We are constantly being told that reading more will make us better writers and that we should blog with enthusiasm to build up our presence on the web. But I find that some of the things we need to do seem counterproductive and time-consuming.
Don’t get me wrong, reading does make me think, and it probably improves my vocabulary, but sometimes this can be counterproductive too in that I end up reading too much, taking time away from my writing. When I first started blogging, I read everything I could get my hands on, desperate to learn the secrets of the black magic box of the blogosphere.
And admittedly, I learned a lot.
Just lately though, there has been a change in my attitude to all things blog related. It suddenly dawned on me that as bloggers, we are trying far too hard to be the best at what we do with our constant searching for the golden egg. The one that will magically cause us to become omnipotent.
But because we are so busy running around like headless chickens, we are losing sight of our focus, the real reason we blog in the first place. We might even be missing the plot or choosing all the wrong moves.
I have been concerned of late, that there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything. What with the increasing amount of emails and time spent on social media, there isn’t much left for writing or blogging, come to that. Not to mention any new ideas that need to be explored or any of our other interests.
Apart from the reviews we do, I haven’t read a book simply for the joy of reading it in ages. I have begun to resent some of the demands made of my time too.
It could be time to step away and have a long hard look at what we do. Time to prioritise and cherry pick what we really want to concentrate on.
Life might be different when the dust has settled, but hopefully better. We have to concentrate on what we can do and do well, instead of chasing so many rainbows…
What does everyone else think?
The WIBBOW test also applies to blogging … Would I Be Better Off Writing? 🙂
I go through phases of several posts a week, and then nothing for a couple of weeks, depending on my health and state of mind. I used to get all caught up in a knot about it, because of ‘supposed-to’s’, and ‘shoulds’ but I decided there’s no fun in that.
Mind you, if I’m feeling all ‘meh’ about writing, sometimes composing a post can kick-start the neurons firing with my writing.
I am constantly in awe of what actually works in this writing lark!
Great post! I too have felt like that. I still feel as if there aren’t enough hours in the day with all the demands on my time. However, I did step back, take a break and then reevaluate how I wanted to do things.
This included focusing more on monthly goals and giving each day of the week (less-weekends) a specific task. For example, Monday is for blogging. I plan, write and schedule my posts. Tuesday is writing and I just shut down all distractions and write.
I have found this gave me greater focus and the larger blocks of time meant I have actually exceeded my expectations and found more pockets of time.
It can be stressful when the things we enjoy either start to feel like a chore or we just don’t have time for. I felt that last month when I failed to manage any writing at all. This month, in just 2 solid days of writing, I am already over 8k and my monthly goal was 10k so I am well ahead for reaching that.
Good luck
I think I like the idea of allocating days for different things. Thanks for that, Ari…
It definitely helps, I just had one of my most productive writing days in a long time by just focusing on writing. 🙂
I will definitely try that…