In October last year, I wrote a post simply titled 'Losing My Blogging Mojo'. I don't think I planned to publish it nor did I have the guts too, but it was more of a cathartic brain dump for me. Now it's 3 months later and I found the post in my drafts and reading it just made me feel a little sad for myself. At the time of writing I wasn't feeling my blog at all, but now it's 2019 - I've redesigned my site and I feel SO much more motivated to get back into this and really give it my all (or as much as I can while still keeping a good balance). I am so glad I feel as those I have a bit of my mojo back.
In saying that, I still want to share what I wrote and the thoughts I was having towards blogging at that time. I want others to know that sometimes you can get in a complete rut with things, but time really is a good healer, as the old cliche goes.
FROM OCTOBER 2018:
"It really is a hard thing to admit, but I think I've lost my blogging mojo. It has been 5 years and when you think about it, that is a long time to be posting at least 3 times a week and keeping up with all the social media, admin etc that comes along with it. In that 5 years, I have finished my second degree, moved cities and started a full-time job where I've been for almost 2 and a half years, all the while keeping up with what I like to call my 'full time/part time' job of being a blogger.
Juggling everything is a difficult task, I want to have a good balance but I find I get home from work and all I want to do is blob around and watch some TV with my boyfriend and get an early night. Lately I have lost the drive to post, even my Instagram content has been falling by the wayside but I think that's another monster to tackle. I can't pinpoint what it is exactly that is making me feel like this. I still love makeup and beauty, don't get me wrong, but there is this block when it comes to writing about it. There is ultimately a feeling of guilt that comes with this; thoughts like I should be posting, I should be sharing that product, I don't want to let the brand/PR down, and I don't want to let my readers down (if there are still any left!) I feel frustrated in myself that I can't quite shake this feeling that has been building up this year.
There are bursts of moments where I feel motivated to write, and in those moments I can get out 2-3 posts. But these are short and fleeting now. I have 20+ drafts sitting and waiting filled with great photos and products I love and want to share but I just can't write about them. It feels deeply overwhelming."
Looking back I was in a pretty shitty place mentally, for no particular reason other than feeling overwhelmed and just a little 'meh'. The best thing I did was really step back and loosen the pressure. Instead of my self imposed strict posting schedule that I had set for myself, I just posted when I felt like it. It may have only been a few posts a month (same with Instagram), but it didn't matter, people were still reading the posts and the time you post doesn't matter at all! The beauty of a blog is that the posts live there forever and can be read at any time, most of the time the content is still relevant, months or even years after it was originally published. I have posts from 4 years ago that bring in consistent traffic every month.
What also helped was speaking to some of my close blogging pals who said they have been through the exact same thing on multiple occasions and said that a break was what they needed. It could be a few days or a week, or it could be months; having a break allows the time to reevaluate why you started, why do you want to continue and what steps moving forward will help you not get into this negative head space again. For me now, I am going to post whenever I feel like it, I'm not going to worry about the numbers or views, and I am going to try and mix things up. I still want to be beauty focused, but I also want to bring in some lifestyle content like I used to do back in the early days of Cassandra Myee. I have also almost finished my very first newsletter which I hope to send out very soon; if you'd like to receive one to your inbox, sign up here. It's going to be a monthly thing and it's something I am so excited about.
So rounding up this very rambling post, the main thing I want you to take away from it is stepping back is a good thing. Take a break, and allow yourself the time and energy to figure out what is important to you. This doesn't just apply to blogging, it literally applies to anything in your life. The start of the year is always a good time to hit refresh.
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