Realizing I'm several months late to the party here (I thought I'd signed up for notifications about new posts but I don't seem to have been getting them and only catch your stuff when I see it come across my Insta feed). But I really feel what you say about reading helping with your mental health. I think the concept of recreation as an active thing is something we as a society have lost--or maybe it's just me, I'm pretty dumb. But it clicked for me when I heard NFL QB Kirk Cousins talking about the whole "Work hard, play hard" mentality, which I'd always assumed was just the motto of douche bags with pickup trucks. But he talked about how, to him, it means he has to have goals he actively pursues in his leisure time, so when it's time to focus on his job he feels recharged and rested.
For me, I've found it doesn't even really matter what that goal is. It can be big and "important" (like redoing the insulation in a room in my house) or small and "silly" (like beating the next boss in Dark Souls), or somewhere in-between (like reading x pages in a book). It just has to be something I'm actively engaging in and not a mindless activity. Mindless activities have their place, but when they become too much of what I do is when I start to burn out.
Just my thoughts responding to this. I really like some of these ideas and should try to incorporate some of them in my own life.
I genuinely think every aspiring sci-fi/fantasy writer who claims to be unable to find the time to read books (or at least unable to read outside their chosen genre) should be forced, Clockwork Orange style, to read in the quantity you prescribe before requesting beta-reads of their work.
First Jesse's piece on procrastination and now yours - I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something :D
I used to read a lot and am currently trying to get back into the habit. Your suggestions are really helpful (though I'm still adamant about not getting a Kindle ;) ).
One thing I also did was to block the Youtube app on my phone after 10 pm so I would stop watching videos before going to sleep.
Realizing I'm several months late to the party here (I thought I'd signed up for notifications about new posts but I don't seem to have been getting them and only catch your stuff when I see it come across my Insta feed). But I really feel what you say about reading helping with your mental health. I think the concept of recreation as an active thing is something we as a society have lost--or maybe it's just me, I'm pretty dumb. But it clicked for me when I heard NFL QB Kirk Cousins talking about the whole "Work hard, play hard" mentality, which I'd always assumed was just the motto of douche bags with pickup trucks. But he talked about how, to him, it means he has to have goals he actively pursues in his leisure time, so when it's time to focus on his job he feels recharged and rested.
For me, I've found it doesn't even really matter what that goal is. It can be big and "important" (like redoing the insulation in a room in my house) or small and "silly" (like beating the next boss in Dark Souls), or somewhere in-between (like reading x pages in a book). It just has to be something I'm actively engaging in and not a mindless activity. Mindless activities have their place, but when they become too much of what I do is when I start to burn out.
Just my thoughts responding to this. I really like some of these ideas and should try to incorporate some of them in my own life.
I genuinely think every aspiring sci-fi/fantasy writer who claims to be unable to find the time to read books (or at least unable to read outside their chosen genre) should be forced, Clockwork Orange style, to read in the quantity you prescribe before requesting beta-reads of their work.
Hadestown RULES, and the live show is visually stunning in places.
I love the idea of New Book Day. 🎉
First Jesse's piece on procrastination and now yours - I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something :D
I used to read a lot and am currently trying to get back into the habit. Your suggestions are really helpful (though I'm still adamant about not getting a Kindle ;) ).
One thing I also did was to block the Youtube app on my phone after 10 pm so I would stop watching videos before going to sleep.