Many times we feel like we have no extra time as homeschooling parents to squeeze into our days, especially for reading books.  We hear others that have read books on different educational styles, learning styles, homemaking and more.  Sometimes that is discouraging and we feel like we’ll never get to that book pile that sits on our bedside table.

I will admit to being in that group that couldn’t figure out where to squeeze in time to go visit my book pile.  Before, I used to do school at the dining room table and we were always moving books on and off the table, so having books near me didn’t work very well.   I also took advantage of short breaks for me to step into the kitchen to get a meal started.  While that was nice at the time, I never felt like I got ahead on anything.  I also tried reading on my laptop, but found that I often got distracted from my book when I heard my email “ding”.

I did, however, come up with an idea that is solving that problem for me.  I know it will sound simplistic, but it is working for me.  We recently moved a table into an area just at the top of the stairs where we now do most of our sit down work.  I have a pile of books that sits next to me at the table, and I never have to clear this table.  I have several books that I am working on at the same time.  When my daughter has some work to do, instead of running off and getting distracted and her needing to pull me back to the table because she had finished, I now just choose a book that I can read for 5 or 10 minutes while I wait for her to finish.

I am finding this is helping me get through my book piles.  It is also keeping me from getting distracted and keeping my daughter from running off when she thinks I’m too busy to help her with something else. I also am not distracted by email when I stick to reading “books” rather than reading online in a kindle or nook app.  School is getting done in a timelier manner and I am accomplishing more.

Sometimes getting more done is a matter of organizing your space to make it work for you.  Please share in the comment section how you make time and space for your reading hobby and time for continuing education.