Hello!

I’ve been very lax on posting recently because I feel like I’m running on empty – this summer was super busy and I had plans almost every weekend and my neurodivergent butt didn’t allow herself any time to recover.

What I find mildly interesting is the impact it has had on my reading – in spending so much time driving to social events, work stuff and nights away to see friends and family I listened to a lot of audiobooks. From June to August, 60% of the books I read were listened to as audiobooks because I can’t fall asleep while driving, however reading a book with my eyes often lead to being a sleepy baby.

I feel like I can’t say I’m officially burnt out cos I’m just about keeping my head above water – I’ve not cancelled any social plans, I’ve been able to keep up with my dance teaching and make developments in my professional life – but when I get home I’m beyond exhausted. I’m finding myself getting stuck on the sofa and the motivation to do the things I need to do at home is below zero. I want to do things – I want to put the laundry away, I want to sort out my autumn/winter wardrobe now that summer has definitely left the UK, and I want to spend spare time doing my craft hobbies or extra reading but I just don’t have the energy.

I’m trying to give myself permission to take things slow and go at my own pace – I’m aware of how privileged I am to not be tied to a 9-5 schedule and take the space to lean in to my energy levels, but damn it’s boring to be exhausted all the time!

But despite all that, I’ve nearly finished my monthly TBR – it helps that my September TBR was on the shorter side and the books themselves are also relatively short so I’ve managed to finish three of them already, I’m currently reading one more and the last one doesn’t come out until next week so I’m feeling really confident that I’ll have time to tick off some books from the list that I’m referring to as my Book Queue (which is predominantly some of the sequels in series I’m currently reading).

I’m in a weird place mentally (regarding reading, at least) cos I feel like I’m not doing as much reading as I could because I’m trying to take restful time when I’m not working, but I don’t have the energy to stay awake for more than one or two chapters when I am reading in bed (or generally, actually) and I’m not working out or walking a lot so I’m losing audiobook time, yet I’ve nearly finished my monthly TBR? Make it make sense.

I feel like I need someone to snap me out of this funk or give me a hack that will sort my life out, but I think I need to take some responsibility, take the slow road and stop waiting for a quick fix.

I’ve managed to read seven books so far this month and I’m mildly optimistic that I could finish two more this week. I’m also doing really well on my annual reading goal!

Storygraph says I’m 11 books ahead and I’m 90% of the way there so a part of my brain wants to finish six more books this month to finish my goal, but I don’t think that’s a very realistic goal! I’m almost certain I’ll finish it in October though.

So, in conclusion, being burnt out seems to be good for my reading goals, just feels rubbish 😂

Any and all tips for having more energy and/or getting more deep sleep are welcome and encouraged!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx