Mar 12, 2018

Finding Time for my Addiction

I have a confession. I’m a magazine addict. I don’t have many vices but a weekend Chardonnay and a great magazine are two of them. Apparently Australians are some of the biggest consumers of magazines in the world. I certainly help with that statistic.

The trouble is I buy them and never have the time to read them. There is always something else more important or urgent to do than sit in by the window in a comfy chair reading a lovely magazine. As I write this, newly purchased issues of House & Garden and Mindfood are taunting me. Read me. Read me. Read me now.

I love that first pass through a magazine when the pages are new and the contents yet to be discovered. Then taking my time on the second pass to read what takes my fancy.

So how do you find time for these little moments of leisure when life is so packed?  After reading Gretchen Rubin’s book Better Than Before, which is all about mastering habits, I now have the solution. I schedule in my magazine reading time and other fun stuff. There’s always more work to do, more writing to accomplish, more preparing for uni lecturing or tutoring or more issues to solve as Chair of the Byron Writers Festival, so with my fun schedule, I get time for non-work things.

I’ve mentioned this scheduling of fun time to friends and some are horrified. “What!,” they exclaim. “Surely having to schedule time for fun is counterintuitive and a little bit sad.”   After trialing this method for a few weeks, I completely disagree. I’ve had more free time than I’ve had in months.


So what do you think? Is scheduling the fun times a great way to ensure you get to do things you enjoy or something else entirely (ie just a little bit sad)?

6 comments:

  1. I think making tiome for fun is essential, Jen! So however you can manage it, I say go for it. I made a promise to myslef this year I would have Sunday off writing and do stuff with hubby instead - go out for a meal or visit a museum or something. It hasn't happened yet....but we're off to France in a month so I'm making it start from then!

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    1. Sounds like a great plan, Amy. And France - fun, fun, fun.

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  2. I think this is a brilliant idea, Jen! Sometimes we get too busy, and relaxation and taking time out to do some fun things is what will keep us going (not to mention healthy). This is the perfect reminder for me at the moment. Thank you!

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  3. Thrilled to be of assistance, Michelle. Yup - I schedule exercise too.

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  4. Hi Jennifer

    Way to go I agree however you do it to find the time for fun do it I don't really plan anything I just go with the flow but I do read everyday and always find time for outings and relaxing times with family and friends :)

    Have Fun

    Helen

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  5. I reckon it's really important to make time for the fun things, they're the ones that get overlooked when we're so busy. Mine addiction is doing cross stitch, and I sit down to sneak a few stitches in and wow, an hour's gone by. Sometimes I feel guilty, but mostly not.

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