Today I’m reflecting. Reflecting on my blog. Side note – how obnoxious was that watermark yesterday? I was playing with a new way of watermarking – and at the time I thought it was great, but when I turned my computer on today, it made me gag just a little bit. So, I quickly made a new one that you can see in the picture below. Much better if I do say so myself. Anyway, life has been happening and I haven’t done much updating about it on the blog lately. If you follow me on Instagram, that’s pretty much the best way to keep up with me right now. I always have my phone with me, and it takes just a few seconds to take a quick snapshot capturing my daily (not so) exciting adventures.
Here’s the deal. A few months back, I started accepting offers to write various review and/or giveaway posts. While I love them and am so grateful for the opportunities, I ended up signing up for more than I should have. I over-committed myself. For many bloggers out there, it’s easy to do reviews each week, multiple even, on top of content posts, but for me I just can’t seem to find the time. I told myself when I started blogging that I didn’t want my blog to turn into a review/giveaway blog, but alas, if you look at my last couple of months, that’s indeed what it looks to be.
Let me be frank here, I like sharing products with y’all that I love, and I love even more when companies allow me to give one away to a lucky reader. The thing is, I only want to share products that I truly care about – ones that I am incredibly passionate about. I would never lie in a post and say that I like a product just because I got it for free, that’s not me. But, there comes a point that the review posts suck the motivation out of you, and that’s where I’ve found myself lately. More often than not, I would sit down at the computer all motivated and ready to write… the brain juices would be flowing and I’d have a great idea of something I wanted to share. Then, it would dawn on me that I had to review product A, with products B and C following closely behind. I would feel guilty writing a personal post, when I had other obligations out there that I needed to fill. It doesn’t help that I also like to spend a good chunk of time writing review posts because I want to make sure they are quality for my readers. Review posts are what people see when they google information about a certain product – I want my thoughts to be honest, thorough, and helpful.
So yeah. That’s my story. It’s like a vicious circle. But, I’m proud to say that I’m finally all caught up and it may or may not be what you want to here but I have no reviews or giveaways planned for the near future. This isn’t saying that I’ll never post them again, as I’m sure I will, but they will be few and far between.
Lastly, I want to mention that while I’ve had times throughout my blogging career where I’ve felt the desire to truly grow my blog, you know make a huge effort to get it BIG – especially when I got back from BlogHer. By big I mean where I post almost daily, grow my followers to be in the tens of thousands, and have fun doing it. But, I’ve come to terms with the fact that more than likely, this will never happen to me. Not anytime soon at least. I honestly don’t know how some of these moms do it. I’m a stay at home mom and just can’t find the time to devote to my blog like others can. Maybe I’m bad at time management, I’m not sure…but when Monkey’s awake, I like to be there playing with him, engaging him, and watching him learn and grow. The few times where I’ve tried to blog while he’s awake, I am left feeling extremely guilty. It just doesn’t feel right to me to stick him in front of the TV – every now and then, I’ll admit that I’ve done it, but I just can’t seem to do it on a daily basis. So, that leaves the majority of my writing time to his nap times and after he goes to sleep at night. My mom has been watching him for a few hours once a week so that I can go to the coffee shop and write, but still, it doesn’t leave a whole lot of time. It also doesn’t help that I’ve got a big craft streak in me…meaning I like to spend some of my downtime doing things like knitting, making wreaths, and sewing! I also recently joined a mom’s group, so I’ve been spending lots of time hanging out with other moms and babies. If my blog were to get huge, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have time for those sorts of things anymore. And then of course there’s the whole cooking and cleaning thing, but we won’t even go there. Aye.
Anyway, I’ll quit my rambling now. I’ve been meaning to write this post for quite some time, and I’m glad I spent today’s morning nap time doing just that. I hope it makes sense, I hope it didn’t offend anyone, and I hope I don’t lose any followers for it. If so, I apologize. Otherwise, I hope you stick around!
Are you a mom with a blog? How do you manage your time?
November 1, 2012
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Hi and welcome! I'm Jenny - a green living new momma, adoring wife, and MSU fan.
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Seriously I could have written this post word for word. I am feeling this way right now. When I first started blogging it was to watch my babies grow and document the fun things we did, the challenges we experienced and life in general. Now I’m feeling like those posts are few and far between and even my husband admits to not reading the blog as much. That makes me a bit sad. I thought I wanted to grow my blog big and now that my readership is just up a bit this past month I’m wondering, what’s the point? I don’t have the free time to devote the time to it that I want without giving up some of the other things I love including knitting. I almost forgot how much I LOVE to knit and over the past few weeks I have reminded myself of that. Not to mention working full time doesn’t lead much time to blogging other than at night. I didn’t mind staying up but now that I’m pregnant and exhausted I’m finding very little time to post. I still have vacation photos from over a month ago that I want to post but with all the reviews/giveaways/sponsored posts I have not sure when I will get around to it. I even contemplated staring a new blog which would just be photos and family memories but then when would I even have time for that?! Thanks for letting me rant and think even more about my blogging future. I know I’ve said it once but I’ll say it again, I am SO glad we roomed together at BlogHER!!!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Mindi! I totally get everything you’ve said. And, I totally understand the whole ‘what’s the point?’ feeling…as I’ve felt the exact same way. I’ve really taken the last few months to reflect on my blogging and make that decision whether or not I wanted to truly go for it. I do feel that if I had the time, I could really grow the blog, but I just don’t right now. Like you said, I don’t want to sacrifice the time I have for crafting, etc. Good luck with your blog – I hope both of us can figure out a way to continue blogging without sacrificing other areas of our lives that are just as important (if not more) to us! And heck YES I’m glad we roomed together at BlogHER! Which, by the way, I’m going to next year!
I love your honesty here! I work nearly full-time (32 hours per week) and juggling the blog is definitely almost another full time job in itself. Some weeks I’m more inspired than others, but I’ve learned to plan ahead with posts ready to go for those weeks. It does take up alot of my time after K-Bear goes to bed or during her naps on Friday. Somehow, I make it all work; I think they call that passion! lol. But I hear you; it’s tough. You just have to keep focused on the posts that truly mean something to you, and that will be reflected in your words and resonate with your readers. Review and giveaways can be a nice touch, but personally, I tend to shy away from blogs that do them almost exclusively. They just don’t feel as heartfelt or substantive to me. Keep up the good work; I enjoy reading about your adventures with Monkey, which by the way, should always trump writing. :-)
Thanks for your thoughts and kind words, Kim :) And thanks for being a reader!
Love this post (and love your blog!). I totally know what you mean. I was always a writer. I had my first book published at 17. Then, you know, I got busy — busy with life, busy with a kid, busy NOT writing books. This blog has become my outlet, a way to still write what is in my heart even if no one reads it. The product reviews are great, especially when I’m backed by companies who I truly believe in (the only ones I will accept!) buuuut it does get to be a lot. It’s hard enough to be a mom and find the time to focus on your content.
Oh my gosh congrats on having your first book published at 17! That’s amazing. I’m glad that you’ve been able to have an outlet through your blog, which by the way…I LOVE. It has really been helping me get some new food ideas for my picky eater!
I’ve been signing up for way too many reviews too. I think I need to slow down and just choose the good ones!
I think that the majority of us really struggle to get posts written as often as we do. I’m not sure how anyone that is at home with a baby/toddler writes daily and has time for anything else.
I loved this post and struggle to keep up with life while trying to grow my blog.
Hugs! :-)