One constant in my life after graduating law school, but especially after becoming a mom, is the question: how do you find time to read so much?  In my adult reading life, I’ve found that my sweet spot is around 100 books in a year; nothing I do really changes that.  Some years it’s 98, some years 102, but it seems that my reading spreadsheets and Goodreads lists are attracted to that number as if it’s a magnet.  I land around 100 books every year without much effort, but if I tried to read more, I don’t think I could.  (There are outlier years.  One year I read 70 books – quite low for me.  And in 2018, I tried to read 52 and ended up reading 113.)

Also, at the risk of sounding smug, I don’t think 100-odd books in a year is all that much.  I have friends who read many more than that, and next to them, I feel like a total slouch.  Maybe someday I’ll read more – but I don’t think so.  I’ve always landed around 100, no matter what else was going on in my life.  No kids, one kid, toddler-and-a-baby – no matter what the life stage; it’s as if the number 100-ish is magic for me.

People always ask me how I manage to read so much, and I usually shrug off the question.  I enjoy reading, so I make time for it – pretty simple.  I prioritize it over other things that I enjoy less – like watching television – and some things that I like doing, but just not quite as much as I like reading – such as knitting.  But nothing’s ever quite as simple as we’d like to make it, is it?  So if I were to drill down and really consider how I fit books into my schedule as a working mom with a kindergartner and a preschooler, here’s what I come up with:

• Personal to me: I’m a fast reader.  I don’t know that reading speed is something that one can really change, so maybe I’m just lucky – but I’ve always been a fast reader.  My being able to fit 100+ books per year around an otherwise crammed schedule has a lot to do with my naturally quick pace of reading.  (If only I was a fast runner in addition to being a fast reader.)
• I don’t watch TV.  Or much of it, anyway.  I probably average less than two hours of TV a week, and that might be a stretch.  There are some weeks when Steve and I will be binging a show on Netflix (which, for us, means watching one episode a night) but then there will be weeks on end when I won’t watch anything at all.  I think TV is just fine, and a perfectly pleasant way to entertain oneself, and there are some shows – like Parks and Recreation, The Crown, or The Great British Bake-Off – that never get old.  But I’m conscious of the fact that I have limited free time, and I usually choose to spend it reading.
• I read in front of the kids.  This is actually challenging for me.  My natural inclination, when the kids are awake, is to put down my book and play with them, take pictures of them, or read to them.  And I do a lot of those things.  But I also know that it’s important and beneficial for them to see me reading to myself for pleasure and enjoyment.  I remind myself that I am setting an example for them and laying the groundwork for them to become lifetime readers, too – and that helps with the guilt and FOMO when I pick up a book while they’re awake.  (What I do try not to do while they’re awake is to scroll through my phone.)
• I read while commuting.  Again, this is a bit personal to me, but I’m blessed with a commute on public transportation and the ability to read without getting motion sick (most of the time, unless I’ve let myself get too hungry).  My commute is about 30 minutes each way, so that’s an hour of reading every weekday, right there – provided I get a seat, which isn’t a given, at least on the homeward leg of my commute.  (I hate holding a book in one hand.)  This will change when the Metro closes my station for a few months this summer, but I’ve got a big backlog of audiobooks to get me through.
• I always have a book with me.  I’m actually not one for pulling out my book in the grocery line, unless it’s really long.  I’ll usually make use of that time to scroll through Instagram, text with my BFF, or catch up on blog reading.  But I’ve always got the book as a backup – for waiting rooms (I know you’ll all agree with me that the DMV is much nicer when you have reading material), the occasional coffee shop break, or pockets of found time.  It adds up.
• I know what I like, and I read it.  Finally – I think reading is much like anything else, in that when you have momentum, it’s easier to keep going.  I’ve been an avid reader as long as I can remember and at this point, I’m pretty good about knowing what I’m going to like and what I’m less likely to enjoy, and I pick up the books I think I’ll like.  I’m not actually a big book abandoner, although I will DNF something if I really hate it.  (I think the last time I DNFed a book, it was because of excessive gratuitous F-bombs.)  I’m good enough at choosing books for myself that I’m usually enjoying whatever I happen to have going at the moment, so curling up with a book is a treat to enjoy and not a chore to avoid.

These aren’t really tips, I know.  Most of them are very personal to me and to my particular concoction of fast reading speed, public transit commute and iron stomach.  Without those factors, who knows?

What factors influence your reading pace?  Are you trying to read more, or are you happy with your numbers?