Less Scrolling, More Reading
I did not make new year's resolutions this year. When it comes to things like eating better or working out more, I make those adjustments and commitments throughout the year and already have a good routine. Instead of resolutions, I decided to look back at the previous year and reflect on how I was spending my time and energy. I determined what I wanted to do more of and what I wanted to do less of.
In order to make room for the things I want in my life, I have to let go of what really isn't serving me well. There are only so many hours in the day, after all. This is an approach that I have learned applies to many different situations, and when I think of it this way, it allows me to let go a little easier.
I came up with three "do less, do more" items for 2021 and will share them over my next several blogs. Here is the first one:
Do less: Scrolling on social media and news apps.
Do more: Reading.
At the beginning of last year, I set a reading challenge goal to read 20 books in 2020. I started off strong, and then I trailed off, falling very short of my goal. One would think this would have been easy to hit, given all of the time I had at home in 2020 due to the pandemic, but I filled that time with other activities instead of reading. I use Goodreads to track my reading, maintain my lists of books I want to read and keep a list of ones I have read. I have actual books, and I also use Audible. I like to rotate between reading and listening, although I can get through books faster when I listen to them since I tend to listen to books while walking my dog, Leo, in the evening (morning walks are for podcasts). He makes sure those walks happen, so, therefore, my reading (listening) should happen. There really is no good reason why I didn't read more, other than I just didn't make the time for it.
Now that we are in a new year, I decided to set the same goal of 20 books and take some new approaches. First, I know that I waste time on social media and news apps. We all know that just a quick look can lead us down the rabbit hole of mindless scrolling for way longer. While I know that I'll spend some time during my day on social media for both business and personal reasons, there is plenty of room to reduce time on certain apps and be more intentional and focused with my time when I do decide to be there.
Setting screentime limits on my phone is helping me with my strategy to reduce time on the phone to allow for more time reading. With that time, my goal is to read for at least 21 minutes a day. For those of you who follow the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast, I got this idea there. I also joined a local book club which will provide accountability for reading, as well as an opportunity to read books that are outside of my normal picks. I tend to read more nonfiction, and I'm pretty sure this club will focus more on fiction, which will be a nice change. Oh, did I mention that this book club is being run by a local brewery? The bonus here is that I get to meet new people and discuss books over a craft beer, in a socially-distanced environment, of course.
What are you looking to do more of? Have you decided to reduce the time spent on some activity to allow time for other goals or activities? If not, is this something you might try?