I’m a busy guy. I go to school five days a week, manage a growing blog and have a freelance business really getting off the ground fast. I have deadlines to meet in everything I do, and it’s pretty stressful sometimes. So here I am, sitting on my bed writing this post at the last minute.
I am beat guys, and I don’t know if I’m approaching anything the right way anymore.
I like to call what I’m going through right now “bloggers crash.” Basically, when there is so much work to do you just don’t know where to begin and don’t get much of anything done. That’s how I have been feeling lately, but I have been keeping up with it all. Just not the way I prefer.
I think every blogger at some point in their career will go through this. A blog is not an easy thing to manage and does suck up a lot of time. And if it’s not your only commitment, then it’s only going to get tougher.
I have really been doing my best to get back in touch with everything, and I would like to say that I have figured out a way through it. Bloggers crash is really harmful to a blog as it can really stop someone from working. I came up with a four-step process to help you get on the right path again. It’s working for me so far, and if you ever experience this issue one day, look back on this guide to overcome it.
Step 1: Finding what’s bothering you
This is or isn’t the easiest thing to come up with. For me, I was way overworked and very tired. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the same for you as it’s a really common problem.
Of course, it all depends on you and how you’re doing in life. More factors than “low traffic” or “too few comments per post” can cause you to not want to work. Maybe there’s something bothering you in your life that leads to a sadness or just a feeling of laziness. I know I have been a little sad these last few days myself — for non-blogging/work reasons too.
It’s important that you’re honest with yourself and admit that there is something holding you back from your work. Don’t go onto step two without figuring this out!
Step 2: Ask yourself “How is this stopping me from working?”
Once you know what is ailing you, reflect on why it might be bringing you down so much. I found that once I analyzed this and came up with reasons why I couldn’t bring myself to do what needed to be done, I could focus on either solving those problems or figuring out how to work around them.
I have too much work to do between blogging, freelancing and school that it made me tired and not up to completing any of the tasks at hand. With that realization made, I can work my way into the next step.
Step 3: Come up with a plan
Any problem is solved by coming up with an organized plan, or strategy. We told ourselves what are problem was, and we figured out how it was preventing us from working. Now it’s time to come up with a game plan.
Chances are, the problem you’re having is really hitting you hard — so you have to figure out a way to solve it as soon as possible. I broke it down into a few steps.
1. Setting priorities - School takes up most of my day during the week, and I also have to work on freelance projects when I’m done my school work. Pretty much all of my blogging tasks are done on the weekend, so that’s a lot of my mind during the week.
Setting priorities is important because you know what needs to get done first, and chances are — they get done. You may be interested in a schedule, and for that I suggest you read my guide to creating a blogging schedule for some great tips.
2. Set goals in each field - In your plan, set goals for each step. What do you want to achieve after each step? How will accomplishing your task in step one effect the goal of step two?
3. Do whatever it takes to stay motivated - Do what makes you happy when you work, and try your best to look at all of the positives in what you’re doing. You’re blogging, so there’s plenty of them to think of!
With a game plan set, you’re ready to move on to step four. Step four may not be what you expect though.
Step 4: Now take a break and reflect
Everyone always preaches how important “acting now” is, but I have discovered that sometimes acting later is just as beneficial. I also feel that if you are going through a “crash,” then you need some time to relax and get your mind straight again.
Honestly, all I did last Saturday was wake up early, eat breakfast and watched the sunrise while playing some relaxing music. Later on, I went out and saw a live recording of a band play at my uncle’s work. I disconnected email from my phone, and I didn’t go on the internet at all. See, music is my best bet for relaxation and I think that listening to it all day really got my head out of the gutter.
Try to do whatever you can that makes you most relaxed. Don’t worry about being offline all day or not being able to write. It’s important to understand that your blog will not collapse if you miss one day of being on it.
When you do decide to go back to blogging, you will have your plan ready to be carried out and hopefully some motivation to do it.
Work Smarty & Reduce Risk of Crashing
After my recovery from this crash happens, I’m really going to try my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I know I won’t let it happen again, and I know this because I am learning better self-discipline and am learning to cut down on the amount of work I do. Maybe it will best for us to work less even?
But who knows? Maybe it’s a good thing that all of us go through this at least once. It’s a great way to learn your limitations, and even find out if blogging is what you definitely want to continue on with. If you crash a lot, then you should seriously reconsider what you are doing.
But trust me, just because you aren’t motivated one day doesn’t mean you should give up. Carry the lessons of your blogging crash around with you, and it will be easy to prevent or quickly get over future crashes.
38 Discussions
Oh my! Alex Dear you look busy and really busy. Lemme know if you need a foot rub (HA! JUST KIDIN!)
I totally agree with every step dude. It happened with me hell lot of time. Work pilin gup and I feel so detached sort to speak that I felt it wasn’t mine anymore.
Well I am a bit philosophical guy so here is what I found out about
‘WHY the heck it happens?
Ans: When you ask for more and more in life, more of this more of that. It starts coming your way, your life inspires you to take action that will lead you to fulfillment of it. And when you turn away from it, you can’t enjoy it anymore! It feels like work!
Turn back downstream and everything shall be alright. How to do that one way is your wonderful step-by-step plan (it’s AWESOME) and other way is ‘Never mind’ and doing that reach for better feeling thoughts that’s what we do in the steps.”
Thank you so much for an awesome post which will help me time and again. And yea, if you need any help with Thesis or freelance work, I have hands to spare – two of them
King Sidharth´s last blog ..World Aids Day – I Will Be Human
Yes thats totally true. I beleive in that. When you want something and work towards it and keep a postive attitude, you will get what you strived for and it does not seem like work. This is one of the secrets of success.
For Bloggers Who want to Stop Writers’ Block
I go through a lot of bloggers crash. Believe me, it happened frequently in high school. Come college and I have no idea how I can still keep up. It’s until when I finally realized that really, you don’t have to keep up. What every person needs to do is to just set his/her own pace.
There’s no point running after time. Because it will only be just ahead of you. The trick is to just run along with it. A little change in perspective helps. It did for me. That and don’t forget to take a break once in a while
Liane´s last blog ..Adapt Your Blog Branding… or Get Annihilated
I am worried about college too! It’s less than a year away! Woosh!
I don’t know what will happen to all my blogs and my million dollar ideas which are yet to come to fruition.
Let’s see maybe I’ll start a blog on Blogging for College Students. Ha! Look at me taking more when can’t handle what I have. Duh! Humans.
King Sidharth´s last blog ..Mindfulness Meditation Guide
I’m always experiencing bloggers crash, yet I tell myself that blogging is my destiny. And I manage to pull through.
Walter´s last blog ..Treasured possessions
Alex, mate. You’re busy. I want to ask you some questions directly:
1. Is this blog’s readership and income increasing steadily?
2. Do you still love blogging?
3. Are you able to share the workload by getting more guest posts while you get through the busy parts in other ares of your life?
Gary V said that when he was starting his WineTV blog, he talked about bleeding from the eyes with all the work he did in the beginning while seeing very little payback in the first year. Leo Babauta said a similar thing when he started ZenHabits.
This will pass, but at the same time, you need to look after your mental and physical health. When you get a chance, force yourself to take a week or tow off to unwind. Make sure you do some exercise regualrly as awell as eating and sleeping well.
You’ve got a great blog here. Think long term, buddy.
Gordie´s last blog ..Are You Controlling Life Or Is Life Controlling You?
Even I am stuck with the things as search traffic for my blog is low and stuck up with that, I am figuring out the ways to solve the problem.
Yeah u r correct seems that I need to take a break and start up the things right from the scrap.. Hope my work goes well after the break..
Rajesh Kanuri @ TechCats´s last blog ..Christmas Contest To Win One Theme License
It happens to the majority of us, as bloggers we tend to get involved with too many things at once. I guess the best way is to delegate, however that is mostly possible it you have the resources to fund an extra hand. I would love to get someone handle publishing content on my blog, as that is one task that I honestly don’t like doing…however since I cannot afford a virtual assistant I’ll continue doing it.
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I’m right there with you. Last week I thought my brain was going to explode…As a frequent flyer of the “too much to do” airways, I totally agree that you must set priorities. In addition, you have to just cut out what’s not working.
I had a website that I was losing interest in, but thought about continuing for the sake of the readership, etc. But then I had to think to myself, “am I personally seeing any valuable return from this? Is there a future in this project?” Dropping stuff can be hard, but we have to accept that not all things in life will work out as planned.
It also helps to sleep. I force myself to go to bed around 11-12 right now, but I’m slowly aiming towards 10:30 at latest. Staying up to work is not a good idea, trust me, haha.
Corey Freeman´s last blog ..I’m Going to College!
Hi Alex,
Only thing that helps me is prioritizing. I have started to stop doing certain things that I have planned, so that I can focus on the important stuff. There is always a limited amount of time…
Good luck with your endavours!
Blogging Guide´s last blog ..Social Bookmarking Sites Case Study Part 1: Starting Point
Yaa, I too have a blog and I am just 12
Actually I have many but deleted all those due to stress
But Now I am on
Kranthi Kiran´s last blog ..GAUDI, a new tool for Google which actually rocks!
I am absolutely agreed with you. Few months back I was depressed about my website. Few of my website was loosing visitors, I thought continuing decrease of search engine ranking. After spending few more times on that website, I was asking my self where is the problem is happening. After researching I set up few goals, for each goal, I have done plan, according to that plan I started my work. After two week I found few changes of my site, slowly I got more visitors and also ranking.
Nice Tips!
Thanks!
Hidup Untuk Berbagi´s last blog ..Hidup Untuk Berbagi
Wonderful post there Alex. I have posted a similar article on my blog. I think people need to develop a good attitude towards blogging. If people treat blogging as a business other than a job, they will be motivated to work harder.
You must be so busy! I understand how it feels because I’ve been to that. But I salute to your patience and I appreciate your positive outlook. One thing I should share is that, a person could never be tired of what she/he is doing or what she/he is busy of if he/she loves doing it. Loving everything we do is the best way for us not to be exhausted.
The priority thing really work for me. I create all of my blog content only in weekend and i found that give better result for me instead use working day for blogging. Yeah — i am part time blogger anyway.
Dana @ Online Knowledge´s last blog ..Create Contact Form for WordPress Blog
I’m bleeding from the eyes myself.
Topping that I have a cold, first time in two years.
Dave Doolin | Website In A Weekend´s last blog ..Blog World Recap: How to Attract a Large and Loyal Audience
Man I have written a few “last min” posts..lol But sometimes they are better then posts I took my time with. Guess I work better under pressure.
John Paul´s last blog ..6 Simple Steps To Increase Blog Traffic
I published an article about surviving blogger’s burnout last month. Generally speaking, I look at it as a good thing.
For those who can’t find a way to persevere past that bump in the road, their site will quickly head to the bloggers’ graveyard (like 90% of the blogs out there). But for those who can find a way to deal with burning out, it’s that much more rewarding.
Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog ..The Best Reviews of ‘2009 in Review’
This is a great article. Thanks so much for sharing, it helps me to realize how to correct Blogger’s crash.
I think it happens to everyone from time to time. Thanks for the great advice on how to overcome “bloggers crash”
Jim Clary´s last blog ..How To Easily Generate Blog Profits For Your Present Blog Writing Efforts
I try to keep a few post in the schedule for later file so that on those days when I’m not feeling it I can send one of them to the queue. That way I can rest my brain and think and my readers still get a fresh post.
Ms. Freeman´s last blog ..Learn Something Useful at 2CreateAWebsite.com
You’re right Alex; the part one of solving a problem is to admit that you have the problem in the first place.
I think at some point in our lives, we bloggers, like writers, feel overwhelmed by everything and we just shut down, get a little depressed.
It’s happened to me too, and I did take a break, although I had emergency posts for days when I can’t write so these helped.
I found not only did I feel better when I got back to blogging, but also my ‘rest’ made me more productive, and I came up with great ideas that I would otherwise not had thought of had I continued as I was.
David Walker´s last blog ..Live Webinar – Thursday 17 December 5pm EST
Wow man I really like your blog. I liked this post specially because I too am in the same situation, it is a lot of stress at first but then you start getting the hang of it
I’m a regular victim to this and I’ve not been blogging long at all. I have lot’s of ideas for posts but they all seem so long. I just need more time set aside to write.
Sidenote: I think you meant ‘smartly’ for the final heading.
James Rayers | Cogroll.com´s last blog ..3 Ideas For A Designer Image Host
That used to happen to me (and still happens sometimes) the ideas are too good and too long to play with. So I put it off for tomorrow which takes eternity to come. LOL
But now I’ve found a cure. I write the ideas and let my brain do what it loves – brain storming. And voila, I end up entusiatic about it and finally find myslef working on it.
Try putting it in pen. You will see the difference.
King Sidharth´s last blog ..Mindfulness Meditation Guide
Hey Alex, you’re on the right track, especially since you are already thinking about this stuff.
My advice: Getting Things Done. Go on amazon and buy it. It will make your life and organization much better.
Eric C´s last blog ..Introducing the Blogroll…
To me, it’s the networking bit that’s hard to do with the time I currently have
Like blog commenting, social networking and stuff
Michael Aulia´s last blog ..Razer Imperator Unboxing
It can be hard if you think of it as work. Try doing it with perspective that you are interacting with freinds – that’s the essence of social networking power.
King Sidharth´s last blog ..Mindfulness Meditation Guide
This is definitely the best way to handle any problem – confront it directly. This can definitely work with blogging as well though, and I’m even guilty of having days where I’m just not in the mood to write. You’ve just got to find out what inspires you and go for it, it’s really as simple as that!
Blogger Den´s last blog ..10 Killer Tips and Tricks to Increase Twitter Followers
Yes there is always so much to do and of course time constrains. There are too many things, too much commitments, which a times may lead someone to losing Focus! Thanks for the steps mentioned, having a plan is a great step as a person that fail to plan, plans to fail…
This is a fantastic post and I’ve bookmarked this for future reference.
You think you’re invincible and can feel great all the time but we’re human, we suffer the highs and lows and we have to find a way to overcome it.
I have felt very similar the last few days, I was feeling very low and I wasn’t 100% sure why. I should have written down all my feelings and specific problems I had down then followed your step by step on how to deal with them now.
Instead of doing that I ended up watching quite a bit of TV which didn’t really solve anything, just relaxed me a little, but I still went to bed feeling relatively unsatisfied – something was still up.
Quite simply – Life is filled with problems that are there to be solved.
The more we help each other out and have great guides on how to deal with things like this post the easier it is to get back on that high swing and start getting back on track
Sorry to hear you’ve been feeling sad lately, Alex – I hope you’re feeling a lot better now! I’m sure you are after writing that post – I bet it felt great to write it and let some of those feelings out to us. Thanks for sharing.
Sarge | BeginnerBlogger.com
Sarge @ beginnerblogger.com´s last blog ..Guest Post Interview: Derek Jensen
Mhmm… I gotta bookmark it too. It is going to be damn useful in the hard times. Not that I am expecting them, but just in case.
Happens man, we feel like doing anything but blogging. No!! keep it away!!! But usually loving comments bring me back. If you know what you do is being loved then you start trusting your own self and come back to life… err… blogging. Right?
King Sidharth´s last blog ..Mindfulness Meditation Guide
Planning is very much important for us, we should do all things with planning. When I awake up at the morning, I make plan of the day, what work I will do today. Really blogging is the work that I give full satisfaction.
chandan´s last blog ..Useful tips for building backlink [Digg]
It happens to me from time to time and I just take the time I need to get over it…the blog ain’t goin’ no where.
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Last Chance! MaxBlogPress Christmas 4 Plugin Package At 75% Off Deal Expires TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT!! PLUS Something Extra From Me
As a teenager, I used to keep a diary where I used to write daily. Even if I was not in the mood to write, I made it a point to write even one sentence. My mood was something to write about too. Years later, when I started online diary and blogging, it was really fun to read my old diaries!
The habit of writing anything, has helped me a lot. Getting ideas is not so difficult. I just try to adjust my mood with my subject of blog.
I do of course get that crash but when that happens, I write about the crash – it’s something like what Alex has done. Great tips there, Alex.
thanks for the post its really a precious information really man very valuable one. and about me i am a new comer just join this site i like it good posts going nice topics and i hope i will carry on with this site!
Well, thank for your post I really like the way you design it…
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