Sometimes, when people grow up, and life gets busy, they stop having time for things they used to love. For me, that is reading. 

I was a fan of DEAR time (drop everything and read) and signed up to spend recess inside reading books to vote on awards (Red Maple, Silver Birch, anyone?), and slowly, reading became a thing I had to do for school, and then something I didn't do at all with my busy work schedule. So I had a thought, what if we could come up with a fun and wellness activity that centers around reading (after all, it's supposedly good for you!)

During a fun committee meeting with the squad, the idea of participating in a reading bingo was born. We used a free bingo card generator, and we put in over 40 different prompts related to books and reading that could end up being a square. For each bingo square, you had to read one book to complete the prompt.

As a remote-first company, we spend a lot of time in our homes working. And sometimes in the long Canadian winters, that means not seeing the sun. We made sure that one of the bingo prompts was to spend time outside reading. In hindsight, I forgot how cold March is, so that turned out to be a difficult square to muster up the courage to complete if it ended up on your card.

Another square idea was to read a book about Yak farming. rTraction has an inside joke where if people didn't need websites anymore that we would become Yak farmers. Turns out, there are not a lot of books in the world that are easily available about Yak farming (all my fellow authors out there, this can be your new niche, you're welcome!)

Once all the prompts were settled, and the cards were made, we delivered each individual bingo card link to each team member. You could print the bingo card and decorate it, or just use your virtual card and keep track of the books you read. We also created a Slack channel for our team to discuss what they were reading, and how the progress of their bingo card was going. We also incentivized participation by offering small rewards for 1st, 2nd, 3rd bingo, and an extra prize for a full card.

How did our team receive the challenge?

Our team had two months to complete a bingo on their individual card. Over the course of two months, our book chat popped off about what people wanted to read, opinions on books, and how their progress was going. Even if a team member managed to read one book, or even pick up A book, in the 2 months, we considered that a win because it meant people were trying to find more time for reading and less time for tech and scrolling.

"I read a lot of books," reflects Zoe Blair. "It was fun because it didn't matter where you are or what your schedule was, it was truly an asynchronous challenge."

Zoe completed the challenge with such gusto, that she managed to snag the first reading BINGO! And then she set herself the ultimate challenge. The full card bingo. That's 25 books in 2 months.

She did it. A true reading champion. *trumpet fanfare

In the end it was the perfect activity for the end of a super long and dreary winter, "...at the end of the day when you're tired you can read a bit of your book, but you can't really get dressed and go for a walk in the same way."

So we want you to challenge your team to a reading bingo, and pick up those books that are gathering dust, and spend some quality time learning, exploring, and reading.

Written by: Madilyn