So today I met up with seven others, all graduates of the last running of the This Book Means Business Bootcamp, and we sat together in the Jane Austen room in Reading Museum and wrote for most of the day.
We met at 10am, chatted and faffed around for a bit, then set our intentions for the day. By 10.30am there was silence in the room apart from the furious tapping of keyboards, and we kept that up for two hours. Lunch was meant to be 45 minutes, but we got a bit carried away with the chatting and it turned into an hour and a half. #oops
A quick check of progress against intentions, a little bit of recalibration in some cases, and we were off again for the second session: 2-4pm.
A Facebook live in the Bootcamp group to finish the day and check in with one more member who was with us in spirit, in a beautiful Yorkshire library.
My intention was to finish section 2 of the book and send it to the editor tonight: I nailed it and have just emailed it over.
I think without exception everyone achieved what they’d set out to do today, some over-achieved, and the most commonly heard comment was ‘I can’t believe how much I got done.’
There really is some sort of magic in that alone-in-a-group dynamic: everyone working on their own project, but the energy and focus of the group somehow helping you maintain your own energy and focus. Which in turn feeds back into the group.
You can’t get distracted by the washing up, or random phone calls offering to track down your PPI, and because there’s someone sitting right there next to you you know you can’t sneakily answer emails. You just sit and do what you came to do, and the hours fly past, and the whole thing is absolutely wonderful. I feel exhausted and exhilarated all at the same time.
To everyone who came along today – THANK YOU for your company, your energy and your enthusiasm. Let’s do it again soon!