How To Make The Most Out Of Reading As A Busy Woman
The busier you are, the more you should read.
words Hidayah Salamat
I hear this a lot: “I used to love reading but then life got in the way.” Or: “I’ve been trying to get into reading but I don’t have the time.”
I see you.
Working in a newsroom, my hours are long, irregular and typically not flexible (some days, toilet breaks are a luxury). Throw in part-time studies, caregiving duties and an anxiety disorder, and I’m often asked if I even eat or sleep.
I do. I also read.
Here’s how I do it.
I adopt a strict reading list strategy.
I’ve had to be very strict about the people I follow on social media, particularly on Instagram and Goodreads, for the sake of my mental health. So every few months, I go on a follow-unfollow rampage. Anyone I haven’t personally engaged with in the last quarter of the year gets an unfollow and I replace that with someone whose life I admire and whose success - and this can be in any form, not just career - I would like to emulate.
This way, I get relevant book recommendations.
Next, I check out the book’s rating and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads to get an idea of how likely I am to enjoy it. It’s not the best filter - a five-star review does not always guarantee my reading pleasure and a reviewer whose priority is not money may be exceptionally critical of a book about getting rich - but in the spirit of protecting my time and energy, I don’t overthink it. I just go with my gut.
Books that pass this filter get marked “Want to Read”.
When I’m ready to start on a new book, I ask myself: “Where am I struggling right now? What do I need?” When I was on a “do less, live more” kick, my reading list looked something like this: Do Less by Kate Northrup, Drop the Ball by Tiffany Dufu and The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi. When pleasure was a priority, I read something heartwarming - like The Midnight Library by Matt Haig - or a chick-lit. This brings me to the next thing…
I read what I like.
Social media has ruined our ability to embrace our diverse interests. I stopped reading chick-lit (it’s “light women’s fiction” now, by the way) for something like a decade because of its reputation for being shallow and overly indulgent.
Maybe it is.
But the fact is, chick-lit makes me laugh out loud, which everybody needs, especially now. The likes of Defoe, Shakespeare and even Austen trigger my anxiety. Most contemporary fiction makes me want to cry into my pillow at night.
Be honest about what you really enjoy - and go for it. Fantasy romance, erotica, celebrity gossip, true crime? Lose yourself in it. Relive a time when you couldn’t wait to get back to a book.
Don’t be embarrassed to update your Goodreads status with what you want to read or have read. There’s a community for every genre on there. Anyone who criticises your status on there is the one with the problem, not you.
And besides, no one reads essays about intersectional feminism to relax.
I don’t always read the whole book.
If the book is not teaching me something or making me smile in the first three chapters, I dump it. Life is too short to force yourself to finish a bad book.
This is especially true for self-help and business books. Many of them are repetitive or just not a joy to read. If I want the best parts of the book without having to spend a week reading it, I read summaries on the Blinkist app.
For a small fee, you can get excellent summaries of some of the best-selling business and personal development books on the market. If I read the summary and want to learn more, I read the whole book. But I find the summaries often do the books justice.
I buy fewer books.
Buying books I don’t end up reading is demoralising, not to mention a waste of space and money.
If I want to read a book, I borrow it. I’m not a fan of e-books, but it’s a small price to pay for the privilege of reading in a pandemic. If you’re in Singapore, you can log in to the National Library Board app and borrow e-books from the local libraries for no fee. The book then gets sent to the Libby app, which is linked to your NLB account, for you to read.
If I read it and enjoy it, I buy it. And I make it a point to visit the local bookstore first before I look for it online.
Reading is a non-negotiable for me and I would argue the same for anyone. Other than giving me something to look forward to that is not tied to today’s soul-crushing metrics, it teaches me new perspectives that make my life better.
So far the biggest lesson for me has been “if you’re too busy to read, you’re probably the one who needs to read the most”.
About the author:
Hidayah is a news editor, anxiety warrior and power reader. Follow her on Instagram @omgimtellingyou for book summaries and recommendations.