Slowing Down the Blogging and Social Media Cycle
Do you want to slow down your blogging and social media maddening cycle?
The Experiment With Blogging and Social Media
I’m trying a new experiment this week. Last week was a maddening week of blogging and social media that felt like 24/7. By Friday I had for the first time in my life heartburn. Really? Yes. Heartburn can be caused by stress and lack of sleep according to WebMD. Wow, that scared me. I decided over the weekend I would finish up earlier in the mornings before heading to work. I had blogged about my morning schedule not too long ago. I wanted to see if I could slow down the hectic schedule just a little and still accomplish the same amount of work. I took a real break at lunchtime, not blogging or constantly checking my phone. I went for a walk through Roger Williams National Memorial Park. It was a beautiful fall day. I love taking photos of nature to slow myself down. You can view some of them on my photo blog which is just for fun. Taking photos of nature does slow me down.
The Results: Day 1
I did manage to finish up early and get into the shower 1/2 hour earlier than usual. I read Bill Dormans blog about his vacation but with his smartphone will he get the true feel of it I wondered?
Yep; G O N E. Color me gone; vacay time… buff.ly/RXZlfD via @bdorman264
— Bill Dorman (@bdorman264) October 22, 2012
I did got up later than usual by 2 hours. I was able to not tweet and brush my teeth or dry my hair all at the same time. Much less stressful I found. I also did not have to jog down the stairs and drive fast to work. (I had gotten a speeding ticket not too long ago). I arrived to work on time and less stressed. I found I was able to focus better throughout the day. Taking a real lunch break was refreshing too. I did a little tweeting and commenting but not the entire time.
2nd Part of the Day
Once home the cycle picked up a bit with taking care of website orders, inventory and follow-ups. I did work until 9 pm which is an hour more than I prefer but if I didn’t awake at 4 I would not get everything done that is needed to maintain the websites.
Day 2 – Now
I arose early today and finished my work on the websites with broken links and inventory. I decided to blog this because it is relaxing and I’d love to know if others have slowed down their pace with their blogs and websites. I will work the buffer for all my accounts and still have time to read a view blogs. Will any of my blogs suffer from shares and comments? I’ll know in 7 days.
How About Your Blogging and Social Media?
- Could you slow down your schedule?
- Would you be able to slow down your schedule and maintain the same results?
- Did you see a difference in any of your results from slowing down?
- Does the fast pace of blogging and social media ever stress you out too?
I would love to know if you ever slowed down your blogging or social media pace and what the results were
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About Lisa
Helping Others to Thrive Online Through Social Media, Blogging and SEO. What good is knowledge if you cannot share it with others?
20+ years experience in marketing/advertising with 3 years experience blogging, social media and SEO.
23 Responses to Slowing Down the Blogging and Social Media Cycle
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Absolutely Lisa!
Being online IS stressful, even though most offline people tend to take it as a sitting kind of job. That’s because beside the writing or work we do, we are also online most of the time and have to participate in social media, blog commenting etc.
Just like you took a break, which you did to observe how things are affected, I took a break last year when I went on vacation. Even though I had scheduled my post, but I wasn’t commenting on other blogs much, nor was I much on social media for obvious reasons. Yes, there was a drop in stats and the blog rank too.
I guess most people will stop visiting your blog and commenting, if you don’t visit their’s unless they are your friends, who always are there. Yes, there are exceptions to this case too – but this is what is generally seen.
Thanks for sharing, and I wonder what your results would show though.
Harleena Singh recently posted..Why Can’t Men and Women Be Friends
Hi Harleena, That’s kinda sad, don’t you think – that some only comment because you comment? I will try to make it like a dairy over the week and publish maybe mid-week. See how it goes. Thanks for your comment and experience on this Harleena.
Very awesome Lisa! I was wondering where you were first thing in the a.m. while I’m still in bed cuddling with Titan!
Yes, I’m able to slow down and I’ve been doing it lately as well. I’m trying to unplug at night time and spend more time with Titan. Trying to unplug in the a.m. so I won’t be rushed for work. And during my actually work day, I hit and miss. Just one of those things I guess. Will be interesting to see your results after a week! Interesting post!
Brenda recently posted..Take the Easy Way Out? Nah, Make it Work!
Thanks Brenda. I may post mid-week too. No promises
Less pressure that way. I have a few ideas but I’ll see how the week goes. Titan needs his own device to be online.
I tried to stick to a schedule. I obviously failed. Think it’s best for me to post when I’m inspired. BTW, Titan did have his own blog way back in the day, however, me being his Editor, got to be too much for me.
Brenda recently posted..Take the Easy Way Out? Nah, Make it Work!
Hi Brenda, I like doing it that way too, I have to be in the mood to write and have something to write about that others I hope will want to read
Oh yes, I do remember his blog too.
Hi Lisa, it is a very contradictory lifestyle, the ‘Laptop Lifestyle’ as some people like to call it, is supposed to be wake up, open up the laptop, do an hour or two’s work then have fun…. one day it might be like that but at the start there is so much to do and little time to do it in. Social media is great for blogging but I fear at times constant tweeting, posting liking and all that jazz robs me of serious productivity time.
Many times I have thought about just simply forgetting about the social media side for a week but what will happen then is probably a little more scary, do I risk it?
It really is a full time job isn’t it?
Andi
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Interesting Andi, I’ve thought about it, but I do love it too so it would be hard. But I have given it up for hours or a day here and there too. A week huh? Maybe my next vacation. But then of course I want to share pictures along the way
You are right though, computers were supposed to cut down on paperwork and make life easier but not so sure that is the case.
I am trying to combine mines because I feel I am doing way too much right now. I think taking some down time is a good thing and everyone should do it at some point or you will get burnt out.
Kita recently posted..Sunday’s Song: Hall of Fame
Hi Kita, yes we must be careful of burnout. That can be a real thing. Thanks for commenting and love to know how yours will go with combining them.
It seems like we all struggle to find the balance between just the right amount of writng, reading and social media without feeling super tired and over worked. Then throw in a full time “real” job and it can be overwhelming. I will have to come back in 7 days to see how our slow down impacted your stats.
Chasing Joy recently posted..Nervous But it’s Ok
Yes it certainly can be overwhelming. I may update mid-week too on this. I often wonder how so many do it all.
Hi, Lisa. Boy, oh boy, do I know what you are talking about. It has been over a month since I last posted. I just up and decided to take a break one day. I’m waiting for the spirit to move me before I start blogging again. Yes, my numbers have taken a hit., but for me blogging has never been about the numbers. If I am not creating content I am proud to publish then I don’t want to publish. I’m hoping this break re-energizes me. I’m interested to hear how your slow down works for you.
Just One Donna recently posted..Choosing Paint for Interior Walls
Thanks Donna. I would agree, not good to post just to post. I will post again mid-week or at the end to report how it goes. I will see how time will go.
This is very timely. Since last week, I’ve cutback on blogging. I’ve been feeling really stressed and needed a break. I wasn’t working on my memoir or the short story that will be featured at a writing site next Monday. *shameless plug*
When blogging feels like work, it’s time to stop. Yet, while detoxing, I can’t help but feel that I’m missing something or that I should be writing a post.
Lauren recently posted..Ten Things Filed in Romney’s Binders Full of Women
Interesting Lauren. It’s like we are in AA, we can’t stop blogging or being on social media. Very nice that your short story will be featured. Love to see it when it’s there. Be sure to tweet me on it!
Hey Lisa
I’ve been feeling exactly the same way and I’ve only been posting a couple of times a week up until now.
With looking after the kids though, I’ve been spending every other waking minute keeping things going on my blog, writing guest posts etc.
So I decided I should cut back and only have the goal of one post a week at the moment.
It probably will impact on traffic and comments but I’ll know in a couple of weeks for sure.
I’ve certainly seen the benefit to my own well being at least!
Tim Bonner recently posted..Are You Real Or Are You A Fake?
Hi Tim, That sounds a lot less stressful Tim. I’d love to know how it impacts it too. I was thinking last night at least I’d be healthier if I cut back some.
Hi Lisa,
I was offline 2 days as I was busy and too tired to be online at the end of the day
Also heavy rain stops me working online on those days. Now I feel relaxed? Are you serious? I need to catch up everything I missed 
lol…
I think if you totally concerned on online business, that would be easy. But working on day offline and afterwards online… More than busy, right? I’m wondering how you write often with your busy schedule. I did on my first days, but not now. I devoted that time on reading, improving my skills to serve better on my blog and more plans in my head.
As I slowed down my blogging schedule to 1 or 2 posts per week, from 5 posts, I experienced drop of traffic that time. But it increased number of comments on posts. Most readers don’t miss my posts and it increased number of user interaction per post. Though we are available to blog everyday, readers may not. So I think we need to think about it
They will return the favor for us. In few months, I have gained my lost traffic and now doubled it.
I think my current schedule is better for me. But experiments will continue. I’ll go for one post per week, if I’m busy in that week like this one. ‘Cause I have to reply comments though I have posts to publish. I check out my fav blogs without a doubt. I can do more planning and allocate time for other tasks.
If you can find time to write a post, you can find time to take a break too
Cheers…
(dofollow)
Mayura recently posted..How to Get Your Comments Approved
Funny that you mention this because I had been in a funk for about a month and scaled back on my blog schedule big time. I didn’t do it on purpose, but if my heart isn’t into my post, I won’t write. The idea of forcing myself to write wields crappy content with no value and I would rather not post a thing than post something for the sake of keeping up with my schedule. I know its my responsibility, but like you “life” happens and I needed a much deserved break. I did pick random days on when to post and I just hit publish when I was done.
Surprisingly, I didn’t even think about how it was going to affect my blog and kept it moving. I had gotten super busy at my day job and since it pays my rent, that was my first and final focus. Did I stress out about blogging? No, but I did about blog commenting. I find that to be just as important as I want to maintain a schedule of visiting so many blogs in one day. There are some blogs like yours and Ben Barden’s where I end up finding several posts that I just have to comment and spend 20 min or more blog commenting. It’s my way of catching up with you and others, while still sharing other content in the meantime.
So how did I do? The traffic dropped some, but not much. Thanks to blog comments and retweets, I still maintained a good amount of traffic for the week and walked away not worrying about checking email.
I also do random days too. Whenever there is something to post about – not just for the sake of it. I try not to put myself under any pressure and remember this blog is more about me relaxing and teaching others. There is enough pressure at work and elsewhere to deal with
Glad to see your’s did not drop much either.I think the older the blog is also factors into it. (More SEO with age)
Useful and same time precious thoughts. I liked the comparison with the plane and putting your mask first or take care of childrens.I will follow my dream..
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Always follow your dreams Ann. Yes, you can’t take care of others if you don’t care for yourself.
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