Hey guys! So I thought I’d write just a short post on blogging since I haven’t in a while. It has been more than a year or so since we’ve started this blog, so I’d like to take the time to reflect a bit on how it’s been going. If you are reading this because you have been struggling to blog consistently, trust me, we have been there.
Scheduling Time
When I first started blogging, I was expecting myself to write post after post with ease. I failed before even starting. I believe the time between my first and second post on this blog was genuinely something like 6 months. I realise now however, that I was a bit harsh on myself back then. I was just settling into uni life, and did not really dedicate time to the blog – not because I didn’t care about the blog, but time spent outside of dealing with uni was much needed for rest and relaxation.
When I started to have more time to do other things, I still didn’t dedicate a time slot in my schedule for sitting down and writing a post. While some may argue that you need to just wait for inspiration to come to you, I guarantee that I would have been able to write something every week if I dedicated that slot to it. I believe doing this is more important than waiting for a brilliant idea, which you can still do while having a dedicated time slot by the way. I also realised that if I had extra time, writing another post and saving it for a busy week was a very useful thing to do.
On a Roll
Honestly, it’s so much easier to keep coming up with ideas and writing posts when you’re on a roll. It’s so much harder to get back in when you’ve been out a long time. It’s all about habits, consistency and compounding. I know, it’s hard to get into that rhythm, but that’s why scheduling time out of the week to write something is so important. When you do get into rhythm, ideas come in easier and writing takes less time, which makes maintaining the blog an easier job.
Lowering Standards
This is something I’ve learnt from Ali Abdaal, and is honestly something that’s quite hard to do. Having to settle for lower quality in the name of consistency can be difficult. But what you seriously have to consider is whether all that extra time and energy spent on re-writing one sentence is worth it or not. If it is then that’s great, but most of the time it’s not. If you can get the point across, you’re better off just publishing what you have and getting started on the next idea. Your quality will improve with more writing and experience, so try not to worry too much about the details at first.
Expectations
It’s hard not to have hopes and expectations when you start to see potential in your blog and all those insights numbers. But what you really have to do is forget about it. Write posts because you want to write them, and to share ideas and knowledge, not because you’re trying to reach certain numbers. Early on with this blog I was so hopeful that it would be eligible for Google’s Adsense, only for it to be rejected numerous times. When we forgot about it and started writing consistently, we were accepted out of nowhere.
And that’s all from me. Hope this will help you if you’ve been struggling with your blog. Till next time.
– Verrel
Featured Image by Magnet.me on Unsplash
