“Boredom is the conviction that you can’t change … the shriek of unused capacities.” – Saul Bellow
When you were a kid, did your parents ever tell you off for complaining that you were bored?
The standard view of boredom is that intelligent, active people have no place giving in to it – that we should all have the mental resources inside ourselves to stave off boredom, managing to find enough to do with our time to occupy our minds without succumbing.
However, this view of boredom doesn’t factor in the feeling you get when you are forced to repeat a task again and again, running out of passion and enthusiasm, without being able to do anything differently.
Let’s be honest. Sometimes, blogging can be boring.
It’s late in the evening, you’ve been slogging away at your laptop or PC all day, you’ve been dealing with irate customers, you’re tired. You want nothing more than to shut down, escaping the office in favor of some family or downtime.
But your needy, hungry, neglected blog beckons.
It’s like a whining child, demanding attention. You know you need to get your act together and produce an interesting, lively article or video post. But the thought of it makes you drag your feet, put your head in your hands and wish you could be anywhere else rather than coming up with a new idea.
It’s pretty much the same with any repetitive activity. No matter how much passion you have for your subject, and how dedicated you are, blogging blues will hit you every once in a while. It’s at this very point that some of the most dedicated bloggers out there turn away and let their blogs lie neglected, losing readers and missing out on potential customers because they can’t muster up the enthusiasm to break through the blues barrier.
Just as with any other activity, though, it’s simple enough to break through to the other side and come out on top. If you were bored eating the same thing ever night, you’d vary the menu. If you got tired of wearing the same clothes? You’d invest in a new wardrobe. It’s the same with blogging. If you’re fed up, and you’re losing your enthusiasm, it’s time to change things up.
Take these five simple steps to revolutionize your take on blogging and rekindle your passion again:
1) Switch Subjects
If you’ve done a particular topic to death, not only will you be bored of writing about it, your readers will be bored of hearing about it too. Expand your horizons, branch out in to a new area and switch to a different subject related to your industry. You’ll get a new lease of life as you discover new subjects, and your blog will get a much-needed boost too.
When you were a kid, did your parents ever tell you off for complaining that you were bored?
The standard view of boredom is that intelligent, active people have no place giving in to it – that we should all have the mental resources inside ourselves to stave off boredom, managing to find enough to do with our time to occupy our minds without succumbing.
However, this view of boredom doesn’t factor in the feeling you get when you are forced to repeat a task again and again, running out of passion and enthusiasm, without being able to do anything differently.
Let’s be honest. Sometimes, blogging can be boring.
It’s late in the evening, you’ve been slogging away at your laptop or PC all day, you’ve been dealing with irate customers, you’re tired. You want nothing more than to shut down, escaping the office in favor of some family or downtime.
But your needy, hungry, neglected blog beckons.
It’s like a whining child, demanding attention. You know you need to get your act together and produce an interesting, lively article or video post. But the thought of it makes you drag your feet, put your head in your hands and wish you could be anywhere else rather than coming up with a new idea.
It’s pretty much the same with any repetitive activity. No matter how much passion you have for your subject, and how dedicated you are, blogging blues will hit you every once in a while. It’s at this very point that some of the most dedicated bloggers out there turn away and let their blogs lie neglected, losing readers and missing out on potential customers because they can’t muster up the enthusiasm to break through the blues barrier.
Just as with any other activity, though, it’s simple enough to break through to the other side and come out on top. If you were bored eating the same thing ever night, you’d vary the menu. If you got tired of wearing the same clothes? You’d invest in a new wardrobe. It’s the same with blogging. If you’re fed up, and you’re losing your enthusiasm, it’s time to change things up.
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| Great Tips For Beating Blogging Blues |
1) Switch Subjects
If you’ve done a particular topic to death, not only will you be bored of writing about it, your readers will be bored of hearing about it too. Expand your horizons, branch out in to a new area and switch to a different subject related to your industry. You’ll get a new lease of life as you discover new subjects, and your blog will get a much-needed boost too.
2) Get Learning
Nothing sparks enthusiasm more than learning about a new subject. If you’re feeling jaded, take some time out to learn a new slant on your industry specialism. Take a class, research online, talk to people and figure out a way you can approach your area of interest from a whole new angle. You’ll get new ideas, and a lot more enthusiasm once you have a head crammed with interesting new facts.
Nothing sparks enthusiasm more than learning about a new subject. If you’re feeling jaded, take some time out to learn a new slant on your industry specialism. Take a class, research online, talk to people and figure out a way you can approach your area of interest from a whole new angle. You’ll get new ideas, and a lot more enthusiasm once you have a head crammed with interesting new facts.
3) Take A Break
By this, I mean go out there and find someone who can blog on your behalf. If you hate plastering, you don’t slog away doing a bad job – you hire someone in to do it for you. If you really need a break from your blog, leave it with someone you trust and let them keep it going for you, while you head off to work out exactly why you’ve got so jaded with your business that you can’t bring yourself to write about it anymore.
By this, I mean go out there and find someone who can blog on your behalf. If you hate plastering, you don’t slog away doing a bad job – you hire someone in to do it for you. If you really need a break from your blog, leave it with someone you trust and let them keep it going for you, while you head off to work out exactly why you’ve got so jaded with your business that you can’t bring yourself to write about it anymore.
4) Check Out Your Competition
If you’ve been doing the same old thing week after week on your site, the chances are things have moved on in the industry since you last did some decent research to get new ideas. Take a sneaky peek at what your top rivals online are doing, to generate some decent ideas and rekindle your zest for writing about your subject. If it suits, try a different approach such as images or vlogging to get a break from articles, choosing new subjects and evolving your li st of subjects to tackle.
If you’ve been doing the same old thing week after week on your site, the chances are things have moved on in the industry since you last did some decent research to get new ideas. Take a sneaky peek at what your top rivals online are doing, to generate some decent ideas and rekindle your zest for writing about your subject. If it suits, try a different approach such as images or vlogging to get a break from articles, choosing new subjects and evolving your li st of subjects to tackle.
5) Get Feedback From Those Who Matter Most
If you have the blogging blues, this may well be translating across in to your site, leaving your readers wondering what’s up. Instead of ditching your blog and ignoring the problem, come clean online and ask your readers for ideas, suggestions, guest posts and input in to how you can shake things up and make your site more interesting for them. The very fact that people care enough to respond should start that old familiar spark of enthusiasm, reminding you why you are doing the blog in the first place, and just how many people rely on you to make it work.
It’s natural at times to lose your enthusiasm for blogging, either because of the activity itself, or because your passion for your industry and niche has gone stale. The trick is to try the tips above and work to turn things around, giving both you and your blog a much-needed shake up to do things differently, and better, in future.
If you have the blogging blues, this may well be translating across in to your site, leaving your readers wondering what’s up. Instead of ditching your blog and ignoring the problem, come clean online and ask your readers for ideas, suggestions, guest posts and input in to how you can shake things up and make your site more interesting for them. The very fact that people care enough to respond should start that old familiar spark of enthusiasm, reminding you why you are doing the blog in the first place, and just how many people rely on you to make it work.
It’s natural at times to lose your enthusiasm for blogging, either because of the activity itself, or because your passion for your industry and niche has gone stale. The trick is to try the tips above and work to turn things around, giving both you and your blog a much-needed shake up to do things differently, and better, in future.