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How Do You Listen?

 
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?

Comments

  1. 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!

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  2. I 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.

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    1. Ugh-if only I could get myself to work out then maybe... :)

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  3. I'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.

    However, 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.

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    1. Yes! While walking the dog would be good. I have a coworker who does that and she loves it.

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  4. I 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.

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    1. Whenever 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!

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  5. I 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.

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    1. I've found I can't just sit and listen at home. I've even played games like Fruit Ninja or Sudoku while I listen.

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  6. I 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...

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    1. Yep, I'll take a longer route while driving just to listen a bit longer!

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  7. I 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.

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    1. A long commute would mean I could get through a lot of books! I'm sure it makes the drive much better!

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  8. My 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. :)

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    1. If 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. :)

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  9. I 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.

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    1. The 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!

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  10. I 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.

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    1. If I have a book to listen to I actually don't mind doing laundry!

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  11. Like 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.

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    1. I 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!

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  12. I 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.

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    1. That 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.

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  13. I 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.

    -Nancy

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    1. 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.

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  14. I 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.

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    1. I 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.

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  15. I 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.

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    1. I 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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