Things I do weekly + Top Gear Reading

I have a fairly set media routine and reading plays a pretty big part in that routine. I’ve found the only way I can manage the mass of content is by breaking it down and scheduling it.

If the internet is famed for one thing it’s the ability it has of breaking down and killing traditional schedules and the fact that it can house and present a considerably increased volume of content.

But I find the only way I can keep up with that increased volume of content (I only watch two programmes on linear television) is by creating my own schedule.

Even internet TV stations like Revision 3 and Twit (it’s pretty much live TV now) published release or broadcast schedules.

So here is mine.

Monday

The first thing I do on a Monday morning is visit the newspaper websites that house each of the Top Gear presenter columns, as well as the Top Gear magazine website.

I then print each of the columns (most are written at the weekend) and staple them all together to read on my lunchbreak in the park.

Here are the columns if you want to read them for yourself.

The Top Gear presenter columns

The Times: Jeremy Clarkson - Opinion Column

The Times: Jeremy Clarkson - Motoring Column

The Sun: Jeremy Clarkson - Opinion

TG Mag: Jeremy Clarkson - Cars and Opinion

The Mirror: Richard Hammond - News

The Mirror: Richard Hammond - Motoring

The Telegraph: James May - Motoring (rss)

TG Mag: Planet Top Gear Blog (rss)

Spare moments on a Monday - ie not talking to anyone, not writing anything, not reading and not watching TV are used up by listening to podcasts.

My evenings on a Monday are spent watching shows on Side Reel - I normally get to watch about two 30 minute shows between putting the kids to bed and going to bed myself.

Tuesday

Mornings on a Tuesday are spent reading through blogs and message boards (I do look at message boards other days) - I don’t print these I just read them on screen.

On my lunchbreak on a Tuesday I read a book - as I only read a book two lunchbreaks a week it takes me about a month to get through one.

I’m currently reading Doctor Who - Forever Autumn.

Spare moments on a Tuesday are spent listening to my Audiobook of the moment - I’ve just finished listening to Danny Wallace: Friends Like These and have just moved on to Stephen Fry reading Paddington Bear.

Evenings on a Tuesday involve more blog reading while watching Top Gear clips in the background or half watching whatever is on th eTV at the time - usually one of my wifes soaps or crappy dramas.

Wednesday

Spare moments on a Wednesday are back to podcasts - there are a lot of podcasts I subscribe to so getting through them all in a week can be a bit of an effort - I don’t always make it.

Mornings, I read other columnists I’m interested in and catch up on news stories/comment pieces from the UK newspaper websites.

Other columns I read include:

The Guardian: Charlie Brooker

The Telegraph: Boris Johnson

Independent: Will Self

BBC Blogs: Nick Robinson

BBC Blogs: Mark Kermode Uncut

OK so the last two in that last are blogs but they are created by an individual expressing an opinion or telling a story - a well known person - so I call it a column. These are all read on screen as well.

Afternoons on a Wednesday are book days as well - I carry on reading my book of the moment. Evenings are much the same as Tuesday.

Thursday

Podcasts fill the void of silence that exists while walking to and from work, going to the toilet and walking between buildings at work.

Mornings don’t really involve much - read through a few blogs, check a couple of message boards and kill a bit of time by reading news stories.

Afternoons I actually don’t read at all but instead listen to my Audiobook - podcasts for the void and Audiobook for lunch.

Evenings involve sod all - I’ll probably sit on the sofa and watch whatever crap my wife has on while reading message board threads on my laptop.

Friday

Friday is podcast update day - but not until the evening so lets get through the rest of the day first and we’ll start with the silence void - this is filled with podcasts to try and clear it before the evening update.

I generally just work through my lunchbreak on a Friday trying to finish things off from the previous week (everything listed above is before work, on my lunchbreak or after work).

As soon as I get home in the evening and have fed the kids, taken them to bed, had a shower and fed myself I turn the computer on, click refresh on the podcasts page in iTunes and start downloading new ones from the past seven days.

My Podcasts (opml feed)

I also go through and delete the ones I’ve listened to (I don’t trust iTunes to only load the ‘unheard’ ones on to my iPod as I half listen to some occasionally.

When that’s finished a few hours later I sync up my iPod and put it aside for the next day.

I then get on with reading message boards and blogs while half watching Top Gear Clips or something from the iPlayer - if it’s gripping I’ll drop the reading and just sit back to watch it.

Weekends

I promise my wife an iPod free weekend every weekend but still manage to sneak it out with me and listen to the odd bit of a podcast when she isn’t looking.

Until this week my Saturday evenings have consisted of watching Doctor Who with my daughter, putting her to bed and then going on to doctorwhoforum.com to chat about it.

That’s finished and so I’ve promised my wife I’ll watch Casualty with her and then a comedy show we recorded earlier in the week.

On a Sunday I watch Top Gear when it’s on (the second of the two programmes I like to watch when they go out - the other is Doctor Who) and then go to finalgear.com to chat about it afterwards.

I don’t get time to read at the weekend.

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