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Blogging Anxiety – Here’s The Thing…

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blogging anxiety
When the little man in the garden taunts you too…

Mmmm….when it comes to blogging anxiety, it’s several things really…

Not even a week into our collective comeback and I’ve got blogging anxiety again. And I’m hearing voices. Well, one voice really. Mine.🙄

Ever get that nagging feeling?

And it taunts me with these neurotic questions which, I answer one by one further down: (The voice is thin and whiny but my answers are very shouty because I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF MY OWN VOICE WHINING AT ME!

  • “What if you don’t have time to blog every day, week, month, year, decade, century?”
  • “What if you don’t have time to read every blog in the known universe and, what if new universes are discovered and they have blogging there?
  • “What if you miss someone’s post and they think you’re ignoring them and they hate you forever.”
  • “What if you miss a comment held in moderation and people think you are ignoring them and they hate you forever.

What about that then? Eh? Eh? (I used to speak Canadian, can you tell?)

Blogging Anxiety -What if you miss someone's post and they think you're ignoring them and they hate you forever. @GillyMaddison Click To Tweet

Blogging anxiety is such a thing for me I did write about it once before. when I got blogging block.

See, I’m neuwritetic (a bit like neurotic only worse).

No, no, I am – don’t try to make me feel better, I can turn absolutely any situation into one of high anxiety.

I’m not doing blogging anxiety ever again, therefore, I’ve set me some ground rules so I can stop babbling in my own ear and driving myself nuts.

So here’s what I’m telling that voice.

Q: What if I don’t have time to blog every century?
A: For a start voice – quit whining in my ear. You’re driving me to drink and what a shame to destroy 29 years of living on carrot juice. I’ll blog when I have time. Maybe every century is a tad unrealistic, but, we’ll see.

What if I don't have time to blog every century? #blogging anxiety #bloggersgroups Click To Tweet

Seriously, I’m not going to go quiet on my blog again now that Mimi has fired us all up. But I know I can’t write every day and sometimes every week might be hard. I have a 91 year old mum to care for and a business to run so time is tight – as it is for all of us.

And I also spend an inordinate amount of time in the summer sitting on the garden swing in a trance, staring at ants because they fascinate me.

And, I don’t suppose anyone will care if I am not popping up every five minutes with a new post – so it’s all good.

Q: What if you don’t have time to read every blog in the known universe and, what if new universes are discovered and they have blogging there?

A: For heaven’s sake voice, what do you want from me? What with gluing bits of card to other bits of card and filming it, repeating everything to my mum 20 times on the phone (her hearing aid is 10 years old and the NHS isn’t in a hurry to replace it) and, with all the ant staring, how much time do you think is left for reading?

Seriously, this issue cropped up for me a lot back at the start when it was all a big race for stats (or some of us believed it was). Some people will relate to this I’m sure.

You’d join a group and everyone would be jolly hockey sticks about interacting and it worked for awhile.

Eventually, it became apparent when a narcissistic blogger was in my midst. They were the ones who would lap up your comments like a thirsty dog in a puddle but just didn’t reciprocate. (While complaining bitterly on forums when others were not liking or commenting on theirs.)

For awhile, I continued to do my bit regardless of whether a blogger was supporting me (or not!) Afterall, if I’d enjoyed a post, did it matter if the writer wasn’t ecstatic about mine?

Unfortunately, in the end, it did matter. Why? Because there are only so many hours in the day and I found I was letting good people down because I ran out of time every day.

And then people would post again before I’d caught up and every night, I was up until the small hours bashing away at the keyboard while my husband wondered if I was avoiding sex him.

And I’m not one to write things like “Great post!” – I never hit and run. I like to actually read the post and connect with the writer – so it all became a bit crazy for me.

In the end, with needy parents taking up lots of my time, I lost track of everyone, even the good guys and I just stopped reading anyone.

On an Elderly People Crossing road sign. And now, my dad has crossed the heavenly road 😥

This time round I’m going to be a lot more organised 😂😂😂 It’s three strikes and ‘no shows’ are out. No messing. I will gladly read and comment on anyone’s posts – if we are supporting each other. Hell, I’ll stay up all night when we are all helping each other.

But if a blogger I am supporting isn’t supporting me, I will assume they don’t like what they find here and I will focus on those who do – no matter how much I like their posts because, well, I’m not a doormat anymore.

That may sound harsh but last time around, I remember how crazy it got with late nights trying to catch up with everything. And I’m not doing that again for bloggers with narcisstic personality disorder. 😂🤣😂

Lets communicate! If we are too busy to keep up with each other – lets talk about it in the group instead of just ignoring the issue.

Lets communicate! If we are too busy to keep up with each other – lets talk about it in the group instead of just ignoring the issue. Click To Tweet

Q: What if you miss someone’s post and they think you’re ignoring them and they hate you forever.”

This is not me. It was posed by a model.

Oh. My. GOD voice! What is wrong with you? Your paranoia is reaching new heights! You need climbing ropes and spiky boots for this one!

Seriously, if I usually show up and then I miss a post or haven’t responded to a comment or just appear to have disappeared – it will not be deliberate (unless there’s been three strikes😂).

There were times last year when my dad was dying when I almost forgot who my husband was, so the blogging world never stood a chance!

We all have stuff to deal with and the beauty of our group is that we can prod each other and say – hey – WTF are you – you missed my post!

I probably won’t do that myself, (because of my own personality disorder which no one talks about and hasn’t been named yet🤪) BUT I’m happy for people to remind me if I haven’t shown up yet when I normally do. There are times when I am AWOL from my own life because of some elder crisis or another and we all know – it’s hard to do everything.

Q: “What if you miss a comment held in moderation and people think you are ignoring them and they hate you forever.

Here we go again voice – get the spiky boots and ropes out again! No one cares that much. Get over your damn self woman!

Seriously, I catch up with everything in the end. It might take a few days, but I don’t ever really forget what I need to do because I keep a bullet journal with the most detailed tasks of stuff to do. It’s not so much a Bu Jo, more of an OCD Jo.

If you feel as if I’m not playing fair – tell me – when I realise I’ve missed something I’ll be mortified – I can say sorry for England. I’m a contender for the Saying Sorry OlympicEvent and I’ll probably get a gold medal in the next Olympic Games. 🥇

So, that’s it – my blogging anxiety all laid bare.

I’m going outside to stare at ants because it is a beautiful sunny day and I’m allowed because I’m the boss around here (and the only employee which is why I talk to myself so much.)

How about you – do you get blogging anxiety or do you just not give a f*&k? – talk to me and tell me if I’m mad – I only need three more yes’s for an official diagnoses.

20 thoughts on “Blogging Anxiety – Here’s The Thing…”

  1. Pingback: JUNE UPDATE: SUMMER SLOWDOWN

  2. Don’t sweat it. These days my blog serves as an archive for other places. Easier for me to find a particular post.

    It is fun to see the stats when someone hits the place and starts browsing.

    1. Thanks Christopher – I appreciate your visit. I may just go and spin the stat counter a little at your place.

  3. Chill out, eh? 😉 (I speak fluent Canadian) Some of your concerns are similar to mine, Gilly. Those narcissists who are happy to take but never give drive me batty! It bothers me a lot when I can’t keep up with visitors. If they take the time to read and comment on my post, the least I can do is respond and reciprocate. This is one of the main reasons I could never sustain a daily blogging schedule. Doing the April A to Z Challenge four years in a row (26 posts in 30 days) always led to blogger burnout and it became a chore, not a pleasure, anymore. It still gets that way, sometimes. I usually try to stay away on weekends and will be cutting back for the summer, as well. It’s such a short season in Canada! Staring at ants on a beautiful, sunny day is excellent therapy. In the end, it boils down to your blog, your rules, yes? Cheers!

    1. Hi Debbie – Ok ok! I will! I am! well nearly – a cup of tea will sort me out I’d put some Crown Royal in it but its so long since I had a drink I’d fall over. That’s a lot of posts – I just couldn’t do that I KNOW! Yes – kick back and enjoy summer – I used to LOVE the beautiful summers after the snow – such wonderful memories of Wasaga Beach, the cottage up near Haliburton, Centre Island, Ontario Place and all the lovely markets. I found a slideshow the other day on YouTube of Toronto in 1978 when I was there – it made me cry my eyes out because all the comments under it said its nothing like that now.But your pictures show a lovely clean neighbourhood. The last place I lived was Codsell Avenue – do you know it? I wonder what it’s like now.

      1. Sadly, it’s true. Toronto, while still a world-class, cosmopolitan city (and 4th largest in North America, right behind Chicago), has grown enormously since the ’70s. Along with that comes more grime and crime. 🙁 I’m somewhat removed from all that; living in a suburban town within the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). It’s the best of both worlds: cleaner and safer, yet close enough to downtown to go there anytime we want. I don’t know Codsell Avenue, but according to Google maps, it’s in North York. It looks like a lovely, older neighbourhood with nice bungalows and lots of trees.

  4. Hi Gilly, Love this one. I found you from Debbie at Dog Lady’s Den 🙂
    I saw the title and had to check it out. I was just thinking I need to write instead of read ….
    I don’t get as anxious as I once did. Something sticks out for me now, that we need to spend 80% on marketing our posts, sharing, commenting, being on social, etc. It’s not enough to just write and post today.
    So I like making the rounds and I loved your post. It’s nice to meet new bloggers along the way, how long have you been at it?
    I’m going on 9 years, can’t believe it! I used to blog daily, then weekly, then monthly and now several times a week with some sponsored posts sprinkled in. I used to have a full time job, now I run a business from the blog 🙂

  5. Gilly, how can we have the same voices in our heads?? I nearly drove myself into a breakdown trying to keep up with every post, by everyONE!! Then Hugh, from Hugh’s News and Views, gave me permission to only read a few, whenever I can. blissful relief!! Now, I try to hit everyone at least once a week. And definitely read the whole post, and make a meaningful comment. Also, I had to give up the Linky parties. Just.not.enough.time.in.the.week.
    Thank you!!

    1. I know! Strange isn’t it but I guess we’ve all just learnt from experience. Oh yeah – the Linky Parties – they were a bit hit and miss anyway. I’d spend ages faithfully visiting everyone only to find some people just didn’t get the concept of reciprocation, so I did what you did and gave them up. Thanks for stopping by Melinda – it is very much appreciated.

  6. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Omg. I’m dying Gilly!! Blog when you can. Visit other blogs when you can and trust that we know life is the real deal and we tend to that first. 🙂 If someone thinks you’re ignoring them or whatever. They’re idiots. Do your thing. We’re not going anywhere. 🙂 You’re so silly… I didn’t blog yesterday because my sleep schedule is still screwed up from my month-long vacation in a different time zone so I had to nap! And after that, I was caught in the nap coma where you feel like you’ve been drugged… So. No post from me. Hahahahahaha.

    1. How can you laugh at my pain! Oh my goodness I am so glad you are pulling everyone back together again Karen – I so needed the tonic of being able write the funny side of life again and to read people with the same sense of humor. Seriously you do realise that when you don’t write you let your fans down don’t you? Can’t wait for the next one – no pressure.

  7. I sometimes have a similar voice in my head. I am getting better at ignoring it. I used to think I had to post everyday. I have come to accept that I should only post when I feel like it…turns out I still tend to post everyday, just without the pressure.

    I comment when I think I have something worth saying, or sometimes just to say I was there. I try not to play “One up on the post” and say complimentary stuff when it is genuine.

    1. Hi Joe – yes, it’s that self-imposed pressure isn’t it? Once we get that under control, it is much better. And I agree – oneupmanship isn’t a good game to play. I always think that just the mere act of bothering to write is of merit all on its own. I could never be unkind to a writer!

  8. My blog, my rules. Sure, old love millions of adoring fans, but blogging is the most cost effective therapy out there. It’s for me.

    1. Oh gosh – isn’t it just! And no therapist to have sat there looking at you like you’re crazy (but that’s why I’m here!). And yes – I agree – our blogs, our rules!

  9. How did you get inside my head, Gilly? This is brilliant and hilarious – two of my favorite things to see in a blog post. I’ve been in a slump for a few weeks. I was writing a post every week and had some ahead to publish. I only have one in my completed folder at this time and I’m trying not to panic. Meanwhile I have all the other issues going on, too. Who have I missed? Who will I drop because it is purely a one-sided relationship? Etc Etc. Good to have kindred spirits!

    1. Hi Molly – yes all that! I’m guessing there must be loads of us like this. I was so naive when I started out in 2014 – I thought having been a writer and photographer in my career would make blogging really easy. Oh how I laugh now when I look back! Don’t worry about your slump – it will pass like they always do. At least we are more savvy now and know what to watch out for. I’m so pleased we have got back on track with each other – I have always loved your humour – I wish Roxanne Jones was still blogging – did you know her? She was so funny too! I think she was from our original stable (for want of a better word!).

  10. Set your own rules about blogging and then follow them. I blog heavily on the week days, but on the weekends, I’m usually boating. No time for blogging. So that’s my down time. We all find what works for us.

    Have a fabulous day and weekend. ♥

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