Limited Resources – Nothing can get you more than 24hours a day, 7Days a Week, and 52Weeks in a year, and you are expected to keep up with your work, your personal life, spend time with your loved ones & get some sleep in this limited time. This can sometimes be physically challenging and leaves you asking for more.
Inspite of all these challenges, having a full time job on hand, a family with a lovely wife and a wonderful kid, I somehow got pulled into this world of “blogosphere” to become one among the millions already blogging away to glory. My blog allowed me to express my views regarding various topics from different domains, I felt at ease writing out my thoughts and opinions without having to impress anyone or having to seek guidance from anyone. This is what I really liked, today anyone can become an author, write an eBook and publish it in matter of days if they have the potential. The world of internet and particularly “blogging” has opened up a can of unlimited opportunities to a common man who can be heard across the world. Blogosphere has put the saying “The Pen is Mightier than the Sword” to a reality.
Challenges of Blogging – Blogging is demanding, it is like handling multiple jobs if you have one that requires you to devote 8hours of your day for a paycheck at the end of the week. At this juncture, your blog becomes a part-time habit which may not be yielding much of an income to your household. Yet, it is demanding, you need to be real, original, unique and most importantly – ‘regular’. There will be times when you will feel it is time to give up and quit your blog. Those are the days of your biggest challenge, to give up will be easy and returns back a normal life to you. But however, the comeback at this point of your blogging requires a lot of physical and mental stamina. There are several day-to-day tasks that a blogger is required to perform like the ones below:
Research & Write
Responding to Guest Comments & Authors
Improve your Blog Design and Layout
Follow your niche writers
Read and Comment on blogs that you follow
Analyze your blog statistics, moderate & avoid spams
Keep up-to-date information on your niche
Market your blog
Read about various plugins and gizmos that come into the internet world everyday
Implement new features in your blog
And many more of these, and all this requires a lot of time on the internet and leads to a lot of physical and emotional stress. This may cause what is called the ‘blogger burnout’ phase of your blog where you need to keep going no matter what. But all this adds up to the pressure and leads to unhealthy habits.
Revenue from Blogs – As a startup blogger, you will be excited to fill your blog with post after post, read more articles, share your thoughts, and also write more and more unique articles to draw more traffic and retain the regular visitors. I do know that these newbie bloggers do not make much money from their blogs and this adds to the toil. Once a small trickle of visitors get started, and also those PPC programs start yielding a small but steady income, you will be inclined to spend even more time at the computer, trying to be that first person to post a guest article on a reputed blog, get more traffic, and all this have adverse affect on one’s health and personal life. The revenue from your blog can act as a source of inspiration but at the same time, it also is a devil’s advocate to say that you need to maintain a balance in your life.
Health Trends – When you tend to spend more time blogging, you obviously end up burning that midnight oil, staying up late, getting less than 5hours of sleep, drinking a lot of coffee at odd hours of the night, losing sight of food intake, dont care about the nutritional aspects of your diet, and may even resort to smoking. Read more on some good computer ergonomic practices in my other blog here – Computer Ergonomics. These are what one should be aware of and have a strict discipline in life, have a strong will power and maintain a diligent routine. I have stayed up late hours, never realizing the amount of time it takes to just read a few articles and write a post. I know of people who have messed up their personal lives for blogging, these are extreme situations, but sometimes bloggers do fall prey to such things in life.
Strike a Balance – I love blogging, I love my job, and I love my family. I always strive towards striking that perfect balance between all these three important facts in my life. I have come to realize that blogging is a supplement to my life, and my life doesnt have to revolve around my blog. Taking good care of yourself is of utmost importance and I hope all you bloggers out there are doing the same.
Is your Blog allowing you to strike that balance? Have you maintained a strict schedule of your daily tasks? Is your health in anyway compromised as a result of blogging? Let me know what you feel by leaving a comment.
Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
RSS
You are right Praveen. I realized that it’s taking toll on my personal life and restricted post frequency to no more than 5-6 posts a month. When I started it was like 20 posts a month 🙂
Thanks Ajith, for reading my blog and for the comment. I am in those initial days, where there is great motivation and enthusiasm to write more and get more content build up. I was reading a couple of articles about this affecting personal life and it made me take a step back and review.
Praveen. Nice flow of thoughts which shows your expertise about blogging skills and how it keeps you busy. Good one. Keep going.
Thanks Mani
[…] my previous post (read here), I had briefed about the various health hazards that a blogger maybe succumbed to in his/her path […]
I agree! My blog takes a lot of time from me. But balancing truly makes it even more fun. Perhaps during the first months of the blog, the blogger may need to focus his attention and energy to it but later on, it should just go on smoothly.
Hi Praveen,
Nice and very helpful post for bloggers 🙂
Woah… Blogging is a lot of work and keeping up with other aspects of our life is another big challenge if we are really fond of doing it no matter as a business or hobby. Sometimes I wonder how folks have multiple blogs mate. You gonna spill the beans on it? 😉
You know, at first we tend to think blogging is about writing and writing only, but then we realize how complicated it can be with all the activities come along. Traffic, relationships, quality, integrity and lot more to think about. I prefer to make it simple and not to pressure myself to do it because I have to mate 😉
It’s not my objective to earn through blogging but my services 🙂 But health is very important factor I’m thinking more in this year Praveen. Don’t wanna sacrifice my health and suffer all my life 😉
Cheers…
Mayura recently posted…What is Google PageRank?
Mayura – Thanks for stopping by dude. Yes, this was one of my older posts which I thought needed some more attention, and thus brought it back up to my home page.
There are many bloggers who have multiple blogs, yes it is difficult to maintain, and especially when we have a full time job apart from blogging, it becomes really a pain.
It does take a lot to maintain a blog and make it happen out there, we really need to make sure that we do not foresake our health in order to keep it going. Personal time and family time should never be compromised is what I think.
Take care of your health and keep your blog alive bro.
Praveen Rajarao recently posted…Working out how best to fund your perfect getaway
Yes, balance is important. You’ve definitely got to get away from the computer occasionally. Even better if you get out in the fresh air.
I do a lot of walking. It relaxes me generally. But I also find I come up with some great ideas when I’m out there in the sunshine. So when I log in again I’ve got lots of new stuff to write about.
Matt Hayden recently posted…Social media is time consuming but worthwhile
I’m searching for this kind of article from about 2 hours in bing and after a long time I get it here which really helpful for me to make one of my assignment. I read out this article very carefully and perceived the information and logic you mentioned. I will try to use this in my career. Hope, you continue you writing. Waiting to get more for awesome informative article from you.
Dewan Sohan recently posted…http://www.seek.com.au – search job in Australia | best job site
Hi Praveen – as you know from my recent post, this is something that I struggle with. It’s very difficult to find that balance, particularly when you’re just starting and have so much to learn.
This is a helpful reminder to all bloggers that you have to look after yourself as well as your blog!
Sue
Sue Neal recently posted…A Killer Strategy to Increase Productivity AND Keep You Fit
Sue – Thanks for reading my article and leaving your comment. Yes, maintaining a proper vigil on our daily routines is very important when we are blogging.
It takes a huge amount of our day and if we do not manage our time properly, then it may lead to un-healthy habits, thus affecting our lifestyle adversely.
Have a healthy blogging life!!!
Praveen Rajarao recently posted…Four Gadgets that Can Improve Your Lifestyle