Nicole Avery, from Plan With Kids, shares her story. She was on the verge of burnout just a few short years ago. She was about to give up blogging if she didn’t make a change. Nicole’s ideas on recalibrating, pulling back, and starting over with a fresh focus are inspiring. Anyone looking for new ways to do something old will find Nicole’s tips helpful.
Five tips to help you get back on track if you’re feeling like giving up blogging
Towards last year’s end, I hit my lowest point in blogging. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and felt entirely over blogging. I felt like quitting.
It is possible to overcommit when blogging. It is not just blogging anymore. There are also newsletters, social media channels, and products that need to be created. Blogging can be a great way to launch an online business, but tens and thousands of blogs are being found daily. It’s hard to keep up with all of them.
In just three months, I managed to change my mood by blogging. Here are five key things that I did to get back on track. I did much more than is listed here.
Take a Break Every year, I take two breaks from blogging. One during the summer holidays and the other during the winter holidays. Because of family obligations, I could never take the July break and find the time later in the year.
It is essential to take a break and enjoy what you do. At the end of December, I decided to take a break. (I was planning on taking time off late in January). To take a vacation, I usually work hard to schedule social media and blog posts. This time, I took almost a whole week off from posting. I took a break from my January weekly newsletter and reduced my social media activities. For example, I went down to just one post daily instead of four.
- Analyze your time
During my break, I discovered the Pareto Principle. It can be defined as:
The Pareto Principle (also called the 80-20 Rule, the law vital few, and the principle factor sparsity) states that for many events, 80% of their effects are caused by 20% of their causes. [1] source
According to the 80/20 rule, 80% of my blogging time only produced 20% of my results. My time was spent on activities that could have added value.
To better understand and confirm this, I used rescue time to track my exact time usage. RescueTIme measures only active computer time and can detect when your computer is idle. In my initial analysis, a large portion of my time is spent on activities that are not very productive. This includes email and social media. Only 26% of my time on my least effective tasks was devoted to design and composition. This is a huge wake-up call and a reminder that no matter how efficiently you manage your time, you won’t achieve the productivity that you want if you spend your time on the wrong things.
- Goal-setting
I found an interview with Jay Papasan, who is the author of The one thing. After listening to his speech, I realized something that I thought I had known all along. I needed to consolidate my many goals into a clear and concise one.
You will not catch both rabbits if you chase them. Russian proverb
So, I set myself two goals: one for work and another for personal life. It has changed the way I live my life on a day-to-day basis. It helped me make better decisions and gave me a clear goal. Every time I make a choice, my goal is at the forefront of my thoughts – will this decision help me reach my goal for the coming year? I will have to say no if it does not. This process is so much easier when you have a single plan.
- Work schedules
Two key reasons helped me to get back on track:
- I scheduled activities to help me reach my goal for the entire year. It is common knowledge that things are unlikely to happen if we don’t make plans.
- I was able to avoid decision fatigue. Work is only one part of my daily life. It is essential to have a schedule because there is always so much going on at home. By not worrying about what I should do, I can get on with my work daily without procrastinating.
- Practice daily gratitude
It’s out there. But my attitude toward the task plays a big part in how I approach it and how it produces results. Practice gratitude to improve your attitude. We have so many things to be thankful for if we just take the time.
I started using the 5-minute journal app, which I can’t recommend enough. I always thought that practicing gratitude was just another thing I had to do and would become a burden. With this app, I can practice gratitude intentionally in just 5 minutes every morning and night.
I often list what I am grateful for instead of complaining about the stress of running a small business online. As an example:
- It was great that I could help my son out at short notice.
- I was thankful that picking up a child who was sick from school did not have to be stressful. It could be done within minutes.
- When family life becomes busy, I am thankful I can clear my schedule and refuse to take on any additional work.
- It is a great privilege that blogging allows me to travel abroad yearly.
- I’m so happy to receive such fantastic feedback from my readers, who take the time to read and respond to my posts.
Have you ever felt like quitting blogging? What did you do?
Nicole Avery, a Melbourne mother of five gorgeous kids aged 16 and 6, is an inspiring role model. Nicole has a slight addiction to spreadsheets. She also loves tea, CrossFit, running, and CrossFit. Her family is her priority, and she strives to be an organized, patient, and present mom to her children.
