By: Ashley
Brooks
I have a pink
Post-It taped to my computer monitor. It says, “Stop doing the same things
everyone else is doing.”
This goes
against traditional wisdom. Everyone else is doing all those things because
they work. So if we want to grow our blogs and businesses or write a book or
take over the craft world with our Etsy shop, we have to do those things too .
. . right?
Kind of.
The advice
you’ll find in the blogosphere is given with good intentions, but sometimes the
noise gets so loud you can’t even hear yourself think anymore. If you
keep trying to do it all, you’ll only end up overwhelmed and burned out.
The one thing that
seems to stress creatives out more than anything is sticking to their blog
schedule. Because surely the world will come crumbling down if you skip a week!
Obviously none
of us really believes that our blog posts keep the world spinning, so why do we
keep putting that kind of pressure on ourselves to blog every. single. week. no
matter what?
I know it feels
like you have to constantly keep putting out new content. But you’re not a
hamster on a wheel, you’re a person. You need breaks for your own sanity, and
to keep producing content that’s worth reading.
Creativity
comes in cycles. We weren’t made for continuous production without times of
rest and refreshment.
Do yourself and
your blog a favor and take a blogging break. Here’s how to take a break from
blogging.
Be
intentional and plan ahead.
Don’t wait to
take a break until you’re already burned out and behind on your posting
schedule. Plan blogging breaks throughout the year like you would any other
vacation or day off.
That’s not to
say that some blog breaks can’t be spur-of-the-moment—family emergencies and
unexpected setbacks happen to all of us. I like to have a few “emergency” posts
prepped and ready to schedule if I can’t meet my blogging commitment for one
reason or another. These posts should include evergreen content that will tide your
readers over until you can post again. (Having posts scheduled out a few weeks
ahead of time will do the trick, too!)
Don’t just
disappear.
. . .
To read the rest
of the post, click here:
~*~
If you missed my latest writing and
marketing tweets, here they are again:
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