For a few months now, I’ve struggled with balancing blogging with my other life responsibilities. I’ve had a full plate this past year with work, family, and taking classes to renew my teaching license. I can’t tell you how many times that when I’ve actually had the time to sit down and blog, I end up with absolutely nothing to show for it. I chalked up my lack of attention to blogging as a classic case of writer’s block and a lack of time and felt I would eventually work through it. Now that I am off work for the summer and have a large amount of time I could be devoting to blogging, I’ve once again found that actually sitting down to write a post is difficult. As I’ve reflected on my journey through blogging these past few years, I’m realizing that there are things I do and have done in the past that all but stifle my desire to write a blog post most of the time.
The Comparison Game
If you blog you probably also read blogs because you enjoy them. You may even belong to an online community of bloggers that share the ups and downs and the tips of the blogging trade with one another. I think building community with your blogging is a great thing and I can honestly attest to the fact that I wouldn’t have enjoyed some of the opportunities I have experienced through blogging had it not been for some great blogging communities. Even still, I sometimes start comparing my blog to others who have a better blog design, better writing skills, exciting opportunities, etc. What can I say? I’m human. However, I know if I sat here dwelling on all of the things my blog is lacking, I’d probably convince myself to stop altogether. There will always be bloggers who look better than you, make more money than you, write better than you, and have a better looking blog than you. However, I’ve also read enough blogs for long enough to to know that those “better” bloggers are also human and sometimes we aren’t seeing the full picture. We only blog about the parts of our life we are comfortable sharing. Repeat that as needed.
Social Media Suck-In
I swear I’m going to get that blog post up just as soon as I check Facebook real quick. Three days later, I open up my laptop to start that post and once again, I’m sucked in by social media. As I’m typing this, I have forced myself to close every window on my computer except this blogging platform I use. I’m guilty of always wanting to know what is going on and Facebook is my personal time stealer. Constantly checking Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram instead of writing up those posts you “keep meaning to” write results in nothing but endless procrastination and can even head into the comparison game territory.
Trying to Do It All
If you look at some of the more successful blogs in your niche, you might notice that those bloggers seem to be great at everything. They can take the best pictures, whip up the best recipes, come up with the most pin-worthy decorations/activities/ideas. They have their own e-books, book deals, and some even appear on national television. These bloggers do it all, and if you find that you can (and want) to do it all too, then great! However, there are also those of us bloggers who don’t have expensive cameras and the skills to go with them. You may not have time to stage food pictures, come up with creative birthday decorations to share with your readers, or have the time to chalk paint life back into a salvaged roadside furniture piece and blog every detail. I realized early on that photography and cooking is not my specialty in blogging and I don’t kill myself trying anymore. I work full time outside the home and I know my limitations. Find something you can do really well on your blog and do it. One of the very best blogs I read features absolutely no images in posts, but the writing is amazing, so it doesn’t even matter.
Limiting Yourself
Up until recently, I always cringed every time I read an article on how to blog better because I would always run across those two words that grate my nerves the most: “niche” and “goals”. Your niche is what you write about exclusively (beauty, fashion, parenting, reviews) and your goals are the fruits you want to see of your blogging. When I started blogging, these two buzzwords were not on the radar. Some believe that you can enjoy more blogging success by focusing on one thing and writing about it very well. I’m not saying that isn’t true, but it’s a little disheartening to those of us who started our blogs writing about a hodge podge of different things. On my blog you will find a little of everything: product reviews, posts about family and work, and just random pictures I take. I’m not a six-figure blogger by any means, but I have enjoyed some success with this blog and I think you shouldn’t have to limit yourself unless that’s your goal.
There are those who start a blog with the sole goal of making money, and then there are those who start blogging just to share their life. Some bloggers want both. None of these goals are wrong . Do you know what I have learned about blogging goals? They are always evolving. When I fist started blogging I was working part time and I was more focused on product reviews and earning money through opportunities that connected me with brands. Now that my time is a little more limited during school months, I do what I can to still maintain a little passive income, but I’m now more focused on trying to share more personal posts and write about the things I actually want to write about. This may change again at some point, but I’m ok with it now. I used to believe that in order for my blog to thrive I had to pick one goal and stick to it. Just as boxing yourself into a niche because you feel like you must do it to be more successful can kill your passion for blogging, so can being inflexible with your blogging goals.
If you blog, have you struggled with these productivity killers? Do you have some of your own that I didn’t list here?
