A Few Tricks for Finding Time to Read More as a Busy Mom

We know reading is great for helping us grow as humans, as moms, as friends.

We also know that the very best way to give our kids a love for reading and learning and growing as humans themselves is to let them see us reading. A lot.

But let’s face it — as a busy mom, finding time to read a lot can be hard to do.

Remember those years when you could read all you wanted any time you wanted? When time was plentiful and demands were low? Ever wonder how life switched so quickly into only having time to read picture books and not being able to keep your eyes open long enough at night to read for yourself?

Yeah, me too.

Yet, here I am telling you how I read 50+ books I loved last year.

(picture books not included)

I could pretend I have a magic formula for how it happened, a tried-and-true method for busy moms looking to find more time to read. But honestly, I don’t — I still can’t believe it even happened. Because while I used to be a decent reader, I haven’t been such a good one since becoming a mom.

In my early mama years, not only was I exhausted every day, I was distracted too. I’d start a book and quickly lose interest. I’d go to the library and never leave the kids’ room. I’d visit a bookstore and spend my entire book budget on Star Wars readers and the Who Was collection. Then, on the rare occasion when I did get into a book, I’d feel guilty for all the time I was spending reading when I “should” have been doing laundry or cooking dinner or any of the other 10,000 things on my to-do list.

So what happened beyond the obvious aging of my babies into teenagers?

My perspective changed.

A lot.

What caused the change was when I stepped back to reassess a few things, started graduate school classes, and quickly realized I could carve out time to read two or three whole books a week when it was assigned to me by a professor, teacher, or any type of“expert”. The time I never had before was suddenly there. I made it somehow. Honestly, it was kind of magical.

It made me wonder why we’re so quick to read something for someone else but struggle to do it for ourselves.

I don’t have a quick answer for that, but I am thankful for the experience. I’m also thankful that experience helped me come up with a few simple, easy tricks for reading more as a busy mom — tricks I’ve kept using over and over again, long after those grad school classes were over.

Here they are:

Phone-free places

I don’t let my phone come to bed with me. It’s also not allowed close to the couch when I snuggle in by the fire for afternoon quiet time with the kids. I try to leave it in the house when I’m sitting around a campfire with my friends, in the backseat or in my purse when I drive or ride in the car, and downstairs plugged in when I’m taking a reading break on my reading porch. And when I don’t follow these intentions, I feel it. Not in a guilt or shame sort of way — just in a “wow, I’m really missing out” one.

10-minute timers

I still struggle to really read sometimes. I get pulled into a problem that came in via email and requires immediate attention (although in reality, it could have waited at least 10 minutes, probably 100). And when I struggle, I set timers to get me back into my reading groove. I start with 10 minutes, but you can start with 5 or 3 or 1 even. And I literally just set the timer, open my book, and don’t look up until I hear the buzz. Often, it’s not enough for me, so I set another one and another. But even when I don’t make the time to do that, just 10 minutes is often enough to break me out of the prison my brain has created for my time.

Tech-free times

Much the same way I set aside phone-free places, I also have a few unspoken tech-free times, too. I won’t scroll through my phone during breakfast or when I’m having my first coffee. I won’t unlock the screen when I’m reading the newspaper on Saturday mornings. It’s not welcome during mealtimes or meal prep. It’s also not allowed to ring or buzz or blurp or beep anytime (just vibrate) — which absolutely makes it easier for me to make time to read.

Audiobooks

I’m a visual person, so I didn’t think I’d like audiobooks. Then, a friend gave me a free Audible trial and I was hooked. Now I listen to so many books on Audible, and not only does it count as real reading, it makes me want to read real paper books more, too. For instance, I took a spontaneous trip to visit my family in Georgia recently, and in the 24+ hours of travel time it took to drive and fly there and back, I started and finished a whole book on Audible and read some of a real paper book I love, too. In my earbuds with my eyes closed on the plane. In the car stereo while I drove. Easy peasy.

Subscriptions (Audible, book boxes, library)

Having new books at the ready makes reading more SO much easier. I can’t say enough good things about libraries — they’re a godsend. But having books come to your door (or earbuds) automatically is really helpful, too, so book box subscriptions from local indie bookstores can be super helpful. So can audiobook subscriptions. We’re on the 2 book credits per month plan on Audible — one for the kids and one for me, and I have an unspoken deal with myself that I’ll spend all of my credits before the next ones hit my account no matter what (most of the time, at least). That means we listen to a lot of books around here. If I’m bogged down in a bad book, I abandon it and start a new one. If I’m tired of nonfiction (my favorite), I get a fiction one. I listen when I’m hiking, washing dishes, folding laundry, working on something super brain-numbing, vacuuming, scrubbing toilets, walking, biking — pretty much a lot. And all those little times add up to lots of books.

Turn reading into a service

If you feel so guilty doing something for yourself in your current season (like reading 10 minutes a day) and you can’t get past that pesky guilt no matter what you tell yourself or try, turn reading into a service. Convince yourself that you’re studying for something, researching a topic that relates to your kids or could in the future. Get into a topic. Then another. Then another.

Commit to a group (or a book friend)

I desperately want to be a book club person. But I’m desperately, hopelessly not. Not yet, anyway. (I just can’t make myself do more Zoom meetings than I already have to do for work.) I am, however, a stellar book friend. So when I have a friend who’s reading a book I’m interested in, I read it too and we chat about it. I’ve even had several friends do weekly calls with me just to chat about books. We assign chapters to each other, give each other homework — it’s super fun and helps me stick with reading in new ways, even if it does sound a little nerdy.

That’s it.

That’s all it takes.