6 Easy Ways to Avoid Blogger Burn Out

This is a guest post by Reena Cruz.

Working around the clock helps nothing, least of all your health. The more you work, the higher your chances of burning out. It’s as simple as that. But for the blogger, there really is no alternative to hard work--especially if you’re running more than one blog.

Unfortunately, working via the web or behind a computer hasn’t made it any easier either. If anything, today’s technology is encouraging us to work constantly--at home, while on the go, online. It isn’t any wonder then that, as digital workers, we’re burning out faster than ever before.

Are you constantly burning out from blogging?

Luckily, avoiding that burnout is possible. There are a few things you can do to effectively tackle and cope with the workload. All it takes is putting them into good practice. Try a few of the following:

 

1. Find A Routine That Works For You

Without doubt, one of the first things to contribute to a fast burnout is a lack of time management. Being disorganized with your time makes a lot of things, like finishing tasks, difficult. To remedy that, find a daily routine that maximizes on your productivity.

It will be hard at first, but monitor yourself closely as you work. If you find yourself more creative in the mornings, for instance, schedule all creative tasks like brainstorming and blog writing within the first half of your day and leave the more menial tasks, like responding to emails and site troubleshooting to the afternoon.

2. Don’t Stay Isolated—Both Offline or Online

A great way to keep you going is to socialize with others. Human interaction is a necessity.  Sharing stories and conversation with others is great way to stay connected to your work while boosting your energy levels up when you need it most. So if there’s a chance you can go out for a cup of coffee or a break by the water cooler with a colleague, take it.

Or if you blog from home alone, interact online. Social networks like Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus are good places to hangout. Join related communities and groups on topics you’re passionate about.  Talking about non-work related topics will often leave you in a lighter mood, ready and refreshed. Never underestimate the power of good conversation!

3. Be Creative and Stay Interested In Your Work

One of the main reasons people burn out at their jobs is because they’re no longer interested in their work on a personal level. The same goes for bloggers. Writer’s block, site maintenance, responding to emails—they can wear anyone down.

While you may not be able to put aside the time at work, you should, at least once a week, try to integrate your work with your personal interests. For instance, Google allows its employees to dedicate 20% of their time to personal projects.

Strive to incorporate a project that interests you whether it’s related to your blogging work or not. Or make it a goal to learn at least one new thing about your work each day. Meticulous and repetitive tasks can be mind numbing on their own, but combining those tasks with passion or curiosity will keep you interested in your work.

4. Don’t Multitask

While this may seem impossible to put this one into practice, it’s a necessity. Workers who are overwhelmed with their workloads often find themselves doing 2 or 3 tasks at any given time. In an effort to get through your task list faster, you may be responding to emails, putting together a blog post or troubleshooting technical issues.

However, doing so will actually wear you out faster with little to no effect. It prevents you from focusing and it actually takes longer for you to settle down into new tasks. So, focus.

Focus on one task at a time. Doing so will ensure that you aren’t spreading yourself thin across the board. Moreover, finishing one task and being able to move onto the next will give you a much needed spurt of energy and a sense of accomplishment that can keep you going through the day.

5. Take Frequent Breaks

One common thing we forget to do is take a break. It’s all too easy to stay at our desk in front of the computer the entire day, which isn’t good. If you have troubles getting away from the desk, set an alarm. Or, for more precision, use the Pomodoro technique. The idea behind it is to take a break for every 25 minute blocks of straight work.

Another alternative is to sneak that brief break in.  You know those moments when you’re waiting for something to download from the web, watching an application install on your computer, or working with a PDF converter and waiting for the conversion results? Use that small window of time to your advantage. Walk around. Turn away from the computer. Do anything. Just don’t take up another task.

6. Make Time For Yourself

Most importantly, free up time for yourself. This is probably the best thing to do when you need to recharge and get back into blogging. We don’t do this enough, if at all!

For this, you can try a few things. Accept guest post contributions every now and again to lighten your load. Schedule “me” time into your routine. Instead of scheduling time for a break, do some non-work related stuff online—check out your Facebook account and connect with friends, look at that book you wanted to buy online, or catch up with your daily news.  Any one of these will give you time to breath and relax before jumping back into the work grind again.

Working to get your tasks done is a good thing, but burning out isn’t. You can avoid it. Work smart, not hard!

About the author
Reena Cruz writes for the Investintech.com blog, where she shares tips about PDF converter technology and software in general. As a tech-geek, she enjoys learning about new tech trends and sharing productivity tool tips online.