Blog yourself out of an early grave.
I have never been as busy in my entire life as I am at the moment. Not only busy, but I’m having some monstrous niggling computer hassles and such. I’m simply unable to cope and I fear my blogging is suffering because of it.
I always try my best to post fairly frequently and would scoff at those claiming their inbox was backlogged etc. etc. However, I’m suddenly in the same boat. I’ve had email going down, phone lines sliced through, broadband cut-off, servers going down - you name it, it’s happened.
Not only that, but I’ve got sites to revamp, trade shows to organise and speeches to write. Yeah, so what - we all have fairly busy schedules, but currently this is all way beyond my usual comfort zone. I’m not too proud to say that I’m barely treading water.
So, why on earth am I firing off a meaningless little post about being busy with a few hard luck tales thrown in?
Basically, I find the actual process of writing a blog post both cathartic and an exceptional exercise in training one’s thoughts. I find it extremely useful to tap away every day even if only for fifteen minutes. It doesn’t matter what I write, or how I write it, but it’ll generally be something relevant to my state of mind at that given time.
And that’s probably my point. Although you may feel that you’re too busy to start a blog, or you’re that busy you can’t maintain your blog, it’s not really a good enough excuse. I’ll accept that maybe spending a couple of hours reading blogs might be out of the question, but there’s no reason not to throw something out there.
If you’re too busy to spare fifteen minutes during your day - for anything, not just your blog - then something is sadly wrong.
I definately agree with you on this. For me, blogging is a great release for frustrations, and it helps me organize my thoughts. It’s also great for improving your writing skills. Another great thing about it is the fact that you can get feedback and encouragement when you need it. And I agree about the time thing. I’m also very busy, but I always manage to find time to post, even if it is sometimes short.
I am so happy someone else feels that blogging helps them get any frustrations they have in their life out in the open. I think blogging is a great way to vent, because let’s face it if people did not vent every now and then they would explode from all of the built up anger and emotions. On my personal blog, since it is mainly for class, I try to blog about PR related issues because I figure no one cares about what is going on in my life. However, I do not feel that way, it makes me feel better to know that somebody is going through the same thing I am. Although your busy schedule is much different than a college student’s I can somehow relate because that is how my life has been for the past three weeks. Also, I do agree that blogging about anything is better than not blogging at all.
I’ve kept a personal journal (only recently learned that thing is called a blog!) on my computer for several years. I’ve found it to be a wonderful way to release a lot of pent up emotion, so I try to force myself at least every Sunday night before I go to bed to write out everything that happened the past week (or since I last posted).
Although I can often not find the time to do this, I do get a very satisfied feeling when I get it done, and it’s always interesting to go back and read the posts from several years ago to see how I’ve changed as a person. Those moments really make me glad I take the effort every once in a while to blog.
I’ve found that blogging also helps me be clear about events of the day. Otherwise life can just be a big blur.
I agree with you, Paul, that blogging can be very cathartic. In June I was diagnosed with leukemia and I have used my personal blog to talk about my cancer some. I have been in remission since January but I sometimes find it too emotional to talk about the cancer. The blog has served as an outlet to discuss some of my feelings without being publically emotional. This semester I am interning with the American Cancer Society, so if I want to pursue this after graduation, I will need to be able to speak about my cancer in front of people. Hopefully, the blog will allow me to get used to sharing my feelings so when I do speak publically, I will be strong.
I’m glad there is someone else out there who is feeling as busy as I am. Not that I thought I was the only one, it just seems like everyone else can handle it better than me. I have recently been feeling that I am barely treading water too. Sometimes I think that I will never have enough time to do all my blogging for the week, but I seem to always get it done. And once I do finally blog, I feel so much better. I definitely agree with you that it is a release of frustrations. As stressed as I am these days, blogging is something that relieves me of that for a short time. Thank you for this post, Paul.
I suppose that’s the online diary aspect to blogging we’re all talking about. Whether you’re being extremely personal or focusing your day’s education or business, it’s a very good way to keep yourself on the straight and narrow.
It’s nice to see so many people agreeing even if they might be for entirely different reasons.
I too agree with you Paul. Blogging is not hard, especially if you can blog about whatever you want. It becomes harder if you are supposed to blog about a specific topic (one that requires a lot of thought). I have kept a journal since I was a little girl…I use to write everything in it, but now it is more of my prayers and concerns. Blogging is kind of like this. Everyone has time to blog if they will make the time (just like everything else.)
I will admit I have been so busy lately with school and work that thinking of having to blog has been the last thing on my mind. However, as I sat down to wriite earlier I also felt as if I relieved most frustration out through my finger tips. No, I wasnt bad mouthing anyone of thing, it just felt that with other things being instuctional blogging was something I could sit down and write myself with no guidelines from others. Thank you for your post and good luck with all of your work!
[…] nutes a day to write a post - anybody can spare fifteen minutes.’ I even proclaimed words to that effect myself not so long ago. Granted, I was talking mor […]