As I continue pondering the role of technology and social media in my life (basically something I do whenever I have nothing else on my mind), I realised something:
The book blogging community works extremely hard.
Like, I’m not even joking. I see daily posts from so many book bloggers, I see readathons, I see weekly memes and discussion topics, and perhaps most significantly, I see posts on how people optimise their blogs. It’s not just writing, I see people also on bookstagram, on pinterest, blog-hopping.
Honestly, it feels like you guys are doing a full-time job on top of your studies and work.
Which is why whenever I see someone posting about going on a hiatus or their feelings about not posting (it might just be what I read but I sense a lot of guilt about them going on a break), I just want to give them a hug to let them know that it’s okay. You work so hard for the love of books but you don’t have to make it a job. You don’t have to feel like you must post every day or that you must do Pinterest/Memes/Bookstagram.
I know because I feel it too (and judging by the blogging posts I see about being productive or whenever someone goes on a hiatus, I feel comfortable assuming I’m not alone). I mentioned that I wanted to focus on improving my content this year and I am working at it but I still feel the need to post reviews CONSTANTLY and to keep up with bookstagram and blog hopping and everything else that we think we need.
If this is you and you’re feeling tired about having to keep up with a posting schedule (even if you’re in a reading slump):
It’s okay.
This is our hobby and it should be fun.
Want a break? Take a break! You deserve it, you’ve been working so hard!
Feel tired? You’ve been working hard, please see above and consider taking a break.
Need some encouragement? I am here for you. If you need someone to look at a post or to just tell you that you’re amazing, let me know and I will try to spread some positivity. Need some tea to boost your spirits? Let me know too and I will try to send you something as long as I have some spare cash.
I’m writing this primarily to the book blogging community because that’s where I am and where I see a lot of burnout* but no matter where you are, if you’re feeling tired and discouraged about a hobby, this is for you. Hobbies don’t have to be side hustles and we shouldn’t treat them like a hustle. Do what brings you joy at a pace that brings you joy.
*interestingly enough, I haven’t seen many similar posts in the tea blogs I follow – perhaps it’s because I’ve only seriously jumped into reading tea blogs about a year or two ago? (I had to asterisk this because it was getting unwieldy to read around the brackets, does anyone else have this digression problem?)
Further Readings
This post is inspired by my on-off readings/thoughts about hobbies and hustle culture. Here are some things that I like and feel are related:
Creating a Healthy Blogger Mindset by Camillea Reads – I saw Camillea posted this while I was writing this post and it was so perfect because all this burnout and pressure comes from the mindset that we have towards blogging.
What Counts as a Hobby and Do I Have Any? by Marie Solis – A good article on the importance of hobbies and how we think about them.
Overwhelmed by Brigid Schulte – This is a great book that focuses on women and why we feel so busy and lacking in time. One of my favourite books last year and still very relevant.
If you know any great books/articles on hobbies and hustle culture, please send them my way! I am probably going to keep reading and thinking about this because how I spend my free time is hugely important to my mental health.
P.s
I’m about to hit “publish” and thought of/realised two more things:
- I had to consciously take a break yesterday because I was taking out my wisdom tooth. Still felt guilty.
- I thought of one scenario where the pressure to hustle on your blog might apply: if you’re trying to make it a fulltime job or for any purpose other than “this is to share my love of books”. I didn’t quite think about which category my blog falls under but it’s food for thought
Update 24/2/20: Jill at It’s More Than Tea has offered a tea blogger’s take on this topic. She also brought up the excellent point that when our schedules are disrupted, we tend to long for the predictability of everyday work (such as blogposts).
THIS POST IS GREAT. Thank you ❤️
Thank you! I’m glad you liked it!
Love this post. Making the world a better place with tea. 🙂
I started my blog because I am trying to get published. I finished my first novel … gosh, it must be … 3 years ago now? Four? It has taken longer than I ever dreamed to get agents interested.
Supposedly, every aspiring author needs an extensive list of e-newsletter subscribers to get book agents interested. I hate receiving NLs, so I can’t imagine why I would harass anyone else with them …. but I figured a blog, with followers, might be similar. Book blogging has turned out to be really fun in its own right, because I always have lots of random thoughts to write about and because you meet so many great people.
So I guess you could call writing novels and blogging a side hustle for me, in the sense that I hope to make money at it some day. But I’ve been at it many years and haven’t made any so far. Unfortunately, writing, especially writing fiction, gets counted as a hobby until you actually get published. So on the rare occasion when I sell a poem or article, on our taxes we count it as “hobby income.” Which feels like a slam. I’m a professional, but I’m not getting paid. Therefore I am a hobbyist. Nothing against blogging or writing as a hobby … but I’ve written two complete, rather lengthy novels. When do I get to be called a pro?
My impression is that almost no book bloggers do it full time. We all have day jobs and/or families to care for. I wouldn’t want to be making my only income from blogging. It sounds like way too much pressure. I’ve heard of successful YouTubers who get burned out and feel trapped by their own success.
All in all, great post.
Oooh, I write novels too! But I self-publish because I cannot stand the waiting (plus I like the self-control).
But yeah, I feel like my blog is more for myself (and I’m always surprised and happy if someone reads it) than as a side hustle that I want to earn money from. I probably need to think about this a lot more.
Yes, I feel like most book bloggers and instagrammers do it for the love of books rather than to make it a full time job as well! Which is why it’s very important that we don’t let the “job” mentality take over (esp in terms of aiming for certain metrics or feeling like we must hit certain posting goals).
This post is just the sweetest!! I completely agree with you that the blogging community works so hard and there is a lot of guilt about taking breaks (I definitely feel that way myself). But ultimately, for most of us it’s a hobby and we should do what makes us happy and try not to feel so bad about it- especially like in the example you gave, where life gets in the way.
PS I hope your okay after having your tooth out! <3
Yes, if it’s a hobby, it should be fun! I’ve been reading posts about guilt and scheduling and definitely felt it myself, so I just wanted to send some encouragement to everyone out there (:
My mouth is okay! There was surprising little swelling so I just need to be careful about what I eat for a couple of days
Absolutely!
Ah that’s good, hope it heals fast!
Love this post! Thank you for sharing mine. I’ve seen a lot of people take breaks and feel guilty about it, or don’t take the breaks they deserve and push themselves to their limits. Taking breaks should be normalized.
Yes! There’s been this weird stigma against resting but it’s a completely normal and necessary thing!
Great post! I see a lot of burnout, as well, and on some level I guess it seems odd because blogging is supposed to be a hobby and, well, none of us are getting paid for it. Why are we so desperate to “keep up” all the time when there’s not really much you get in return? I think the main issue would be that views can go down if you aren’t really active all the time. But..does it matter? Why does it feel like you’re failing when the views go down?
I know I’ve been less active and our views seem to be going down as a result. On the other hand, I have a life that needs living! I don’t want to feel guilty or stressed for putting my health, my family, and my friends first. I want to blog because I enjoy it, not because it feels like a chore that needs to be done!
Blogging is a lot of work and it’s work that seems to be unacknowledged even by publishers and authors sometimes, even though we’re doing free marketing. And that is frustrating. I also have people who have asked me my hobbies and said, “Is that all?” when I mention blogging, like reading, writing reviews, keeping up with the market and book news, making our own graphics, and doing social media is somehow not very impressive. And that is also frustrating. But, in the end, I do want it to be work that I enjoy, not work that causes me to burn out. I do have days each week when I don’t go in the Internet/have Internet access at all and I find it very freeing.
At times, it certainly feels like only bloggers know how much work goes into blogging!
I believe most of us do this for the love of books, but the more you get into a community, the stronger the external pressures to be seen as a successful member of the community.
I hope that you can find a good balance between blog life and life life! Blogging should not feel like a chore.
Very well said!! I’ve struggled with this, and you are right, I did feel guilty, but it was just too much stress and it wasn’t fun anymore! I have cut waaay back and its been a relief. I still blog a bit but I cut down from 6 posts a week to 1 every couple of weeks. That way I can still be part of the amazing book community but am no longer way overwhelmed. Thanks for taking the time to write this <3
I tried a few months of daily posts and it was exhausting. I feel you on cutting back – I’m learning to let go if I have days where I don’t have posts (and I intentionally schedule Saturday and Sunday as off days unless I’ve got something to say – like with this post). That helps too
A little bit late to this post … but I don’t think it could have been better timed discovery 🙂 Thanks for such a thoughtful commentary!
I’m glad that you found it helpful/it resonated!
Thank you for this post, I’ve been struggling with losing motivation to blog which is probably just me being burned already somehow trying to juggle things. Yet I still feel so guilty about not posting and not working on my blog all the time, even though I shouldn’t <3
I feel you on this! Big hugs and I hope you can take the time to rest without any of those feelings of guilt!
This is such a fantastic post! It honestly helped quiet my anxiety quite a bit. It’s always wonderful to have an outsider tell you it’s okay to take a break. I think part of the guilt comes from the fact that certain levels of activity on the blog used to be achievable and it makes me sad that I can no longer keep up. And then I feel guilty and lazy. But it’s important for me to remember that circumstances have changed and I’m now busier in other areas of my life, which means I have less time to blog.
After my co-blogger and I realized that we ended up not blogging at all during our fall semester 2 years in a row because we felt so much pressure to keep to a schedule, we’ve taken a more relaxed approach this year. Now we’re only posting when we have the time and it won’t cause stress. Sometimes this means reminding one another about our policy to be relaxed in aggressive manners. Having someone yell WE ARE SUPER CHILL always makes me laugh, and ends up actually working to make me less stressed. Having a strict posting schedule was great when we had the time, but this flexibility is so important now that we’re both dealing with so many other things in our lives.
I’m so glad it helped your anxiety a bit! I think sometimes we measure our productivity by our blog and it’s hard to take a step back and realise that even if our blog productivity falls, it doesn’t mean we’re lazy, it’s that we’ve become busier in other places.
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