Maintaining a blog by Tony Green

Blog Key on QWERTY Keyboard

A blog can be a challenge to maintain on a regular basis. I try to keep up writing three separate blogs in my spare time. Blogs maintained for business purposes are easier to justify taking time to create, draft, edit, and polish while you are at work especially if blogging is a key part of your social media strategy.

A personal blog is another matter.  These are typically maintained as a hobby or an interest the author wants to share with the blogosphere. Here are some of the reasons people often stop maintaining personal blogs on a consistent basis.

A full-time job, which is a requirement, if you are not fortunate enough to be able to make a living writing is most likely the biggest reason. If you work in an office a daily commute will be expected, on occasions will be overtime requires in addition to possible travel requirements. More ever, the mental bandwidth which is consumed in many professional position makes pushing blogs forward in your spare time a challenge.

Another reason is, which I will describe as: “life”. Emergencies arise in any family which need to be addressed from time to time, non-emergencies which require energy, in addition to cleaning and maintaining the house.

There are instances where Illness can take a huge role. The flu season is active time during the winter months which results in lost time from either getting over flu or taking care of loved ones while they get over their illnesses. We all have gone into the office to work on key deliverables while being under the weather, as this is sometimes necessary, however, is a little more difficult when using energy on tasks which are not required to be completed.

An overlooked factor is sleep. The medical profession states seven hours are needed to allow your body and mind to get the proper rest.  When dealing with multiple activities a consistent night sleep can be crucial to avoid burning yourself out.

Another reality is we all need downtime. Any schedule should include time to relax.

Neither of these are valid excuses for not working on things which you believe is worthwhile, however, in many circumstances “it is what it is”.

Some of things I will try to do moving forward to post with greater frequency include utilizing technology as much as I can. Since I am on the go often my IPad with its cloud storage capabilities are wonderful tools to write when you get a few minutes.

Focusing on the benefits of what I get out of my writing this will help to keep working. I always enjoy receiving comments to by blog postings, Hint. Also, I would like to try plan effectively, for example, taking advantage of available time example time in airport in between flights. In the end, I should focus on simply getting it done.

In conclusion, many of the blogs and books from established authors who write for a living and many express being a part a community of writers. In many cases, writers, even those who write on a part time basis, are part of their community. It is, after all what we do.