6 Reasons Why Bloggers Block Is Real and What To Do About It (2024)
It’s been a while – again! I love blogging about staying well, writing leadership articles and book reviews but recently I’ve not had the energy or inclination to do any of this. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write, otherwise, why would I normally find this an energising and rewarding thing to do?
Last year I took an extended and unexpected break and this year I haven’t posted a blog or article since the end of March 2024.
Today is Saturday morning, and the home is peaceful because I have a rare weekend to myself. I’ve taken this opportunity to think deeply about what has been happening, why, and what I can do to re-engage with something I enjoy doing.
Image with thanks to Steve Johnson @steve_j via Unsplash
These are some of the reasons / blockers I have examined both for myself but also generally:
Lack of ideas and inspiration – this one doesn’t apply to me at the moment, I have ideas and content coming at me from many different sources and leads nicely onto the next area on my list.
Overwhelm – I’ve been reading an excellent book recently – The Art and Business of Online Writing by Nicolas Cole and in one of the chapters Cole speaks about how ‘scrolling’ for ideas on social media and other outlets can overwhelm. And in that lies a paradox - why am I constantly seeking more if I have lots of ideas and inspiration? The other part of overwhelm is when you are a blogger or writer, it can be other associated tasks like SEO, sourcing images, social media, and responding to comments which can be all-consuming.
Stress, anxiety, and fatigue – this is my biggest killer of all inspiration and creativity. When life becomes busy, the day job becomes stressful, and everyday tasks evoke a level of anxiety; this dampens all creative flow for me.
Lack of motivation – Doubting the reason you took up a project or passion of any type can lead to a lack of motivation, especially when the extrinsic rewards are missing. What I mean by extrinsic rewards is the lack of ‘likes’, ‘reads’, ‘interactions’, and ‘comments’ you achieve when you post your work. This causes one to lose motivation and then doubt creeps in. This in turn can evoke imposter syndrome, where your self-belief goes on a wander somewhere and causes you to doubt yourself altogether.
Perfectionism and Procrastination – I have to admit I am a perfectionist – always have been and although I know it’s not the healthiest way of going through life and I also know why I am a perfectionist, this is something I have to work very hard at not letting it get hold of me as it does lead to procrastination. Procrastination is the result of perfectionism for me, the time is never right, the environmental conditions are not right, and there’s always something else that needs doing first (not true).
Media and Time – I do consider myself quite good at using technology, I have built and managed my website, and I know how to use most social media channels – perhaps not to top-notch standards but I get by. Having the time whilst doing a full-time job and learning how to create good social media content is a big task – no wonder I have felt exhausted a lot of the time.
Opportunity to take stock and reflect.
It's been good to sit and reflect on my status quo and the reasons why things are just not clicking for me right now. So next is to think about what can be done to overcome these obstacles:
Image with thanks to Vince Fleming @vincefleming via Unsplash
Lack of ideas and overwhelm – find inspiration by reading other blogs, perhaps exploring new topic areas and finding new allies to follow on social media. Combat overwhelm by spending some time planning – creating a content calendar, and breaking down large tasks into manageable chunks. It’s good practice to revisit previous material and re-assess whether your views or thinking have changed.
Stress, anxiety, and fatigue – looking after one's health is critical, and maintaining that focus can be difficult when external stressors disrupt; sleeping patterns, healthy eating, exercise, and connection with nature., all of which are very important to me in maintaining a healthy balance in life. Practice self-care to ensure I take care of my mental and physical health will maintain the energy levels needed for creativity to flow.
Lack of motivation, perfectionism, and procrastination – things I have reflected on around this area are:
o Re-establish your ‘why’ – being grounded in why you are doing something can be very empowering. I went back and read the introduction on my website ‘About’ page and reminded myself why my writing is so important to me.
o Changing up my writing environment – set up new places to sit and write in your home or garden or think about libraries or cafes where you can refocus.
o Getting some feedback from trusted peers who can provide insights and reassurance.
o Take some time out to do some ‘free writing’ – this is where you just write, without worrying about grammar or structure. Just write whatever is on your mind to enable that flow to return.
o If you want a new approach, try different formats such as lists, infographics, videos, or new social media platforms.
o Remembering there were two reasons I felt confident to begin blogging and writing and these were: Ali Abdaal, who is an ex-NHS doctor on YouTube. Ali inspired me to get started and continues to post some excellent content on productivity and making a living on social media. Secondly, to revisit the book Show Your Work by Austin Kleon which helped to motivate and inspire’.
Media and time – different thoughts arose around this area:
o If you have a website and cannot manage it, pay consideration to the purpose it serves and if you can capture readers by not having a website at all. For me, I like to have a website but am assured I have other avenues to post my work on, for instance, Medium, LinkedIn, X, and Instagram.
o Social media takes a lot of time and effort, but the rewards can be worth the effort, if you have too many different platforms you engage in, consider which brings you the most interaction and traction and stop using ones that don’t work for you. It also helps if you establish a routine of what you are posting on social media and the best times to do the post. Then schedule these, so your audience knows what they can expect from you.
These are my reflections, it’s been a useful exercise for me to do and I hope they work for me, this will show over the coming weeks and months and just as important, if you resonate with my position, I hope they help you too, but do explore your situation, as we are all unique individuals.
Spending time taking stock of things that are or are not working in life, is always a good thing to do from time to time, it really helps to put things in perspective.
Delighted to bring you my favourite things this week:
Quote
“Happiness is not a station your arrive at, but a manner of travelling.”
Question
What one thing have you been putting off doing because it just seems to difficult to tackel?
Blog
I love listening to podcasts and this is my favourite one this week: Lewis Howes - School of Greatness in conversation with Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, a renowned gastroenterologist, and gut health expert - you can find it on your usual podcast listening platforms.
Thank you for stopping by. If you have time please take some time to look around the website and leave me a comment if anything resonates.