Is it possible to multi-task while listening to audiobooks? I'm not sure if my focus on coding would suffer, or keeping up with the book.
My fav multitasking activity right now is to watch those "average" TV shows (such as most shows in existence) on a second monitor while I work. Sure I miss some scenes and dialog due to focusing on my work, but generally I keep up. Sometimes need to rewind if I missed something crucial.
If it's a really good reader then the performance become a key part of the enjoyment, much like a great actor can really enhance the play or movie they're in.
If it's not a great or interesting performance then I just use the audiobook app to speed up the playback to the point where I find a good balance between speed and intelligibility.
Walking, riding, driving, working out, washing dishes, doing laundry - these are tasks not at all harmed by listening to something while you do them, and indeed people have so alleviated their monotony since the commercialization of radio.
A task like programming is something else entirely, in terms of cognitive complexity, and attempting to partake simultaneously of something that requires attention to follow means one or the other probably isn't going to get done very well.
In a more programmer related parlance, you can't perform the most rigorous part of driving concurrently with paying attention to an audiobook, but you -can- task switch pretty easily. The driving is pre-emptive.
Except for the fact that you're operating a two-ton death machine.
Walking is much more interesting.
Multi-tasking is a fallacy. It's not possible to do anything that requires a reasonable amount of concentration with mindfulness and quality if you're also trying to do something else at the same time. To try multi-task is to short change yourself of truly deep and engaging experiences.
http://www.audiofilemagazine.com/narrators/john-lee/
Listening to these audiobooks at anything other than 1x diminishes the result.
By the way, you can always listen to books while doing some simple chores like cleaning the house or walking the dog, right.
That is, I don't schedule time on the guitar. I make time for it.
The difference to me is some things are required, and some are priorities. Some are, of course, both.
For me, I don't usually listen to audiobooks. But hey, that's reading too as long as you gain insights from the books.
What I've found works is setting up my environment so that reading is easy and natural. The absolute most effective thing for me has been banning my laptop and tablet from my bedroom, and setting up my phone to charge on the opposite side of the room. I keep a book or my e-reader on the side of my bed and generally need some unwinding time before sleep so I end up reading before bed.
The other massive for me is audiobooks. I know everyone has their own opinion on whether this counts as reading, but as far as I'm strongly on the pro-side. I spend a significant portion of my day -- when I'm walking, driving, chores, exercise -- listening to either podcasts or audiobooks. I've read a lot more books than I would have otherwise, and it definitely reinforces the visual/normal/book reading habit as well. I particularly like whispersync when its available, and I can switch back and forth between reading on my kindle and listening on my phone.