading part of this hobby instead of worrying about the other parts. 

7. Find a Review Format...and Stick With It! I know a lot of reviewers who have a very distinct style, which I love - especially on dual-run blogs - since I can tell who wrote the post without even needing to look at their name. I also know a lot of reviewers who are extremely creative in their review approaches every week. And, you know what? - to each their own. I do think, though, that it's important to create a general format, if not of the review of what you want in each review, so that reviewing is easier. I used to be really tense about reviewing because what if I forgot the character's personality? or didn't mention the romance I really liked or skipped over the action sequences? Now, however, I have a mental checklist of everything I want to include in any review, regardless of the book, and while reading I try to add to that mental list if the book has something extra I want to discuss. 

For instance, I always mention the protagonist, the love interest, and any flaws I saw in the novel, but in some reviews - like my recent review of The Bone Season - I felt compelled to discuss the genre because I thought readers might like to know that this isn't a book that belongs in one genre, but rather one that elements of multiple genres. So, even if you don't have a strict five or six paragraph review format, knowing what you want to say really helps. I know I have a tendency of thinking about a book long after I've finished it and finding more and more interesting things about it, but prioritizing - secondary characters, summary, villains, time period, etc. - can make sitting down and writing that review so much easier.

8. DNF, DNF, DNF! A lot of readers feel guilty for not finishing a book - and I totally get that. I was exactly like that last year. I've come to recognize, though, that I'm happier when I'm reading what I want to read and what I like to read. I hate slogging through a novel because I have to. No matter how much better the book gets by the end, there is no erasing the fact that hours of your life were wasted flipping page after page. I believe that DNFing a book is perfectly acceptable as long as you've (a) given the book a chance and (b) explain why you were unable to finish the novel. Of course, if you really, absolutely, cannot DNF a book, that's fine, but think about it. A bad book takes at least two times as much time to read as a good one, so you could be reading two great books instead of finishing a bad one. Just my take on it. 

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Um...that's all I've got! Obviously, what works for me isn't going to work for everyone. I'm one of those highly competitive people who is competing with her own book pile, so I have a fierce determination to just keep reading. Also, reading (honestly) keeps me sane since I go to an extremely competitive school district and find it easy to lose track of where I end and my grades begin. So, really, I do extreme things like reading while brushing my teeth to keep my sanity intact. I really tried to think, though, of both things I do consciously (using my iPhone to comment on blogs, reading regularly every day, reading on the bus, etc.) and things I do subconsciously (mental checklist of topics to discuss in a review, random intervals of inspiration, etc.).

Also, I think it's important to keep in mind that while my challenge is to read at least three hundred books a year, whatever your challenge may be, it is a challenge, and that's the important thing. I hope this managed to help some readers, so let me know if I missed any important tips or tricks in the comments below! Happy Reading! :D