My guest post today comes from Jessica, author of the blog Four Plus an Angel. She’s sharing some sage advice on maintaining a blog AND a life outside of the blogosphere before reaching blog burnout. I know veteran bloggers will easily relate to this and the ideas presented here are also imperative for newbies.
We were driving home from a long weekend away with the kids when I decided I would quit.
I unplugged for four days and felt great. My eyes were not strained from staring at the computer screen for hours or keeping up with a twitter stream. I felt connected to my kids and confident that I had truly enjoyed our trip rather than worrying about my next blog post or my current stats.
As we got closer to home I daydreamed about what I would do with all of my free time now that I would not have to post nightly and blog-read every free moment.
But then I got home. And I checked my Twitter stream. And I missed my friends and wondered what they had all been writing about while I was gone.
Maybe I wouldn’t quit after all, but I would have to make some significant changes if I was going to continue. I tend to be an “all or nothing” type person so I would have to adjust my blogging attitude and reprioritize in order to avoid burning out.
I made a few immediate changes:
1. I stopped blogging so frequently. In the past I would blog 5-6 days a week. Now I blog 3 days a week and ONLY when I have something to say. If I am not inspired to write I don’t. I can honestly say that this has improved the content of my posts and increased my readership and comments. Best of all, I am not spending every weeknight staring at my computer screen for blogging inspiration.
2. I dedicated time to learning new social media tools. I invested time learning Stumbleupon, Pinterest and improving my Facebook page. I also started using Crowdbooster to effectively target my social media interaction. Utilizing these tools has helped me to network, strengthen my social media relationships and also increase my readership.
3. I give 100% to what I am doing. If I am playing with my kids I no longer check Twitter at every pause in the action and I leave my phone in another room when I am getting things done around the house. I don’t spend my day trying to find five minutes to write, I write when I have a chunk of time to do it. My mommy-guilt has decreased and I genuinely enjoy the things I am doing much more (except for maybe the laundry).
I can honestly say I am pleasantly surprised by how these changes have improved my blogging life. My stats have maintained what they were when I was blogging five or six days a week, I feel more connected to my readers and blogging friends and I even cook dinner every once in a while.
What are some ideas that have worked for you when you found yourself at a blogging crossroads?
I’ve started taking weekends off. I’ll still tweet and read blogs but I typically don’t post. It’s especially important for me because my husband works out of town all week and I like to spend my time with him. That’s really helped with the burn out!
I figure if I need a week off, I’ll just take one. I didn’t post for a few weeks when I moved; I only did a couple of “Sorry I’ve Been Busy” type posts. The readers waited until I came back. No big deal! A break is good for everyone.
Totally agree, I think we all need to give ourselves a break and only post when it works for us.
This is great. I have been out of work for the last few weeks and noticed that I probably try to spend more time doing all the things you mentioned than I ever thought I would. I realize that I can’t rush things. Everything will happen when it should and, while I have this unplanned “break” from work, I should enjoy this time with my baby girl (who I haven’t been at home with for any extended period since I was on maternity leave).
Love your suggestions and glad that everything is working out for you!
Thanks so much, pacing myself in blogging has definitely helped me enjoy my children more.
These are good suggestions – especially not blogging too often. It’s hard for the readers who WANT to keep up but when you’re MIA for a few days and the person has, like 10 posts, it’s too much!
I need to learn from you and be 100% in the moment.
I’m a work in progress :).
I needed this. I still see myself as a newbie blogger, having only been blogging for over a year. I have much to learn in terms of being a more productive blogger. It’s not just about churning out post after post, but about really CARING about your readers and speaking to their needs.
I totally agree with you about blogging when you have something to say. For me, that’s the key to being a great blogger and a READABLE one: being an INTENTIONAL blogger. People respond better to posts written with our hearts on our sleeves.
Thanks for this inspiring post. I’m learning so much!
I think posting daily, in the beginning, is a good way to increase your readership but to maintain readers you have to decrease your posts and make sure each one is a quality read.
True! I’ve been posting daily for the past couple of months, i.e. scheduling posts, writing in advance, etc. I’m still gaining momentum in terms of readership, but I feel like I still need to work on my branding and things like that so that my posts are threaded with that “brand.” Am learning a lot from the bloggers here at TMC, so I know I’m in good company!
great advice. I can relate. I’ve thought about quitting but I really like the connections I’ve made. I’ll have to check out Crowdbooster. Hadn’t heard of that one before.
Love Crowdbooster, a great resource!
I’ve employed some technology to help me blog & stay connected to my readership more effectively:
1) blog post promoter – this plugin promotes an old post of mine every three days – this helps readers find posts they may have missed & gives me a day off from posting
2) Buffer to schedule tweets
3) twitter lists – I created some lists of readers & people that I want to follow more than the other people I follow
My more recent idea is to have a blogging schedule – this will help me come up with posts & possibly crank out the 3-4 posts for the week all on one night so that I can enjoy my other nights.
Plugins that tweet old posts are great as well as scheduling tweets and using lists. I couldn’t survive without my lists!
This is great information Jessica. I think the key is moderation. My kiddos are older so I do have more non-kid time due to school. I try to make sure my writing/reading/social media is done during those times. I only post three times a week but thank you for reminding me that it is okay “not to post” if I don’t have anything to say!
THIS is a breath of fresh air! If you can do it and still be as great as you are, so can I!! I try but feel bad about it… my husband reminds me though that this isn’t why I’m doing it. It’s supposed to be fun, not stressful! Great post!
I have made these very same changes and I’m feeling a lot better.
What GREAT information! I post 5 days a week right now and with the cooking, purchasing, researching and snapping photos along with blogging – it can be exhausting! Right now, tho…I love it! I’ve considered going down to 3 days a week, but I cook every day…. so far, it’s a good fit.
I have found one thing that has given me balance – I do not hop on the computer until the evening. My husband is retired so the day time is ours. After dinner is made and photos are snapped…I do the dishes and blogging begins. I’m usually in the living room with him and we’re still together.
He’s been amazingly supportive – loves the food and is thrilled with the personal satisfaction I get from blogging….so it’s a win/win for me.
I have to leave my phone in another room, too, while playing with my kids. But then I miss snapping photos of them on it! Ah well, once I’m better at staying off Twitter and FB, I can have it back. I’m still trying to build up my readership and get into a habit of blogging, commenting, etc. daily, but I did enjoy some unplugged time this weekend. I think finding balance is the key to everything, right?
thank you so much for this post! i am a fairly new blogger myself (i’ve been doing it “seriously” for about 7 months now) and i struggle daily – knowing building readership takes time and effort and sometimes not having the energy to read, facebook – let alone post on a regular basis some weeks. i’ve been on the fence about twitter – mainly because i’m predicting it will suck me in just as fb did, and do i have the energy?? but then i see everyone else having so much fun and i want to be a part of it – so it’s good to know other gals struggle with this same issue.
Great advice. I started posting less too, and then more sometimes. Mostly just when I have something to say, but I don’t worry about posting every day anymore. I’ve also taken time away from reading and commenting but then tend to do it in a batch, which I actually enjoy more. (Hence the reason I’ve left comment crack for you tonight!)
I am slowly cutting back. Skipping days here and there. I need to commit to just three days a week and I think I’ll be golden. Great advice!