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How to Beat Blogger Burnout
Are you experiencing blogger burnout right now? Here are my top tips for how to beat it and find your passion for blogging again!
When you first started blogging, you might have felt motivated and inspired all the time. Everything was so new and exciting and promising.
But now, you’ve been blogging for a while, and you’re feeling burned out.
It happens to every blogger at some point. So what can you do to get back to your love for blogging? Read on for my top tips on how to beat blogger burnout!
What Causes Blogger Burnout?
There are many things that contribute to blogger burnout.
You may feel discouraged that you aren’t making as much progress as you hoped you would by now, and this can lead to a major case of burnout.
You may be suffering from writer’s block and staring at a blinking cursor on a blank screen, when once the words flowed naturally.
Instead of feeling excited and energized to work on new projects, you might feel unmotivated and spend hours scrolling through social media instead.
Maybe you’ve pushed yourself really hard the past few months on your blog, and now you feel like you’ve hit a major wall and can’t do anything else.
Regardless of what caused your burnout, these are some strategies you can try to get rid of it and rediscover your passion for blogging again!
1. Take a break from your blog.
Sometimes stepping away is the best thing you can do.
This is especially true if you’ve been spending a LOT of time working on your blog lately. Working too much is one of the key causes of burnout.
Take some time away from blogging. You don’t want to neglect your blog for TOO long — but maybe spend a full week disconnected from blogging.
Sometimes taking a break is just what you need to do to reset, reflect, and come back feeling refreshed and excited to start blogging again.
2. Look for inspiration in new places.
If you’re experiencing blogger burnout because you’re out of ideas or suffering from writer’s block, look for inspiration in new places.
To start with, I have tons of blog post ideas you can steal for your own blog.
You might also be able to find a spark of inspiration from reading other blogs. Take some time to discover new bloggers you don’t already follow, even bloggers outside your niche. This can be a great way to expand your perspective!
Or see what other types of content creators are doing. If you’re a travel blogger, check out some travel vloggers on YouTube or influencers on Instagram. Even if they create a different type of content than you normally do, you might be able to find inspiration you can bring back and use on your own blog.
Read books, listen to podcasts, or attend an in-person event. All of these things can help inspire you and give back your passion for blogging.
3. Throw away the blogging rule book.
One thing that can cause blogger burnout is feeling confined or stagnant with your blog. In this case, it’s helpful to forget about the “rules” of blogging!
Sometimes switching things up is the best thing you can do.
If you’ve confined yourself to a micro niche blog but now you’re tired of writing about the same topic day in and day out, see if there’s a way to expand your niche and incorporate some new topics into your content.
Spend a couple weeks writing what YOU want to write instead of writing what keyword research and SEO and trends dictate that you write.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things.
4. Set a blogging schedule.
Do you have a defined blogging schedule?
If you don’t, burnout can easily creep in. This happened to me after I let myself start working on my blog at all hours, including in bed at night.
Now I close my laptop and put it away at a certain time.
Since I have multiple blogs, I also implemented a schedule that has me working on different blogs on different days of the week. to stay focused and keep my priorities in line. There are also specific tasks I do in the morning and others I do in the afternoon because I’ve found that works best for me.
Set boundaries for yourself and create a schedule that works.
5. Write down your blogging goals.
Sometimes you can lose sight of your goals and become burned out.
Remind yourself of WHY you started blogging in the first place. Don’t just think about it, write it down. Reflect on what you want out of blogging.
Then get really clear on your goals.
Write them down too. It can feel scary, but get as specific as possible.
Example: “I want to increase my blog traffic to 50,000 monthly sessions by the end of the year and apply to Mediavine.” Or “I want to grow my blog income from $1,000 a month to $3,000 a month within the next six months.”
Then write down actionable steps you can take to achieve these goals.
6. Rid your life of time-wasters.
Get rid of the time-wasters that are causing you to feel burned out.
For me, this was social media. I quickly realized that Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter were not for me, and so I completely stopped worrying about them. I don’t like using social media in my personal life, so why would I use it for my business?
Instead, I focus on Pinterest and my email list.
Think about what makes you feel drained and stressed out. Then think about what makes you feel energized and inspired. Less of the first, more of the second.
7. Switch up your blogging routine.
One little tweak you can make to get rid of blogger burnout is switching up your routine to see if you can find one that works better for you.
Maybe you’re trying to work on your blog at night after work when you’d rather be winding down and reading a book in bed instead. Try waking up an hour earlier to work on your blog, or find time on your lunch break.
Maybe you always work on your blog at home and find yourself getting distracted. Switch up your location and spend a day blogging at a cozy coffee shop or the library instead, and see how a change in scenery affects you.
Switching up your routine in small ways like this can seriously help.
8. Quit comparing yourself to others.
They say comparison is the thief of joy, and it’s true!
Comparing yourself to others is one of the worst things you can do as a blogger. We’re all on different paths, and we all reach success at different times. Getting caught up in the comparison game is a guaranteed recipe for disaster.
Unfollow people on social media. Unsubscribe from newsletters. Tune out what everyone else is doing, and focus on yourself and your blog instead.
Make it a goal to create more than you consume. Focusing on your own business without paying attention to what others are doing is a great way to get out of a blogging rut and start feeling excited and inspired once again.
9. Eliminate blogging roadblocks.
Sometimes there are specific roadblocks contributing to your burnout.
Are there ways you can eliminate these roadblocks to make your life easier?
Maybe you love to write, but you hate taking and editing photos for your blog. Take a shortcut and use stock photos instead so you can focus on writing!
Or maybe you’re tired of spending time sharing your blog content on social media. Can you invest in a social media scheduling tool to automate this?
There are tons of ways you can eliminate the hurdles that make blogging feel like a chore, so you can focus on doing what you love instead.
10. Pivot or start a new project.
Finally, this is my most extreme suggestion, and one that is not going to be right for everyone. But I wanted to include it in case it helps you!
If you’re REALLY feeling burnt out with your blog and feel like you’ve reached the end of the line with it, you might consider pivoting to something else.
I have sold several of my blogs when I felt the time was right to let go and focus on other projects. Again, this is not a decision to make on a whim!
But if you’re ready to move on, selling your blog can be a great exit opportunity!
Or you might consider putting your blog on the back burner and letting it run passively in the background while you start a new blog or other business venture!
I’ve done all of these things before, and it may be the solution that helps you too.
More Blogging Tips
These are my top suggestions for beating blogger burnout!
Although it’s frustrating, burnout is something that happens to every blogger at one time or another. Hopefully, you can try one (or several!) of these tips and defeat your burnout so you can get back to feeling inspired and passionate.
For more blogging tips, check out the following posts: