Today is the last day of all the previous days of our lives. And also of Book Blogger Appreciation Week! Brought to you by the lovely ladies of The Estella Society.
Anyway, today's topic is how to avoid blogger burnout. I don't often get blogger burnout, I think because I'm so casual about this blog. I take on minimal commitments and only do things I'm excited about and interested in. Blogging is a hobby, and there's a thin line between being super passionate about a hobby–which is the best–and not having fun with it anymore but feeling like you HAVE to do it, which is the worst.
That said, there was a period about four years ago where I wasn't getting burned out exactly, but I was bored and frustrated with my blogging. I wasn't enjoying it anymore or getting everything out of it that I wanted. So... and this sounds crazy...
I started two new blogs!
Starting a new blog to combat blogger burnout may seem counterintuitive, but for me it worked. It provided me with new challenges, new stuff to read and learn about, and injected some much-needed excitement into my blogging.
While I don't think starting a new blog is the answer for everyone, there are some general lessons to extrapolate from my experience:
- Dig deep and look at what are the causes of your burnout. Are you bored or overcommitted? Why isn't it fun anymore?
- What do you want out of blogging in general? Why did you start blogging and, if the reasons you're blogging have changed, in what specific ways?
- Finally, look for ways to get more of what you want out of blogging while decreasing stressors. Maybe you just need to take a break, maybe you need to stop accepting ARCs or reformat how you write posts. Maybe you need to move on to something bigger and better. It's up to you.
So, that's my advice, for what it's worth. I hope you all enjoyed BBAW 2016 and don't get burned out any time soon!
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