We all know the feeling of waking up with the don’t-feel-like-doing-anything mood. You know the one where you just want to lay in bed and watch stare at the TV.
Then there’s also the horrible feeling of not feeling like blogging. When tweeting is the most about of “blogging” you want to do. And sometimes you don’t even want to do that.
Those moods and feelings suck. The burnout is very real and very annoying.
So here are a few ways to fight it. Fight the burn(out) and regain your motivation.
Find the Cause
Burnouts usually come with a reason. So try to find out why you’re going through a burnout phase. It will make it much easier to get out of the hole once you figure out how you got in it in the first place.
Is it because you’re short on time? Trying to do too much? Too much pressure? Overly stressed out?
Take a Breath (and a Break)
A lot of my burnouts are a direct cause of stress. (And stress related to my poor time management skills, but that’s a story for another time). I’ve found that taking the time to just relax and take a breath helps. A lot.
If you’re still feeling burned out after a while, a break might be needed. I believe in quality over quantity. If you’re not a mood to deliver quality content, then just take a break and find other things to do. Read a book for example. 😉
Shake Things Up
Sometimes burnout strikes because we get tired of doing the same old things every single day, week, month, year. Don’t be afraid to shake up some things.
Try something new. Do something different. Shake up your routine during the day. Change up your blogging schedule. Maybe you usually write posts after lunch and post discussions on Mondays. Try writing posts in the morning (after you’ve had your dose of caffeine, of course) or after dinner. Post your discussion post on Thursday instead.
Focus on Something Else
If you’re not in the right mood to blog, there’s really no point trying to blog. It’ll just make you even more miserable and prolong your burnout. Instead, try other (blog related) things. For example, maybe instead of publishing new content, try promoting your old content more on social media. Start a bookstagram. Pay more attention to your Tumblr.
Share Your Interests and Passions
Blogging cannot be your one and only interest and passion in the whole entire world. What else do you love? You can turn those interests and hobbies into features on your blog. Write a lifestyle post. Do you like makeup? Incorporate in a blog post somehow. Like maybe, which makeup products certain characters would wear. Do you like food? Pair up different foods and books, or something like that. And maybe not all readers will appreciate your new features, but hey, it’s your blog.
Who are you blogging??????
Speaking of readers, I think it’s necessary to mention that you should be blogging for you, and you alone. At least on the most basic level. Try to please yourself before worrying about pleasing readers and other people. Doing the reverse often leads to unhappiness and misery. Trust me, I would know.
Goals
Now that we’ve established that you are blogging for your own benefit, you have to go back and find out why are you blogging and what has been driving your motivation pre-burnout. What were your goals?
If it’s something like getting ARCs and follower count, no wonder why a burnout is in effect. If it’s not something like those two, you’re on the right track. That being said, it is not uncommon to lose sight of goals you set, especially if they take a while to accomplish. So just take a moment and remind yourself why you’re doing this.
Rennovate Old Content and Revisit Old Ideas
If you’re feeling uninspired no matter how much time you spend reading other blog posts and scrolling through Twitter and Pinterest, try looking at your own stuff. Take an old discussion post and write an updated version. Take an old feature, make some changes (or keep it the same, your choice) and restart it. Take an old idea that you never really developed and use it. It’s amazing what you can be inspired by if you know where to look.
What do think?
Do you have any other tips on how to fight burnouts?
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