As with most hobbies that require constant attention, blogging can be difficult to maintain sometimes. It’s not easy to do the same thing routinely, all the while trying to pump out new ideas and talk about new topics – sometimes you’re just not feeling the creativity, and sometimes you just don’t have the motivation to keep going. Inspiration can come and go, but you don’t always need the inspiration to write – just the drive. Motivation is something you can pursue, and while it can be hard to keep up, you don’t have to be without it.
There are plenty of other people who have the same struggles when blogging, so it would help to learn how they keep their motivation up, making it possible to keep on churning out something you used to be enthusiastic about.
Remember why you’re doing this
Everyone has a reason for starting their blog originally, and that’s usually when it’s the most exciting. Maybe you wanted to share your interests with others, maybe you wanted to earn some money on the side, or maybe you just wanted somewhere to put down your thoughts and feelings. Whatever the case, it was reason enough to get you started in the first place, and it might be important to think about what got you going initially in case you’ve strayed from that reason.
If you come to realize you’ve gone off track on the idea that used to excite you, it’s time to think about how you can bring that back. What about blogging would excite you enough to start writing again?
Set aside some time
Sometimes the most difficult part of writing is getting started. Putting the time aside and actually writing something can feel almost impossible, especially when you’ve been so busy. It might be a great idea to book some time off on your calendar. Tell people you’re busy for that timeslot, and only have your blog in front of you. The reason you’ve not been able to blog is that you haven’t been able to sit down and think about what you want to blog about, but when it’s just you and your blog – you might find it much easier to get going.
Better yet, turn it into a schedule or a habit. Try to get to it at the same time each day, and remove all of your distractions, and before you know it – you’re used to doing it at the same time each day, and getting it done is much easier for you. It’s no longer something you have to fight against, and you’ll be back on track to striving toward your blog goals in a matter of weeks or even days. Everyone has their own pace, and it’s important to find yours if you’re going to make progress without burning out.
Seek inspiration elsewhere
If you only read your own blog and don’t ever look to others, it can be hard to feel inspired to keep it up. As with most creative hobbies, seeking inspiration in what others are doing can really help to drive you. Looking at what others are doing can give you many ideas on different things.
You could feel inspired by their work ethic, giving you the motivation to continue with your blog, or you might find inspiration in the content they’re putting out. Either way, it’s a great way to feel inspired about your own blog. Sometimes it helps to feel reminded of the passion that you had for your blog, through someone else’s passion.
Don’t compare yourself to other bloggers
Seeking inspiration from other bloggers is great, but you shouldn’t compare yourself to them any further. Everyone has a different background, lives a different lifestyle, and has different abilities – so if you’re considering beating yourself up over someone having a better blog than you, you’re wasting your time. The grass is always greener on the other side, and while you might really appreciate someone else’s work, there’s a chance that you’re being overly critical of your own.
Comparing yourself to others is a slippery slope, and it’s important to remember that you’re your own person, with your own talents. Others might feel the same about your work, and it’s usually a matter of perspective.
Monetization
For many people, making money is one of the main motivators for starting a blog, and it can really help when maintaining motivation. However, if you’ve started your blog and haven’t yet taken opportunities to monetize it, because you feel it’s not ready – now might be the time. Having that income could push you to work harder for your blog, as you’ll likely see a bigger income as a result.
If you’re a perfectionist, there’s a chance it’s never going to be at the point where you feel it’s ready to be monetized, so the sooner you consider it, the better. It could help to look into other monetized blogs and see how their quality holds up to yours. It’s likely that there are plenty of blogs of a similar quality to yours that are already making an income, and that alone should be a pretty good motivator.
You have to remember, that if you’re not consistent with your blogging, then it’s going to mess with your income. It makes it much easier to make time for it when you know that you’re going to be losing money if you don’t.
Set realistic goals
It can feel pretty demotivating if you’re not meeting the goals that you’ve set for yourself. Maybe you had a quota you wanted to meet, or a certain number of readers per piece, or a certain date – these aren’t always factors you can control. There are often other factors that need to be considered, and it’s not worth feeling crushed over something that you couldn’t have prevented. Instead, make sure the goals that you set yourself are realistic and achievable if you put in the work. This way, when you reach one of your goals, you’ll feel that sense of accomplishment, rather than the sense of failure that so many set themselves up for.
If you’ve set yourself a ridiculous quota for a certain amount of blogs before a certain date, then you’re likely going to feel like you’re overworking yourself. There’s only so much creativity you can put in at once, and while that differs from person to person – it helps to save some of those ideas. If you’re going to produce content consistently, write the ideas down, and then put them out when the time is right. Having a huge backlog of blogs to upload can really help you to feel more relaxed about your blog, as you won’t be stuck for ideas.
Celebrate your goals
Once you know your goals are achievable through hard work, it helps to actually celebrate them when you meet them. You deserve a reward for your hard work, and while your blog might not reward you straight away, you can still treat yourself. Buy something that you’ve had your eye on, take a day off to spend time doing something you really enjoy – anything that you feel would make you feel rewarded for your hard work.
Treating yourself is something you should do for all forms of accomplishment, and it really helps you to keep up your motivation and inspiration. It doesn’t have to be big, it doesn’t have to be small, so long as you feel happy about what you’ve accomplished.
Remember to take breaks
Working yourself and thinking about your blog day in and day out isn’t a healthy way to go about it. It’s normal to be enthusiastic about the growth of your blog, especially when you want to monetize it – but you’re going to need a break from it at times. It becomes especially difficult when you’re thinking about it while at work, and in your free time. You should be sure that you spend time doing other hobbies as well. Blogging is a great creative outlet, but trying to work too hard on it can leave you feeling burned out.
Take breaks from thinking about your blog, take breaks from writing your blog, and take breaks from reading interactions and analytics about your blog. Taking a break helps you in more ways than one, and it lets you come back to things with a fresh mindset.
Listen to your readers
Often you’ll have readers engage with your content, and they’ll share similar experiences, ask questions, or talk about their interests. These are a great way to get motivation for your next blog posts. Speak with them, learn about them, and understand that these are real people putting the time and effort in to read your blog, and talk to you about it. Your words matter, and the more engage with your readers, the more they’re going to come back. It’s a great motivator, and it helps to get new ideas for your net posts.
