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… Read more »
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… Read more »
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