10 Things You Can Do While Listening to Audiobooks

When it comes to reading, I embrace every format. Paperbacks, hardcovers, ebooks and audiobooks each have their time and place. The one format that’s made a the most difference for me though, is audiobooks. Without them, I’d get through significantly fewer titles each year. Why is that? I can listen to audiobooks when I might otherwise not be able to read.

If my Twitter and Instagram feeds are anything to go by, many readers have yet to adopt audiobooks. Well, the lack of audiobooks on bookstagram could be because it can be tricky to photograph them. (Psst. I have tips on photographing screens and styling ebooks which apply to audiobooks as well.) Now, if you’re wondering how you can incorporate audiobooks into your life, here are 10 things you can do while listening to audiobooks:

1. Beat motion sickness
   Should you suffer from motion sickness, it can be downright impossible to read on moving vehicles, be they cars, ships, aeroplanes, etc. Listening to audiobooks makes it possible to read while commuting and travelling! You can either close your eyes to block off your surroundings or look into the distance, so your head doesn’t spin.
2. Rest your eyes
   Speaking of closing your eyes, after a long day at school or work, you might not want to look at another book. But what if you’re in the middle of an exciting one and your eyes won’t cooperate? Your ears can easily take over.
3. Go for a run
   Instead of listening to music, you can switch things up and listen to audiobooks.
4. Hit the gym
   As with running, skip the music, hit play on an audiobook.
5. House chores
   Laundry, cleaning, tidying, etc can be such a bore but we’ve all got to do our chores. When you’re engrossed in a great story however, you won’t mind them quite as much.
6. Cooking
   Tired of staring at your pot that won’t boil? Maximise your waiting time with an audiobook. Just be careful when chopping those vegetables!
7. Draw or paint
   Looking to unwind and relax? Getting creative is a great way to do that. If you don’t like silence, and tend to switch on the TV in the background, swap for an audiobook.
8. Handicraft
   Knitting and crocheting can get a little monotonous, so that’s a great time to pick up non-fiction audiobooks to learn new things and expand your worldview.
9. Complete a jigsaw puzzle
   Those 1000-piece puzzles can take quite a while to complete. You could probably finish listening to an entire book in that time.
10. Edit photos
    Bloggers and bookstagrammers in particular can benefit from listening to audiobooks when editing photos or doing up graphics. Sometimes we’re torn between reading and preparing blog posts. Why not do both?

For newcomers to audiobooks, it can be difficult to concentrate at first. If that’s the case for you, I recommend starting out with doing chores and taking a walk. These activities don’t require much thought on your part, so you can train yourself to listen without losing track of the story or information. Once you’re more comfortable, you can switch to slightly more demanding tasks and before you know it, you’ll be listening to audiobooks on 2x speed.

Do you listen to audiobooks? What do you do while listening to them?