Blogging is suppose to be fun and that is pretty much why I started it. However, it also takes a lot of work and creative ideas. After 3 years I am starting to feel like I need to take a step back to move forward. When the crash of my blog happened I went back to “normal” life. I was in a bit of a panic but I went about every day as if I didn’t have a blog because technically I didn’t. I got very lazy and almost thought maybe this isn’t something I want to do anymore. Blogging is a lot of work regardless of how fun it is supposed to be. If you sort of fade out for a few weeks you can see your comments will start to fade away as well. I have noticed that a lot lately and I don’t blame anyone, I tend to not visit people who aren’t consistent on posts.
These last few weeks I have tried so hard to catch up and it seems that I almost don’t want to. Instead I would rather just move forward. Don’t panic, moving forward doesn’t mean I am leaving my blog. I love my blog. I hope to do this forever and always. I love reviewing and reading and chatting and commenting on blogs, everything that is involved with blogging, I love. What I mean by moving forwardΒ is not worrying so much about catching up and just posting when I can. I want and need things to be more consistent so maybe the next few weeks I will have only 3 posts but that is only because I am moving forward and thinking that I will just get April full of fun stuff and posts the next three weeks when and if I can. This is supposed to be fun and not feel like a job but in reality it is a lot more work than someone who doesn’t blog would realize. These last few months have made me realize I can do a better balance of blog and real life with a realistic schedule and some breaks in between. Plus if I fall behind it’s not the end of the world, just skip a week and move forward. So I am not thinking so much about catching up more about moving forward at a steady pace that I am comfortable with because those that enjoy your blog will stick around no matter what and those that don’t, well I hate to see you go, but it is what it is. We all have lives outside of the blog and sometimes it just gets in the way, that’s not a bad thing, it’s just how it is.
I am hoping to be able to move forward on the blog and be a lot more active. I have a schedule that I have been doing for the last two weeks (like a trial run) and it seems to work pretty damn good, so I am going to try it this week for real and see how I do.
How do you handle trying to catch up or are you more of a person that just moves forward?
Thanks for stopping by!
Have a great week!

I think we’ve all been there! I know this comment is coming in late but that’s because I’m catching up on my Feedly. I’m so glad I kept this one. I’ve been struggling with that for awhile myself. My blog was marked as “hacked” by Google because its bots could see a spam link that no one else could see. It wasn’t accessible to my readers or anything. The only way to safely extract it was to take down the entire thing and build it back up or pay someone $200 to do it so I know EXACTLY what you are going through. I went through that exact same thought process.
Two months later and I’m glad I stuck to it. I love blogging and it is a ton of work but the friendships I’ve made through it are so precious to me. I know I’m a newer face commenting on your blog but from the posts I’ve read, I’m glad you decided to stick around!
That is totally fine π I always tend to catch posts a week or two after they post. I am just rather slow lol.
Oh that sounds awful! It’s like the entire world stopped I didn’t know what to do with myself. I realized if I don’t blog I will be do bored π
I am glad I stuck it out also and I found that just not worrying has made me feel so much better. I am glad you stopped by to comment, I love chatting with people π I will be sure to stop by your blog and say hello!
I’ve been in a slump lately. Blogging stopped being fun so I’ve scaled back, hoping to rejuvenate myself. In the past I’ve tried to catch up but now I’m trying to move forward. That feels less stressful. I hope you enjoy blogging again!
I try to catch up when I have to be ‘away’ for any reason, Michelle – like the last few weeks. π I’ve been busy with my kids and doing an editing job for an author and I’ve not been very present. And I noticed a decrease of visits on my blog. But I also have to say it was kinda liberating to focus on something other than my blog and commenting. So I get where you’re coming from. It’s all so difficult to balance, isn’t it? I want to keep blogging fun but it has become a ‘job’ of sorts. I do know I miss chatting with my friends when I’m away though…..
BTW, I went to link up my My TBR Winner post and got a message saying your post didn’t exist.
That is probably my main reason for loving the blog…all my friends. I can’t picture not doing this and not having everyone comment and chat with. It almost makes me panic a little. I love reading blogs and seeing what everyone is reading or read and how the week is going (sunday post) That makes it so much fun. I just need to stop taking it so seriously and start having fun again.
I will check to see what that is.
I completely understand where you are coming from. I keep trying to remind myself I don’t have to have something scheduled each and every day. Has that worked? Eh, I still fight myself to not fill everyday with something on the blog. But I am planning on taking a month off this summer, so we will see. π Good Luck!
I get really bummed if I don’t have something every day but I figured if I try to catch up I will never get a full week planned so moving forward I might actually start getting full weeks of posts just have to sacrifice a few along the way.
Hey Michelle…. I just found your blog because I saw you comment on another blog and I was like YAY FOR MORE MICHELLES!!!! You should definitely not stress about it…. I’ve seen so many people quit bc they go so hard and get burnt out. I just go with the flow & have fun with it. I’ve been blogging for 4 years and I almost NEVER have anything scheduled ahead of time. I know a lot of bloggers would lose their mind if they blogged that way, but that’s what’s fun for me. I find time to write a post and I post it π Hope things work out for you!!
Michelle’s really are the BESTEST EVER! π
You are totally like me, it must be a Michelle thing but when real life gets crazy I need to get more organized otherwise it’s like chaos lol.
I agree with the other comments, it’s not worth stressing over. Move ahead and don’t worry about catching up so much. It is supposed to be fun if they were paying us to do this that would be different but no one is lol (unless you’re one of the lucky few making money from this π so yeah I say do what works and the rest will work out. π
I never started this to make money. If it one day does great but otherwise I am just here for the fun and good friends that I have made π
Sounds like you are on the right track, Michelle. You have to do what works best for you. Blogging should be fun. π
I am, I think this is the best thing to do. I don’t want to not do my blog. I love it π
When it doesn’t feel fun anymore, it’s a good time to reevaluate things. Hope you figure it all out. π
Thanks, Stormi! ox
I definitely agree about moving forward. You could work on getting caught up forever and still not feel like you’ve made progress. Moving forward is the way to go! I’m glad you’re not going anywhere!
Thanks Katherine and I agree. I don’t want to play catch up anymore, it stresses me out π
I staggered my schedule and it became more relaxed and fun again. I have gotten behind on replying to comments on my blog, but I’ve been trying to get caught up a bit each day on those. If I can. Otherwise I’m just going to let them go and move forward. And while I do visit blogs most days I rarely leave a comment because I just don’t have the time. But I do want to read the posts. So, I’m the ninja visitor. π Plus, I’m not sure what my schedule will be like in a few weeks if or when we start babysitting the grandkids. So now’s the time to get books read and scheduled ahead. There may be big changes this year or with hubby and 3 teens to help it may not change much at all. Won’t know until it happens. π
I need a more relaxed schedule and what I did recently has helps.
I am also a ninja visitor, I tend to like to share stuff on Twitter just so people know I was there but sometimes I just can’t comment.
Last year I started doing that and it really does make it fun again. I post when I can and don’t feel an overall pressure to be consistent. I would rather it be fun than a chore.
I am hoping so, I just feel so burned out and I think that for me I need to stay productive to be productive however I also canβt stress if I miss a day, or a week. It happens π