10,000 hours

 Somewhere in the universe, there's a saying or something that if you do something for 10,000 hours you are an expert... I'm not so sure about that, but here is a list of things I could be considered an expert at according to that statistic:

pregnancy 6480 hours per kid (24/7/nine months is 6,480 hours per kid, times four children...definitely over 10,000 hours.  No, I did not enjoy being pregnant, and am glad that phase is over.)

cooking dinner (it's rare I burn or make something inedible anymore, unless it's a bad recipe.)

writing (I've been writing since 3rd grade, I'm guessing I've spent 10,000 hours on it)

reading. In the last few years I've developed a few strategies that I will now share because of my "expertise"... without (I hope) sounding pretentious.

Brianna's reading tips:

Always have a book handy.  I have changed my strategy on this and no longer have an upstairs,  downstairs, and car book and just carry the same book everywhere, but it still works.  I do a lot of reading in my car (physical while parked, audio while driving.)  You can read a lot in 5-minute increments throughout the day...   

I am on and off with audio books, recently the switch is on, but as long as you aren't trying to read something else while listening (or knitting in my case, I can't listen and count stitches...) you can listen while doing other things which ups the reading time.  Some books are harder than others but non-fiction is great for this because there's no plot to follow if your mind wanders for a second.  Also. if you have earbuds in at soccer practice no one comes over and tries to talk to you, like if you're holding a physical book :P  And you can read when it's raining...

Have the next book picked out before you finish the current one.  Maybe even read the first chapter before the previous book is finished.  ALWAYS have a book going.

Set a pages to-read goal, not a number of books.  Why?  Because if a book is awful, you still read those pages and they count, and you are not obligated to keep reading a book you hate.  Storygraph lets you do this, Goodreads does not.

Unless a book is for a book club, or a reading list you need to finish, and it sucks put it down and read something else.  I can usually tell I'm not enjoying a book (I know this sounds dumb) when it has sat there for a week and I keep reading other things.  Life is too short to read boring books.  Every once in a while I go through the neglected book pile and either put it back on the shelf for later or decide to get rid of it.  Book not staring at me, guilt is gone...

And finally, this last tip has been a game changer... read everyday no matter what.  I have a goal set to read at least one page a day (again Storygraph has this option) and I'm currently at day 458 (started January 1, 2023) and usually read more than one page, it's picking up the book that's the hard part...  Not wanting to break that streak is also motivation to pick up the book even when I'd rather do something else.  I might go through a slower streak (reading slump) but switch to something lighter/easier (middle grade) until it goes away.  

Read everywhere, and every day part #2: On vacations I listen to audiobooks in the car, I read while fishing, I read at doctor appointments, sports practices, while waiting in the carpool line, while exercising or going on walks, while playing computer games, while scrapbooking, while doing yard work, while the husband is watching boring TV shows, while washing dishes, while the oil is being changed in my car...  again, always have a book with you!

Bonus tip, Booktube and finding people talking about books is another game changer.  I have had so much better luck picking up books and authors since I started watching Youtube... 

And those are my tips and tricks for reading more than the average person. I think the statistic is the average American reads one book a year which explains a few things... 

Got any book recommendations?