- 400+ items in my gmail (I finally got smart and categorized and archived them all. That way they're at least not in my inbox making me feel guilty every time I check email!)
- 423 items in my Google reader
- 294 items in my Hotmail (junk & catalog mail) inbox, plus another 334 filed away in folders
- 11 catalogs/magazines/newspapers in my to read when I get time (ha-ha!) pile. This was culled down this weekend from about 25 that were there.
- 4 homeschooling books in the cabinet above my desk
- 13 library books that I have had to return completely unopened this year
- half a dozen Catholic parenting books I bought but have yet to open, or started but never finished
- 3 or 4 homeschooling books I started but never finished
Ugh! No wonder I feel so behind. (And this list doesn't even touch the state of my house, or the fact that despite over a year of trying I still don't have us on a predictable schedule, or even fulfill my promise to myself to read my kids at least one book every day.)
Does anyone else have reading material overload, and if so, how do you deal with it?
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4 comments:
Oy! My mother gave us a magazine subscription for Christmas (Smithsonian) and I haven't looked at a single one. A friend also gave me a different subscription, and so far I've finished one magazine and I'm partway through another.
The great thing is that I know print material keeps. Ten years from now I can still read these (their not news magazines!) and it will be fine.
Books are tools. I read library books if they help me, and if they don't grab me straight in and give me something I need right now, it's ok with me to put it aside. I don't even buy books -- the last one I bought on a whim I shelved and haven't looked at yet.
Blogs I read sometimes, because I spend my late nights glued to our computer. But I do skip around posts, even of my close friends, and just let it go.
I would love to accomplish 25 times more stuff than I do. But it is God we serve, and He hangs out in the real world, where our families, laundry, meals and tasks hang out. Serving idealism is, well idolatry! (Said she, long time servant of idealism!)
i cut out all unneccessary reading.
i put all my e-groups on digest or no e-mails.
i limit the number of books i check out from the library to 2 or 3 at a time and i cannot check out a new book unless i return one i already have.
i have 3 magazine subscriptions, but 2 were part of a membership so i just skim those.
if i have alot of stuff backed up on my google reader, i hack it down.
if there is something i want to read, i read it. if i am iffy about it: i delete it, throw it away, or return it.
if more than a week have gone by and i haven't made the time to read it (with the exception of books), it's gone.
I only have one email account. Well, what I do is that I hit the delete button a lot. If things get away from me, I'll sort my sender, and then delete all the emails from "Delta Airlines" for example. I have a ton of mail to go through, but all regular bills are on automatic (even the mortgage!), but I still have the rest of it to go through, which I have in a shopping bag right now. I really need to sit down and do this.
one of the most interesting exercises i ever did was reading deprivation for a week. no reading (i made an exception for reading to kids). no email, newspaper, books, mags, backs of cereal boxes, nothing. it's amazing what you can accomplish when you can't use that as a form of procrastination.
i read a lot. but i use it as an escape. to the point that i can become neglectful of myself, my house, my family. so i have to monitor it closely. although, like jigsaw puzzles, i will occasionally allow myself three or four days of obsessive reading.
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