Nav Bar

Home Project Gallery Contact About Facebook Google+ Pinterest Twitter Bloglovin' Image Map

Monday, February 24, 2014

When to Take a Blogging Break



I guess I didn't really know I was going to take a blog break. It sort of just happens. Have you ever gone to your favorite blogs and noticed they haven't posted anything in the past month? It just happens sometimes.

Why did I take a blog break?

My blog hiatus happened just before Thanksgiving. I was starting to feel overwhelmed with work and knew I was going to be working on the weekends before and after Thanksgiving. I decided to not worry about the blog for this week.

Well, that one week turned into all of December and January. This time of the year is always the busiest time at my work. I am a Civil Engineer and all of my projects are trying to get in for permits at the same time. They want to get their permits before the dry season (which for Seattle is mid spring to mid fall).

The day before Thanksgiving, I woke up with massive amounts of blood in my urine. I mean, it was like red syrup… I raced to the Doctor and they gave me antibiotics and told me to come back in a week for another urine analysis.

I got a call the next week saying there wasn't any bacteria. I kept going back weekly, still blood in the urine, although not large, visible amounts. This went on for a few weeks before my doctor referred me to a urologist, who then wasn't available until the new year.

Again, all of this going on while work was in high gear and I was working 55+ hours per week. I frankly just didn't have the time or energy to blog. I posted one post in December and called that good.

We went to Arkansas to visit the in-laws for Christmas. I actually really enjoyed this week out of town. It was nice to just get away from everything and not think about anything important.

My fiancé caught a cold on the way down there. He was such a sport and was able to keep on top of everything while sick. I didn't even think he was that sick since he didn't really show it much.

Then I caught his cold and finally started feeling sick on the way home. I was sick with a cold since the day before New Years Eve through almost all of January. It was way worse than what he had!

His lasted one week. Mine lasted more than three weeks. It had two waves. First sneezing, sinus pressure. Next coughing. It was the coughing that just lasted forever!

I also went in to my doctors visit with the specialist the first Monday in January. After a couple of weeks of being poked, prodded, scanned and televised, she decided it was a kidney stone that I had passed. They couldn't find the one that had caused the blood and assumed that it had already passed, but they did find two kidney stones hanging out in my right kidney.

During this whole time I was feeling pretty depressed. Especially in December. We had put in an offer on a house right before Thanksgiving and then found out we didn't get it. It was depressing looking for houses...

How do you get back into blogging?

It was honestly really hard to get myself back into blogging. My blogging routine/schedule was broken. I just wasn't interested in sitting down and writing. I had lost all interest.

I think what finally got me back into blogging was receiving good news that I just had to share: WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE! SQUEAL!!!

After that I started getting excited about blogging again. I started working on the blog post schedule again. Brainstorming content ideas. Thinking about the blog makeover I had been planning for months now.

Just like taking the hiatus, getting back into blogging just happened for me.

Even so, I definitely haven't gotten fully back into the swing of things. I started off with sharing my big news. I picked up Wordless Wednesday again, since this is a casual, weekly post that I can do without much time commitment.

What I haven't gotten back into the swing of is DIY/crafting posts, which tend to be the more popular posts but also the more time consuming. I also haven't gotten back into link parties. Mostly because my news isn't really link party worthy, but also because I have always had trouble keeping up with link parties AND having a life beyond blogging.

I think taking these smaller steps are good for getting me back into the routine of blogging. It will give me some practice to get back into the swing of things.

I think after we move into the new house (March 15th! Squeal!!!), I hope that I'll have more time for blogging. I say hope, because I think I'll be moving into wedding planning mode. Perhaps I'll find some time to blog more about wedding stuff. :)

Resources


Have you taken a break from blogging? How did you get yourself back into blogging after taking a break? Add your thoughts in the comments below!

6 comments:

  1. Missed ya!! Glad to see you back:))

    Hugs

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Missed you too! Just so many things happening this year. Hard to keep up. :)

      Hugs back!

      Delete
  2. I think blog breaks are REALLY healthy...and with my word of the year being "balance," I'm actually working really hard to work less. So only 2 posts a week instead of 3 or 4, for instance. And I feel like only writing 1 or NONE (gasp!) I'm going to be okay with that. Because I think it's really easy for a blog to interfere with some of the really important things in life like your family or really present for big life events like moving or wedding planning...and that's not worth compromising. So, I hope you don't feel any guilt about taking your time to get back in the swing. We'll be here for you when DO have things to share, and when you don't, I figure you are just out there living life to the full...and that gives me so much joy. ;-)

    Love that you're talking about this...and I added a link to one of my past posts to your list! Off to check out some of the other ones. They sound great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Lauren! You always put such a smile on my face. I just keep reminding myself that the blog is a hobby. It is for fun, not for stressing over. So yeah, when I took my blog break, I felt no guilt at all. I was too busy at work and not feeling well. As soon as things started swinging back into a happy place, I started feeling motivated again. Yay! {We are closing on our house this Friday!!!!}

      And thank you for adding your link! I found that I often like giving people a reading list for follow up, so I figure why not make it available for others to add to my list? :)

      Hoping you are having a wonderful Monday. Hugs!

      Delete
  3. BSE Odisha 10th Model Paper 2023 The BSE odisha has declared the Question Paper 2023 of the Annual HSC, State Certificate, and Madhyama Examination . The Odisha Madhyamik Question Paper 2023 has been prepared Odisha Madhyama Question Paper 2023 on the basis of evaluation criteria released by the Board in the first week of May

    ReplyDelete