It’s been two years and eleven months since I launched Chocolate’n’Waffles (applause). During this period, I took two complete breaks; the first in July 2016 after having blogged intensively for six months, and the other earlier this year.
Did I feel guilty? Yes.
Did it do any good? Yes!
Is it okay to put your blog on the side for a while? Why the hell not?
Your blog, your rules! And sometimes, it might be the best decision you can take for you and your corner of the Internet…
Blogging is time-consuming, addictive and fantastic, but it is also hard work. Finding content, interacting, writing, formatting, everything-ing! It can feel too much at times. I know some days I just look at my laptop and say ‘Not today’.
An mportant point for us book bloggers is that sometimes, blogging trumps reading. Ah!
How can we keep going if all our efforts go into our site and we are left with no time to do the actual basic but fundamental element we need to blog??? Memes are cool, blog-hopping is great, but before turning off the lights at night, I want to be able ‘damn, I had a great reading time today’. Silly as it may seem, forgetting to read happens. Pressure to read on deadlines for tours or to honor the proofs we are kindly given adds to the problem.
See, being a book blogger is a life in itself! That’s why we need to go back to basics sometimes.
*starts singing ‘I’m going back to the staaaaaaart’*
Here are a few signs which may indicate you need a holiday!
- Watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians suddenly seems like a good idea (never ever thought I’d put this name of a gif related to it on my blog. Everything happens…)
- The mere thought of blog-hopping is exhausting
- You check your stats several times a day and get depressed by the numbers (ps: stats are evil, be careful)
- Cleaning the house seems like a wonderful and exciting activity!
- You beg your brain to come up with blog post ideas, and feel restless and sad you can’t find anything cool or interesting to say
- Getting comments makes you both happy and sad, knowing you’ll have to reply and check the person’s blog, and you just can’t be bothered
- Even the infamous Twitter doesn’t look appealing any more with all the blog love shouted at you every minute of every day
- You google the recipe for a Mojito… then a Sex on the Beach… then a Big Bertha…
- Having to prepare a weekly post bores you
- You look at your books with suspicion, the cloud of having to write a review hovering over the bookcases
- You listen to country music (I often do when I write :p but half the population of the world doesn’t!)
- Your mind is fascinated by flies on walls
- Laundry day is every day
- NetGalley announcements don’t make your toes curl anymore
- Opening your emails inbox becomes scary. What if a review request is hiding in it???
- You feel the need to try all the nail polish colors in the OPI catalogue
- You just don’t feel like doing anything book-related for two days!
Don’t worry! It happens to the best of us!!
So before you reach the point of no-return and delete your blog: take a deep breathe.
Ask yourself if blogging is making you happy or on the contrary, is it making you miserable/stressed out? Take a step back. Books won’t disappear. We won’t disappear.
Why not enjoy a day, a week, a month, to rediscover the world in a different way, read solely for pleasure, and just be happy?
You’ll come back to blogging with a buzzing mind and flowing ideas. Or not. Whichever way, it’s okay.
Blogging is a hobby, not a life-sentence!
Fantastic post! Love those gifs especially the David Tennant one! 😉
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David forever :p Thank you so much!!
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I totally understand! Have a good break darling… you can’t take the bookworm out of you so I’m absolutely sure you’ll be back!
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Not taking a break yet! But probably soon!!
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Wise words!
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Sometimes it happens 🙂
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Great post Meggy x
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Thanks a lot 🙂 I wanted to react to some tweets I’d read!
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Loved this post! And your gifs are on point! Absolutey perfect!
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Thank you so much!!! The gifs took forever to choose, haha!
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They are perfect though, so you did an amazing job!
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Aw, thank you!!! xxx
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This is soooo true, I often feel my blogging mojo has completely disappeared… then after a break I suddenly want to post again. Loved all your gifs here – and the fact that my books are in that photo at the top of the page. Makes me feel very proud 🙂 xx
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Same here! Some time off allows us to refocus and find new energy and ideas. Also, I miss my friends if I stay away too long! I had lots of fun looking for the right gifs, it helped reminding me that blogging needs to be fun to last! I am very happy that your books are on my favorite shelf 🙂 xxx
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Ha ha ha!!! Oh… The pain. I feel like I’m actually in the midst of this, myself. (she says… In the middle of blog hopping) 😂😂 I’ve taken on SO MANY requests that I look at my TBR list and just…. Walk away. I don’t even want to read anything because I don’t want to go through the trouble of choosing, and just starting from the bottom up just makes me feel like I’m being FORCED to read that book… Ugh. 🍻
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Haha, I totally understand!!! My TBR literally fell on me today and it hurt!!! Too many books!!! That’s the problem with our hobby…
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Most defintitely! 😂😂
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Thank you my sweechie, I kind of needed this post lately and it’s such an important reminder that blogging is and should never be a chore, but something we do with love. and that nothing will leave if we’re not here for a while. That’s something I’m always having a hard time wrapping my mind around, I feel like I constantly need to be here otherwise, I don’t know, hahaha. Anyway, thank you for this ❤ You look gorgeous my sweechie!! ❤
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You’re very welcome, darling ❤ I'm like you, I need reminders, and I had fun with this post, so it took away some of the pressure of blogging I have felt in the past few weeks… I still feel guilty for missing posts but hey, I don't have a double me to be everywhere at the same time! Aw, don't! I just look silly, haha! xxx
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You never look silly, you look gorgeous! ❤
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What a very important reminder of self care > blogging
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At first, blogging was part of my self-care routine, but then it became a big thing and the self-caring disappeared!
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Great post, Meggy! I think we can all relate to at least one or two of these things if not all at one time or another! 😊
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P.S. Don’t worry about reading this comment! 😜
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Mouhahaha ❤
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It felt good to write everything down 🙂
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Amen to this post! (And sorry for clogging up your comment section with another comment 😉 ) I’ve actually been taking a step back as well lately, focusing more on the reading rather than the social media and bloghopping. Also, the whole shorties review thing helps a lot for me, just getting my thoughts out there without the pressure of writing long reviews. But me-time is very very important! Love your photos. ❤ ❤ ❤
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Please, always clog up my comment section 😀 ❤ I still feel so guilty to miss lots of posts but you can't be everywhere and the pressure builds up so quickly that I needed to de-dramatize the breaks and make peace with the idea! xxx
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Will do. 😉 ❤ ❤ I feel the same… I also feel guilty about not bloghopping too much and I know stats are down since I started slowing down, but selfcare is too important to keep feeling guilty too long. xx
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Yeah, I try not to look at the stats but sometimes I can’t resist and it makes me kinda sad. I’ve also noticed bloggers don’t comment as much as they used to. I’m guilty of this, as well, as I don’t always have the time or the brain to say anything intelligent! xxx
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Yeah I’ve noticed that too… As much as I feel guilty, I just can’t stand the pressure of having to bloghop and comment every day anymore. xx
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We’re on the same page! xx
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*tsk tsk* at the Kardashian meme,lol
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Haha! I know!!
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damnit, I think this is EXACTLY what I needed.i have been tird from blogging these days and I just couldn’t figure out why.i always give myself so much crap for needing a break from the monotone of my everyday routine.Im trying new things and it makes me so much happier!Love this post, and I think im going to share it on my blog soon!
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Aw, this makes me very happy! Not the fact you’ve been feeling this way, but that I got my timing right 🙂 I am feeling a break coming, and I wanted to make peace with the idea! Share away, and take care of yourself! Thank you so much xx
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Love this, and couldn’t agree more! I took a super long break from blogging (from July up until today!) and it has done me a lot of good. I am really glad I didn’t delete my blog (although I did delete my Netgalley account!!) and that it was waiting for me to come back for it this whole time. Some time away definitely helps to refresh you!
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I am so happy you are back! And just as delighted that this break did you good! Congrats on deleting this NetGalley account! I should try it someday! I know there will be more breaks in the future, and I am okay with it, it’s part of the process 🙂
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Thank you! Haha yeah it did feel pretty freeing to delete Netgalley. I was feeling so much pressure to read and review everything and I was just like… nope, enough! Yes definitely agree – we shouldn’t feel bad about taking breaks when we need them. 🙂
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It’s really good to take blogging breaks (even though I feel so guilty when I do too). And yes it’s really important to go back to basics. This is such a great list!!
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I really had fun with this post 🙂 I noticed people saying they were kinda lost with their blogging and I must admit it feels daunting at times to open WordPress and find so many things to do…
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Yeah I really relate to that!!
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