How I Make Time to Read As a Mom

I remember learning to read. I was at the age of learning to read chapter books (whatever grade that is), and I was struggling. One night my mom came into my room with a copy of The Boxcar Children that she picked up at the library. She told me how she read it when she was a kid, and thought I’d like to read it too.

Every night we would cuddle up on my bed and read a chapter before I bedtime. From then on, I was an avid reader, joining book clubs, searching for books in a series, and asking for books for my birthday and Christmas.

As I got older I would read five or more books simultaneously and finish nearly all of them fairly quickly.

I’d say I’m still pretty much the same, as long as the books interest me. Sometimes I’ll go through dry spells because I can’t find anything that interests me. Other times I can’t get my hands on enough books and consume them fast enough!

A lot of women wish they could read more. And they don’t because they’re too busy or too tired by the time they find time to read.

I’ve read more books this past year than I have in ages despite working two jobs and doing the whole mom/homemaker thing.

Today I’m sharing how I make time to read every single day, even as a busy mom.

01. I make it part of my routine

One of the suggestions in the book Essentialism is to set up a morning routine where you read something inspirational, like your bible for example.

I’d already been giving some thought to fixing up my morning routine after reading The Happiness Project, so this suggestion was definitely welcome. Now I meditate on the daily Mass readings every morning on Blessed Is She.

02. I prioritize it

My hubby likes to unwind by watching TV. And that’s ok.

I’d rather spend time uninterrupted by my kid to do something I want to do. To be totally honest with yourself, if you really wanted to read, you would do it, right?

I sit on my bed so I won’t get distracted and read several evenings during the week.

(Eventually, Matthew figures out I went to bed and comes in to join me.)

03. I stop reading books that are “boring”

Okay, they’re not “boring” to everybody, but if I find I’m bored with it I just stop reading it. I’m not going to waste my time on a book that doesn’t interest me when I have a whole list of other books and things to do.

04. I stopped buying books

I still buy books (we’ll get to that in a minute), but if it’s a book I need for research or I’m not sure I’m totally sold on I don’t buy it. I borrow.

I kind of forgot about the library for a while. When my daughter started getting older and we got tired of reading the same books all the time we started going to the library. (I can still recite Mr Brown Can Moo. Can You? by heart.)

My mother-in-law was also raving about our library system having an online reservation system that lets you check out books from any library in the county. So I started using it and I’m saving so much money.

Checking out a book means I have a deadline. I must finish that book before its due date. This strategy totally works for me.

05. I use ebooks

Did you know you can get classic books for free on Libby, iBooks, and Prime Reading? If you’ve ever wanted to read all the Jane Austen books or the Bronte sister books, you can own them for free on the device of your choice.

Some people object to ebooks because they love the smell and feel of books. I get it, but let me try to convince you:

01. You don’t need an annoying book light in the dark.

02.  The price is often less for new books (and they’ll do specials where books will cost $0.99-$1.99).

03. You can bring a book with you without making your bag even heavier.

04. No waiting for a book to ship to your house. Even that 2-day shipping can be too long when you want to get your hands on a book.

05. No waiting in line at Target or Barnes and Noble to buy your book.

06. It doesn’t take up any more space on your bookshelf.

06. I read while I’m waiting

We kind of have to spend a lot of time waiting. So why not use it to get in some reading? You have time while waiting for appointments, while you’re on hold, sitting in an airport or on the plane, or while you wait for your kid.

Other ideas to make time for reading:

Some days I’m too tired to read long books to my kid, so we listen instead. We listen to audiobooks at lunch instead of watching TV. You can do the same thing by listening to Audible while you drive, while you exercise, or whenever.

Have you heard of Goodreads? You can make a goal of which books you want to read. Each time you finish one, you write a couple of sentences about the book. At the end of the year, they send you a report of what you read.

If you prefer to put pen to paper, check out the Cultivated Reading Journal. It includes a reading habit tracker, journal pages for every book you read, and more!

Make reading a family affair! We’ve started reading The Little House in the Big Woods to my 3-year-old to help build up listening and reading comprehension skills. It’s a book I’ve wanted to re-read, and now I can.

If your kids are older, you can add reading time to the schedule each week for everybody to sit and read for a while.

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Those are the 6 ways I make time to read. Do you have a goal to make more time to read? What kinds of strategies do you use to make time to read?

Need suggestions on what to read? Snag my list of 19 books for 2019 when you click here!