When Blogging Burns You Out

In 2018 I made it a resolution to post consistently on the blog. More specifically, once a week.

I did great most of the year, January through November, with the exception of one or two random days. Then December came with no posts and it hasn’t fazed me.

So why did I skip most of December?

Having had a list of topics to write for every week since the beginning of the year definitely helped to keep consistency. However, even though I had many things planned for December (because duh, the holidays!), by the end of November I felt burnt out.

Coming up with a list of things to write about is easy. What’s not so easy, is getting inspired to write about that topic, especially when all you can think about is when it needs to get done by.

Having an infant and a toddler makes it very hard to find the time to put a post together. While writing the post itself only takes a third of the time, making graphics takes another third, and promoting said post takes two-thirds of the time.

“Your math doesn’t add up,” you say? That’s exactly my point.

I was spreading myself thin. Sure, I could get an hour or two of nap time to get writing done (while everything else got neglected, ie. cleaning). But when writing takes about an hour, making graphics could take up to 2 hours depending on the topic.

Why spend so much time on graphics? Because people are becoming more visual when it comes to reading. I myself, will probably skip Jane Doe’s post about making a casserole if she doesn’t have pictures of what it looks like before (yes, a picture of the ingredients because apparently, I forgot what cheese looked like), during (because I have to see what it looks like in the oven), and after (just to confirm that it looks good or to compare to mine if I decide to try it).

You see what I mean?

We don’t NEED the visuals, but we prefer them because, without pictures or graphics, words are just not as appealing.

Once graphics are done, I have to figure out how it’s all going to be laid out in the actual post and that may take up another hour. After the post has actually gone live, you have to promote it.

Because small bloggers, like myself, have to put the word out ourselves and share it wherever and to as many people as possible, it could take up at least an hour out of every day (especially when you fall into the scrolling vortex). Not to mention, while you are promoting your work, you have to start working on the next post. I am a great multitasker, but even so, it’s overwhelming.

The entire process of getting one live post into the blog is literally hours of work EVERY DAY. It is hard work and I think that’s why most people who make it big are probably single with no kids or actually treat it like a full-time job (for which babysitters or daycare are most likely involved, and you know how I feel about that).

One day I realized that the year was almost over and how much time I spent putting blog posts together when I could have spent it doing something that needed to be done around the house. Also, having spent so much time thinking about what I would have to do for the blog during the day, that it feels like the year was a blur and that is something you definitely don’t want when you have 2 littles. My brain was in such a mush state that I don’t remember certain things or they were simply overlooked because my mind was elsewhere.

I started blogging as a hobby because I love writing, but putting so much pressure on myself to keep up with other bloggers was starting to ruin it for me, which is why I decided to stop before it actually got there. 

Fast forward a month later and I feel great! I definitely feel the stress is very minimal now and I also need to take some time to figure out how (not if) I will move forward with Little Conquest. Blogging has been incredibly fun and rewarding. I’ve gotten to work with amazing people and great brands and I hope to keep doing it, at a reasonable pace of course! Haha.  I will definitely keep posting, but it won’t be every week.

In the meantime, feel free to browse through the past 2(ish) years worth of posts!

Cheers to making 2019 a better year!