It's been a while since posting anything on my conversations boars but here goes nothing.
About a month before Shadow and Bone season 2 came out, I asked my friend, "Do I really need to read Siege and Storm before watching season 2?" Regrettably, they said yes. So off I went to read the second book in a series that I did not particularly enjoy. And it was PHENOMENAL.
After finishing the second book, I started watching the new season and halfway through came to the horrifying realisation that I'd have to pause my viewing to read book 3.
Meanwhile, my friend kept watching and by the end of it informed me that I would have to read at least the first view chapters of King of Scars as well. So now I have to read Ruin and Rising, reread Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom and read King of Scars, by which time I will probably have moved on from this hyperfixation and will never finish season 2.
Anyway, the answer to your question is that I am doing sub-optimal.