Salon Chair Conversations: Blogging Burnout

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Last week, I had a hair appointment. No drastic changes here, just a trim. But y'all, I happen to have one of the sweetest hairstylists ever! She's so easy to talk to (no awkward salon pauses in the conversation), and we have lots of fun. Thankfully, she's also talented! At one point in my life when I had a different hairstylist, I would sometimes walk out of the salon feeling like this:

But now, oh happy day, I always feel like this:

I would encourage you to find the hairstylist that makes you feel like Audrey. Don't settle for being a mad little girl with a brush.

Anyway, on to the main topic... One of the many conversations we had while I got my hair trimmed was around blogging. My stylist once blogged regularly, too, and we were discussing how so many bloggers just seem to be getting burned out these days. I myself have been seeing tons of blogs, large and small, going on indefinite hiatus because writing became too stressful and time consuming. Life online is only a small part of everyone's world, after all. This is even more true for those of us who can't claim blogging as a full-time job or as a source of any income.

But, as we were talking, I voiced my feeling that "blogging burn out" has to be preventable. If we truly enjoy this means of sharing and communicating online, there have to be boundaries we put in place that keep the online world in its place, so we don't become overwhelmed and drop out of the fun. What are they?

I honestly, don't know that I can answer my own question. I'd love to know your thoughts. I'm sure the answer will be different for each person, but I think it's important that we all try to answer it for ourselves because, quite frankly, this should be a no-pressure environment. Whatever else blogging is nowadays, it's always been about writing and sharing and making friends and having "you too?" moments and enjoying our worlds in a public way, not stress and competition. If you can only blog two times a week while managing the rest of your life, do that! If you don't have the time to make all your own graphics or do DIYs or write a life confession that's football fields long, that's fine! "Do your best and forget the rest" as Tony Horton says. But, don't get overwhelmed. Don't feel stress over something that's supposed to be enjoyable. And, if this really is your source of income, and you're drowning in blog-related work, think of maybe finding someone to help you out! The abundance of work is probably a sign you're doing a great job with your online world, just don't sacrifice the physical one for it.

Am I the only one who's been thinking about this? Please do share your thoughts for "blogging burn out prevention," and have a great, stress-free Monday! :)

-Song