This is my third NaNo, and I've also done one ScriptFrenzy (NaNo's April script-writing fun month), and completed all of them. My writing habits won't change much, I still get up at 6:00, write for two hours (sometimes more) before breakfast.
Life after is the same as life during, and almost the same as life before. I think I'm like most wannabee's--I have many ideas floating about in my memory, and I pick what I think is the most persistent and run with it. That's the one I develop for NaNo. So,
Life before---getting the NaNo outline done, figuring out where the plot holes will be, character studies. All leading up to:
Life during --- one month of FOKBIC (Fingers on keyboard, butt in chair), typing out 2K words daily.
Life after --- the same FOKBIC, possibly editing what I've written, or writing for one of the two groups I attend, or continue with the on-line class I'm enrolled in (Writer's Digest).
In short, there's nothing that changes much, except for the added adrenalin that flows during November and April.
There was one casualty however, my coffee cup. It's been with me for years. The handle fits my hand, it's stainless steel shiny surface is still clean and bright, but it fell off my desk and now the plastic cap is chipped so badly that coffee dribbles out if I'm not careful. That's the one thing I'll have to replace.
There is one point where I do feel a let-down in intensity, and that's when I print out the certificate, sign my name and frame it. No ceremony for hanging it on the wall, but I look at them each morning and remember the fun it was to do it, and look forward to the next.