Balancing All the Forms of Entertainment

Posted April 25, 2019 / Media, Personal / Information / Etc. / 6 Comments

I feel like I’ve discussed this a little bit in the past, but I’m in the mood to talk about it again. I’ve actually developed a pretty decent system for getting ALL of my media time in. I’m looking at books, audiobooks, music, and podcasts. I’ve had really good months and really bad months for reading, and it’s usually based on my current addiction level to something else. 2018 was a big YouTube year for me – I could not stop watching things and didn’t read that much at all. I also got addicted to a few TV shows. This year I’ve been really into podcasts, since I have a commute again, but I’ve also been mixing audiobooks in a LOT. I’ve been also reading many, many books, which means I’m not watching TV or YouTube as much. In the post I linked above, I talked about developing some kind of schedule to balance my hobbies:

Between audiobooks, podcasts, regular books, Netflix, and YouTube, I really need to allocate my time better. I need to focus on what’s important and what isn’t. Just because I love Nikkia’s YouTube videos doesn’t mean I NEED to watch her review of a product I’m 90% sure I won’t buy or care about. I don’t have to watch every single creator I love when they post something. I’d love to, but it’s not feasible. Tati posts 5 times per week and I already cut back to just the topics I’m interested in; I should do that with everyone. I DIGRESS. The thing is, there probably ARE enough hours to do all the things I wanna do.

I’m such an all-or-nothing person – I have a tendency of getting super addicted to ONE thing and struggling with the balance. That’s why one of my perpetual resolutions is to not focus on reading 100% of the time and vary my hobbies a little bit. Here’s how I’m currently mixing in all the media in my life…

Listening to Audiobooks, Podcasts, and Music

Music

I basically only listen to music during the workday because I can’t listen to something I need to pay attention to. That eliminates podcasts and audiobooks. I used to not have anything on in the background, but music is such a nice thing to have going. I listen to a lot of Spotify playlists because I don’t have to think about switching between songs as much. There are some good “Made For You” playlists as well as their premade ones (I like the Classical Essentials sometimes to relax at work!).

Podcasts

I have one main podcast that I listen to on a weekly basis, which is the WrestleRamble. They put out new episodes on Tuesday (about RAW), Wednesday (about Smackdown), Thursday (about NXT), and Saturday (a magazine show with various topics). I have a few other shows that come out regularly and I pick and choose when I’m in the mood (right now: The Bellas Podcast on Wednesdays, To Live and Die in LA randomly each week, and true crime ones when I’m specifically in the mood). It really helps that most podcasts are kind of consistent so I can focus on the audiobooks versus podcast episodes, and know which days I’ll be listening to each.

Audiobooks

I use audiobooks to get ahead of my reading goals primarily. I do a LOT of mixed reading, which means I might listen to an audiobook and also have a copy of the book to read (physical or digital). I’ll listen to the audiobook when I’m showering, getting ready for work, and driving to the office. When I have a Kindle version or physical copy of the same book, I’m able to read when I’m at home or at work. Because of the aforementioned podcast listening schedule, I basically will listen to audiobooks on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I might listen on the weekend depending on what else is out there or how much solo driving I’m doing.

This is a weird schedule that I made in March to plan out a week of reading and media. It was kind of crazy, but it was a great way to balance things and finish off the reading month with the last books I needed to get done. I listened to THE COTTINGLEY SECRET as an audiobook on Monday, while starting EVERYTHING MUST GO as my physical copy. On Tuesday, I started listening to podcasts for my midweek podcast schedule. I switched to the COTTINGLEY ebook while still reading the EVERYTHING physical copy. When I got caught up on my podcasts, I was able to switch to the EVERYTHING audiobook, start the ALWAYS NEVER YOURS hardcover, and meanwhile read the COTTINGLEY ebook. This schedule got me all squared away for the end of March and helped me hit my reading goals!

Reading Books

I pretty much read whenever I can; same goes for the watching of shows/YouTube. I read physical copies during the day on the weekends, during my lunch break, or on the couch each evening. I read ebooks at night when the lights are off becacuse of the backlight. I also read little bits on my laptop at work when I need a break for a few minutes. I try to read sometimes in the morning too because I always give myself 1-2 hours before work to relax.

Watching TV Shows and YouTube Videos

Chris and I watching wrestling 2-3 nights per week means that I often can read my books while we watch. We don’t watch much TV together (as of right now) but he’ll play video games while we have something in the background a lot. This gives me more reading time too! I watch YouTube videos on weekends, in the mornings before work, and sometimes before bed (rarely). Same with my shows – I try to catch up or watch them all in a row on the weekends.


How do you balance it all?

Do you have a weird schedule for managing your hobbies? I have to admit, it really helps me, even though it seems silly to have to schedule my hobbies out like this.

6 responses to “Balancing All the Forms of Entertainment

  1. Sometimes I have to tell myself, ok, you can do this hobby for half an hour today, then move onto something else. I feel like I want to do everything everyday, and that’s not realistic. I do try to read everyday, though.

  2. Ali

    This is something I really need to work on, I always feel like I never have the time to juggle reading, audiobooks and watch TV. Maybe if I make a list that might help. Going to have to give this a try! Thanks for sharing.

  3. I am SO with you in that all or nothing category. I’m starting to realize that balance is really important and I can’t be an all or nothing person and still be as productive as I could be if I could find a balance.

    I’m still working out a schedule/system to balance everything out. I don’t think that I have it perfected yet. I do watch cross stitch YouTube videos (referred to as FlossTube) but they can be hours long. I have just a few BookTubers that I follow. I also need to start throwing in regular housework (I really suck at this!)

    It does help me out that I only read/listen to one book at a time. I can’t handle doing multiples. We’ll both find something that works out for ourselves!

    Stephanie @ Once Upon a Chapter recently posted: March 2019 Nostalgia Reads Round Up

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