Today I woke up early to write.

Because that’s what I do on Saturday mornings.

I wrote a proposal for a conference.

I am writing this blog post.

I will soon start writing my weekly update to my students’ families.

Later I will work on the slides for a workshop I will be doing at the end of this month.

I will start developing lesson plans for the last week of school before Spring Break.

And, I will write a persuasive essay to share with students as they finish writing theirs this week.

I will also make time to read because, while I still consider myself an avid reader, I am finding it more and more difficult to sit down with a book, any book, long enough to lose myself within its pages. I am so exhausted at the end of each work day that all I seem to be able to do is sit in front of the TV and binge on Netflix movies and series.

Since the first step towards making lasting change is to acknowledge and name the problem, I hereby acknowledge that I have a reading problem: lack of focus and finishing books.

First, I plan to go to bed earlier so that I’m not lured by the giant TV in our den that is making me whittle away my precious time.

(You’re probably thinking: this is another one of those self-improvement schemes and resolutions that she has committed to before and haven’t lasted long and so it won’t last for long this time either. And, you probably wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Yet, the alternative – continuing to watch hours and hours of Netflix while my to-read pile languishes away in a corner – is not OK.)

They say that if you make your goals or intentions public, then you’re more likely to carry them out. So, here are two intentions that will hopefully restart my reading life:

(1) I will set aside at least 60 minutes for daily reading.

(2) I will read a professional book, an adult novel and a middle grades book at the same time (that is my usual MO) and finish each one before moving onto a new book.

(3) At the end of this month, I will write a blog post to update my progress.

Stay tuned!

Cross posted to The Two Writing Teachers March Slice of Life Story Challenge.