Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog and go here to see what others have on their Top Ten Tuesday lists!
This week’s theme is things that keep me from reading. These are the other things that occupy my day – some fun, some maybe not so much!
- Work. Top of the list is my day job. How many times have I said that work just interferes with my reading time? LOL Of course, the family is fond of food and of having a roof over our heads, so hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go. (And since I’ve changed jobs, I like my work a lot better these days!)
- Proofreading and editing. Okay, it’s reading, too, but it isn’t just reading for fun. This is my side hustle, and once again, I do enjoy it. That’s like candy to me, not work!
- Feeding the family. Cooking, baking, menu planning, all that good stuff. I enjoy cooking. It’s fun to feed my people. But it’s tough to read a book when you’re preparing a meal. (Don’t start with audiobooks. I’ve tried. I can’t. I don’t like having headphones cutting me off from what’s going on around me.)
- Exercise. I don’t do it often enough, and I’m working on doing it more often.
- Learning to play the Celtic harp. This is a new addition to the list. I’ve had a 12-string Celtic harp for YEARS. My husband has threatened more than once to sell it. This is the year I learn to play. First I’ve got to get it tuned, though.
- Church. I love our church community, and we’ve always got something going! Whether it’s Sunday service, Wednesday Bible study, a community outreach event, a ladies’ fellowship, or just time spent with friends, this is always a good reason to miss out on reading time.
- Cleaning. Sometimes the mess just has to get tidied up, y’all. I’m working from home now, so I see the mess much more often. This is the summer of decluttering.
- Hanging out with my family. Sometimes we watch random YouTube videos. Sometimes we go see a movie. Sometimes we run errands. Whatever we do and wherever we go, we bring the fun! They’re my favorite people.
- Blogging. Yep, this right here! When I’m writing, I’m not reading.
- Sleep. As much as I’d love to stay up and read “just one more chapter,” every now and then I’ve got to get a little shut-eye.
What about you? What things keep you from your appointed reading time? Share in a comment!
Yes, blogging definitely takes a lot of work!
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-things-getting-in-the-way-of-reading/
Sleep is so important.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
Learning the harp sounds like such a cool hobby! My list is here. Nothing on it as interesting as the harp, though.
It’s only taken me several years to get to it. LOL If I get any kind of good at it, I may share a little clip here.
Learning to play the Celtic Harp is a really interesting thing keeping you from reading.
I’m excited about it!
Most of these would be on my list too. However, I try to exercise where I can still listen to an audio book, LOL!
I wish I liked audiobooks! If I still had a long commute, I’d listen in the car. But I just can’t put headphones on and listen with stuff going on around me. Alas!
I think we should all read to add to our life and it should just augment everything else we are doing. Enjoy life. Enjoy reading!!!!!! What keeps me from reading…life!
You definitely have some good reasons here, along with some that aren’t “good” but definitely understandable! I’m impressed by your Celtic Harp plan. I knew someone who played when I was a kid, and listening and watching her play was amazing. I hear you on audiobooks. I prefer to listen to them sped up so I can focus, but they’re not for everyone. And blogging, particularly when you blog about books and therefore have to read in order to have content, is a huge time commitment! I hope you are able to find some time to read and that you manage to give your Celtic Harp a go!
I’ve tuned my harp and I’m watching and working through a video on proper hand position, so that’s farther than I’ve ever gotten before! The odds are in my favor. LOL
Work and blogging definitely take up a lot of my reading time. I listen to audiobooks whilst I go running, and though I obviously can’t listen to audiobooks whilst I’m horse riding, my stables is across the other side of London so I have a fairly lengthy tube journey there and back to listen to audiobooks too, so my exercise usually has some form of reading attached to it!
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/05/17/top-ten-tuesday-420/