‘Real Life’ Blogging
As a blogger I’m increasingly finding that my ‘real life’, that is to say my world away from the computer, is inextricably linked to my blogging life. If I’m having a bad week or find myself completely swamped with work then of course I’ll post less. But ‘real life’ affects more than just posting frequency. It’s a matter of motivation. Blogging is a time consuming, difficult process. The biggest downer for me is that I always know that I could be doing more. I could network tonight, I could post on forums, I could finally sign up for Entrecard, I could research Digg etc, etc… It’s like when you have so much work to do that you’re afraid to start.
The most important thing is to take the plunge, and just go for it.
In real life you’ll usually be faced with two options during a rough patch. You moan about it, or you get on with things. This post may seem like the former, but I can assure you that it is not. I could be asleep right now, but I’m choosing to post because I want to be blogging, and because I enjoy it.
My point is that real life is bound to get in the way of your blogging life, if it doesn’t then you probably don’t have much of a life going on. What you need to do is to not see your blog as an additional stress or time-consumer. If you start to view blogging like that then you won’t last very long at all. Rather, you should view your blog as part of your life as a whole, and use it as part of the catalyst for ‘getting on with things’.
As I said before, it tends to be more about motivation than time. Sure, you can have less time than usual, but if you look at the wasted hours in your day, you most likely COULD have done more with your blog. Whilst it’s only human nature not to feel 100% motivated all of the time, your blogging motivation can drive, and be driven by your ‘real life’ motivation. I’m going to be reading Shakespeare tomorrow, and whilst I’ve been putting this off, I know that when I’m done I’ll feel motivated, rather than tired. Similarly, if I take the effort with blogging tomorrow I’ll feel more motivated to do university work.
The bottom line is that I don’t think you have to choose between ‘real life’ and blogging. You just need to get in the right mindset and you’ll suddenly find that you DO have time for both, and you’ll enjoy them both a lot more.
I totally agree with you about the “wasted hours” thing. I discovered that I really have to be more organized in order to do my work and also take care of my blogging projects.
Is it just me or does time seem to contract? Each day I get the feeling I have less time than yesterday. Maybe it’s just the spring.
No it’s definitely not just you. Do you find though that you seem to have less time when you’re feeling less motivated? If I’m really motivated to work then I’ll fit more into a smaller space of time, and then not feel like I’m limited on time in general.
That’s exactly what I mean, Tom.
Sometimes I can do so much in just a couple of hours and it feels great. Those are indeed the moments when I feel motivated. I guess all we have to do is find a way to multiply duplicate these moments.
By the way… I was just looking at your About page and I have the feeling we are at about the same moment in life. I also did design work for the last couple of years. I read a lot about blogging in the last 2 years or so (lurking, taking notes, commenting), but only started a freelancer blog recently. Still tweaking design.
I’m also launching a couple of personal projects and trying to find other sources of income online. They are a way for me to learn more about subjects related to my work, like SEO and other traffic building methods.
So looks like we start this journey together. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Adrian! Yeah I am pretty new to blogging, but as stated on my about page have been designing for many years. Designing is what I love doing, but blogging has been a great experience so far.
You’re right, Tom. I love blogging and it doesn’t seem like work for me, but I do need to get organized and plan aforehand a little bit, or I’ll never get everything done! If I sketch a plan and write down what I want to write about, research about, or whatever else I want to do online for my blog, then my time gains value and I become a lot more productive. Again, it’s more fun than work for me, but I still have to take it seriously enough if I want results. I sit down at my desk, get in the mood, and stay away from distractions.
Yeah jotting down ideas as you have them is a really good way to become more productive. I wish I had a little more luck staying away from distractions though