I am having a hard time with my blogging. I am slowing down and I can't quite keep up. Leslie recently posted a blog about reasons why people do not blog. She listed the reasons she's heard, and gave answers to why they are not good reasons (worth looking at if you do not blog!). It just got me thinking about why I haven't been able to keep up quite as much. When I started blogging, I did pretty good at blogging every day. Now it is a struggle. To say "I don't have time" is false. And as a side note, anyone who ever uses this statement for any excuse to not do something, should stop right now! We all have 24 hours in a day! We all have the same amount of time. We just choose to use our time differently. Or we may not have the freedom to do certain things, but the statement, "I don't have any time" ususally is not accurate (I could do a whole other blog about this topic...but I probably won't because see #1.) So anyway, I do have time in a day, but what am I doing to fill it up? I could use the excuse that I am pregnant and can't quite keep up with anything! But I am feeling much better now and I really don't think that is the reason. So after some thought, here are some of my reasons why I haven't blogged as much lately. Because I do wish and want to do it more!
1. I have a hard time writing. English papers were painful for me! So even if I have deep thoughts or great knowledge about something, I usually don't even try to express it because it just doesn't quite come out as good as I want it to. Or if I do try and express it accurately, it takes A LOT of time! What can I say - I am slow. My blog entries are usually pictures with a small amount of writing.
2. Uploading the pictures I want in each blog does take time to do! Sometimes a lot of time. And after my first trimester, three months of neglecting my boys due to sickness, I choose to do activities with them instead of blogging (which is a good thing!).
3. I don't get up early enough to blog before the boys wake up. And at the end of the day, I am too tired to think.
4. Our computer chair is extremely uncomfortalbe and my back kills by the time I am done sitting in it! Mom, I want your computer chair.
5. My pictures are usually of my boys and I wonder if y'all are tired of seeing them. But I must remind myself, that some blogs are meant soley for grandparents and family, not to mention my own personal history.
6. I do have a certain amount of time in the day to be on the computer. But I read other's blogs first, and then I am called to some other responsibility before I can post my own blog. And with the growing blogging world, there is a lot to read out there! I feel bad that I can't, or don't, read all of my friends blogs and comment on each and every one. But I guess I should just let that go. I can't do it all.
7. Sometimes I just don't have anything to say or anything I want to talk about.
Ok, so those are my main reasons why I have been struggling with my blog. What are some of your reasons for not blogging as much? I really am amazed at the daily bloggers. You know who you are! It obviously is a priority for you, but do you have any other tricks of how you do it every day? It really is a talent!
And one last thought - one of the main motivations for me to continue to have my own blog, is the fun comments I get from you all. Getting emails is just fun!
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14 comments:
I am feeling the bloggy blues as well. I think it's because I like feedback and don't feel like people are reading my blog (or at least not commenting). I see some people who get 20 comments on their blog and wonder WHY. Am I not as interesting as them?? (Of course the fact that my circle of blogging friends is small may have something to do with it). I feel like I am crashing the blogging party and don't really belong.
But, enough about me!!! Audra, I LOVE your blogs and will be so sad if you quit altogether. It's okay to not blog every day. We'll faithfully check it and then it'll be like a nice little surprise to find something new!
Great post. I haven't been feeling the blogging love lately either for some of the same reasons.
Your list of reasons was a very good one, and each has an impact on what you do each day. Life's circumstances are constantly changing, which in turn cause you to change what you choose to do each day. Just wait a bit, and the blogging choice just might be back on the top of your list. Just remember that you are writing a wonderful history of your life in your blog. Don't ever give it up entirely!
Hey Audra - don't feel bad about not blogging every day - those of us who do doso becuase it comes easy for us. Bottom line - your blog has to be your own - whether you post daily or weekly or somewhere in between THAT makes it YOUR blog.
I know what you mean when you say that there are 24 hours in a day - at the same time, prioritizing is important, too. I got overwhelmed reading too many other people's blogs - I realized that it was more important for me to blog and to read entries of people I know and love rather than reading blogs of people I don't know - the day I simplified my life and the list of blogs I read, life became easier for me. I highly reccomend doing that.
I mentioned that writting is hard for you - I love reading your words - they are YOUR thoughts, so don't be down that there aren't a lot each time you write. I would also reccomend doing things like wordless wednesday where you don't write at all. Also, I've found that my grateful sundays are great, too - a simple list of the things I am especially grateful for that week - I usually only list four or five - again, simplifying is the name of the game.
I also HIGHLY reccomend making drafts of entries. When I get an idea of something I want to write about, I start a draft in my blogger dashboard and add to it over a period of days. That way, when my kids are here and awake, I am with them and when they are asleep or otherwise occupied (preschool, park with daddy) and it's my "mommy time" I can add to those drafts. At any given time, I have like 10 entries in process. Then, on the day I want to publish them, I just copy and paste it into a new entry. Drafting rocks!
I know I mentioned establishing patterns for blog entries already, but really, it has made blogging a lot easier for me. I do Wordless Wednesdays, Grateful Sundays and each month do the REAL SIMPLE interview for that month - I am going to start another established entry soon. I find that if three of the seven days of the week are established and easy entries, it is easier to come up with things to talk about on the other days. Leslie does quotes of the day, which is a great idea, too.
As far as photos to use go, I download photos to draft entries while I'm getting ready in the morning or getting ready for bed: start a photo to downloading then brush teeth, start another while blowdrying, start another while making the bed - my computer chair is super hard, too, so I do other things while I post photos.
Also, if you use your blog as a sort of journal/family history like I do, I use a lot of the personal history prompts as topics for my entries - childhood memories go a long way. I'll scan a photo from my childhood and talk about the memories associated with that outfit, place, vacation, haircut, etc. I also jot down ideas I may have for future entries: projects I'm working on, a talk at church, an article I read, the latest bargain I found, a great recipie, what I read in the scriptures that day...It has really been a good discipline for me - knowing that I need to blog daily has helped me keep my eyes open for the wonderful daily things that I am whitnessing and experiencing that at the time may not feel blog-worthy, but years from now when I am reading my entries of today, I will remember and smile about.
Last, and most important, don't EVER feel like your life is boring. If people don't read, it's their loss - at least you've documented the happenings of your life for yourself and your family. I have found that blogging every day is so important to my day - I do it first thing (having already written the entry the night before) and then even if I dont' accomplish anything else that day, at least I did ONE thing for ME. I check blogs at night after the kids are in bed - it's a ballance I've found that works for me.
Hope all this helps - keep blogging because most importantly, it's for YOU!
Audra and Jessi, I really want you to continue to blog, even if it's only once in a while! It is so fun for me to hear about your lives and see pictures of your family and hear your thoughts. It's funny, Audge, because my last blog is very similar to yours--about priorities, and how it's hard to always make everything a priority by making time for them. I think it's fine if blogging isn't your top priority and you don't blog every day!! I only blog when I have something I really want to share, or I feel it's time to update people with a new post. But you're right--it's so fun to get comments, and this is a good way to keep in touch with fam. Oh, and as a comment to Jessi's comment--I think you (and Audra and both your kids) are so interesting!!!
Audra, I love your blog and as often as you write on it, I will read! I love seeing pictures of your boys (after all... most of my pictures are of my girls!) and hearing what you have to say. You are, after all, more eloquent in your prose than you think! I too am guilty of reading before posting to my own blog (I had a resolution not to surf before I posted, but it didn't last long!)So, post away... as often as you can or would like!
I never get tired of pictures of your boys! But I understand the need to put other things first. I too am not great at English, spelling, she, but actually writing, not so good. I include way too many boring details.
Don't worry about not commenting on everyone's blogs. If I commented on every blog that I read I would be on the computer way too long. I don't get a whole lot of comments either, sometimes I feel bad, but then I remember that I am doing it for me, not everyone else. So please blog when you feel like it, I'll read it, even if I don't comment every time!
hey audra, i think any blog is a good blog. any post is a good post, no matter how seldom it happens. i usually think i have nothing to say on my blog today, and then something small happens, and it snowballs into another thought, and before i know it, i have a post written. my posts aren't really planned out or pre-written, i've just found that i appreciate my life more if i take note of the small happenings and acknowledge my blessings, even if it's just by posting a picture of my baby. pictures are the best. my parents would be so sad if i never posted any, and i think yours would, too. but i wouldn't feel any guilt about it one iota because if you're spending time with your boys, you're doing the most important thing. hands down. :)
I have never been able to blog everyday. My reasons why I don't blog are very similar to yours. Especially #1 Unimpressed with my writing abilities. I would like to say something profound, yet it doesn't come out quite right. That's pretty much my reason. In addition to I dont' "make" the time for it.
I AGREE! I used to blog all the time... Now not as much. I think what Jessi and a lot of other people say is true though... When you don't get very much feedback you wonder who is even reading it. But I keep having to remind myself that it is for ME and my history... And just so you know. I LOVE to read your blog! I really check it EVERY DAY! And I will make sure I comment more. I usually do. OH! And I LOVE looking at pictures of your kids, etc... They are YOUR LIFE, right? :) KEEP BLOGGING PLEASE!
Never ever will I be tired of seeing your adorable boys. If you don't keep it up, I may come out to GA to whoop you!
Audge, can I use that term or is it only Abbi's? Oh well, I will use it this post. Audge . . STOP IT! :) Your blogging, writing and pictures, are wonderful and since the theme (apparently) is that blogging is for you and your memories, no one gives a ripper if it is not perfect.
Honestly, you thought your first trimester was tough? It was tougher on me because you weren't blogging as much. I am glad that you are feeling better and hopefully you are re-inspired.
As an aside, blogging is a great way for others, especially me, to get to know you and your family that would otherwise never, ever, ever happen, especially when you move from place to place.
Your "fear" of blogging is equally true for those people who post comments. People who read your blog may think they don't have anything interesting to add or may not be able to voice their thought correctly. This is true even though they liked what you wrote/said and wished they could add something to give you feedback or appreciation.
As far as pictures go, yeah, yeah your kids are adorable. Keep those pictures coming but include more family pictures. Husband, wifey, AND kids. Not altogether, but separate, or altogether - whatever. So many of the blogs just have kids, kids, kids, kids. Which is fine but, especially for me, I wonder what the parents look like and where are the pictures of them and what they are doing.
Anyway, moral of the story is, you should keep rocking the blogging party.
*disclaimer* - I am just a relief society blogging club stalker so take what I say with that grain of salt. :)
I was going for the longest post but I don't think I can beat Natalie's so I will stop know.
It's nice to know that I am not the only one having the blogging blues! It was fun to read everyone's comments, they lifted me too... You, as one of my inspirations to start blogging, had better not stop! I love feeling connected. Honestly, even if you wrote everyday, I still wouldn't be able to read it everyday... but I look forward to checking out everyone's blogs and seeing what's been going on in their lives in the past week or so... oh, and I LOVE seeing pics of your boys... and I keep thinking I might see a post soon about the gender of the baby... how much longer do you have until you know?
I love reading your blog! I only blog maybe once a week at the most but it works for me right now! It is better than I was doing before because I wasn't doing anything. I check your blog all the time and love reading it and seeing your fun pictures!
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