WHAT? I give blog tips, blog professionally and I am telling you to stop?
Craziness.
Well, consider this. Dip into Twitter at any time of day or night and the tweets to blog posts come thick and fast. My inbox is full daily of my blog subscriptions, my RSS feeds buzzing with new content. There are so many blogs, so many I love to read and dip into that I could spend all day every day just catching up, and a girl’s got other stuff to do – meditating, planting my herbs, it takes time y’know.
Do you ever feel like you are way behind on your blog schedule? That all those posts you have drafted or in your head/notebook/iPad/random bits of paper (delete as appropriate) will only just scratch the surface of what you need to do?
Do you ever feel that if you step away from the screen for one hour/day/week/month all your online hard work will disappear and everyone will forget about you?
Wooooah there, tiger. Now, unless your blog is your maiin income stream – and for most bloggers this is not the case – if you are feeling overwhelmed, inadequate, content fatigued, or maybe you just DON’T CARE ANYMORE then stop. Move away from the computer, step away from Twitter and the constant madness, and go outside. Read a book. Have a digital detox. Rediscover time for something else (croquet, anyone?), hey, maybe even phone a friend on the actual phone and speak to a human in more than 140 characters (I know, witchcraft, right?).
What I am saying is, it’s ok to step out for a bit. In fact, it’s good to do so. Restoring your batteries and regaining perspective will help your posts in so many ways, and re-connecting with that Ye Olde 3-D Worlde out there is no bad thing either. I always know I have been at the iMac too much when I am amazed by “just how 3-D like” everything outside is.
Don’t blog for a while if you have reached a time when it’s a natural break for you. I promise the online world won’t go away. Your stats might dip a bit (cue blogger panic), but it’s OK, you will survive and come back better for it, maybe even sporting a natural tan rather than RGB glare.
Do you find it hard to step away? Have you had a blog break before?
Of course, you know if you are stuck for ideas that my Idea Generation and Creativity for Bloggers e course is waiting for you *flashes toothy salesman grin*.
Until next time, whenever that may be.
Illustration by Jo Gifford, when I stepped away from my blog.
