You Don’t Have to Do Everything the Experts Say

A while back, I read an article saying that running a series or special event on your blog was a great way to boost traffic and gain new readers.

So about two months ago, I came up with this BRILLIANT idea for a summer event here on the blog.

I ran it by some blogger friends, brainstormed it out, even wrote up some draft emails to send out about the whole she-bang.

Yet, here it is… mid-summer… and you still don't see it.

Why?

Did wild dogs eat my notepad of ideas? Did I meet a unicorn and get distracted? Did I watch too many movies and run out of time?

No, I'm simply decided to hit the pause button on the idea until next year. NEXT YEAR, PEOPLE! That's a long time to wait, but (heavy sigh) I just can't make the time to do it.

Sure, I could have made it happen.

I could have stayed up late to work on it, given up a few workouts, and forgone some time with my kids to get it done.

But you know what?

I want to enjoy my summer. I work in social media 20 hours a week and that's hard enough to get done in the summer, with limited childcare and camp schedules. And I'm working with someone to launch another course here so it's not like I'm doing nothing! While I do consider my blog a business, at the end of a long, summer day, it's just a blog.

I'm just not willing to sacrifice part of my summer for some extra pageviews and maybe a few sales of Content Brew.

I stumbled across this quote the other day as I was writing this post. I wasn't even looking for a quote, but it struck me still. I LOVE this blog. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. But when I'm in a time crunch, it's the first thing to back away from. Because, well, time is all I have and I need to make the most of it.

The Point of It All

You may be wondering why I'm telling you all this.

Here's why.

You don't have to do everything the experts say. And you shouldn't feel guilty about it.

Because it's easy to get caught up in so much to do on your blog that you neglect the things most important to you. I've fallen head first into that trap before. You probably have too.

Every week I share tips for improving your blog, your content, and your social media presence. Maybe you consider me an expert (if so, I'm sort of throwing myself under the bus!), maybe you don't. Regardless, there are so many blogs out there like mine telling you how to make money blogging, improve your blog design, get more subscribers, yada yada.

But don't feel like you have to add every single bit of blogging advice to your to-do list. If you have the time to devote, then GO FOR IT! Take advantage of it! But if time is a precious commodity at this stage of your life, don't get bogged down or you'll go mad that way.

Pick and choose from the best advice, then either get it done right then or add it to a list for later. A list that's separate from your regular daily or weekly to-do list.

I keep a spreadsheet of all the things I want to adjust, update, fix, and improve. I want to update my navigation menu, improve my email signup, add some popular posts to my sidebar, re-do my homepage, write more posts, offer more classes, more more more. I KNOW what I need to do. I KNOW the advice I need to take (some of it my own advice). I just don't have time to do it all. Just looking at my list gives me hives, but I peck at it little by little, then mark it complete on my spreadsheet. Small victories, right?

So if you always feel like there's something else to do with your blog, take a deep breath and take a virtual look around the blogosphere. We're all in this together and we're all time-strapped. When you do have time to blog, put your soul into it. Make it matter. That's the most important thing.

(And if you're wondering what my summer idea is, you'll find out… just next summer!)

Dish It

Ever feel overwhelmed by blogging? How do you pick and choose what to do when it comes to your blog?