Pare Down That Reading Pile

From health updates to decorating ideas to news items, magazines and newspapers can contain a wealth of information. However, that information is meaningless if you don't take the time to read it. I have a hard time making time for reading because I always feel there's something "more important" that I should be doing. So I use car trips (when my husband is driving) to do most of my reading. How well are you doing keeping up with your reading pile? These tips offer ideas to keep that reading pile under control. With a bit of self-discipline, as well as a disce
ing evaluation of your incoming periodicals, you can stay in control of your reading pile, both at home and at work.

Use a container to hold your reading material. A basket or magazine rack certainly looks nicer than a jumbled heap of paper. Keep the container near where you read. If you read in several places throughout your home or office, have a reading container near each location. Use an appropriately sized container: big enough to hold the current issue of each periodical, but not so big that it allows you to pile up several months' worth.
Set aside reading time. Maybe you've told yourself you'll read when you have time, but you never do have time. One solution is to actually schedule reading time on your calendar. Another is to get into the habit of reading at a particular time each week (e.g., Thursday nights from 9 to 10 p.m., or every day for 15 minutes before you go to bed). At a minimum, make time to read whenever your reading container is full. Consider carrying unread articles with you to make use of otherwise wasted waiting time (at the doctor's office, in line at the grocery store, on the train or bus, etc.).
Sort your reading pile. Recognize that you may be able to skim articles from "fun" publications (e.g., a hobby magazine) while those of a more serious nature (e.g., a news magazine) may require more thorough reading. In addition, you may be able to read the fun stuff just about anywhere, while the more intense reading needs to take place in a quite setting.
Tear out articles of interest. When you discover an article you want to re-read or maybe even save, don't set the entire publication aside for later; tear the article out right then and there. This will help you avoid the frustration of coming across a periodical you've saved for some reason but you remember why. If you feel you have to save an article once you've read it, file it where you'll actually be able to find it again.
Give yourself a deadline. If you receive a new issue of a publication but you haven't yet read the previous one, give yourself a deadline to read the old issue. Two or three days are as much time as you should allow. After that, get rid of the old periodical. Otherwise, the magazines and newspapers will continue to pile up, and you may never get caught up. And after a while, the information in the older issues may become outdated. Another option would be to recognize that you might never catch up on the backlog, so let go of all old periodicals and keep only the current issues.
Evaluate your reading pile. If you seem to consistently fall behind on reading certain periodicals, determine why. Maybe your tastes or interests have changed, and magazines on topics you previously enjoyed are no longer relevant to you. It may be time to cancel some subscriptions. Be sure to request a refund for the unused portion of your subscription.
Donate old magazines. If you feel compelled to save old magazines, consider whether you'll actually refer back to them. Also consider whether you'll be able to find a particular article when it's buried in a magazine that's sitting on a shelf with dozens of other issues of the same magazine. A better option may be to use the Internet or library to find relevant articles on a particular topic if the need ever occurs. Meanwhile, contact local establishments to see if they might be interested in your old magazines. Some hospitals, nursing homes, medical offices, and beauty/barber shops will accept them, as will some resale shops. Just be sure to remove your address label to protect your privacy.