Too stressed to “BOOK”

After nearly a year of being laid off, I found a new job at the end of December. I am also freelancing 2 side jobs.
And?
I have not read in 3 months
Send help
I sit down to read and my brain can only think about work and money.

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That’s understandable! Here are some things that have helped us during reading slumps:

  • audiobooks (multitask with them)
  • rereads (you already know the plot so less work)
  • try to read a book at the same time as a friend or someone in this community so reading takes on a social component too
  • return to a favorite author
  • don’t stress about not reading! Books will be there when you’re up to it
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I’m so glad you were able to find a job again! If you need the books for the mental escape try rereading any favorite books. That’s what I always do when I hit a big slump and it works for me everytime. Sometimes it takes a few books to get my book mojo going and sometimes I’ll spend a year rereading a ton of favorites. And that’s okay (at least for me it is lol). Maybe try a new hobby? Perhaps coloring books and pop on an audiobook ( or music). I do this as well when I can’t even focus on the reread.

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I have been stressed too from a thumb surgery and haven’t read as much as I want to. I think all you can do is just let yourself take a break from reading until you get your work/finances settled a little. Don’t be too hard on yourself.

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First: Congrats on the job! Hope you love it.

Second: When all other aspects of my life make me too busy to crack a book open/too distracted to focus on a page, I use housework or exercise time to listen to audiobooks through Libby. I know a lot of people don’t like audiobooks–I once thought I was one of them, because the readers of the audiobooks I tried to listen to all those years ago were not particularly good. But there are very few audiobooks I’ve tried in the last few years that I quit because the readers were horrible. Bonus: I now look forward to washing dishes and tidying because I get to put a book on.

If you can’t seem to focus on the audiobooks, I’d suggest trying some bookish or literary podcasts. Maybe Selected Shorts (celebrities reading short stories) or LeVar Burton Reads or CraftLit (serial reading of classic books with book discussion and craft-y monolgue–I used CraftLit to listen to A Tale of Two Cities a couple years ago, and that was actually fun). Or… do you know about The Adventure Zone? The podcasters of TAZ have made graphic novels of some of the story arcs. I haven’t read one yet, but the MPG format of the podcast might scratch that narrative itch; I’d recommend starting at the beginning, if you want to give that a try.

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I have also had a harsh year, which also began with being laid off a year ago. I can commiserate, except I can’t even focus on work (which for me is solely freelancing). I have gotten through everything by listening to audiobooks. Audiobooks can take a little getting used to, but even if your mind wanders, it’s easy to rewind a little bit to return to the part you remember last. Fantastic for multitasking!

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These are great recommendations! I’ll have to remember these next time I’m in a reading slump. For now, audiobooks are my refuge.

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Audio books are not for me but the podcast sounds very interesting! Thank you for that!

Congratulations on the new job! I’ve found myself having a very hard time reading the past 6 months or so with everything going on in the world. Thankfully after turning to some of my favorite authors for a few I seemed to get my groove back