MY BOOKISH OCD and CHANGES FOR THE BETTER!

My Book Blogging Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and How I Am Making Changes

I go through phases in my life in general where I pretty much jump headfirst into something new – house plants we one extreme thing I got into (picked up tons of plants, read books about them all and was pretty much obsessed with them to the point of driving people crazy about plants and then it abruptly ended just as quickly as it started) and fish keeping was another (I quickly had two tanks, researched all about different fish and plants and was pretty much a hardcore fish addict). I don't throw myself into hobbies lightly – GO BIG OR GO HOME! I guess I just have an addictive personality.

So this is where I tell you all about my bookish OCD. It started out easily enough – I have always loved reading and I was searching the title of a book to see what people had thought of it and I stumbled upon a book blog. I had no idea such a thing existed (I should have known they were out there since there are blogs about pretty much anything). From that moment I was sucked right in. I thought up a blog name, worked on a design for it, and started writing reviews. I had been writing reviews for another book site, but decided to branch out onto my own once I realized there were so many out there and I could have a voice of my own.

But that is not where the OCD part really started. It turns out that once I'm obsessed with something I have to know more, learn more and be more. Honestly, I started out reviewing library books and books I already owned. After getting my name out there enough that followers were increasing, I sent in my first ARC requests. That was an exciting day for me when the first one said YES! I get completely absorbed by my blog, the blogging community, Twitter, Facebook, or anything bookish related. I spend WAY TOO MUCH time on the internet and find that I spend less time reading or quality time with family/friends. But the biggest OCD thing to come is BLOG TOURS – I seriously sign up for tons of them and then realize I've left no room for the other books I have sitting on my TBR shelves or room for non-review reading. It's a habit I am working on breaking. I also think that sometimes it was like a challenge I set for myself to gain followers, get known, have great content, etc. But once it starts feeling like work or I have lost focus of why I started blogging, it's time to reevaluate.

So now for the part where I tell you the changes I am making – almost like New Year's Resolutions.

1. Stop saying YES to ALL pubs and ALL blog tours. I don't have time to participate in every one or read every possible book out there. I will still accept them both, but I will be pickier with the ones I choose to be a part of/promote.
2. Catch up on my TBR pile. There are so many books sitting around my place that I'm running out of space for them.
3. Stop worrying about what everyone else is doing. Do your own thing. Be Chrystal!
4. Blog about books because you love it, don't let it become a chore.
5. Read one book a month just for me – whether I review it or not doesn't matter.

And those are my new rules to help me be less addicted to my blog/the blogosphere.

Do you find that you get sucked into things? Do you follow the crowd? Have to have the latest widget, book to review, be a part of the most talked about blog tour? How do you handle the pressure of keeping up?