— Misc —

My New Year Resolution is to Stop Blogging

December 28, 2023

Before December started, I thought I was more or less settled with my blogging plans for 2024. I’ve been pretty happy off Instagram and I was considering how I’m going to narrow down my Internet presence for a saner year. And of course I had aaaaalllll the year end blogging plans.

But then December rolled around and I found myself overwhelmed. I don’t even know how but I didn’t check my email for about three weeks (and I’m someone who used to go to inbox zero every day). It was kind of odd to see myself have no motivation, but I did some reflection and I realised that it’s been going on for a while.

I used to have the idea that you should just do what you want to do and the motivation will eventually come, but I think now it’s time for a different approach. I’d like to spend at least 3 months just reading and drinking tea without the expectation of blogging about it. That’s actually quite a worrying prospect for me because I tend to use my reviews as a way to remember what I read, but I think it’s more important to just take that expectation away. I’m also going to stop marking things on goodreads because the weight of making sure I review the same amount of books each year is getting me down as well.

Honestly, I find this to be a rather drastic measure but given that I took about three days to write this short and not very well-written post, I think it’s needed. So I will see everyone again around April of 2024 (or later, if I really feel like I need more time).

23 thoughts on “My New Year Resolution is to Stop Blogging”

  1. I must say I was surprised to see the title of this post because you’ve been so active lately with blogging! But I see it’s 3 months off, which honestly I think is a nice plan to just give yourself space from “expectations.” Maybe this will rejuvenate your motivation for reviewing after a nice break. 🙂 Enjoy your time off!

    1. Hi Celeste, yes I’ve pretty much been pushing myself to keep active but I think this is my limit haha. I do miss the days when I had energy to write posts and read others, so I’m planning to at least stick around other’s people’s blogs in this time!

  3. I also write reviews to remember what I read in the first place 😀

    I think you made a very courageous and difficult but ultimately also a very wise and healthy decision. Hopefully taking a break will re-energize you and help you find your bliss again. So that you may continue to do the things you love with the same amount of passion you have always had. I hope you enjoy your time off, Eustacia 🙂

    1. Thanks so much, Thibault! I’m a bit worried about how I’m going to remember what I read but the change will be good for me (I think)!

  4. I think that was very well written. 🙂 I’ll miss your posts (although I’m inconsistent blog-hopping), but I understand the need to take a break and get back to simply reading without the pressure to also chat about it. I also do reviews and such to remember what I read, but I’ve been toying with ideas to do things a bit differently next year since I no longer have time to do reviews as I’d like.

    1. Thank you for the kind words! I noticed my energy for blog hopping went down considerably so I’m hoping to use this time to read more reviews and hopefully gain inspiration on what I want to do when I’m back!

  6. You know, it sounds like this is a great plan for you. I hope you’ll be back after a while, of course, but when writing about something or tracking it or whatever gets in the way of the actual enjoyment of the thing, it’s definitely time to take a step back! I’ve done it myself a couple of times. I hope your 2024 is filled with wonderful books and tea and no motivation-killing expectations whatsoever 🙂

  7. Happy new year! Maybe you can start a reading journal to keep track of what you’ve read, and maybe blog a summary or your impressions on a quarterly basis. That way you don’t have to feel pressured to come up with several posts in a week/month. That works for teas too. Enjoy your time off and see you around.

  8. It will be therapeutic and liberating to have no expectation of yourself!! I also did that cos I felt a bit suffocated by social media and the detox was sooooo worth it.

      1. Hello.
        I wish you luck in your break.

        I’m writing only for one specific reason. Over the last few days I read Thank You, Jeeves, and all the way through found myself thinking that it really isn’t all that funny – certainly not compared to everything else I’ve read in the Jeeves-Wooster world.

        And I was worried – am I finally tiring of Wodehouse? So I Googled “Thank You, Jeeves the least funny of the Jeeves and Wooster books” – and was rewarded with your 2022 review, mirroring my own thoughts
        Thank you. It was actually a relief.

        If I could offer one reason for why the book isn’t as funny: Bertie isn’t really all that dumb in the book. He’s referred to as dumb, occasionally, but he’s actually fairly effective pretty often
        In short, I think Wodehouse hadn’t quite perfected the Woster personality, especially the disarming way Bertie would later be totally and cheerfully aware of his limitations. (Never mind that he could describe events with a timeless comic flair in spite of being a complete chowderhead.)

        1. Hi Paul, thanks for your comment and I’m relieved to find out that someone else shares my thoughts on Thank You, Jeeves (also, you’ve reminded me that I should read something from Wodehouse sometime soon).

          Good point about the Bertie character – I did think that the reason why the book wasn’t quite as funny was because it was an earlier work and if it’s because his character hasn’t been yet perfected… well that makes a lot of sense to me.

  11. I’m not going to lie, but the idea of just reading and drinking tea for multiple months without worrying about anything else related to the internet has me drooling! I hope you’re enjoying it so far! 😀

What do you think?