You might not have noticed, but I only managed one post in February. It was on the 1st of the month. Ironically, the following post comes on the 1st of March. Yet, having spent the month neglecting my post schedule, my views hadn’t taken a hit. Sure, they’d reduced from January’s high, but February’s view stayed on par with the months towards the end of last year. So, what have I learned from this unplanned break?
Why Did I Need This Unplanned Break?
Well, in short, I didn’t. Life just got in the way. Unless you count my birthday, there are no personal issues to blame or any life-changing celebrations. I just stopped posting, and once I missed one deadline, the routine and habit fell apart. Maintaining a blog, a full-time job, a social life, and other hobbies is hard.
That isn’t to say that my blog schedule sometimes didn’t feel too intense. It did. I was desperate to maintain a new post every other day, equating to an average of 15 monthly posts. My reasoning for this was to increase engagement and views. Both of which have steadily increased. However, in the second week of January, I changed my scheduling calendar to a post only every two days, resulting in less output overall per month, with an average of 10 posts per month.
My Problem with Longer Breaks Between Blog Posts
Some may judge me for it, but I must confess to a character flaw of mine: laziness. I don’t agree with people who think laziness is a negative personality trait ], nor do I believe it creates unproductive members of society. Over the years, I’ve learned to manage my laziness by setting deadlines and targets. These help me get up and do what I need to get done.
However, the problem with this approach is that it becomes easier to push back without the threat of immediate failure. Changing my post schedule led me to slow down my productivity and increase procrastination. I spent more time on YouTube, focused on other hobbies, and had more time with friends. These things weren’t necessarily bad, but when it came time to catch up on work, I kept pushing it back until. Eventually, I’d found myself enjoying a 4-weel unplanned break from blogging.
What Have I Learnt During this Unplanned Break?
Well, some lessons haven’t come to fruition yet or revealed themselves yet, but the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far is that it doesn’t matter. My blog doesn’t make money; it doesn’t change lives; it doesn’t offer advice on debt management or surviving with mental health. I just write recipes. There are far more important things out there, both online and offline. That’s not to say that people don’t value my content or that my blog isn’t important to me. It’s just an acceptance that it doesn’t matter.
I love cooking and creating recipes. I don’t enjoy the stress, headaches and relentless thinking about how I’ll meet my arbitrary deadlines. I had a few days off over Christmas, which I spent planning and preparing to keep up with my intense post-scheduling schedule. Back then, I couldn’t grasp the concept of a planned absence, let alone an unplanned break from blogging. Everything had to be done right now.
I’ve always struggled with anxiety, and trying to keep up with my schedule wasn’t helping tame those anxious thoughts. That’s what I mean by unimportant. It’s not my job; it’s my hobby. It’s not helping people live; hopefully, it’s just cooking. It isn’t all I have in my life, and it’s a long way off being the most important part of it. Hopefully, one day, I’ll stress over it for real reasons. But for now, it’s just a hobby; it should be fun and enjoyable. And if I don’t want to blog, write a recipe, cook, or take a photograph, I have that choice. After all, the views haven’t been affected. I might even finish this and take another unplanned break from blogging.
Leave a ReplyCancel reply