Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Every week, Jana assigns a topic and creates a post for everyone to link to.

This week’s topic is: Things Getting in the Way of Reading. There are definitely a lot of things that can get in the way of reading, I might have to stretch to come up with 10 right now though, since work is not currently part of the equation, but here we go…

Mental Health

My mental health can really get in the way of my reading. When I’m struggling through a more serious bout of depression or anxiety, I find it very difficult to do anything that requires any sort of effort, and that includes reading. Most of the time I don’t completely stop reading (I have on some of the more severe occasions), but might read only one or two pages, or listen to one short chapter of an audio book in a day. For comparison, I usually listen to about 2 hours of audio per day and read 5-6 chapters of digital/physical books daily on average.

Sleep

Obviously I can’t read when I’m sleeping. And sometimes I fall asleep in the middle of a project.

Streaming GBBO

Streaming a lot of shows (and specifically GBBO) is usually linked to my mental health, so they go hand in hand contributing to a lack of reading. I am not a big TV watcher by nature, but sometimes I will get caught up in streaming and not do anything else.

Projects

While some projects can be done while listening to audiobooks, most of the projects that I have been working on over the last couple of months take more concentration, so I can’t focus on a book at the same time. The more time I spend on my projects, the less time I have to read.

Headaches

While I get headaches much less frequently now that I am in menopause, I still do get the occasional tension headache or migraine. When I do it is impossible to read, even audio books bother me.

Household Chores

This falls along the same lines as projects; sometimes I just need to focus so I’m not able to read even on audio.

Running Errands

I used to listen to audio books in the car all the time, but the car I’m driving now is over 20 years old and does not have blue tooth technology. I also don’t listen to my earbuds when running errands because, after working in retail and customer service for much of my life, I find it really rude to have them in while the cashier is assisting me.

Low Batteries

While physical books obviously don’t run into the low battery issue, I can’t always read them if the lighting is poor or my eyes are fatigued, so it helps to have my phone and Kindle batteries charged at all times (if I can) to ensure that I am able to read digital books.

Interruptions from Family

This is a big one, though to be fair the interruptions mostly come from one person. And she has a knack of wanting to talk to me or needing something right when I’m in the middle of a good part.

Games

While I can listen to audio books while playing most of my games, but I don’t always. Sometimes I just get caught playing for a while… especially my coloring app or the matching games on my phone.