Discussion Post: Adapting to life

We're at the tail end of Bout of Books today. Which is cool because, from the host side of things, it's a fairly time consuming event. Amanda and I have the pre-Bout of Books stuff we have to do, then we have the during-Bout of Books stuff, then the post-Bout of Books.

I'm not complaining because I really do enjoy co-hosting it with Amanda, but it's a frantic week. More than a week, really, when you take into account everything we have to do to make sure it goes smoothly. We've streamlined and created shortcuts to EVERYTHING we possibly can, but we also try to keep an eye out and see if there's anything that's causing confusion and needs to be addressed for the next BoB.

So by this point, I'm feeling the urge to turn off social media and go all hermit-like for a day or two.

One thing I've noticed about myself as we do more and more of these events is that I approach the participant side differently than I did earlier on. I participate less. Period. Part of this is due to real life. I work full time now outside the home. During previous Bout of Books, I was working from home and could pretty much do what I wanted, when I wanted. Not so much now.

Then there's the writing side. I don't expect to hit my normal writing numbers during this week, but I also don't shut down the writing completely. I can't. My head would explode. Trust me on this.

Somewhere along the way, I had to find a balance. That meant not worrying about reading as many books as I possibly could during the week (heh. Those were the days, weren't they?) and just letting go to relax and enjoy myself.

Sure, I read less books, but I'm okay with that.

To be honest, not being so wound up about how many books I'll end up reading is kind of freeing.

So kick back and relax. Those books aren't going anywhere.