Blogger Anxiety – When Life Gets in the Way
06. Apr, 2007 
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This is the third post in a series called Blogger Anxiety. Please read the previous post on Hosting and Themes.
Most bloggers do not blog professionally. In other words, the blogger isn’t blogging as a day job or as a means of earning primary income. Most bloggers have other things going on in their lives besides blogging (day jobs, night jobs, school, children, etc.). These next forms of blogger anxiety discuss the anxieties surrounding blogging and life.
The Second Shift
Like most people, I have a day job. Some bloggers have studies to attend do. Some bloggers have both. Other bloggers have children.
Coming home from my day job to blog sometimes feels like a second shift. Blogging is time consuming. Most of the time is spent cleaning up spam, leaving comments on other blogs, interacting with other bloggers, research, reading other blogs, coming up with blog topics, and finally writing.
I personally don’t believe in the post everyday mentality of some bloggers. If I did that, I wouldn’t be writing about blogger anxiety. Instead, I would probably be writing about blog insanity.
I have found it helpful to do a lot of my reading of feeds in the morning, and sending myself blog topics via e-mails. Over the weekend, I try to do a majority of my writing. During the week, I spend most of my time commenting, e-mailing, and interacting. This so far has helped alleviate some of my second-shift type anxieties with regards to blogging.
Your Health
When I was younger (late teens and early twenties), I could stay up until 3 in the morning, wake up early, and stay up late again the next night without feeling the side effects. I can’t do that anymore. If I don’t get my sleep, it is like a chain reaction that just leads to a bad week with recovery on the weekend (if ever).
Blogging can easily impair your sleeping schedule. If the pressure is on to get a post out, sleep can often come second. If your blog theme has somehow screwed up, you might pull an all-nighter just to fix the thing.
It’s important, however, to have your health as a priority. Don’t let blogging override the importance of sleeping, eating, and exercising. Don’t let blogging become another cause of stress.
Prioritizing
Lack of prioritizing can cause immense anxiety in any blogger. If you write for multiple blogs like I do, it’s tough to choose which one to write for. It’s also tough when the topics run out, or there are many to choose from.
Besides writing, it is also tough when life gets in the way. You may have to go on a last-minute trip. You might have a medical emergency involving yourself or friends and family. You might have personal problems come up.
Recognize up front where blogging falls on your priority list. Does blogging fall to the wayside when things come up? Do you work extra hard to get that daily post in?
Here are some tips to better prioritize with regards to blogging:
1. Reevaluate your posting schedule.
You may be over extended (as I often feel) and need to reevaluate how often you post. If you have been struggling to make a post a day, try making a post every other day.
2. Set aside blogging time.
Just like you have a schedule for work, why not also have a schedule for blogging? Blogging is a time consuming hobby and you may need to actually make a schedule for yourself.
3. Have a backup plan.
If something comes up in life, do you have trusted backups? For example, a dear friend I trust has admin powers on my personal blog just in case I’m unavailable and I need someone to post for me. I always try to have a few back-up posts and topic ideas handy just in case I run out of things to talk about.
4. Keep open for inspiration.
I can never stare at my post screen and think of a topic. I have a voice recorder with me at all times (thank you Cellphones) and I usually e-mail myself topics as I think of them. Keeping open for inspiration will help you prioritize your thoughts and ideas when it comes time for blogging.
Conclusion
Life often gets in the way of blogging. It is very important to place your health first when blogging. While it is important to keep your blog going during tough times, it is also important to maintain your sanity and health (for your and your readers’ sake).
Thanks for reading and please feel free to add your own blogger anxieties (regarding life) in the comments.
Blogger Anxiety was originally part of a two-part post on my personal site. Several commenters helped inspire some of my points. I’d like to say thanks to them. Thank you Bes Zain, Vivien from Inspiration Bit, Josh Motlong, and Shawn Blanc. You all helped me with this series.
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