You may have noticed I’ve been quiet recently. In fact I’ve been more than quiet I’ve been absent.
This wasn’t a planned summer break, in fact it is the opposite of what I’d planned. During our two week holiday I’d intended to plan and draft posts and then in the following (child-free) two weeks I was going to write lots of posts.
This isn’t the first time I’ve had a break from my blog (not surprising perhaps in nine years). In face it is not even the longest break I’ve had, that was in 2011 when I had a break of about three months. However, I think this current break has been beneficial because I’ve moved past the guilt of self imposed expectations to consider if I’m really happy with how I’m spending my time.
During the years I’ve been blogging I’ve read lots of tips such as post frequently and regularly, and combined with my love of spreadsheets and tracking I’m always looking to do more and be better (there is so much I want to do for this blog such as post more often on Facebook and even start a podcast). This has meant I’m trying to achieve something I can’t describe or even know if I actually want to achieve it, and I spend a long time trying to do more that it is having a detrimental impact on my non-digital life.
Don’t get me wrong I’m not planning on going on a digital detox or stopping this blog, because I love digital far too much for that, however I am going to reconsider how I spend my time – do I actually want to do all these things and if so can I do them quicker, smarter or more efficiently.
Three things I’ve realised are
- I’ve tried to make this blog too much into a process where I’m planning what I’m going to publish in advance, outline, draft and write – I think this has resulted in me losing the emotion and excitement of writing
- I’m bombarded with information, some I find interesting and some I don’t, and I’ve got lost in digital information to the point where I’m feeling overwhelmed
- All my devices are almost full of data so run very slow and it takes ages to do any task
So what does this mean for the future of this blog? I don’t know. I don’t even know when I’ll back again (although I’ve got lots I want to share so I hope to be back soon). I’m going to start with the following tasks with the hope that once I’ve achieved these I’ll be able to blog efficiently within a balanced digital / non-digital life:
- Reassessing my prioirities
- Reducing digital notifications
- Speeding up devices by reducing files
Have you ever felt lost in the digital world? What are your tips for dealing with digital distractions?
I’m not a blogger – well I have blog I have posted on one in the last 3 years! But I do understand the digital overwhelm feeling.
Most acutely it is photos. I have so many and I want to make photo books and print some but the task feels too big. We are also going away and I need to free up space on my phone for more photos but again, 4800+ on there it is scary!
I also have non-photo files scattered on different laptops and thumb drives and Google drive.
I currently have over 500 unread personal emails.
I’m pretty organised at work (not perfect) but home seems to be the opposite.
I need to work out how to manage facebook better. Maybe unfollow a few feeds on there too.
If I have a tip it’s go through and unsubscribe to marketing emails that you don’t really bother with.
Hello Claire,
Thank you for your comment and advice. I’m sorry for the delay in responding to you obviously I’m still working on sorting my digital life. I have started unsubscribing from email subscriptions, but photographs and digital scrap booking supplies are a bit issue for me as well. I have so many they slow my computer down so it becomes harder to do anything. I keep sorting through files but add more them quicker than I remove them! I know what you mean about having files scattered across several places, I keep finding more places that I need to check for duplicate copies of the same file.
It’s so funny you replied today! After reading your lastest blog post I started following your Facebook page.
I’m not any better by the way and have a three week Florida holiday’s worth of photos to organise since then!
Thank you for following me on Facebook please let me know what you like me posting on there as I’m still working it out.
I’ve sorted several events out on my computer, but I know I have at least two more on my camera. Of course the only way to deal with it is to just get on with it, but it’s such a big task it feels daunting.
Good luck with your holiday pictures.
I’ve started cleaning up my photos, but it’s taking some time. It has definitely helped getting a new laptop, it’s so fast in comparison.
I think the big thing about social media and blogging is to ignore what the expectation is. I have a whole load of blogging expert training and articles to read, and they’re all in a to read folder. I just never get round to sorting it out. Of course, my views could be so much better, but I enjoy my blogging because I do it the way I want. Of course, I’d love another 6 hours in the day to actually do what I need and want to!
Oh photographs, I want to do so much with them and then something else seems to take over my time. I know what you mean about having so many things to read, I sometimes don’t know where to start so don’t do anything which is not going to help me get better! I can’t decide which is the best approach to spend a large amount of time working on one thing to get as much done as possible or to do a little bit every day so I develop the habit.
How funny, I am just reading this as I re-enter the world of social media and blogging after a self-imposed 6 week break, which I absolutely loved! I think there is a lot of guilt attached with blogging – not blogging enough, not commenting enough on others’ blog posts etc, I’m working on letting myself off the guilt trips. I hope you got a good break one way or another x
A 6 week break, now that is a serious break. I didn’t go hard core, but I have pulled back from social media and blogging over the last few months and although I’ve started doing both again it is at a slow pace and when I want to do it without the guilt (hence the late reply to your comment). It is something I’m still working on to get the right balance.