My Blogging Burnout Experience

Jun 10 2008 Comments

easymoblog For the past week I’ve been experiencing blogger burnout. Keeping up with blogging is a tough thing to do. My biggest problem was having nothing to say that hadn’t already been said. I don’t blog just for the sake of putting up a post. I like to have something to contribute and lately, there’s been nothing. Zip. Nada. So what’s a blogger to do?
   

Relax

First and foremost you have to relax when you hit a roadblock like this. I learned that stressing out about not having something to post won’t help the situation. If anything, it made my brain come to a complete halt. So don’t stress out. It’s ok to take a few days off.
     

Revisit The Excitement

I actually used the burnout as an opportunity to get back to doing the things I hadn’t had a lot of time to do anymore. I started commenting on blogs again. I joined Plurk. I twittered. I wrapped up TheSocialGeeks podcast for tomorrow with Chris (@Idonotes) of TheSocialNetworker. I was in Google Reader a lot more and I actually read my feeds instead of scanning them. I even started stumbling more. This helped to get my creative juices flowing again.
    

Converse On The Phone

I started answering my phone calls more too. Talking is another way to break through writer’s block. So instead of IMing everything on Google Talk or chatting away on Twitter and Plurk, I picked up the phone. I talked with old friends that had no clue about tech and I talked to a few geeks too. I talked and didn’t worry about blogging.
    

Write It Down

After every conversation, I opened up Microsoft Onenote and wrote down ideas. This is basically my idea of a blogging journal. After I wrote, I played with those ideas and let it marinate. I asked questions to myself and wrote responses for each question. For some, I even did some research. I got it out my head and on my new laptop.
    

Now Go Back To Work

Now I’m back and I have exciting plans for SheGeeks and a special treat for everyone next week. However, now my brain is being stimulated again and I feel like writing. I now have a host of ideas to write about too. Maybe this is why Pro Bloggers say you should create backup posts. I’d rather not though. I don’t always write for the future. I’d rather write for today, not tomorrow. So when you’re feeling the burnout set it in, relax, take a deep breath, and go back to what got you to where you are in the first place. Revisit your roots. Do the things that you get your creative juices flowing. Take your time. Write your thoughts down. Then, when you feel it’s time, go back to giving it everything you got.


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  • I am not good on the phone...I struggle with real time conversations when I cant see people and read their body language...sounds a bit silly I know, but IM petrifies me and I always get my OH to answer the phone. I love talking online in blog comments, twitter friendfeed and forums because it isnt instant and gives me time to collect my thoughts I expect.
    I always have great ideas for blog posts when I am busy doing something else and think oh yes i'll say that, do this and then when I do get a minute to spare, I cant remember these fab ideas!!
    Perhaps I should carry round an old fashioned notepad and pen and scribble my thoughts down as I get them so I can use them later...novel idea or what?? lol!!
  • Ah yes, I have conversations all the time with great ideas and then forget them as soon as I hang up the phone. I'm starting to think that maybe I should record my phone calls sometimes.
  • ahh. so that is what happened.. i was wondering what had been of you.
  • Loved this post. "Converse on the phone" isn't a tip that you hear very often and it's a good one. Could be supplemented by "converse in person" if possible.
  • Very true. I just find that real time chat where you can hear the voice and the emotions behind it, it has the potential to help you brainstorm and make things "click". When I talk to someone about an idea I can get more feedback, and I find it easier to brainstorm when I talk out loud rather than talking in my head.
  • You know, that got me thinking. I think that's where I differ from a lot of people.. I never socialized well in high school and earlier (typical geek, I guess), so when I started using BBSs back in the 80s, it really was a crash education in interacting with other people. It was almost exclusively through BBS messages or chat, and some phone, but hardly ever in person.

    In time, I picked up the ability to 'read' people by looking at their face, but it was definitely very, very late coming for me. As a result, I am perfectly comfortable interacting online, and maybe even more than on the phone. And I still don't do big groups well, but SXSW was fun. I'm getting there.
  • shafqat
    Great post, glad you're still around and looking forward to more of your writing. Motivation ebbs and flows, and the candle analogy is great. Sometimes it burns bright, and other times its becomes a tiny little flame which you have to nurture and care for by putting your hands around it and gently bringing it back to the full flame. You were just going through the nurturing phase, and now the candle should burn brigther than ever.

    Sometimes the best ideas come when you're not looking for them...
  • Corvida, I have been going through the same thing lately. It took a financial times article (go figure) to get me motivated again. I think the hard is juggling multiple priorities, and feeling like you need to post something on the blog. I felt like I was letting down my readers.
  • Same here man. I do feel like I'm letting down my readers.
  • Glad to see you back, Corvida. Hope your batteries are recharged and you have the fire to blog again. I can definitely empathize with the ennui and burnout you have been experiencing -- I went through a similar issue with an old tech support job. Believe me, if you ever get burned out doing phone support, you never want to go back to it again.

    In fact, that has become a source of motivation for me. Whenever I feel myself stalling out a bit, I think, well, you can always fall back on tech support. That usually snaps me out of it.
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