Finding A Balanced Blogging Routine

{...or blogging}

Ever since I took a little break from blogging a few months ago I have been able to come back with new eyes and a new energy.  In the five years I have been blogging, I have found that posting routinely comes in seasons.  A few months ago I pulled back to posting once a week.  I got a break and came back to my regular three times a week posting.  I had too much content not too.  The funny thing is that I did not find a balance until I stepped back and reassessed.  I looked at my life, my time, and my priorities and had to decide how much was left for blogging.  Surprisingly I have more time than I thought but only because I have made some changes that allows me to go about blogging in a more healthier way.  Here are two things I am doing differently to find a more balanced blogging routine.

1. I have stopped pressuring myself to visit other blogs.
For five years, if you commented on my blog, I commented back.  Five years.  That is a long time and that is a lot of commenting.  Though I credit it for a lot of the growth of my blog (especially in the early years), I had to stop pressuring myself.

Now I have chosen to respond by email if I can and when I have the time and desire, I visit other blogs.  I still love to read, comment, and get to know readers.  But in order to have a healthy overall life as well as not burn out from blogging, I had to let this go.  And I would say these past few months of blogging has been so good for me.  It is so enjoyable and so freeing.  And by not pressuring myself so much I put less weight on the comments I do get.  I love comments.  But my words and my worth were no longer defined by how many I got!  Oh man!  Is it not ridiculous that so much weight is on comments?  I know you are there and I am so grateful for that.  Your comments help fuel my writing and I suppose if I stopped getting comments one day I might question what I am doing, but I have finally decided to not let comments define how I blog...or who I am!  Amen!?

2. Blogging comes second to my life.
Unless there is some sort of deadline I am obligated to, I no longer pressure myself to make blogging a top priority.  My husband, home, housework, and health all come before computer time.  Once I have taken care of all those things for the day, then I log on.  Most days I usually do not get on the computer until the afternoon as I try to take advantage of my mornings to get other things done when I am the most productive.

When I am happy, I am a better blogger.  When I am balanced, blogging doesn't feel like a chore but instead a fun hobby that I look forward to doing when I have the time.  And my blog benefits from it.

// Have you found a balance in your blogging routine?