OH MY! Yes, I am still alive everyone!
As many of you know, I have been traversing the entire United States by minivan because of my grad school orientation at Valdosta State University. I have been gone for over two weeks, and this blog has suffered so much. I feel like I'm going crazy here! I had these huge plans to read lots and write reviews when I get to my hotel every evening, but by the time I get to one I'm too tired to do anything! Last night I got into the hotel at 12:15 in the morning, and the night before I got in at 1AM! Who has time?
And, of course, this has made me very anxious. My inner blogging monster is screaming at me to review ALL THE THINGS. And write ALL the posts!
So, what do you do? Are you plagued by this obsession to post all the time? How do you handle it? Are you ok with taking blogging vacations? I mean, I know you're not all going to leave me because I take a little time off, but still! This just feels weird...
In other news, I get home tomorrow night! Phew!
My co-blogger and I usually manage to schedule enough posts in advance that taking a break from actually writing any isn't much of a problem. It also helps that I do have a co-blogger, so if one of us gets busy, the other one can usually help out. That said, I don't feel too much pressure to post constantly. As you said, readers don't usually jump ship if you take a break; they're just there waiting patiently for your next post to pop up in their readers.
ReplyDeleteI hope your orientation went well!
Ha I feel you, girl. Whenever I don't post I always beat myself up about it. but then I have to remember that it's a blog for me, not for other people. I try to cut myself some slack. And honestly, if I push myself to blog when I am so tired or I'm not as inspired as I could be, I'm never as proud of what I write. It's better to give yourself time to write and to live your life off of your blog :)
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you back! Hope orientation was awesome!
Em
Tightrope to the Sun
Oh man, this always happen to me. When I haven't posted anything substantial on my blog, I get so much anxiety. I want to post a lot, but my attention span and time works against me. I try to prepare myself in advance for reviews or discussion posts, but that always falls through. I think I write well under a little pressure. Lol. ;D
ReplyDeleteI could definitely relate to your struggles with blogging anxiety and pressure, Jana! For the first time in two months, last week I was unable to post two reviews on Thursday and Friday as I ordinarily do because work got the better of me and I didn't have the necessary time or energy to read and/or review the books I was reading. I felt awful. As irrational and silly as it likely seems, I couldn't help but feel that I had let my readers down.
ReplyDeleteThe pressure to post consistently is something I admittedly struggle with on a regular basis, but I do try to deal with it as best I can as I never want blogging to become a chore or something I resent doing. As difficult as it often is for me, sometimes I simply have to remember to let the little things go. I'm not perfect, and as much I as I would like to, I need to realize that I can't always post as often as I would like. I really loved this quote that I discovered in the latest issue of O Magazine and I think it's invaluable to remember when it comes to this sort of thing - "Daring to set boundaries is about having the courage to love ourselves, even when we risk disappointing others." All we can expect from ourselves in that we do the best that we possibly can in the moment. The reality is that some people will never be satisfied or happy with what you're doing, and that's okay! As long as you're happy and fulfilled, that's really all that matters, because blogging should be fun. I think we sometimes lose sight of this in the constant competition for increased page views, twitter followers, etc. It's an ongoing battle, but one I definitely plan to win.
I definitely have a little bit of blogging anxiety, especially when it comes to a hiatus/vacation. I'm going to be away in October and don't want to leave my blog unattended for fifteen days. I'm hoping to find guests to fill the space while I'm gone.
ReplyDelete