Reading Distractions.

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image source: here. edited by me.

I need to make a confession by writing this post and say that I've been distracted A LOT this year. Even though I read a decent amount of books this year, I think I could actually read more if it weren't for these other stuffs that I've been doing. Yes, I still read every single day; but most of the time I started reading around 11-12PM, right before I go to sleep. The reason being that I had so many distractions around me every day, that kept me from reading during the day. So by making this post, I hope to realize what my distractions are and try my best to minimize the insignificant stuffs I've been doing. I hope some of you find similarities in our reading distractions, so I won't feel too guilty about this....

1. Work
Starting off with the non-guilty one. It's true that most of the day I try to get as much work done as possible. I'll be busy with Photoshop/Illustrator, or busy taking photographs, and sometimes also work on my blog posts as well. Even though it's important to do work, I still consider it a distraction because it kept me from reading. But of course, I won't minimize time for work. Work is important. Because we need money to buy more books. ㅋㅋ

 

2. Instagram
Back when Instagram started several years ago, it wasn't as huge as it is today. And I've abandoned this app once, but then came back to it—and now I can't live a day without scrolling through a bunch of pictures. THIS is something I need to minimize. There's actually not much point in scrolling and pressing Likes on pictures. FYI, the first thing I do after I turn off my alarm in the morning is actually looking through Instagram! Don't get me wrong, I love Instagram, and I think it's a great way to connect with people and explore the things you love. But for me personally, it took away too much of my precious time. The time I use for scrolling through the feed can actually be used to do something more productive. Like reading, for example :)))

3. Tumblr
I've actually minimized this one a whole lot compared to last year, but once I opened it, I cannot seem to close it. For those of you who don't know tumblr, it's like a blogging platform, and you can follow a bunch of blogs you like. And your dashboard feed will be filled with all the things you like everyday (pictures, videos, quotes, songs). Mine is full of bookish things and Korean-related pictures, so I can scroll through it all day long. Pressing that like and reblog button like crazy. These days I only open it occasionally to browse for images for my blog posts or to look for inspiration. But yes, I need to control myself whenever I opened it. Note to self: Self-control is important. (the image above is a sneak-peek of my Tumblr)

4. Youtube
This is the champion of this list. Because I realize I've spent TOO MANY hours watching Youtube videos. I've said that I don't really like watching TV, but watching Youtube is actually pretty much the same. The difference is that they're much shorter in duration and I can pause whenever I want. I watched a lot of Booktube videos, Vlogs, beauty tutorials, and even cooking videos when I don't even cook! When I turned on my computer and opened my internet browser, the first thing I look for is my Youtube subscriptions to see if any new videos from my favorite Youtubers are uploaded. This definitely wasted too much of my time as well. I think I need some time to unsubscribe to some of them. ASAP.

5. Korean Dramas & Variety Shows

Some of you may already know how much I love Korean-related things, especially if you've read my travel post to South Korea here and here. And instead of watching stuffs on television, I watch all my movies and TV shows on my computer. Most of the things that I watch daily are Korean TV shows, and here are some that I've been watching lately.

• 슈퍼맨이 돌아왔다 Superman is Back: I absolutely adore this show because it's about fathers who have to spend time with their children without their wives around. I'm watching this for the sake of the Song Triplets (Daehan, Minguk, Manse) who are the cutest little beings I've ever seen. I think I could minimize my time watching this by skipping all the other kids. (Every Sunday)
• 런닝맨 Running Man: Who doesn't know this show? I think it's one of the most internationally popular show from South Korea. I love the whole cast and the production team always tried their best to give something entertaining for the audience to watch each week. I probably won't stop watching this until they stopped airing. (Every Sunday, subtitle comes out every Tuesday)
• 룸메이트 Roommate Season 2: This one I can actually live without, because it's not really that interesting to watch anyway. It's a show where a bunch of Korean celebrities live together in one share-house. I might decide to stop watching this for the sake of my time. (Every Tuesday)
• 인간의 조건 The Human Condition: This show is a great show that has something educational in it amidst all the fun and entertainment. Each week, the members of the show are set to live with certain conditions (for example: living without smartphones, living without chemical products, living with minimum water, etc.). I learned many new things through this show, and it made me realize more about our daily lives. (Every Wednesday)
• 우리 결혼했어요 We Got Married: If watching Superman is Back made me want to have children, watching this show made me want to find a boyfriend. In this show, celebrities are paired up and had to go through a virtual-marriage on screen. And my favorite couple at the moment is the Seorim (LTE) couple. I love how comfortable they are with each other. I might minimize this by only watching their parts. (Every Saturday, subtitle comes out every Monday)
• 왕의 얼굴 The King's Face: This one will just be temporary because it's a 24-episode Korean drama. It's a historical drama, starring one of my favorite actors: Seo In Guk. It's been pretty intense so far, and I usually watch this during lunch/dinner so I can save time ㅋㅋ (Every Wednesday-Thursday)

6. Games (The Sims 4, LINE Stage, Another Case)

I play games occasionally, mostly on my phone. I mentioned a while ago in my Wrap-Up post that I played The Sims 4, but managed to quit it because I realize it's so time-consuming. So the games I played recently are LINE Stage and also a detective game called Another Case. These two actually are not that addicting, and I think I can live without. I think deleting the game will help me stay away from them, but I already accomplished so many levels! ㅠㅠ So maybe I'll just leave it there in case I want to play a bit....

7. LINE Webtoon
Reading a comic strip might count as reading, but it also distracted me from doing the real reading (the TBRs). But still, reading from LINE Webtoon is also a nice change sometimes, because I've always been a fan of mangas. I think I'll try to minimize this and read only the good ones (with a decent plot and cute drawing style). Because most of the ones I read are pretty pointless...

8. Blogwalking
I've been a silent reader of so many blogs, including book-blogs as well. I'm not really good at commenting, so a lot of people might not know that I'm reading their blog. But this is also something that's been distracting my reading. Because I love looking at other people's blogs, especially the pretty ones. But looking at other blogs gave me inspirations when I don't know what else to write on my blog, so I think it's also a good thing. Maybe I'm not going to minimize this much.

9. Eating
Well, I can't say I will minimize my eating, because I do need to eat. But what I'm saying here is more like snacking during the day. And most of the time I can't really eat and read at the same time because I need two hands to hold my book if I'm reading a paperback. I need to minimize my snack time not only because it distracted me from reading, but it also became quite a bad habit.

10. Sleeping
The last and not least, is another thing I love to do besides reading. And there are times when I try to read, but ended up napping in the afternoon. Which wasn't my plan at all. It just seems that reading during the day is not my thing. When I started reading towards midnight, I never get sleepy. So yes, if you have any tips on how to stay awake while reading, please write in the comments below :3

  Phew, I hope I'm not embarrassing myself  too much with this post—but yes, these are my reading distractions that I hope to minimize by next year. Do you have any reading distractions? Feel free to make your own post and put the link in the comments below :D I'll be glad to know if I'm not the only one distracted by so many things. Okay, bye for now!   *P.S: Don't forget to join my ongoing giveaway with various prizes!   by.stefaniesugia♥ .