I've been blogging for 4 and a half years, but up until now I'd never had a prolonged break away from blogging. Although I couldn't avoid it due to the demands of A Levels, part of me was apprehensive that taking time away from blogging would lead to me falling out of love with it and never returning. However, it had the opposite effect and I returned with more motivation and passion, as well as learning many new things. I thought I'd take the time to talk a bit about this and what I realised during my blogging break.
Blogging isn't always my priority - this perhaps comes across as being uninvolved and not dedicated to blogging, which is far from true as I really am, but I realised that blogging can't always be my main focus. I've always said that academics have to come before blogging, as well as friends and family, and this is something that my break reaffirmed. Up until the last week of my blogging break, it hardly ever crossed my mind as I had so much going on and had to focus on other things. As much as I'll always love it, it can't be my main focus 100% of the time.
Statistics don't matter - I've never been the type of blogger who obsesses over analytics and checking out trends in pageviews, however taking a break from blogging definitely made me realise just how unimportant this is. I completely understand that it's different for anyone who blogs as a job, but for someone like me who does it as a hobby it really doesn't make a difference. Although I still gained steady views during my blogging break, there was a definite dip in my usual traffic. But rather than worrying about this, I was instead just glad to get back to blogging and didn't care whether I was getting a couple views or a couple hundred.
Blogging is a reflection of myself - when I started blogging I was very objective with barely any personality injected in my posts, but upon having a break from blogging I realised just how much I wanted to change about this. My blog is one of the best reflections of myself and I want it to be more of a representation of my life rather than solely being reviews and recommendations (although I do still enjoy writing these). I know for a fact that I'll look back on my blog in years to come, and I want it to be a portrayal of some of the most important parts of my life.
I truly love blogging - doing this has been a hobby of mine for the past 4 and a half years, but over the past year or so it perhaps became more of a chore and something that I was doing simply out of routine or for the sake of it. However, not blogging for a few months made me realise just how much I missed it and my love for the platform was definitely rekindled. Instead of churning out a post a week as a force of habit, I'm back to writing as I genuinely enjoy it and it's what I like spending my time doing.
It takes a lot more time than I realised - when I first stopped blogging, it amazed me just how much free time I was left with. Sundays especially used to be consumed with taking photos, editing, proofreading and social media promotion, and so once I stopped blogging I was suddenly left with a considerable amount of free time. I was under the impression before I stopped that it definitely wouldn't get in the way of my studies, but I soon realised that my short break freed up a lot of extra time for revision.
Blogging is more than a hobby - I've always viewed my blog solely as a hobby, and don't get me wrong it still is, but having a break made me realise how much more it is. Running social media platforms, writing emails and conversing with brands makes it seem so much like a business. Although I'll always love blogging as an enjoyable pastime, I really underestimated the amount of work and effort that goes into it, which is much more than a casual hobby.
I really want to improve my blog - towards the end of my blogging break, whilst I was finishing off my last couple exams, I was incredibly eager to get back to it and mentally brainstorming ways of improving my content. I feel like my blog has been quite stagnant for the past couple years, and I've just been carrying out the same routine without striving to improve my blog. However, now that it's summer and the perfect opportunity to give blogging my all, I can't wait to find ways to improve my blog and increase the quality.
All in all, I realised that having a break from blogging for a few months wasn't damaging like I expected, but instead renewed my passion and motivation to blog, giving me a new burst of energy to create content for my readers. I can't wait for a summer filled with blogging and documenting my life on here, and so make sure you continue reading to see what I'll be getting up to. Thank you for reading this post and I'll see you in a few days with another new one!
Love from Daisy x
It takes a lot more time than I realised - when I first stopped blogging, it amazed me just how much free time I was left with. Sundays especially used to be consumed with taking photos, editing, proofreading and social media promotion, and so once I stopped blogging I was suddenly left with a considerable amount of free time. I was under the impression before I stopped that it definitely wouldn't get in the way of my studies, but I soon realised that my short break freed up a lot of extra time for revision.
Blogging is more than a hobby - I've always viewed my blog solely as a hobby, and don't get me wrong it still is, but having a break made me realise how much more it is. Running social media platforms, writing emails and conversing with brands makes it seem so much like a business. Although I'll always love blogging as an enjoyable pastime, I really underestimated the amount of work and effort that goes into it, which is much more than a casual hobby.
I really want to improve my blog - towards the end of my blogging break, whilst I was finishing off my last couple exams, I was incredibly eager to get back to it and mentally brainstorming ways of improving my content. I feel like my blog has been quite stagnant for the past couple years, and I've just been carrying out the same routine without striving to improve my blog. However, now that it's summer and the perfect opportunity to give blogging my all, I can't wait to find ways to improve my blog and increase the quality.
All in all, I realised that having a break from blogging for a few months wasn't damaging like I expected, but instead renewed my passion and motivation to blog, giving me a new burst of energy to create content for my readers. I can't wait for a summer filled with blogging and documenting my life on here, and so make sure you continue reading to see what I'll be getting up to. Thank you for reading this post and I'll see you in a few days with another new one!
Love from Daisy x
2 comments
Definitely felt all of these things are true when I took a big break from blogging. Sometimes it's a good thing to take an step back and see everything with a fresh set of eyes
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Definitely, the space away from it really made me see how much I miss it, even if it's incredibly hard to maintain at times. Hopefully now I'll be back at it!
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