Can I be honest with you? Good. I’m in a bit of a blog funk. Don’t get me wrong — I still enjoy blogging. But some days … it’s a lot of work. I was hoping my two weeks away over Christmas would be enough of a break. It was and wasn’t.
I have lots of good ideas floating around my brain, scribbled on random bits of paper and so on, but my motivation … my motivation to write those posts is low. Very, very low. Dangerously low. Like so low that I could slip into a blogging coma at any moment.
Okay, that’s probably an exaggeration. MaxE would rightly accuse me of Mama Drama.
It’s important to note that MaxE always feels he is right.
And he is wrong. 🙂
My Name is Tanya. I Have Blogger Burnout.
This isn’t Tanya just being moody. There are a couple valid reasons why I do feel burnt out.
- I have been blogging since September 2010. Yeah, that’s a long time. My blog has always been tiny, even though I wrote (IMHO) quality posts. I just never did much promotion, which is something I regret and have been slowly changing. Still I am exhausted. Which seems fair, I do have over 500 posts.
- I’m bummed. Last year I had one big goal that I did not achieve. While I oddly feel more committed to achieving my goal and positioned to do so, I also feel embarrassed that once again I didn’t achieve my goal and did so publicly. I don’t regret sharing my goal with you, but I would have preferred to share good news. I’ve been reflecting on what I did right and wrong and have learned so much, which helps tremendously. And honestly, I’ve simply been procrastinating writing about this and how much attention I ought to give this.
Then I had an epic fail in the kitchen Tuesday night and it was the last straw. Blogging is supposed to fun and it had become a chore. I need a break to restore my sanity.
So I gave myself one.
Instead of trying new recipes, I went back to a tried and true recipe. One that I had not made in years because I am always trying something new. It was comfort on a plate.
Many bloggers deal with burnout at some point for various reasons. My solution was to give myself a timeout for the rest of the week. It felt good, but I needed more. So after much thought, I am taking a few weeks off. Too much time away and it would be easy to not come back, which I don’t want to happen. But three weeks felt just right (yeah, I’m Goldilocks). Enough to feel indulgent and make me miss blogging too.
It feels so good to give myself permission to do this. I need a little respite to recharge my batteries and remind myself why I blog in the first place. Thank you for understanding.
See you on February 16! Paw swear as MaxE would meow. 🙂
Tanya
I hear ya! I wrote a post on Pepe’s plight from this weekend, but I ended up not posting it because I just felt it didn’t have a lot of substance, and everyone knew about what happened via social media anyway. I’m spending a LOT of time reading and commenting on blogs because I feel some obligation, and that’s a lot of time away from working on some other things which are going to make me money now versus later. It’s tough to find that balance. And I haven’t taken ANY time off my blog in forever!
Okay, what’s going on with Pepe. I don’t spend a lot of time on twitter and Facebook, so I am not in the know, so I hope you and Pepe are doing okay. I dealt with a lot of health problems with Emeril at the end, so you have my sympathies. Nothing stressed me out more! Yeah, I really haven’t taken a ton of time off from blog either and I need a little break. I’m going through the motions and I don’t want to do that. I enjoy reading and commenting on other blogs, but it is time-consuming.
I totally understand Tanya! I am in the midst of a bad case of blogger burnout. 3 years in this whole blogging thing for me and well…it’s not holding my attention anymore. I have things I want to say but, I don’t know… I am actually thinking of stopping blogging all together, but we’ll see… 🙁
I’m not glad you can relate, but I’m glad you can relate. 🙂 I still enjoy blogging but it’s become a bit of a chore and that’s not what I want it to be. I had considered pulling the plug a couple years ago and I’m glad I didn’t. I don’t think that’s what I want to do right now either, but I don’t take some time off – I worry that is what will happen. I would certainly hate for you to stop blogging as you know how much I love your voice, but I also understand.
I hear you friend, both on the blogger burnout and on the public fail. They are discouraging, aren’t they? But that’s okay. We will get up, dust ourselves off, and move forward, and we WILL achieve those goals. Hugs to you! 🙂
I can totally understand where you’re coming from. In fact, I’m feeling that way today. I’m working but I’m not in it and I don’t know where to start.
I’m so glad you recognized your needed a break. I need to give myself permission to do that.
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Just go back to the drawing board and see what you can do differently. That is, if it’s still a goal :).
Have a great time off and see you soon.