Spending too much time on a reading?

Yesterday I finished the last of my first three readings online ! I have had great feedback, But I am still learning ;-).
My problem is, I spended way to much time. First I did the reading, writing it in my journal, and took notes on another paper too. Next I would either write the reading in my own words again in sentences on another piece of paper, or just write it directly in the mail. That would. Take me about 2 or 3 hours.
Since I can not spend so much time in one sitting, it took almost days before I was done :-(.
I think I am to perfectionialistic (spelling?).
I am still very new in the Tarot World,and I still try to learn.
Any suggestions?

Yes. Tarot can be a very intense, introspective and emotionally challenging block of time. While that is the benefit, extending too far may hamper your desire for future readings.

The max time a therapist, such as a licenced Ph.D. psychologist works with a patient in the states is 50 minutes. At least that should be the case. Consider the same limit with your readings.
In fact, mine rarely go so long in one stint as I enjoy grounding and reading first (20 minutes or so) and then journaling / reflecting later when I am fresh.

Hope you find a workable method.

Cheers from California.

Maja said:

Yesterday I finished the last of my first three readings online ! I have had great feedback, But I am still learning ;-).
My problem is, I spended way to much time. First I did the reading, writing it in my journal, and took notes on another paper too. Next I would either write the reading in my own words again in sentences on another piece of paper, or just write it directly in the mail. That would. Take me about 2 or 3 hours.
Since I can not spend so much time in one sitting, it took almost days before I was done :-(.
I think I am to perfectionialistic (spelling?).
I am still very new in the Tarot World,and I still try to learn.
Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

I don't know that there is a reliable rule-of-thumb for this, but I don't do on-line or e-mail readings so don't have a good frame of reference. I used to write my self-readings, card-by-card, in a journal and that would take well over an hour to capture, without any re-writing or fine-tuning for customer consumption. Now if I want to keep a record of a reading I take a digital photo of the spread and rely on my experience to reconstruct the reading if I ever need to. You might try dictating your real-time observations into a recorder and then do the write-up from that; there should be less second-guessing and reinterpretation if you stick to your original impressions as much as possible. I honed my skills by reading face-to-face for friends in a casual setting, where I could talk until I had nothing more to say, using a modified 10-card Celtic Cross spread. If a reading was clear and took no unexpected twists, it would take half-an-hour or a little more; an hour or so if I had to run down any alternative possibilities. If sitters wanted a written record, they took their own notes.

Congrats Maja. Keep fingers crossed for you

I can spend a lot of time while making readings. I do for people two or three spreads for one aspect and so on. It takes time but after making a spread I just say out loud my first impressions in general, looking at the spread as a whole, then I'm writing on my laptop. I've learned it's not so good to write on paper and then again on the lappy. I trust my very first feelings and I want to catch them as fast as I can. Later I read once again and then send. You your own style of work but would be a good idea to try other ways, to make it less time consuming. After a while you can get even more and more readings

Lokismile said:

The max time a therapist, such as a licenced Ph.D. psychologist works with a patient in the states is 50 minutes. At least that should be the case. Consider the same limit with your readings.
In fact, mine rarely go so long in one stint as I enjoy grounding and reading first (20 minutes or so) and then journaling / reflecting later when I am fresh.

Hope you find a workable method.

Cheers from California.

Click to expand...

Thanks. But what if I am not done in the 50 minuttes?! It took me 45 minuttes to write the mail alone. And that was writing after my notes!

Barleywine-> i have thought about recording the readings and just transcript them, But I simple can not stand the Sound of my own voice:-(. I already takes Photos of the reading But I'm stille not good at remembering meanings.

seedcake-> Thanks I feel quite proud. Do you keep a journal? I have thought about digitalizing my journal, that would make it easier I guess. I try using my first impressions as well.

Is it really just pratice I need?

I type all my readings directly into Excel. I'm basically using it as a form that includes the spread layout with abbreviations for the card that's in each position with space for the position, my description of the card and my interpretation of the card. I will then copy and paste that into email or a post here at Aeclectic.

From what you wrote, you're writing out the reading 3 or 4 times. I'd suggest typing it directly into the email and going over what you've written as many times as you need to before sending the email. You can then print out the email and put that in your journal. And if you have any notes on a separate piece of paper or post-it notes, you can include that with the print out.

Only you can determine how much time you spend on a reading is too much time. If you have five things to do that day and you only get the reading done, then you've probably spent too much time on the reading.

HTH,
Rodney

Maja said:

Thanks. But what if I am not done in the 50 minuttes?! It took me 45 minuttes to write the mail alone. And that was writing after my notes!

Barleywine-> i have thought about recording the readings and just transcript them, But I simple can not stand the Sound of my own voice:-(. I already takes Photos of the reading But I'm stille not good at remembering meanings.

seedcake-> Thanks I feel quite proud. Do you keep a journal? I have thought about digitalizing my journal, that would make it easier I guess. I try using my first impressions as well.

Is it really just pratice I need?

Click to expand...

Yes, I keep a journal but it's only for my personal needs. Readings for people I keep in the lappy. All are stored in folder, each of them with dates etc.

Maja said:

Yesterday I finished the last of my first three readings online !
...
Any suggestions?

Click to expand...

When I do email readings, I pull the cards, type straight to an open email page addressed to the querent, scan and attach the card images, and hit "send".

I don't journal - with email readings you have a permanent record in your "sent emails"folder. If you;re fussy and want to keep all your emailed readings together, create another folder, and lift-and-drop them out of "sent messages"into that new folder. work of moments. An online reading usually takes me about an hour once I stop faffing about and get into it.