Blogging Struggles | The Struggle is Real

Hey everyone!!

Last month was my 2 year blogiversary and I shared a post on tips for being a blogger but I wanted to share some of the struggles as well because life involves plenty of struggles and I may not be the smartest person but I am aware that struggles only breed when kept in silence so I thought I would talk to you all about some I have experienced and see if we have any similar ones.

I don’t think you can understand all that blogging involves until you do it yourself. It is hard work and time consuming. Of course blogging is entirely optional for me, but choosing to do something doesn’t suddenly mean an absence of problems.

STRUGGLE ONE: Time

The things you can do for blogging is limitless which means you have so many things that you can always be doing. The to-do list is looooong and constant, even when I feel like I have caught up with everything, in another 10 minutes I will have a bunch more things to do. It is a lot and therefore it requires a lot of my time.

I think finding the time to do everything is my biggest struggle and it can be very exhausting. Blogging requires writing, editing, photography, marketing, blog hopping and so much more where you can do as much as you want in each section, there is almost no finish button. You have to decide that for yourself so the question is ‘when do you feel done and is it then enough?’* The blogging world never sleeps so in a way you feel like you shouldn’t either. Not to mention blogging is usually a side hobby so you have life to deal with. *screams*

*note to everyone and myself: The answer is YES

I don’t like feeling behind on things but blog hopping is probably the thing I struggle to make time for and it builds up a lot so it is hard to find that balance and not feel guilty when you’re not blogging. I know I’m not good at this balance and some days it is harder than others.

It is your time, *spend it doing something that makes you happy*. I think you have to remember to prioritise yourself and use your time the most productively as well.

STRUGGLE TWO: Perfection

PERFECT. What a beautiful concept. One you can chase forever but it can be dangerous because you never let yourself have any room outside of perfect. Of course I always try to write perfect posts after reading posts again and again (side note: I hate editing). I also try to be a perfect at blog hopping, social media and all these things. It can be so hard to be obsessed with perfect as it gets to the point where nothing is good enough and you are always down on yourself.

This means you spend a lot of time doing the same things because it needs to be better which means you have less time ~which I’ve already mentioned is precious~ and you find it hard to be proud of your work because it could be better. It is exhausting and constant.

Perfect is great is ideal but progress is better for life. Try to focus on improving on the last post in a little way instead of thinking about everything you are doing wrong because you are doing a lot right as well. Make room to be proud of yourself because you are probably smashing it.

STRUGGLE THREE: Stuck in a cycle

How do you measure growth? Statistics? Number of comments? Quantity of posts? There are many different factors which you can measure growth by and sometimes it feels like these things don’t change as much as you want so you can feel stuck and that you don’t have anything to show for your time. It is a weird feeling because you do it for enjoyment and you know this but sometimes it can be disheartening to not be going where you want to be.

Image result for stuck gif — This is me during those times, (see how it would feel insane?)

Also in terms of creativity, sometimes I can be so energised by new content and have loads of items which I can’t wait to write about and share. But sometimes I have a creative dry spell and I seem to be producing content I don’t like. So what do you do? Push through it or stopping posting? And both can be hard as you don’t want to produce content you aren’t proud of or to stop blogging. (Tip: take a break, do something completely different)

If it feels like you have been stuck in anyway make a change. *Big or small, it can change your mindset and attitude.* It is refreshing and exciting so I recommend it. Post that topic you were always nervous about. Change blog layout. Write about your passion again and again.

STRUGGLE FOUR: Comparison

I’m not sure how many blogs are out there but I would say A LOT and it is hard to not compare yourself to them because maybe their blogging voice is more unique than yours or they write more content or they have a prettier design or they are more active than you or have more numbers. Okay so you can my point, there are so many factors that can be done differently to you. So it may feel like ‘why I am doing this when there are so many people doing it better than me’. It can drain the passion and joy out of you really quick. And basically make you feel like a fraud and that you should exit really quickly.

People say it a lot. You’re special. You have self-worth. You may not be like them but you are YOU so it is much better. And honestly I don’t know the secret to actually believing this but I have never met someone who is exactly like someone else, *you are different where you like it or not and it is your strength and beauty,* you may not see it but plenty of people do so you have to keep trying to see it because it is there, I promise.

STRUGGLE FIVE: Pressure

Okay so this is a links to all the points but with the lack of time, wanting to be perfect and comparing yourself to everyone it feel like you are drowning under it all and you don’t want to complain because it is your choice and you enjoy it which ironically adds the pressure. So it can be a big bundle of wanting to scream and sleep in a duvet cocoon.

This is a brilliant quote and *what you choose to do will always be enough*, let the rest go and take a deep breath.

So they are some of the struggles that I deal with and don’t get me wrong I love blogging, it is amazing and a lot of good things have come from blogging but it can be hard especially when you don’t talk about it. So please tell me what do you struggle with???