Wednesday 20 November 2013

I Did Something And It's So Freeing


Recently, Jamie (the Perpetual Page-Turner) wrote this post on the rise of co-bloggers. Now, my post won't have anything to do with co-bloggers, but Jamie's post inspired me.

In her post, she said this:

|"However, I have to wonder if it's the pressure that's out there now that wasn't AS heavy when I was a newbie that is making people search for co-bloggers. There have always been pressures in book blogging but I feel like it's gotten even crazier. There is so much we feel we need to do and have to keep up with. (...) This pressure (I don't know where it came from) to post every day."
 I read this and I realized that it's true. In the past months of blogging, I have constantly challenged myself to post every day. I have consistently failed to. And every day I didn't have a post felt like a failure. Like I shouldn't be a blogger. Like I didn't read fast ebough or wasn't creative enough to come up with something or wasn't smart enough to plan ahead and make sure I had a post every day. I could be faster, stronger, better and I'd failed at it. At first, I thought it was just me challenging myself. And then I realized that I wasn't the one pressuring me. It was a general thing that affected almost every blog out there. A beast that nobody would talk about, but they would surrender to it. 

I discovered my personal beast.

It was such a tiny little thing. One little button on my side bar. My blog archive. It keeps track of every post I put out there. And it keeps counting the number of posts you churn out every month. And it's so easy to see. Every time I 'missed' a day, it would show. If it was the 16th, and there were only 14 posts to be seen, I felt like I'd failed. And my failure was there for the world to see. Each and every one of my visitors could see my archive and know that I hadn't been able to post every day like I felt I should. They could all see it and think that maybe I wasn't commited enough to blogging. 

When I discovered this, I did what I had to do to prevent me from going crazy. I deleted the widget.

And it feels so incredibly good. No way to track my number of failures anymore! In fact, they weren't failures anymore. They were just days on which I hadn't posted because maybe I was busy or had nothing to say. Perfectly normal reasons as to why I don't post every day. I felt freed. For more than a week, I didn't blog. I hardly thought about my blog, and if you know me, you know how incredible that is. This off-week also happened to be my test week. In abandoning all things bloggy in that week, I had more time to concentrate and focus on my tests. In  fact, school's still hard on me. I have hardly had any time to read, let alone blog. Because I deleted the Archive widget, I didn't feel guilty about that anymore.

It's bliss. If anyone feels like the pressure is too much and they can't keep up, I definitely recommend doing this. And if it doesn't help you personally, try finding out what your beast it and beat it! It has helped me to relax and concentrate, and I feel calmer in general. I just want to say something:

It's okay not to post every day. If you do not post once a day, it does not make you a bad blogger. If you post thrice a day, that's amazing. If you post thrice a month, it's amazing. Do whatever works best for you. People will still love you if you take a day, a week, or even a month off. It's okay.




However, I have to wonder if it’s the pressure that’s out there now that wasn’t AS heavy when I was a newbie that is making people search for co-bloggers. There have always been pressures in book blogging but I feel like it’s gotten even crazier. There is so much we feel we need to do and keep up with. SO many new responsibilities. So much reading to do. The ARCs. This pressure (I don’t know where it came from) to post every day. The monetizing of blogs. etc. (Not saying these things are bad at all). - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2013/11/the-rise-of-co-bloggers.html#sthash.UqtKSCxH.dpuf

However, I have to wonder if it’s the pressure that’s out there now that wasn’t AS heavy when I was a newbie that is making people search for co-bloggers. There have always been pressures in book blogging but I feel like it’s gotten even crazier. There is so much we feel we need to do and keep up with. SO many new responsibilities. So much reading to do. The ARCs. This pressure (I don’t know where it came from) to post every day. The monetizing of blogs. etc. (Not saying these things are bad at all). - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2013/11/the-rise-of-co-bloggers.html#sthash.UqtKSCxH.dpuf
However, I have to wonder if it’s the pressure that’s out there now that wasn’t AS heavy when I was a newbie that is making people search for co-bloggers. There have always been pressures in book blogging but I feel like it’s gotten even crazier. There is so much we feel we need to do and keep up with. SO many new responsibilities. So much reading to do. The ARCs. This pressure (I don’t know where it came from) to post every day. The monetizing of blogs. etc. (Not saying these things are bad at all). - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2013/11/the-rise-of-co-bloggers.html#sthash.UqtKSCxH.dpuf
However, I have to wonder if it’s the pressure that’s out there now that wasn’t AS heavy when I was a newbie that is making people search for co-bloggers. There have always been pressures in book blogging but I feel like it’s gotten even crazier. There is so much we feel we need to do and keep up with. SO many new responsibilities. So much reading to do. The ARCs. This pressure (I don’t know where it came from) to post every day. The monetizing of blogs. etc. (Not saying these things are bad at all). - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2013/11/the-rise-of-co-bloggers.html#sthash.UqtKSCxH.dpuf
However, I have to wonder if it’s the pressure that’s out there now that wasn’t AS heavy when I was a newbie that is making people search for co-bloggers. There have always been pressures in book blogging but I feel like it’s gotten even crazier. There is so much we feel we need to do and keep up with. SO many new responsibilities. So much reading to do. The ARCs. This pressure (I don’t know where it came from) to post every day. The monetizing of blogs. etc. (Not saying these things are bad at all). - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2013/11/the-rise-of-co-bloggers.html#sthash.UqtKSCxH.dpuf
However, I have to wonder if it’s the pressure that’s out there now that wasn’t AS heavy when I was a newbie that is making people search for co-bloggers. There have always been pressures in book blogging but I feel like it’s gotten even crazier. There is so much we feel we need to do and keep up with. SO many new responsibilities. So much reading to do. The ARCs. This pressure (I don’t know where it came from) to post every day. The monetizing of blogs. etc. (Not saying these things are bad at all). - See more at: http://www.perpetualpageturner.com/2013/11/the-rise-of-co-bloggers.html#sthash.UqtKSCxH.dpuf

6 comments:

  1. I honestly don't have a whole schedule for posting. If I don't post something for 4 days, that's fine. But I definitely had a moment where I felt forced to post often too. I'm so happy I managed to let go of that feeling, because blogging is so much more enjoyable when you do it for the fun - instead of stressing out over posting :)!

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    1. This exactly! I feel so much more relaxed and happy now that I've let it go. Now I just post whenever I want, and to be honest, it's glorious!

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  2. Perfectly said, Celine! It's completely fine to not post everyday. I do try to keep myself as active as possible however sometimes life gets in the way and it is totally fine.

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    Replies
    1. This is my philosophy right now! I do try to be active, but sometimes I can't and that's fine.

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  3. What a great post Celine! When I first started blogging I actually set a precedent not to post everyday. I sort of think of what I like to see in blogs, the ones who post everyday always have fresh content but it makes the content age quicker, and it's difficult to keep up with. Ideally I'd like a blog to be updated a few times a week, and I've stuck to that ever since.

    I think blogging is definitely something that can become overwhelming quickly, and when I haven't been online for a day or checked out my blogs or other blogs I sometimes feel like I'm falling behind. Glad you found a way to relieve the stress a bit.

    Jeann @ Happy Indulgence

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    Replies
    1. That's also a good way of looking at it! I personally do like it when blogs are updated daily, but as you said, it DOES make the content age quicker. It's good to know you knew what you wanted to do since the beginning - it sounds like you've found a way to keep everything balanced!

      I do feel like that once in a while, when I wake up in the morning (since I live in the Netherlands, I sleep while everyone in the US is busy posting & tweeting) and I see the amount of posts that I've missed, I panic a little. Especially since everybody seems to post the most on days that I'm really busy! On the other hand, I do love to sit around and read blogs on a lazy Sunday morning!

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