Quick post with progress on my January Resolution, involving taking time to read for pleasure.
Essentially, thus far, I have completely failed at this goal since arriving back to Tufts. Since switching to the School of Arts and Sciences, I’ve had much more to read for classes, and thus, haven’t had time for pleasure reading most days.
I’m going to keep working at it, but I need some help.
The question: How do you, busy professionals and students, find time to read for pleasure while away at school?
Oh silly person. There *is* no reading for pleasure while in school. It just doesn’t exist, not for me.
Honestly, I do keep a little mindless reading next to my bed and try to read a chapter before going to bed. It’s very different from my usual reading style (all day, all night, until it is done) but it gets me by while the semester is on.
Right now it’s Will in the World, a little Shakespeare bio to bring things into perspective. I am tending toward bios and history more and more these days…
I really have to find one of Grant. I’m a little in love with Ulysses Grant, I think.
Thanks a lot, Ken Burns.
Say it isn’t so, Beth! None!
I feared this was the answer, but I wanted to hear it from someone and somewhere other than myself.
I may my current book near bed (right now, Outliers by Gladwell) just in case I get a little motivated before falling asleep. Unfortunately, it seems that’s the end.
Thanks for the input!
I do have a few…well, not suggestions exactly, because I don’t know how much these will apply to you, but these are steps I took to ensure adequate reading time in college and beyond.
1) Become a literature major. Sure, I was reading for class, but a lot of the books were good ones. That’s what we call “win-win.”
2) Get a job where you do nothing but sit around all day. In college I worked at the library computer help desk, which meant I basically got to read for five or six hours on Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons. After college I worked as a writing tutor, and now I work as an English teacher in Japan, where many days I teach for maybe one period and then spend the rest of the time reading. Some people would find this boring, but those people are more motivated than me. When I do have work to do, I can’t help but think to myself, “Great, work. Like I don’t have better things to do with my time.”
As far as reading during actual leisure time, college is not at all conducive to that, as I’m sure you’ve discovered. There’s just so much happening, so much activity and socialization and such, and it’s really easy to get distracted by all that whenever someone shows up in your dorm while you are reading for fun and says, “Hey, let’s go do whatever.” And really, that’s okay. The distance between individuals (in metaphysical terms, like) is at its lowest in college and will only increase after graduation. Right now you exist in a tight community of learning, and it’s unlikely that you’ll experience that same feeling of community once you graduate. Trying to shoehorn a lot of reading time into a college framework like that is usually pretty tough, and honestly might not be worth the effort. I am inclined to think that it is better to enjoy the unique perks of your current situation; “having time” is different from “making time.” Even as someone who loves to read and has historically chosen books over people when given half the chance, when I was in college and I’d like be in a roomful of friends with my arm around some girl engaging in a drunken discussion with her about the sociopolitical themes in the “V For Vendetta” comic book while a bunch of other people took turns playing “Guitar Hero” on my roommate’s swee LCD HDTV… at no point during this scenario did I ever wish that I was in my room reading “No Exit” or whatever instead. This isn’t meant to promote anti-intellectualism or anything. I’m just sayin’ that there’s a time and a place for everything.
Mr. Blithe, it’s so nice to hear from you!
And in a very special way, your comment is absolutely inspiring. Giving myself permission to enjoy the special situation I’m in while in college may be the solution. Given the condition that I catch up with my stack of books over the summer, I think it’s okay if I pause that area of study for a little while and enjoy those early morning conversations with friends.
Thank you so much.