As I have mentioned in many posts before, I have struggled for some time to post regular blog posts, and even keep up with reading. It is common for people to have more time to read and blog in the summertime, as school is obviously out. However, I find it ten times harder to keep up with blogging when I'm not in school. I suddenly become bombarded with social activities, and of course, work. I find it a lot easier to set aside time during my study hours in school to write blog posts, then it is to sit down at home when I'm super busy during the summertime.
Then there's the reading issue. I am, for the first time in years, behind in my goodread's reading challenge. It's actually become somewhat of a joke now, because I just keep seeing the number of books I am behind by get higher and higher. If you didn't notice, I didn't even do a July month in review because I literally had nothing to talk about reading-wise.
I'm finding it very hard to keep a reading/blogging-life balance. I look at other bloggers who are able to post multiple times in a week, where I'm lucky if I crank out one post a week. I used to post regularly on Wednesday's and Monday's, but the thought of posting more than once a week seems like a distant memory now.
Some good news though: I have been able to post three consistent weeks in a row, by writing posts in the evening's after I come back from work. It is not my ideal time to write, but it has allowed me to not drop off the face of the earth. It does scare me to abandon my blog, because I love this community so much and I never want to quit. I'm just worried that I'll never find the time.
I'm writing this post because I wanted to elaborate on some of the things I have said recently, but I also want tips. How do you find time in the day to sit down and read, and write. I'm hoping that once school starts again I will once more have the time, but I don't want to feel like I'm abandoning my blog once summer comes around again. I also want so badly to get back into reading again! Got any tips?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
I totally get this Emily! When I was in school, I actually found it easier to schedule in blogging and find the motivation to write, but during the summer, with work and social activities it got harder to write. I actually did most of my reading in the summer, usually towards the beginning part of summer, but I would get so warn out from reading that I got burnout. During the school year, I would make myself read for an hour before I went to bed and that generally helped me read more, or like when I was eating meals or a snack. I would usually aim to write a blog post in the afternoon or between classes before I got into the thick of my studies. Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteI actually don’t really like reading before bed. I find that I get too tired and then I don’t comprehend what I’m reading lol. But I’m glad to see that someone else is in the same boat!
DeleteFirst off: you're doing great! (I know, I never take my own advice and am constantly freaking out that 3 posts per week is too little, but it's completely illogical and self-esteem-centred, so ignore me!)
ReplyDeleteNext: there's a few rules for building any habit.
- Do something so small that it actually takes more energy to come up with an excuse. Literally, I'm talking about committing to something ridiculously small like writing/reading (depending on what you wanna do) one word per day. You can build it up from there, but always keep your teensy thing as the baseline, and you won't lose the habit.
- Have cheat days. (Cheat days are awesome.)
- Don't criticise yourself for not doing the thing - I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but our brains associate things with action rather than inaction, so your subconscious will blame blogging if you get annoyed at yourself for *not* blogging. Weird but true. Just say, 'oh well, I'll def. do it tomorrow!'
- Write a ridiculous blogpost about flying bananas* that you would never actually post - it takes the pressure off
- Google 'how to build a habit' - cos, y'know, there are experts in these things, and they're not me! Lol.
*Other fruit is available.
Lol, you are an expert, Cee! I aspire to post as often as you do. Thanks for the tips. I am more of a flying blueberries kind of person, but that post will definitely be written XD
DeleteAhhhh, blueberries! I see you like to live dangerously! ;)
DeleteI know they're not for everyone, but personally, schedules saved my little blogging butt LOL. I always know where I am with my reading, drafting or posting. I can always see at a glance if one day I have commitments that will prevent me from doing anything blog-related, or leave me with too little time for a certain project. Also, I noticed that, if I set small goals - say, read 30 pages a day, write a blog post in three days - I end up beating myself at my own game...for instance, I manage to read 60 pages instead of 30, or to finish my post on the very day I started it. But of course, I don't shame myself if I fall behind instead. With this method, I've managed to cram a post a week for a couple of years now (which might not seem like much, but it is to me!). Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI don’t write schedules for myself, but I really probably should because my memory is crap and I always try to remember all I need to do, instead of writing it down. Thanks for the tips, Roberta!
DeleteThis is SO REAL. I'm in the exact same situation. I'm woefully behind on my reading goals and I've been posting sporadically at best for the majority of this year. It's really not good so maybe I'm not the best person to be giving advice but I'm going to try scheduling everything in my calendar during the school year and next summer. Blocking off time in my calendar and writing it down like that tricks me into thinking it's this imperative, non-movable thing that needs to happen and I'm more likely to do it. This summer especially I have a pretty flexible job so I'm finding myself lazing around more or just not scheduling in time to actually blog or read and I'm going to try this whole scheduling in thing for the last few weeks of summer and hopefully it helps a little. Best of luck to you, Emily!!
ReplyDeleteLaura @BlueEyeBooks
I wish you the best of luck too, Laura! Hopefully we will get through this slump together!
DeleteOoh, finally a topic I actually have tips for haha - I mostly feel very unqualified about giving out advice but I think I do fairly well with the blog.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I do think you should try taking a break, even a small one, if that's something you want. Whenever I took a break I always came back refreshed, including the last time I took one, which was a few months ago, before we started Wordy and Whimsical. Ruzi, Clare and I all agreed on needing some time off, and we left the blog for a bit, and Ruzi and I only started working on W&W weeks later.
Second, I think it might help you to try to write up a couple of posts (which you could totally do while on break). I used to never have posts ready - I wrote something and posted it immediately after, which is what a lot of bloggers do, but I realized it didn't work for me. It put too much pressure on me having to constantly think about and work on the blog. Any occasions when I couldn't work on a post, or didn't feel like working on a post I felt like I failed. I hated it. Which is why I started to write posts ahead of time - I know it sounds daunting, and it might not work for, but I have 10+ posts ready at the moment, and it calms me so much that I don't have to work on the blog every week, or even every month. This is obviously not a fast fix because not having time to blog means you also can't create posts for the upcoming weeks, or months, but it might be something you should try.
For reading I recommend well, not scheduling your time, because (1) Roberta already did, and (2) I kinda suck at that and have no advice haha. Rather that you may want to try reading while travelling - I travel by train to uni, and to meet friends etc. but even a 10 minute subway ride can help you read more in my experience.
But honestly, you're doing well, Emily!! And I really love your posts, including this one. :)
Thanks for the tips, Veronika! Personally I find that breaks don’t really work for me. It sounds terrible but I think if I left I would never come back lol. But I think I do need to start reading more while I travel. I think I never really take advantage of the extra time I have commuting to work and school. Thanks again Veronika!
DeleteThe second I read this post, I knew I wanted to reply to it...and although I knew roughly what I wanted to say, I found it hard to type out. So...better late than never?
ReplyDeleteI agree, it's definitely harder for me to blog when I'm not in school. For me, when I'm going it's easier to keep going rather than start up when I'm not doing anything. So what I often end up doing is when I get home in the evening, before I officially start to relax, is do some blogging basics. That means I either: reply to comments, work on adding photos/links into posts, formatting it, or writing a point or two for a review.
I don't try and do everything for a post in one day, but I often try to do a little for multiple posts in a single day, but nothing that is stressful. That means that eventually I have a bunch of "nearly done" posts that I can whip together pretty quickly when I need them.
I also choose one day every week to ensure I have a post going out. For me, it's Tuesday. I chose this because Mondays are crazy and hectic and I will forget, but Tuesdays are easier. I find this adds just enough pressure for me to be motivated, but not too much that I am crazy stressed. Yes, sometimes I can find my post quality isn't the best if I am having a rough week, but for me the consistency is more important than the perfect post.
I don't know if any of those thoughts will help, but I hope you find the best groove for you!
- Shayna
These tips really help, Shayna! One thing that I do which really helps is do all of my blogging basics right in the morning. So when I just wake up and grab my phone to catch up on social media, I will also reply to comments, read new posts, etc. I think I will continue to post on Friday’s because with the week winding down, it seems like the time I will most likely find a change to post it. Thanks again!
DeleteEm, I think we're pretty much in the same boat here, so I'm not sure if I'll have any helpful tips to offer. But one thing that has helped me stay on top of my reading goal even though I've been really stressed with school + side job is to read while commuting. I spend about 2h going back and forth school and home and I've taken a lot of advantage of that time to read! I don't know if you're into audiobooks, but they've been a life saver as well, because I can multitask. I'm not sure if this applies to you, especially if you live really close from school, but even fifteen minutes of reading a day can help!
ReplyDeleteI hope you're able to soon find a schedule that works for you! Sending you a lot of positive energies 💛
Thanks Lais! Audiobooks aren’t really for me, I can never really concentrate on them. However, I do still have a commute to school on the bus and I normally just listen to music. I think it’s time to whip out the books!
DeleteScheduling has helped me more than I thought it would so far, though I still don't get as much done as I used to. :(
ReplyDeleteThat’s good that you have found scheduling to work for you! I hope you can keep up with it, Noel :)
DeleteI find blogging during the school year to be nearly impossible. I mean, I barely have time to even read. I am desperately trying to pre-write blog posts before I go back to school this semester because I usually tend to just disappear, which isn't fun. I don't know how you do it, give me your secrets! But I guess the obvious is setting down scheduled time dedicated to blogging and reading, but that can sometimes feel like just another chore to tick off of a to-do list you know? Finding a life balance in all things is so difficult.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I wish I did have some secrets! I guess it’s just something we all have to work through. Any down time is now spent blogging or reading for me.
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