On your road to success in blogging, there is a lot of work that needs to be done. There are plenty of challenges that will be in your way along this road, and you may need to know how to overcome them for your best interest in blogging.
While you face those other challenges, there are some other internal problems you need to deal with as well. What’s that problem? Obsession.
Blogging is a thing you need to always keep up with and dedicate a good amount of time to. But, there’s a fine line between that and being obsessed with your blog and spending your whole day on it.
It’s often difficult to just spend a little while on your blog, because there’s so much to do. You probably want everything to be perfect on your blog. Your design, your community, and your posts to name a few. But there are a things even more specific than all of that that really makes you go nuts on your blog.
In this post, I’m going to highlight what those things are in more detail, and write if I think it’s worth obsessing over. Share your thoughts in the comments section like always!
Stressing over RSS Feeds
This is something that is very easily done, and can get going head over heels to make you feel good about. While having a high RSS reader count is something you should always shoot for, it’s not something you really want to obsess about. I know I used to do everything I could to get RSS subscribers. I was so positive that I would have 100 subscribers on this blog my the end of March, and we didn’t do it yet. But I’m not freaking out about that.
Final verdict
Always do your best to get your subscription count high, but don’t go overboard. That means, don’t put a reminder on every part of your blog to get RSS subscribers, and don’t get depressed when your feed count drops. [intlink id=“2496” type=“post”]Discouragement[/intlink] leads to a lot of bad things for your blog, so don’t let this take you over!
Jealousy Consuming You
It’s common in any obsession to have some jealousy towards someone or something. Usually in the case with blogging, you are jealous over somebody elses blog. Whether it be a better design, better community, better content quality — whatever the reason is it’s likely that you will work so much to be better. You would think that would being you more success to be “better” than a competitor, but often that feeling of wanting to be better may become something that you can’t control.
Final verdict
It’s perfectly normal to be jealous over someone’s blog, and it’s a great motivator. But, you have to be careful not to get too overworked when it comes to this, because jealousy is a crazy kind of emotion. Always work hard to improve your blog, but on your own terms. Don’t let the jealous factor take you over.
Achieving Long Term Goals
Long term goals is a challenge you set for yourself to achieve over a certain period of time. Some amount of time like weeks, months, or even years. They are the hardest to stick to, but when you finally accomplish that goal you are probably the happiest blogger in the blogosphere.
Sometimes when you set long term goals, you could forget about it and work less towards their completion. But you want that feeling of accomplishment, so as you start working towards that goal again you could start to overdo it and make that long term goal into a much shorter lived goal.
Final verdict
It can be great to finish a long term goal early, but there’s a reason why they are called “long term goals”. They’re the kind of goals where you put less work into overtime, but just enough where you can complete it. This is definitely something to never obsess about, no matter what the goal may be (including making money from your blog).
Spending all day on your blog
It’s easy to just sit down all day and do something you love (in this case, blogging). I find myself doing this a lot on my off days, and sometimes I neglect to take care of other tasks I was planning on doing that day. It happens to us all though, so don’t feel bad if you do it on occasion too.
If you’re a “pixel perfectionist” like me, you can probably sit there for a while and make every little thing exactly how you want it. That can be hours of work to a pixel perfectionist too. That just rings “obsession”!
Another scenario, you’re into blogging for money. You spend countless hours on your blog, only to earn minimal profit. Take for example, Tom from StandOutBlogger who just recently posted about this same situation. He put a lot of hours into his blog, and while he got some benefits like a great community and high RSS feed count, he didn’t make a lot of money doing it.
Final verdict
Limit your time on your blog. Spending an hour or two on your blog a day is perfectly fine in my opinion, so long as you aren’t putting off other tasks in your life. When it comes to making money, no you will not do it over night and it will take some time to do. But don’t put your whole day into your blog trying to make money.
Obsession in a long shot
My general feeling of obsession is that it never leads to good results. You always need to find a way to balance your time you put into anything, because you may be missing out on some important things in life. If you do choose to become obsessed with something, just know that you will miss out on other important things around you.
The only positive I found about being obsessed about your blog is that you will be doing something you really love to do. With that being said, you can be happy doing that thing over and over again all day.
What Are Your Thoughts?
How do you deal with over stressing things on your blog? Do you let some of the things mentioned in this post get to you, or do you just play it cool? I would love to hear your opinions in the comments!
Photo by Jim Sneddon
22 Discussions
I must say I have to agree with all the points you made. When you start to base your blog around your life it can only lead to unhappiness.
This reminds of the guy who became obsessed with Everquest I think it was. I remember reading something about it and this guy became so obsessed with playing the game, he missed out on important family events such as birthdays and weddings. This proves that becoming obsessed with something doesn’t turn out well. :/
Evan’s last blog post..Evan9208: Commented on Your Thoughts On mycyc.com / My CYC – The Teen Blog http://tinyurl.com/clfhgl
Wow, that’s pretty serious. I know people like that at my school, except World of Warcraft is their addiction. I hear some of them bragging how they stay home from school just to play. I’m absolutely shocked by how bad some people get.
Sad part is, he eventually shot himself because he couldn’t take it. I found the article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shawn_Woolley
I think it’s a testament to the idea of obsessing that I generate more traffic on the days that I’m out, away from the computer. While I probably spend way more time on my sites than I should, I think it’s safe to say that there are certain lines you can draw for yourself to limit the “obsession.” Having a set time to go to bed is one of them. You don’t want to be up at 3AM tweaking design colors!
Corey Freeman’s last blog post..How to Write Case Studies that Inspire Your Readers
You’re right, I do set limits for myself on both week days and weekends. Although, I do try to keep the time I spend on my sites to a minimal on any day. Lately though, I’ve been “past curfew” because I’m working on a new design here, so I just tell myself that it’s okay to spend extra time under those circumstances.
I to obsess over traffic its a 2 sided bladed because that is what my blog is about. I have been up at 3am lots of times building links and networking on twitter. My blog hasn’t directly made a lot of money yet – it is still new and i am working my way up the food chain. It has made money indirectly be getting me speaking engagements and consulting work.
Online Marketing Blog’s last blog post..What Is Niche Marketing, and Do I Need It?
3am is pretty late to be up thinking about your blog (sorry to say!)
I find a good way of actually getting off your computer is to have set times (like Alex suggested) where you get off and go and do other things. I try to be off my PC by 9pm (or half past at the latest), then go and grab a cup of tea and sit down infront of the telly. Once you get into a routine you don’t really think twice about finishing what you’re doing and just going.
Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..The Importance Of A Good Logo
One thing I definitely don’t do is go from the computer to my TV. Usually I just walk around my house and maybe get a snack or drink as you suggested.
I find TV is a great way to relax and chill out before you go to bed. Because I’m pretty much always working when I’m on my computer, if I went to bed straight from that my mind would still be buzzing with ideas or things I need to do. TV is in my opinion a great way to wind down
Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..Five Reasons Why Wordpress Rocks
3AM? Wow, props for the commitment there. I hope you don’t do that too often though – it can’t be great for your head!
Like for any kind of business, you must have a proper plan. This will ensure that you accomplish all what you need to do each day, and then allows you to put your head off the task without feeling guilty.
The feeling of obsession often comes when someone has a long term goal (as well as the motivation to accomplish it) without having carefully planned and structure how this will be achieved.
When it comes to blogging for business, I believe that the most important is consistency. Regular execution of required daily tasks rather than trying to dash-in unreasonably as it may not yield better.results.
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So basically, you’re saying to plan out your day and the time you spend on your blog?
That’s one thing I really don’t do as often as I should. I usually just sit down, work on one thing then jump to the next. I think that’s why I spend too much time online sometimes. I think I’m going to start making a check list of everything I need to do.
Thanks for saying that, I think this will seriously help my work flow!
I think the real issue here is as to whether you are earning money from your blog/site, or whether you are doing it as a matter of interest. If you fall into the first category, I’d suggest that you ensure that you maintain a decent ROI and hence, an efficient time plan. If you are working on a blog purely as a hobby, you can, in my opinion, spend as long as you wish on it…just remember that there is a world outside of the web!
Zulu Internet Marketing’s last blog post..Developing Your Brand through Social Media
Good points! I definitely fall into the second category, but wouldn’t mind moving up to the first. :p Or even better, be in both.
Like I said in my post, that guy Tom from StandOutBlogger loves blogging but can’t continue it. Especially since he doesn’t make as much money as he had thought or hoped.
You’re right, I think I’ll stop all this silly blog commenting!
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If blog commenting counts that i have very addicted to blogging i am currently top commentator on over 40 blogs.
Online Marketing Blog’s last blog post..What Is Niche Marketing, and Do I Need It?
Bit of friendly advice… get a gravatar! If you’re top commentator on 40+ blogs, you could be instantly recognisable with a gravatar and potentially get a lot more traffic. Just makes you stand out a bit more, and only takes a few seconds to set up
Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..The Importance Of A Good Logo
Nothing wrong with blog-commenting
Until you realize you have 150 comments and the next best only has 5
So true! On a blog where I’m an author I have five or six times what the closest commentator has!
The weird thing is, blog commenting is actually quite enjoyable. Communicating with others while advertising your site is one of the greatest things about being a webmaster in my opinion. And, yes, it’s very addictive… I killed two hours last night without even realising it!
Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..Non Native English Writers… How Can You Get Jobs?!
I have an obsession of constantly checking my traffic stats and adsense clicks. I am well aware of it, and I know this is pretty bad. I check on my traffic stats at statcounter.com atleast 20 times a day. Also, I check Google Analytics and Adsense on and off throughout the day. I’m afraid that obsessions like that will lead to burnout because I can’t seem to achieve the amount of traffic that I so desire. I love blogging, but I don’t want to get to the point where I get burned out and quit blogging.
Kai Lo’s last blog post..Increase Traffic and Backlinks With Blog Comments
20 times a day?!
I remember when I used to use Adsense a lot I would check it whenever I went on a computer (once when I logged on, once when I logged off and sometimes a couple of times in between
). I hardly ever check my traffic stats though (in comparison to Adsense, anyway)… once a day or two does it for me 
Simon | Teenius’s last blog post..Five Reasons Why Wordpress Rocks
I think obsession can be a good thing. As an entrepreneur, you have to live as the owner of your business. If somebody knows you, they should also know about your business; and the same can be said for your blog. I’m not saying you should become so obsessed with your business/blog that you miss family events or even friendly outings. In fact, you should never put anything before family. But at the same time, be proud of what you do and make sure other people know about it.
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