May 19th, 2007
Three Steps to Come Out of the Blogging Downward Spiral
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Most bloggers find themselves falling into a blogging downward spiral at some time or the other -
- You are growing through significant changes at work/ in life and you don’t have any time or energy for blogging.
- You have taken on too many blogging commitments (multiple personal/ group blogs, collaborative blogging projects, or over-ambitious blogging series), and you feel that you aren’t doing justice to any of them.
- You feel that you are spending too much time ‘managing’ your blog and not enough time writing on your blog.
- The number of feeds in your feed-reader have proliferated and you are so intimidated by your 1000+ unread items that you don’t even try reading them anymore.
- Since you aren’t reading any feeds anymore, you have fewer ideas to blog about and, even when you have a little free time, you don’t really know what to blog about.
- Your page views, ad revenues and feed subscriptions go down, further decreasing your motivation to blog.
Between my Athens trip that refused to stick to script, my mysterious illness that almost got me admitted to the hospital, my totally pointless shift to Kolkata for three months, my on-yet-again-off-yet-again love-life, and the absence of a broadband connection, I’m way into the downward spiral myself.
I have been through similar phases twice before, and both times, I closed down one blog and started another (gauravonomics.blogspot.com to gauravonomics.wordpress.com to gauravonomics.com). I don’t have that option this time, so I have put in place my own three-step action plan to come out of the blogging downward spiral -
- Take a mini-break from blogging: If you have unresolved issues off your blog, they will soon start to show on your blog. Take time off to sort out some issues and make peace with others. When your mind is not preoccupied with problems, fresh ideas will start to flow in on their own.
- Remember the reason why you blog: Every one of us has a different reason for blogging, and, in most cases, it has nothing to do with page views, ad revenues or feed subscriptions. Remember the reason why you blog, remember how your blog fits into your life, and you’ll re-discover the motivation to blog.
- Cut back on your blogging commitments: Reduce your blogging frequency, cut back on your group-blogging commitments, put some of your blog improvement projects on the back-burner, say no to new blogging opportunities and unsubscribe from half the feeds on your feed-reader. Focus on what is most important to you in the long term, read only what is really worth your time, write only when you have something worthwhile to say, until you rediscover the joy of blogging.
So, after not blogging at all for almost ten days, I’m back to blogging, in a manner.
I have marked all the items in my feed-reader as ‘read’, unsubscribed from almost two hundred feeds, and said ‘no’ to two new blogging opportunities. I have requested Neha, Patrix and Amit to be patient with me as I go slow on my group-blogging commitments. I have also decided to reduce my blogging frequency to two to three posts per week on both my blogs (Blog and Diary).
Even though you’ll see less of me for a while, you’ll see some at least of me, a ‘blog brake’ instead of a ‘blog break’. So, subscribe to both my blogs (Blog and Diary), if you haven’t already, boot up your laptop, plug in your broadband cable, sit back in your favorite chair, put your feet up and relax. Normal programming will soon resume on Gauravonomics.
Don’t worry, Gaurav… you’re in our feeds. We’ll still keep track of ya. ^__^
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You are in my feed as well. Another thing people might want to consider is getting a guest blogger for the time you won’t be online, even if it is only once a week. Perfect for the summer as well because that’s when lots of people will lose their readers.
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G-man
you nail my thoughts to the T. Professional and other personal commitments have been so crazy - at times its important to blow off some steam.
-p
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You’ve been added to http://www.2kbloggers.com.
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I kinda agree wid what yo are sayin..like Keats once said ‘If it doesn’t come as naturally as leaves on a tree, then it would rather not come at all”…thats the maxim that I follow…most of maah posts thus,are spontaneous…
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[…] GMan, Kolkata, Kolkata Diaries, Life in a Metro, Men & Women, Men & Women. In spite of promising that I’ll blog more regularly, I haven’t written anything at all. The problem is: I […]
i second that
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Like I predicted last time around, you and your blog are here to stay.
Also, the on and off is an off with a delay. But you wont know it till you know it. Dont take my word for it. For who knows, the on phase may continue long enough to not let the off affect you.
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Gaurav,
One easy way to get out of your blogging spiral - do what you love best, blogging. Dont worry about the feeds, ad revenue and secondary stuff.
As for ideas, they are there in everyday life - a crying baby, an irate uncle or aunty, pesky sibling, nosey neighbours and relatives, quirky desis, dumb politicians, the list is endless.
Shoot me an email if you want to talk.
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And now i would use the same tricks to get out of the spiral you are in ! :p
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Hey, I am a first time visitor here…
You seems to blogging on some intersting Topic.
I love blogging. I have several blogs.
Last night I Posted a Blog on Essential Blogging Tips to Increase Web Traffic to Your Blog
Check it and leave your comment.
Linu
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Thanks for thinking it through for the rest of us. You did not, however, address the issue of sheer cussed laziness.
And ummm … I need to boot up and connect my laptop BEFORE I can subscribe to a blog.
J.A.P.
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I hope you’re getting out of the spiral soon, cos I am looking forward to reading more in the blogger series…
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I’m beginning to go to blogging downward spiral not because of all that reason but because no one seems wants to read it. After all those Technorati Favorites I’ve joined and Viral tagging, it seems not working for me. It really does not working and that makes me sick. Unless I’m Angelina Jolie, then people will read and leave a comment on my blog.
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I came here from TG’s blog though I’d read about your blog at Nandita’s earlier.
I think I do the things you have suggested… taking a break does help. I do that from time to time. Or I shift focus from my general blog to my food blog and vice versa.
Nice blog. I’ll keep coming back.
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Don’t you think that bloggers should be less mindless and post on more meaningful things such as charity? America is in the toilet and you aren’t do your fair share to make it better. You are a journalist but not an activist. I would hate to be you.
Consider making a difference and make your next blog entry on something worth caring about. How about suggesting to your readers your favorite charity. Maybe some of them will even contribute…
http://duckdown.blogspot.com/
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[…] the Gauravonomics Blog experiencing blog death? The last post published by Gaurav was about the three steps in coming out […]
I believe frequency is the key, and not blogging until you really feel that this is one post I simply must do.
More need not necessarily be better.
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Aw man, blogging was never meant to be serious profession. You write if you want to / have something to say / or just have nothing else to do. Dont make it look like religion, analysing and paralysing it till the cows come home.
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I can totally relate to spending more time managing my blog than actually writing it. I have this neurotic obsession with replying to every comment, so I spend a lot of time doing that. Maybe I should just learn to let go….
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I have a two-pronged approach to this. First, I have a backlog of blogs. Wake-up to a too, too busy life (or no energy or no ability to write or … whatever)? That’s where those handy, handy extra posts come in. Second, I periodically bite the bullet and delete an excess of RSS feeds, emails, ideas, etc. Otherwise, you are right, the list just grows and grows relentlessly until it is too damn intimidating.
Cheers!
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thanks for the great information
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Hi, please add your blog to our new directory of Indian Blogs, thanks!
http://www.indiblogger.in
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interesting information. you got one more fan on techno
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