The title of this post doesn’t exactly sound the cheeriest, but I promise it’s not all going to be doom & gloom! I just wanted to share a bit about why I’ve been struggling to post lately: the dreaded ‘blogger burnout’.
I imagine this will all seem super familiar to anyone who blogs whilst everyone else will be thinking “erm, isn’t this thing supposed to be a hobby??”
And that’s the thing: this blog is a hobby. It started as a way to share my love of food and document my kitchen adventures. Getting to know my camera and how to set up and style a recipe for a shot that makes you want to dive in and eat it was SO much fun in the beginning.
Until it wasn’t. I’m not saying that I don’t still love to cook and bake and get creative both with photography and words, but I’ve been struggling to find motivation lately.
In the early days I’d make something amazing and then be so excited by it that I couldn’t wait to share it here. These days, I find that instead of just sharing the things that excite me, I’m constantly trying to think of new content for the blog.
Anybody who writes a blog will know just how much work goes into it. If you take it down to the bare bones of ‘snap some photos, write some words’ I could probably knock up a post in about an hour.
But, as my blog has grown and improved, so too have the list of things required to keep the quality as high as I’d like: styling, photography, editing, writing, SEO, social media.
Of course not all of that is mandatory – nobody’s telling me I have to optimise my posts for search engines or share them on twitter. But, whilst a lot of people like to pretend it’s ‘not about the numbers’, a large part of the enjoyment I get from this space is related to it’s success. Sure, numbers aren’t everything, but it’s satisfying to see new people sharing and enjoying your recipes.
Anyway, the point is this: recently I’ve been feeling a bit stressed about blogging. I know that any pressure I feel to post consistently is entirely self inflicted. Ricky often tentatively suggests that I may be trying to do too much, before I shoot him daggers and explain that everything I’m working on is important to me.
He’s right, of course. I often joke about how much free time I’d have if I didn’t blog. Funny ’cause it’s true. There’s only so much time in the day though, and if a hobby isn’t making me happy then why the hell am I doing it?
That’s not to say I’m giving up blogging (the thought of that makes me almost as stressed as my long blog post to-do list!). What it does mean, is that I need a little perspective, and to be kinder to myself. If I don’t post for a couple of weeks, literally nobody is going to care. Much as I’d like to think you’re all hanging on my every word, I know that’s not the case.
I also want to rediscover my love of cooking. To share recipes because I’m so excited about how they taste that I need to tell you about it. I know myself that my best posts are the ones where I’m gushing about my love of brownies/kale (erm, yep, that really happened).
When the main motivation behind trying a new recipe is to share it on the blog, it becomes super frustrating when it doesn’t turn out as planned (I briefly mentioned/downplayed that frustration in the instagram post above – not proud of the mini tantrum I threw that day!).
SO, to summarise:
– more cooking, baking and experimenting for the pure joy of creating delicious food
– more sharing recipes because they genuinely excite me
– less worrying about a consistent posting schedule
I’ve just sat down to have a look through a couple of the cookbooks I got for Christmas (I know, SO late!) and the intro to Molly Yeh’s book already has me feeling inspired. Here’s to more fun kitchen adventures!
Hi Kirsty I can 100% relate thanks for being so open and honest. I think it is so easy to loose sight of why we blog. having time to cook without the pressure of it having to look perfect to post on the blog will definitely help to reignite your passion. Also photographing things that aren’t food which I defiantly need to do more of. I think your doing a wonderful job by the way. If you ever want to vent you can always drop me an email I think having people who understand what your going on about helpsX
Thanks Rebecca, that’s so lovely of you to say! I think it’s probably something everyone who writes a blog feels at some point – just need to get the right balance between focusing on fun vs growth! x
I can definitely relate to your situation – when life gets busy and blogging becomes more a chore than a hobby it’s time to reassess. I was chatting about this with friends a month or so ago because I was feeling something similar and I came to the conclusion that I’m not a paramedic or a fireman; if I don’t post or a photo isn’t as I want it, it really does not matter. It’s been quite liberating (to be a little over dramatic). Take some time and realise why you love food again, make something for yourself first and foremost, and hopefully you’ll get through it and can start enjoying the blogging process again.
Thanks Craig, you’re so right – totally not worth getting stressed out over something so small in the grand scheme of things! I think I really did just need to take the pressure off. I’m already feeling a bit more inspired after a few days of playing around in the kitchen with no blogging expectations for anything I made.