Hello!

Whenever I talk to anyone about books or reading, I sing the praises of audiobooks and how much I love them for an alternative method of reading and a lot of the people I speak to say they’re just not sure where to find the time. And don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy – I’m not claiming to have found an extra pocket of time in the day! But there are definitely ways to habit bundle audiobooks with other tasks and chores that make those tasks more enjoyable!

The other thing people say is they feel like they won’t be able to concentrate properly, but all I can say is give it a try – I thought the same, that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything properly if I can’t see the words or there’s no other visual context, but all I can say is try it because I think it will take you by surprise!

With that said, I don’t just sit around my house with my headphones on staring into space – that’s a sure fire way to send me to sleep – but it’s one of those things that I can’t do whilst simultaneously doing something that takes a lot of my brain power because then I do end up zoning out because I’m focusing. So it’s a real balance of something that I can do without thinking too hard but not something that’s going to distract me from the book!

I do like to try and take the opportunity to use the time I’m listening to audiobooks (when I’m not driving) to slow down and do a restful task – this is how I choose to spend my ‘me’ time and I’m really working on being more intentional this year and audiobooks are a great way (for me) to do that.

Driving
The bulk of my audiobook listening time goes to when I’m driving, which is the one exception to my intentional thing. This one is quite situational though – when I was spending nearly 2 hours a day commuting to the office I worked in, I could get through a book a week, but now that I work from home I don’t get through as many. But almost all of my friends live at least an hours drive away and I’m the awkward one that doesn’t live near anyone else, so I offer to drive, but it’s a win for me because I get audiobook time.

Driving is my perfect listening time – obviously I have something to concentrate on so my mind doesn’t always wonder off the book (especially if it’s a really good one) and it takes a time where I would usually just listen to music or a podcast and let’s me squeeze in more reading! It’s about as revolutionary as when I found out you can read Kindle books on your phone (though I’m not sure reading Twisted Love in the doctor’s waiting room was my smartest idea).

Obviously please don’t listen to audiobooks if it’s going to inhibit your ability to drive safely. I have been known to tell a book character to fuck off whilst in the car on my own, but zoning out for 30 seconds while I focus on a tricky roundabout has not been an issue with the books I listen to as of yet.

Crafting
If I can tear myself away from booktube and netflix, doing some craft activities and listening to my book is such a relaxing way to spend an afternoon or evening (depending on the genre of book you’re reading anyway!). I love cross stitching because of how repetitive it is, but I just picked up a paint by numbers set and I’m hoping to listen to a book whilst doing that when my husband is away with work, but anything from knitting, making cards, making pottery, rock painting! Any of these activities would make for a lovely, chilled hour or two with a story (genre dependent).

Drawing or Colouring
Okay, I guess this could count as crafting but I’m not very good at drawing so it takes more concentration, but I find listening to an audiobook as well means I get less frustrated by being bad at it? I don’t know if that makes any sense at all, but it helps make the experience more chilled.

Maybe it’s the whole mentality, maybe it’s the fact that last time I did this combination I was listening to a sweet contemporary romance and it made my heart swell a lil bit but I think that not quite being able to put my entire focus on one task makes me a bit more chilled about doing it!

Mindless phone games
This is a sure fire way to accidentally spend 3 hours on your phone but also reading! Last time I did this, I was blitzing through levels of one of those colour matching Candy Crush-esque games and I only meant to play to the end of the chapter. 90 minutes later I realised it was way past my bedtime and I needed to get some sleep! This idea absolutely came from Chandler Ainsley on YouTube when she was doing a sponsored ad for some phone game (that, ironically, I didn’t download) but this is one I’m in two minds about making more time for because while I get a lot of audiobook listening done, I also up my screen time significantly!

Co-Reading
I don’t know if there’s a less clunky, more accepted term for reading with your ears and ears at the same time (I quite like simu-reading but I don’t think it’ll catch on). I’ve done this with a few books now and generally, I listen to the audiobook in the car then dip in and out of chapters of the physical book at home, but this month I borrowed the audiobook of Codename Villanelle by Luke Jennings (the inspiration for the Killing Eve TV show!) so that I could read the physical book and I sat for four nights in a row, tucked under my covers listening to each of the four chapters (each was about an hour and a half) and I returned the book over two weeks early because I finished it in those four nights.

Now, a lot of the bookish creators I follow listen to audiobooks on 2, maybe even 3 times speed, but my little autistic brain can’t process things that quickly so generally I listen at normal 1x speed. But when co-reading, I find because I have the visual context as well, I can listen faster! Still only 1.2-1.5x speed, but it makes a serious difference when most audiobooks are at least 8 hours! (Les Miserables is approximately 56 hours and I really want to listen to it but that’s over 2 days of my life…).

Either way, co-reading is definitely a way of reading more efficiently for me, but a bit of a luxury – I think the only book I’ve actually bought and paid money for in two formats is Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston because I read the audiobook and loved it so much I wanted a physical edition. But generally when I’m co-reading, it’s a book that’s on Audible Plus that I already own, it’s on a Kindle Unlimited package so I can co-read on my Kindle, or I used a credit on a series and I know I’m going to like the sequel. It’s not cost effective, but worth keeping an eye on Audible Plus and Kindle Unlimited for anything you have on your physical tbr!

I suppose you could also listen whilst doing household chores, like cleaning or hanging laundry or cooking, but I’ll be brutally honest and say I have never done that (listened to a book whilst doing chores, not never done chores – I have done my dishes and my clothes are clean I promise).

These are just a few more creative examples from someone who isn’t very good at multitasking and has a slow processing speed, but I’m sure there are plenty more examples of things to do whilst listening to an audiobook out there. But all I ask is that you give it a try – there’s a free trial for a reason! If you’ve got a long drive coming up or an afternoon you’re deliberately not making plans for, give it a go – I think you’ll find something you like.

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx