As the readathon inches ever closer, I thought I would share how I readathon. I won’t be able to follow my preferred readathon format this time around, so I’ll tell you both what I prefer to do, and what I’m doing this time.

So my preferred format is to check into a hotel room a day or two before the readathon so that I can minimize distractions and settle in to read uninterrupted. I bring my snacks, books and drinks with me, so that I don’t need to leave my room during the event.

This time around, I’ll be reading from home, rather than a hotel room. This gives me an advantage in that I can actually cook a meal for dinner, rather than relying on all pre-prepared foods like I usually do at a hotel (unless they have room service). The disadvantage, however, is that I don’t live alone, so interruptions are pretty much guaranteed.

First, before the readathon even starts, I prepare by picking out my books, snacks, beverages and reading locations. I also set up whatever tracker(s) I plan to use for the event. I started really early with the prep work this time around and already have my trackers ready. I have my list of snacks and have been picking up non-perishables each week when I do my regular shopping. I still need to pick out my books, but since I still have time, I’ll do this the week of.

The day before the event, I do all of my last minute prep. I make any snacks that need to be assembled, put all of my cold drinks in the fridge. I set up my reading locations with pillows and throws; charge my Kindle, phone, and earbuds; and pull any photo props and books I think I’ll need.

Now we get to the day of the event. The April and October events start at 5am in my time zone, and it’s important to me to be awake and ready at the start of the event. I always try to go to bed early the night before, but it rarely happens. I’m a night owl who suffers from anxiety and insomnia, so it’s always hard to fall asleep.

Once the event starts, I work off of a rotation every hour. As I’ve gotten older, my eyes tend to fatigue much faster, so I alternate between formats, starting with audio, then physical, then digital. My focus is different for each format, so it helps with fatigue, and the audio allows my eyes to fully rest and allows me to do the other things that I do each hour.

In addition to reading, I also try to post to Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram every hour. This generates excitement for the event and can help to motivate and cheer on other readers. My posts vary from pictures of books or snacks to quotes, reading updates, encouraging statements, etc.

This year I am tracking in 2 different ways. I have a Google Doc already set up in my computer to log hourly reading stats with book titles, start and end pages or percentages, snacks and drinks consumed, feelings, distractions, etc. The second tracking is a dry erase board broken into 4 hour blocks, where I’ll be summarizing total pages, time spent reading, etc. during each block. The board is a little easier to get pictures of for updates.

Because I will be home this year, I’ve prepared my family in advance to minimize distractions, but I know that they will still happen. This is partly where my earbuds come in. If I’m asked to do something for my mom throughout the day, I can pop in my earbuds and at least keep listening to an audio during that time. This also works for time spent making dinner.

And speaking of dinner, let’s talk about how I handle the food for readathon. I mentioned my snack station earlier, full of anything that does not require refrigeration to stay fresh. I generally set up my meals and snacks to where the only thing I have to actually prepare during the readathon is dinner (and I usually pick something quick and easy). I try to split my snacks between healthy and not-so-healthy, with a fairly even balance and will have a fruit bowl in the morning and a salad at lunch; both of these are prepared in advance. Other snacks include almonds, chips, candy, fruit snacks, sliced veggies, etc. These are all prepped and ready to go in advance as well.

For drinks, I alternate sugary or caffeine drinks with water. I’m not a coffee drinker, but I usually have a cup of tea in the morning or the wee hours if I’m up. I do drink soda and will mix caffeinated and un-caffeinated options, plus add in a fruit juice.

My overall goal for the readathon is always to have fun and read as much as I can. There have been events where I’ve volunteered to host certain hours of the readathon; in those years, my reading was much less, but I had a ton of fun. There have been years where I’ve done nothing but read and didn’t track or post updates. What I’m doing now, works for me now, I may find that I decide to mix it up again for future events.

Do you readathon? What do you do?