I love and hate today’s topic, which is “things getting in the way of reading.” It’s a great topic because we all get distracted from reading, even if we don’t want to admit it. I will, though, because I get distracted a lot more than I’d like to. Not necessarily while I’m reading, but when I plan to use my free time to read and then… that doesn’t happen.
10 Things That Distract Me From Reading
1. Sims 4
I love playing Sims! However, it’s a huge time-suck because I get so involved in creating characters and redesigning houses for them. I either spend hours just world-building or actual gameplay of my characters. There’s no in-between.
2. Netflix/Disney+/etc. Shows
It doesn’t happen often, but when I come across a show I really like, I will binge it all the way through. Sometimes they’re short, like Wednesday, and don’t end up eating too much of my time from reading, but then there are longer series that do end up monetizing my time. It happens to all of us, but hey, that means the entertainment people are doing their jobs, right?
3. YouTube
Ha, the YouTube vortex. Sucking me in since 2007. I’ll go on these little ventures sometimes of watching fan-made videos of different shows or favorite singers/bands, or even just actually watching an artist/band’s entire set of music videos. You know how it is though, you go to watch one video and the next thing you know it’s five days later.
4. Book Shopping
Shopping around for new books to read is a big one that takes away from my reading time. You’d think that with 300+ books being on my TBR list (about 200 are from my personal library) I wouldn’t bother to look for more books to read. But, you’d be wrong. It’s only gotten worse because of my job working at the library, where I actually do the book ordering for the young-adult section, and bookstagram. Everyone is always posting books that I have to look up and sometimes add to my ever-growing list.
5. Goodreads
This has to be listed separately as there’s more than just “book shopping” that I do on there. Sometimes I’ll go through my TBR and get rid of books I know that I no longer want to read, and then replace them with new ones. There’s also giveaways to enter, groups to join, reviews to post/edit, shelves to create, and a lot more. The biggest thing for me on Goodreads is researching books I want to read and reading the reviews, which I know I shouldn’t do, but sometimes when I’m iffy about one I need to look.
6. Writing
I hate to say that this distracts me from reading, but I have to list it. Sometimes I’ll go into a “create” mode where I need to write, whether it be fanfiction or one of the number of stories hanging around in my brain. I have several projects in progress but no focus to work on one until it’s finished. When I do get focused on one, it’s hyper-focus and it’s all I’ll do until the words stop coming.
7. Fanfiction
It’s reading, but it’s not. At least not reading that counts to my Goodreads/Storygraph Challenges or material that I can review here on my blog. However, sometimes when I love a book or show, I need more when it’s done (or alternate stories of what could have happened), so fanfiction.net is my second internet home. It’s another vortex, really, because I can either spend ages reading one fanfiction (if it’s long) or reading a bunch of one-shots.
8. Discovering new music/listening to favorites
Basically, Spotify. Sometimes I just really want to listen to music, but I’m not the way I used to be and can listen and read at the same time (unless it’s instrumental). Besides, when I find new songs to love, I have to look at the lyrics and listen to the song 100 times over until it sticks in my memory. My brain is made up of mostly song lyrics, after all.
9. Football
I know it’s not football season right now, but when it is, my Sundays, Monday nights, and Thursday nights are eaten up by watching the games. I really only watch my team’s games (Buffalo Bills) but there are some other team matchups that I need to watch because they’re good ones.
10. Bookstagram
Taking photos for my bookstagram account can take me a while, as I like to do them in batches. This way I don’t have to take new photos too often, unless they’re book hauls. If you have a bookstagram account, you know how much time goes into it. There’s the initial photography and editing of photos, then of course posting, commenting, liking, and all that jazz. And, of course, if you do reels, it can take a little longer to get the video right.
I hate reels.
Admittedly, this Top Ten post was one of the easiest ones I’ve done. It took me no time at all to think of the activities that distract me from reading my books. There’s actually a few more I could’ve listed, but I want to see if anyone else lists them first in the comments. See you all for next week’s Top Ten Tuesday!
What are some things that distract you from reading?
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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out her blog for upcoming Top Ten Tuesday topics!
Genie in a Novel 
Watching a show distracts me from reading too. However, my main distraction is my Switch. If my book isn’t on a nearby table, I want to play games like Animal Crossing or Disney Dreamlight Valley all the time. It’s starting to become a really bad addiction and it does eat into quality reading time.
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I get it, that’s Sims for me, lol. I do also get distracted by my GameBoy Color and DS. I’m considering getting a Switch but I’ve been hesitant.
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I don’t know about the GameBoy Color, but I’ve still got my DS and play that on occasion too. I was very hesitant to get a Switch at first but I now love having that slightly bigger screen with the Switch Lite to play on, which in turn makes playing certain video games more accessible (larger font so I don’t have to squint). Yes, I hate how expensive certain games are but for how much I play with it, it was definitely worth it.
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Abbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbsolutely agree on The Sims 4. It made two entries on my list. XD I do try to listen to podcasts and audiobooks while playing it so it’s not completely wasted time, though.
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That’s a good idea! I don’t know if I’d fully pay attention to an audiobook though; I’ve always had a hard time with those. I need to see the words XD
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It depends on the narrator and what’s happening in the game, I think. Last night I was listening to a history of baseball and turned it down because the drama onscreen was getting intense. I’m playing a new custom save that puts alll the Sims from TS2 into Sims 4, and I was having Dustin date both Angela and Lilith at the same time. He came very close to getting caught!
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That’s true. Narrators make a huge impact for me.
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These all seem like great reasons not to be reading, but hopefully they won’t distract you too much in the future.
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I haven’t played The Sims in years, but it’s a distracting and fun game for sure!
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
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I feel you on the writing thing. It can be very time-consuming. Worth it, but still time-consuming. 🙂
My post: https://lydiaschoch.com/top-ten-tuesday-things-getting-in-the-way-of-reading/
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I do a lot of #4 and #5 as well. I love searching out books I want to read, organizing them, planning what to read next, etc. It’s almost a whole other addiction than reading itself!
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
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Oooh, Sims was a big distraction for me many years ago. But I’m the opposite with writing. Reading distracts me from writing. It’s so much easier for me just to pick up a book than sit down and write. 🤦♀️😃
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That’s true for me too, since I read a lot more than write lately. I go on my kicks, haha
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Ohh yes, bookstagram takes lots of time, I try to make a list of what I want to photograph to do it all in one day, although writing reviews takes more time
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I used to play Sims when I was younger (Sims 3) and I remember how much time that used to suck out of my day, I’d look up and five hours had passed and I was still playing! I did really enjoy it, but it’s probably a good thing that I haven’t got Sims 4. YouTube also sucks up quite a bit of my reading time, I used to read before bed but a lot of the time now, I’m just too tired so I either go straight to sleep or watch a YouTube video because that takes less concentration. TV shows also eat up quite a bit of my reading time too.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2023/05/17/top-ten-tuesday-420/
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Yeah, it really is a time-suck! YouTube does it to me too, especially when I start watching “related” videos to whatever I went there for.
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Oh I definitely feel you there!
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Out of these, Sims and football are my big ones, along with hockey. I have to watch the games when they’re on! Also, GO BILLS! My dad is from Buffalo, so my whole family are Bills fans. And my mom is from Toronto, so Maple Leafs are our hockey team 😆
My other main distraction is when I get into programming/coding. I can focus on that for hours, especially if I’m having issues that I need to fix.
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