If you've read my blog, you know I love audiobooks. I'm an avid audiobook listener and have been for several years now. I recently was appointed to an audiobook assignment that will have me listening to a lot of audiobooks in the next few months and it got me thinking about how I can fit all this listening in. I've spent the last year spending every free minute of my time reading physical books, it feels a bit odd to switch over to listening.
I typically listen to audiobooks in my car, but with about a 10 minute drive to work each way, that doesn't give me a lot of listening time. I also listen as I get ready each morning-I have lots of audiobooks loaded onto my phone and listen as I eat breakfast, get dressed and do my makeup each morning. I also try to listen as I get ready for bed and I love the feature on my Audible App on my phone that lets me set a timer to fall asleep listening to one of my audiobooks. Sometimes I might have to rewind a little bit to get to a part I remember, but I can usually listen to about 15-30 minutes each evening.
I've also been known to listen while I clean or do laundry-it really makes doing chores around the house I dislike go much faster. I sometimes try to listen while I'm cooking, but I often end up pausing my book a lot so I can read the recipe for what I'm making-I'm not a great cook. :)
I even listen to audiobooks when I'm grocery shopping-another thing that goes much faster while listening!
But I don't think I'm going to do that much cooking, cleaning, shopping and driving in the next few months to cover all of the audiobook listening I need to get done. Sure, I could sit and listen, but I like to multitask.
So I'm curious what you do while you're listening to audiobooks. How do you spend your listening time?
I listen in the car, too, and need to get back into the habit of listening while cleaning. Anything to make that time pass more quickly!
ReplyDeleteIt really makes cleaning much better!
DeleteI do ALL my listening when I am working out - walking, running, elliptical, etc. That is the ONLY thing that keeps my mind off the workout.
ReplyDeleteUgh-if only I could get myself to work out then maybe... :)
DeleteI've never been good at multi-tasking while listening to audiobooks; somehow I always seem to loose track of the story of *just* long enough to need to rewind. So I haven't listened to audiobooks in nearly a year, not since I lost my job and stopped having a relatively long (45 minutes to an hour each way) public transportation commute.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it occurs to me now that I should probably pick up an audiobook to try listening to while I walk my dog, since I do that for a good amount of time every day.
Yes! While walking the dog would be good. I have a coworker who does that and she loves it.
DeleteI agree. listening while doing the routine , mundane things works very well. Walking, chopping vegetables, shovelling snow etc. While sewing and knitting but simple patterns or I have to keep stopping and rewinding when I have to check patterns.Really works well when waiting for daughter at her lessons.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I go on school visits and see a line of cars waiting to pick their kids up, I want to knock on each window and tell them to read a book or listen to an audiobook from the library! :) A great way to pass the time!
DeleteI listen to audio books all the time. I do it while I drive, while I clean, when I work out, pretty much whenever I'm doing anything mundane.
ReplyDeleteI've found I can't just sit and listen at home. I've even played games like Fruit Ninja or Sudoku while I listen.
DeleteI listen in my car as well, but my big bonus is that if I am truly loving an audiobook I find ways to listen more--walking or mowing the lawn or vacuuming, etc...
ReplyDeleteYep, I'll take a longer route while driving just to listen a bit longer!
DeleteI listen in my car as well, but I have an hour to drive both ways, so I can through a nice chunk of a book in a day.
ReplyDeleteA long commute would mean I could get through a lot of books! I'm sure it makes the drive much better!
DeleteMy brother is my dishes buddy, he reads to me while I wash. Also, when I have down time I listen to an audio book while sewing. :)
ReplyDeleteIf I was crafty, I would totally listen while crafting. I feel like I need to find a craft hobby just so I can listen more. :)
DeleteI listen when I walk and at 20 minutes a time twice a day most days I can even get through a book like Cinda Williams' Gray Wolf Throne fairly quickly. I'm going to add listening when I do housework and may try the grocery store. I love audio books because it gives me an additional way to get some of my TBR list read.
ReplyDeleteThe grocery store is great because I really dislike grocery shopping so it makes me happier while I shop. It also helps that they opened a new grocery story that I love, but when I had to shop at stores I dislikes, it really helped!
DeleteI listen when I'm doing chores: cooking, cleaning doing laundry. The majority of my 45 min. commute to and from work I'm listening also, but I just get tired easily on my drive in. So I'm forced to stop.
ReplyDeleteIf I have a book to listen to I actually don't mind doing laundry!
DeleteLike everyone else I also listen to audiobooks doing chores around the house or driving. Now I started taking them to work and listen to them when I have to file, clean out desk/boxes, and do photocopying.
ReplyDeleteI used to listen at work, but since I have a shared workroom/office I don't get to do it much anymore. But that's a great idea to listen while cleaning out your desk!
DeleteI listen while driving, mostly. Since I listen to audiobooks on CD rather than something like audible, it's a little tricky to pick up the story elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteThat is the thing I like about Audible-I can pick up the book wherever I'm at and not loose my place. I love CDs too, but you're right, it's harder to figure out where you left off.
DeleteI listen while I clean since it makes time go by faster. I also like to relax and sit and crochet while I listen to a good audiobook. I am a bit of an audiobook junkie and can't get enough so unless I absolutely love the voice of the narrator (Neil Gaiman, for example) I listen to audibooks at speed and a half, if it is a British narrator I sometimes speed it up even more. When I go for long walks the fast pace keeps me motivated to keep up the speed of the my walk. I do have to say that I built up to this speed since the app I use on my iphone lets me adjust the speed bit by bit.
ReplyDelete-Nancy
I've started listening on a higher speed as well and I like it. I can get through more audiobooks and I've gotten used to the speed and can follow along.
DeleteI listen on my work commute - an hour each way and sometimes while working out and doing chores around the house - of course, that's when my husband needs to tell me a zillion things! It's not usually more than an hour a day on average. But I don't really worry about how long it's going to take me to finish an audiobook, since I usually have a print book going at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI have audiobooks and print books going at the same time. And sometimes if I'm eager to finish the story, I'll read the print book to keep going with the audiobook.
DeleteI do pretty much the same things you do: listen while I get ready in the mornings and make my breakfast (though I read the printed paper while I actually eat), listen whenever I'm alone in the car, listen while I fold laundry, cook, etc. (when I can, this tends to not go over very well when my spouse or daughter are there, too). I've been known to listen when I ride the exercise bike, but I find it hard not to have something to look at, so I usually watch TV instead. Sorry I don't have any other suggestions! For me, this was a nice kindred spirits post to read.
ReplyDeleteI love kindred spirits! :) I listen all the time and I'm addicted to audibooks. I'll sometimes tell my husband to get out of the kitchen so I can keep listening to my audiobook while I cook!
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