Are You Addicted to Blogging? Finding Your Balance

Many bloggers feel the need to blog all the time.  Every single day and many nights too, blog blog blog...  The laptop can become like an umbilical cord (a lifeline) and separating from it can be difficult at times.  Often bloggers spend so much of their time blogging, doing projects for their blog, talking to other bloggers about their blog and planning what to do for their next blog post.  For some, blogging becomes a type of addiction.  Blogging is a ton of fun and it can be very rewarding.  However, if you let it, it can become an obsession and cause you to neglect other areas of your life that need your attention too.

The ability to have this forum where we connect with so many people from all over the world is, simply put, amazing.  But we need to keep it in balance with other things that are important in our lives too.  

Could you be spending too much time blogging?  

Are you neglecting other areas of your life that need attention?  

Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to see if you have the proper balance in your personal vs. blogging life.  There are no right or wrong answers, just be honest with yourself when thinking about your answers.

If you have children... Do you spend true quality time with your kids?  Or do you put them off telling them "we will do that later"?  

If you are in a relationship, do you and your spouse (or that special someone) have enough "together" time?  Or do you often find yourself online, blogging or working on projects for your blog when they are around?

Do you neglect your family, your friends, your faith, or anything else that should be a priority in your life all for the sake of blogging?

Do you ignore your household chores and blog instead?  (I admit that I am super guilty of this one!!!)

Have you become a workaholic, or should I call it a Blogaholic???

If you have, there are boundaries you can set for yourself to help find and maintain balance.  Below are a few suggestions to help you get back balance in your life:

• Treat blogging like a job.  If you are doing it full time, then try allowing just 40 hours a week to devote to it.

•  If you have kids at school and/or a spouse at work, try to work on your blog mostly while they are away.

• When the kids are home, plan a few activities with them each week.  Even simple activities can be very special.  Schedule the activity ahead of time like it's a date.  Maybe a trip to the park, read a book or watch a movie together, make them a special lunch, or take them out for ice cream.  By planning little dates with them they know you have set special time aside just for them.  It makes them feel special and it gives them something to look forward to when you are busy.

• Also remember to take a little "me" time... time for yourself.  Soak in a tub, get a massage or a manicure (if you like that sort of thing)... Read a good book.  Take time to re-charge your batteries so you will have the energy to keep up with everything else.

Keeping balance for me means that I post to my blog only a few times each week.  I work on my DIY projects a few days a week and I try to keep my nights open for spending quality time with my hubby.  I am lucky that my husband likes to do DIY house projects and so we get to enjoy doing the larger projects together (usually on weekends).  My daughters, now adults, both live an hour or more away so I don't see them as often as I would like, but we do talk on the phone often and get together when we can.  I remember to take "me" time every day.  I learned to do this about 11 years ago when I got slammed with Fibromyalgia.  When you live with chronic pain you need to "re-charge" your batteries on a regular basis...  So things like a soak in a bubble bath, reading a good book, and getting massages are regular "to do" items on my list. 

I don't know exactly what inspired me to write this post other than it's been on my mind lately.  If this post can help even one person realize that it is important to have balance in their life, that is all I can ask for.  Being blog obsessed might be fine for some peoples lifestyles.  But if you have a blog and you have loved one's then remember they both need to be given quality time and attention!  I suggest spending as much time with your family as you can, because the blog will still be there when you are done.

When I die, I don't want to be remembered as this - "Wow, she was a really good blogger"... but rather I'd like to be remembered as a Godly woman, a good wife, a good mother and a good friend.

Blessings,

Diana