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Don’t let the title mislead you. I love blogging. I have not found something that I was so passion about in a long while. However, in some ways, blogging is also changing my life for the worst. This article discusses how blogging is ruining my life (and what to do about it).
Related: How To Pick The Perfect Blog Name
1. I am on my computer all day long
I estimate that I spend at least 5-6 hours working on my blog on a regular day. That is crazy.
Given that an average adult sleeps around 7-9 hours daily, I spend over one third of the time that I’m awake on my computer. That is a pretty scary statistic.
A lot of times, I sit on the computer for hours straight without even eating or going outside.
What to do about it:
- I started to set intentional breaks so that I am not sitting on my computer for long periods of time. I use a calendar and intentionally schedule in breaks where I do activities to take my mind off blogging. Such activities include taking a walk, meditating, doing some yoga, dancing, taking a nap (lol).
- I force myself to go outside and grab some fresh air at least once a day (if the weather is good, that is).
Related: The Full-Time Student Blogger Who Earns $10K A Month From Side Hustles
2. I am staying up late
When I’m onto something, I can stay up until the wee hours of the night trying to finish up what I was working on. As a result, I find myself quite sleep-deprived lately.
What to do about it:
- Once I start feeling sleepy, I know I have to stop whatever I’m doing and go to bed. I will take down some notes of what I’m working on and any further ideas that I had. This ensures that I can pick up from where I left off and finish what I was working on the day after.
- Another option is to set a bed time and stick to it. Once it’s past your bed time, turn off all electronics and go to bed. No exceptions.
Related: How To Choose A Profitable Blog Niche
3. I get depressed comparing myself to others
I know I shouldn’t but I find myself reading other blogs that are more successful than mine and feeling a little depressed about my own blog. Of course, this behaviour is toxic and will lead to eventual burn-out.
I’ve been told time and time again to never compare someone else’s blogging journey to my own. If I put in the hard work, then it will pay off.
One cliche advice that I keep reading over and over again is “don’t compare your beginning with someone else’s middle.” This makes total sense to me. I am just starting out as a blogger and I shouldn’t be comparing myself to someone earning 6-7 figures from their blog. They are years ahead of me.
Related: Resources to Grow Your Blog and Income
What to do about it:
- I try to limit the amount of time I spend on social media. This is pretty tough. I decided to only check social media once in the morning and before I go to bed. I use Tailwind to schedule my social media posts so that I don’t have to be on social media throughout the day.
- I also limit the time I spend reading other blogs. Once you land on a good blog, you can spend hours devouring its content. Worse, that blog will lead you to even more blogs. I decided to stick with my favourite bloggers and mostly read their blogs instead of reading every single blog post that I come across on Pinterest.
- I stopped comparing myself to other bloggers but rather, started comparing my results to my goals. I do this through my monthly income reports.
- I started celebrating small successes such as the first time I got a comment, the first time I got 1,000 page views, the first time I got an affiliate sale, etc. Instead of setting a hard goal of making $10,000 per month blogging, I decided to break up my long-term goal into smaller more achievable goals and then celebrate them. This has led to more celebrations and a happier mood overall 🙂
- Lastly, I try to be happy for other blogger’s successes instead of seeing them as my competition. You can do this by reaching out to other bloggers and commenting on their blog posts and celebrating their victories with them.
4. I am obsessed over my site’s statistics
I am constantly checking and refreshing Google Analytics to see how many visitors I had. And the number is usually quite low. Not only is it an inefficient use of my time, but it is preventing me from working on actual productive activities.
What to do about it:
- Just like with social media, I only allow myself to check my site stats once in the morning and before I go to bed. Checking during the day isn’t going to provide me much value at the moment when my site traffic is still so low.
Related: Blogging for Profit: How To Start A Money-Making Blog
5. I’m constantly thinking about my blog and even dreaming about it
I’m having a hard time concentrating on my other tasks because I’m constantly thinking about my blog. Even when I’m sleeping, I dream of my blog. When I’m around a group of friends, I’m actually not there, I’m in blogland.
What to do about it:
- I think it’s pretty impossible not to think about my blog because I am so heavily invested in it at the moment. However, through meditation, I try to become more present.
Related: How I Made My Very First Affiliate Sale By Accident
Key take-aways
As a new blogger, I find that there are many ways to improve my work-life balance. It’s important to set intentional breaks so that you don’t get carried away with sitting in front of your screen all day. You should set limits on the amount of time you spend on social media and checking site stats. Meditation also helps to calm the mind and be more present.
Related: How I Grew My Monthly Pinterest Traffic To 100,000 By Manually Pinning (No Tailwind or Boardbooster)
You may also like
- How I Made My Very First Affiliate Sale By Accident
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- Blogging for Profit: How To Start A Money-Making Blog
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I thought it was just me! Thank you for sharing this. It could not be more accurate
Everyone feels like this and I still feel like this everyday! Thanks for dropping by!
I’ve made lot of blogging mistakes, Janet this is the one good stuff you provide.
Thank you!
Hi Janet,
I love the way you write. You write as if you are friends with everyone you are speaking to. I am so encouraged by your vulnerability in sharing your frustrations and successes in starting your blog.I am just starting mine and feel overwhelmed with reading everything about blogging. It’s difficult for me to just start writing and stop reading! Thanks for sharing!
Aw Lucia, thank you for your kind comment. I know how you feel, I feel that way everyday! It’s all part of the game! I think I spend 2 or 3x more time reading blogs than I do working on my own. You just have to set aside some time and do it all! It will get easier over time, trust me. Now I’m in my fourth month blogging and somehow I have managed to write over 40 posts in that short period of time. At the beginning, I found it sooooooo unbelievably hard to sit down and think of something to write about. Hope this helps 🙂
Another great post, thanks Janet.
For me, #1 is not an issue. I spend at least 12 hours a day in front of my computer, that is not a problem in my opinion.
I completely agree on #3 and #4 though. I do the same for my blog even though I am much less invested in it than you are. I already depress over how well your blog is doing in one month 😉
You should not stress too much over your blog, you are doing fine I think 🙂
LOL I am not used to spending so much time on my computer! Haha, I like your blog so keep on pushing 😉
We can motivate each other 🙂
Thanks for your insight as a new blogger. I am about to launch mine so it was greatly appreciated. You should have great success & a balanced life with your approach. Ellen
Best of luck with your new blog! It’s tough at the beginning but it’s a lot of fun!