There’s one big line item Keith and I left out of the annual review framework I wrote about yesterday.
Reading.
I’ve started to quietly share what I’ve read, what I’m reading, and what I want to read on my website, but posting my reading list is almost like posting a page of my diary (if I wrote in a diary). What I read tells everyone what I’m interested in when no one is paying attention. It’s one more way of revealing myself to the world.
The easiest way to understand what I read last year is to count. It seems impossible that I only read (or listened to) 23 books, but I’m not always perfectly diligent about recording things in this list. And there’s a lot to read besides books. Something to think about in 2023!
The other thing I see when I look at my list is that I read mostly fiction. Reading novels before bed is so firmly ingrained in my routine that I will likely do it until I die (or can’t see anymore in which case I’ll listen to them!!!). This makes perfect sense as I work mostly on nonfiction, and my brain needs a break at the end of the day.
I make a strong distinction between day reading (learning) and night reading (pleasure and relaxation). It’s clear from my list that I need to give myself permission to read more during the day.
After all, reading is part of the job.
Finally, I’m excited to start again in 2023. I’ll make a copy of this list, delete everything I’ve read or know in my heart I’ll never read (a reading list is aspirational after all), and start all over again following my interests.
Most importantly, as I think about my goals for 2023, one of them is going to be day reading for 30 min/day. After all, getting to read for work is why I started writing and editing in the first place.