Getting Through a Slump: How to Blog When You Just Don’t Feel Like it

Urban Outfitters spring 2014 lookbook “Wild at Heart”

March 17, 2014

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Even the most blog-obsessed among us go through periods of “just not feeling like it”. Maybe you’re going through a particularly difficult time in your personal life, or you’re just not being inspired by anything. It happens and it’s perfectly normal so don’t beat yourself up about it! We’re all only human after all, and no-one is at their fighting weight the whole time.

Here are six simple tips to help you negotiate those bumps in the road:

Take a break

Sometimes the pressure of having to post something amazing every day can get too much so give yourself the permission to take some time off. I promise no-one will be banging down your door because you haven’t updated in a few days. Remember, you are in charge and you’re allowed to take a break once in a while. In fact, it’s healthy!

To make sure that a short hiatus doesn’t turn into giving up completely, keep a notebook on you at all times. I guarantee you’ll get some new ideas about things you’d like to write about when you’re least expecting it because you’re not over-thinking it.

I often get flashes of inspiration for topics I want to cover when I’m either lying in the bath or off having fun with my friends!

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Think about what you can manage

Maybe you don’t want to sit down and write a whole blog post right now, but think about what you could manage to do. Could you post a tweet? Reply to some emails? Start a conversation with your readers on your facebook page? Sometimes you just have to do something – anything – in order to get back into the swing of things.

Once you’ve achieved these easy little things you’ll start to feel good. You’ll feel like you achieved something rather than just being sat staring at your computer screen or procrastinating on Pinterest. Starting is often the hardest part. Once you’ve done that you’ll be more inspired and motivated to continue being productive.

Set some achievable goals

Break everything you have to do down in to smaller tasks. Once you start focusing on the magnitude of everything you need to do you’ll quickly get overwhelmed.

Sit down for a minute and pick each task apart. Right, so you need to write ONE blog post today. What do you need to do for that? Take some photos? Write 500 words? How about you start by just writing the introduction and then pausing to refocus…? Once you can see the whole job as a sequence of small, achievable tasks, it’ll be much easier to actually get going.

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Ask for help

If you’re really struggling, why not ask some friends if they’d like to guest write for you? As long as what they have to say is still relevant to your blog and it’s audience, it can be a great way to get a fresh perspective on to your site and ease things up a little for you. I often do this if I have a trip coming up and I need to pre-schedule a few weeks worth of content while I’m away.

Push through

This point is a little bit contradictory to the first, but hear me out! At one time or another everyone goes through the motions. Sure, you might not be putting out your best work, but that’s OK, and sometimes it’s just necessary.

Keep up with your regular features. If you let them fall to the wayside it’s a slippery slope to dropping them – or the blog – all together. Most aspiring bloggers give up at around the six month mark. They don’t feel that they’re getting traction quick enough or they run out of things to say. You have to push through this pain barrier to come out the other side!

If you don’t have any regular features on your site, start some! Knowing what you’re going to post about on certain days really takes the pressure off because you don’t need to feel like you have to reinvent the wheel every week. For me I always know that on a Tuesday I’m going to write something for The Green Room and every Thursday I’m going to post Thursday Treats. I don’t need to think about them too much and those days are now filled without me having to come up with something amazing and different every single day.

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Do something new

Take up a new hobby. Go out and see some friends. Learn a new skill.

I believe that the very best bloggers are the ones that live their lives and then write about it. They don’t sit at their computers all day, the best inspiration is outside your office after all! You need to go out and actually experience things otherwise your blog will quickly morph into another site that posts nothing but links round ups and ‘new favourite pins’ posts. Yawnzola!

Grab your camera and go for walk. Book a holiday home for the weekend with your friends. Learn some new recipes. Make something. Try out a new bar or restaurant. Go on an adventure. Read a book. Sign up for a jewellery making course. Go fantasy shopping! There are so many different things you could be doing RIGHT NOW which you can then share with your readers.

Have you ever felt bored or uninspired by your blog? How did you get through it?

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