Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Time Suck That is Blogging

As the last day I'll post something for the #SummerBlogSocial, I chose to do prompt #12, which asks, as you reflect back on your time blogging, tweeting and Facebooking, what has surprised you most?


Ahh, blogging.  It's been an amazing 3-4 months.  But looking back, I've gotta say I'm surprised about how much of a time suck the entire process was.

It started with dreaming up a topic, something that would serve as the foundation for the entire blog.  Then, I started thinking about how to designing a look/brand.  Then, thinking up a post, deciding the correct angle to discuss that post, creating that post, and finally making sure people come to see what you've written, which includes commenting, promoting, and branding.

While each post might take less than 30 minutes to write, the entire blogging experience eats on average three or four hours of my day.  Which, at the starting block, I definitely never had expected.  And please don't take that as a complaint - I love every second of it.  


I spend time reading other's blogs, and commenting, tweeting (when I've got something to say), but I think the most dangerous and expansive time suck is dreaming - dreaming about what I want to do with the whole thing.  


In my mind, I've created a structure, a town, no - a city-state, psh, a WHOLE COUNTRY, all built around the idea of a visual representation of every connection that happens on my neural network, plastered onto the internet so as to keep record of it all so it doesn't tumble out of my head like I'm trying to catch a bowl of jello with my hands that some punk poured out of the third story window.  In my brain, I've got a website with travel recommendations, business ideas, investment choices and tutorials, silly vlogs where I make an ass out of myself while learning how to cook insanely difficult meals, humerous short stories, short biographies that I've written more as a way to learn how to write than anything else, political manifestos, societal commentaries, novels, book reviews, film critiques, gardening suggestions, poetry, essays, apostrophes, screenplays, and cartoons.


These are the dreams that take up at least a sixth of my day, but like I said - I'm not complaining.  I love this.  I love blogging.  If I could figure out a way to get paid a decent salary for this, I'd quit my real job in a heartbeat and work full time at interacting with the blogging community.


In the end, this is what surprised me the absolute most: that while so much of my day is devoted to something I previously found so intangible and silly, I've now discovered just how awesome this intangible and silly thing could really be.


11 comments:

  1. I would so quite my full-time job if I could get paid to blog. Now that would be awesome! It is such a time suck though when you have a family and you work full-time. I keep telling my husband he needs to win the lottery or get a better job so I can blog full-time.

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  2. Damn, that was supposed to say QUIT. =(

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  3. It totally IS a time suck! And I love how nobody tells you that before you start.

    I love blogging as well. But I have an unsupportive, criticizing husband who is home all day soooo... it's not getting the attention or even just focus it needs. Maybe soon it will.

    Glad to hear you are enjoying it!

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  4. Totally on the "I used to not get it and now I want others TO get it like I do!" It's hard to explain to nonbloggers why this is SO important to me - but it is. Right there with you.

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  5. Your closing line? Makes me want to kiss you! How poetic yet spot on all at the same time!

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  6. I so often get "why do you blog/tweet? what's the point? how can you spend so much time doing it?" from people who just don't get it (including Hubs - he checks his email on average, every 3 months, just not into social media) and I SOOO wish I could explain to them how awesome this online community is, and how much you get back from, and give to these amazing people... it's a wonderful addition to my life. Not sure what I would do without it... (probably go a little bit insane) ;) Great post!!

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  7. Your dreams sound awesome. I would love to see them some day here.

    You're very good at this blogging thing so it's worth the time suck.

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  8. Heh. I have a whole little blog world in my head too. I'm so much more productive in my fantasies. Isn't that usually the case though?

    Thanks for dropping my my little blog and reading and commenting! I <3 visitors.

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  9. It is a nine to five without pay or health benifits. But you get to choose your coworkers, so it all equals out in the end...

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  10. I started my blog with one goal in mind, it changed and now I see so much more I want it to be. I know it is time-consuming, but it is great!

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  11. A number of people who are now blogging (including myself) have thought blogging was a useless silly thing. I was so wrong about that. You should do reviews and write for a living actually, since you're good at it. Who knows one day you might just earn enough to quit and be a full time pro-blogger.

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