2021 Is the All About Getting My Groove Back!
Like many people, I went into 2020 with an optimistic frame of mind. I had reduced my Goodread’s Goal for the year to be lower to anticipate a few things like travel and other events, plus my general decline in my reading numbers over the last few years.
But as Canada went into lockdown near the end of March, I couldn’t bring myself to read a book. I mean, if you ignored the global issues, the idea of not leaving your house except for essentials seems like a bookworm’s perfect world. But I really struggled.
I work in healthcare, particularly in the laboratory of the hospital. I’m the person who receives the swabs for the testing of COVID-19 and could run the testing if my hospital provided in-house testing (we are too small to do so). Work was extremely stressful at this time and as a result, I found my mind wandering when I would pick up a book. So reading wasn’t for me and I found myself turning to yarn hobbies like crochet and knitting because it kept my hands occupied and gave me a sense of accomplishment.
I did go through a few spurts where reading was how I passed the time instead of watching TV. I even managed to finish my Goodreads Goal–something I didn’t complete last year–fairly early on given how March-May worked for my reading. But once things got colder here in Canada, my reading became non-existent once again. It got to the point that if it wasn’t an audiobook for when I walked my dog, I probably wasn’t reading it.
As I write this post, I’m unsure about my reading and blogging future. I’ve been contemplating moving away from a self-hosted site to the regular WordPress site because I don’t want my blog to disappear entirely. But the cost to keep it self-hosted isn’t crazy so I’ll probably stick it out one more year and give 2021 a good chance. I feel like 2020 isn’t a good year to gauge my reading/blogging usage on since it was so radical.
In last year’s plan for 2020, I focused on finishing up series and reading more books I owned. But I only had mild success there. I was actually on a great trajectory to finish it when September hit and so did a major reading slump. A slump so long that it was still continuing into December.
That’s why I want to get my Groove back in 2021. Instead of specific reading goals (like finish X number of series), I want to improve my reading habits and reintegrate reading into my everyday life.
And so I want to keep that momentum going forward into 2020! Here’s how:
#1 – Read Before Bed
I used to always read before I would go to bed. Back in University, my roommates thought I was asleep by 10:15pm every night because I would say goodnight around 10pm. But I usually spent the next 45 minutes reading my book before finally sleeping. I even used to wake up early to read a chapter or two before I started my day.
Because I work in healthcare, that means shift work is my every day norm. I find I’m always trying to catch up on sleep from night shifts and so I’m lucky if I even get a single chapter in before my eyes close.
I’ve decided I’m going to start bullet journaling in 2021 as a way to keep me accountable and I’ve added a habit tracker to see my progress with this particular idea. I really want to get back into a regular sleep routine that works with my shift work and that includes reading before bed instead of scrolling through my phone.
#2 – Reduce ARC Commitments
For the last 2 years I’ve really declined my ARC commitments and I want to keep that going forward.
There’s nothing wrong with ARCs, I just find they add a pressure to my reading that dampens my interest in reading. I’ve been in such a rotten mood for 2020 that I felt like it was translating into overly critical reviews of ARCs and I didn’t think that was super fair.
I’m a member of a few street teams for authors and I plan on sticking with those as they aren’t overwhelming. But I will be reducing what I sign up for and what requests I take on.
#3 – No Reading Challenges
Usually I have 2-3 reading challenges for the year. This year, I want to step away from those and really go back to my mood reading whims where I simply pick up a book because I want to.
That means no elaborate Excel spreadsheet to share this year!
I’ve toyed with the idea of going back to the reading challenges of the last few years and reading those titles I had marked but never got to. But I really want the first 3 months of 2021 to be focused on getting back to reading and making it a part of my everyday routine.
Going Forward:
Better things seem to be on the horizon for 2021 and I’m optimistic that I can get things back to where they want to be by forming new habits and returning to my routines that have helped me in the past.
Do you create a yearly plan or do you just go with the flow?
What are some of your 2021 reading goals?
I create a reading plan and then end up mostly going with the flow. I’ve still set my goodreads goal for year and just joined some reading challenges for thing that I want to do. I’ve left all the prompt ones behand because it’s too much stress to find the perfect book. This year’s challenges are backreads, series finishing, once a month romance theme. All pretty easy going to me.
Those are great reading challenges. I find when I focus on specific books at specific times, it stresses me out now. As a mood reader, I’m not always in the mood to read a particular title at a certain time. So I find I gravitate more towards general themes and then find books that interest me within it at that time.
I totally understand about the reading/blogging burnout, though I do hope you continue to blog as I love your posts 🙂 But you need to do what is best for you! I agree, it seems like all the time at home in 2020 would make for a perfect reading situation but it definitely didn’t…it’s totally different when you HAVE to stay home and are dealing with all of the craziness in the world! I used to do bullet journal spreads/trackers and while they were a lot of fun they also kind of stressed me out so this year I’m just using my Always Fully Booked Planner and very loosely tracking things/just going to go with the flow to make it as low pressure as possible!
Cristina @ Girl in the Pages recently posted…Four Things on a Friday [3]
Well thank you <3
It certainly is a different feel when you have the time to read. Reading used to be a great escape for me in university (I remember finishing a Tessa Dare novel in one go when I should have been studying) but it wasn't last year.
I really like the bullet journal so far. I've kept it simple for January to see what works for me and I'm just going to adjust it on a month by month basis.