I have to admit, the issue of burnout or not-enough-time-to-write-great-posts has been haunting me of late.

Ok, not literally haunting; I don’t see the ghosts of posts past hovering around my bed. I just get the guilts when, as now, I’m working a lot and don’t have time to post much. I find myself between the proverbial rock and hard place. Imprisoned within my own expectations.

The crux is: do you put out quick but not great-value posts (eg with crap pics and not many useful links), just so you’ve got a blog entry for the day? Or do you only post when you can really do a good post with great content (thought-provoking, new discovery, great pictures or DIY, whatever)? It’s a common dilemma for bloggers.

I stumbled upon Corbett Barr’s blog ThinkTraffic (which I don’t follow and don’t think I’ve read before), and saw a very relevant article, the Goldilocks Guide to Content Quality. It isn’t rocket science, but it just confirmed that it is better in the long run to keep the quality up and post less often. Setting the bar too high or too low for yourself can cause problems.

I quote directly from him on “The Goldilocks Approach”:

There’s a Goldilocks approach to content quality that will serve you best. Don’t post useless fluff just to meet a self-imposed posting schedule, but don’t predestine yourself for burnout by setting an impossibly high standard for quality. Neither of those situations are ideal for building a loyal audience.

Instead, set a quality standard that is “just right” for you, in that it leads to consistency in value without risking coming to a dead end before you achieve your blogging goals.

Obviously, one size doesn’t fit all.

We each have to decide what our post frequency will be.  I do usually post at least 5 times a week (unless I’m travelling and sometimes even then!), but often on different days.  My “weekends” or days off are different from other peoples because I do shift work.

My paid work influences the blog a lot. When I do a lot of day shifts not only do I not have time to post because I’m not home 13 or 14 hours a day, but I suffer sleep deprivation too, leaving me mentally uninspired. This isn’t going to change, so I am always going to have periods where I’m really productive, posting a lot, and having interesting/useful posts, and weeks where the posts will be sparser. Having read this, and upon reflection, I want to make the posts on the sparse weeks better value than they have been of late.

I guess the upshot of this is to say, hang in there!

If you’re a blogger, determine what level is right for you.

If you’re a reader of mine, hang in there when I do fewer posts (and possibly a few uninspiring ones), cos if you liked what I did in the past, there’ll be more cool stuff in the future too. I’m still working on the content mix, but will continue to have a dark alternative slant to the fashion, designers, music and clubs. The DIY will be taking a more prominent position, especially as I get more used to filming and editing. (And, heh, hopefully some more exotic destinations are in store, as I discover I can get some more leave booked in soon!)

Blogging is meant to be fun, not all work. I need to remember this and inject a wee bit more humour, as that is what I’m like in real life.

If anyone is reading on this quiet Saturday…what have you liked in the past on this blog and would like to see more of? And/or:  in your own blog, what are you endeavouring to do more posting on, to improve your blog’s quality?

It crept up on me the other day.

OMIGOD, I’VE BECOME A BLOGSLOB!

Blogslob: one who spends an inordinate amount of time on own blog, other blogs, twitter, facebook, google analytics etc etc…to the point where she is neglecting household duties (and possibly personal hygiene).

As evidenced by:
* the clothes washed by my husband piling up on the spare bed,
* the fashion magazines piling up on the couch (forcing me to sit further and further up it to watch tv),
* dishes sitting in the dishwasher,
* recycling starting to peep out of the top of the baskets,
* make-up/lenses/hair products piling up on the bathroom sink…need I go on?

Not that all chores are mine to do…but as I’ve been making a lot of the untidiness, I oughtta be clearing it up.

Sigh.

Nor have I been making time to do the creative stuff that’s in my head – millinery projects such as the pillbox I wanna make.
Nor have I been exercising.
Nor socialising, except on Friday/Sat nights at bars/clubs.

Yesterday I started my get-back-into-life strategy. After all, one has to have a rounded life or the blog will get boring, no?

• While waiting for husband to get home I tidied the loungeroom. Tidying – tick.
• I went running with my husband before dinner. Exercise – tick.
• After showers (personal hygiene – tick), we met up with a friend for dinner at the Coopers Arms. Socialising – tick.
• This morning, I spent 40 minutes cleaning the kitchen (and you have no idea how much I hate doing that). Cleaning – tick.
• Then I did some online banking, paying bills and the like. Finances – tick.
• After this, I’m going through the mounds of clothes on the spare bed, to get it ready for UK guest coming on Sunday. Tidying and houseproudness – tick.

Anyway, you get the drift.

Previous attempts to limit my time on the internet have failed – I give myself an hour and then have to be off, but when the hour comes, I blythely keep going. The only thing that seems to work for me, certainly when it comes to home  maintenance, is an enforced goal like a guest coming.

And luckily for me, my husband is now getting into the fitness thing. I’ve been going running without him for the past few years, so him coming on board makes it a bit easier to decide when I’m dithering, to just GO. The next 2 days I’m at work anyway, so the blog will just have to wait (or perhaps I can prepare some posts tonight in readiness, heh).

How do you cope with the challenge of fitting blogging into your everyday life? How do you ensure it doesn’t take up all your waking hours?