Why Burnout is A Real Thing
I cannot believe that back in 2018, I was trying to publish blog posts weekly, or twice weekly! What was the workaholic in me thinking??
It is so hard to generate good, evergreen and trending content that relates to your audience, but is also something you actually want published on the internet. I ended up reaching a point where the burnout became too real, and my inspiration was running on the shortest fuse. There are a lot of contributing factors to my burnout, which is what I wanted to discuss today here on Inspired by Diane. If you are curious to learn more about my burnout and how I have come back more creative and confident in my blog, then keep reading!
Let me compare my burnout to this analogy - you are trying to light a candle with the tiniest wick. And every time you try to light the wick, it sparks a flame for a few seconds and then it puts itself out. That is how creating blog content has been for me the past month or so. I wanted to create content for my readers (however many or few there are out there) that I resonated with, but was also relatable for others. None of my blog post ideas really "stuck" and it got me really frustrated.
I was making my own rigid blogging schedule, and it just was not realistic. I wanted to put out a new blog post every Saturday, rotating between my blog categories of life, wellness and food. And throughout the weekdays, I wanted to publish cute photos & graphics on the @inspiredbydianeblog Instagram page to correlate with that weekend's blog post. But between having a full-time job with working overtime, training a 14-week-old puppy, making quality time for my husband and also making some relaxing time for myself, blogging just didn't fit in the schedule.
Before we got our sweet puppy, Nori, I was in a pretty good routine of coming home from work, relaxing, eating dinner, and then working on blog content until I was done for the day. But now, the second I get home I am entertaining my 14-week-old puppy and my 5-year-old dog, since my husband has been home with them all day & needs a break. If you are a new puppy parent, you can relate with the fear of your dog squatting down with the possibility of a potty break inside the house. My anxiety skyrockets when I notice Nori sniffing around, since she is a Hound mix, since I am constantly on the lookout to see what she is eating or getting into.
Putting the puppy aside, I was just not in the right mindset daily and weekly to put out blog posts that I was confident with, and that I knew others were interested in reading. So I took a break. A month long break, in fact. I didn't realize it was a month until I looked at the last time a blog post was published, which was May 30th, 2021. All I was thinking during my month long break was to let the inspiration come to me, because in my mind, looking for inspiration will only get you so far. I started listening to some blogging podcasts & started following other like-minded creators on Instagram and my creative wheels starting turning again.
I was under so much of my own pressure to put out blog content weekly, and I don't think that is feasible with my current lifestyle and daily responsibilities. I think it is more manageable for me to post a new blog post every two weeks (once in the middle of the month, and once at the end/beginning of the month). This way, I can put more effort into my graphic creation, content creation, copy writing, and networking on social media to grow my exposure for my blog.
I would love to, one day, make blogging my full-time job, and have it be my career where I publish inspirational content for others & get paid to do it all. That would be an absolute dream!! But until that day, blogging will be my part-time job when I am off-hours from my full-time job. If you have made it to this point in the blog post, I sincerely appreciate your attention span to read my rambling thoughts. This post has been more of a diary entry than anything — but it has been so relieving to say exactly what has been on my mind the past few weeks that I have been bottling up inside.
Thank you to all of my amazing readers & supporters of Inspired by Diane, who continue to push me to create content that makes you say "yeah, I was Inspired by Diane."
If you have any blog post recommendations for me? Or content that you would like to see more of?
Please let me know in the comments, or on social media! My DM's are always open on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
