Where have I been?

Hello lovelies!
I’m back! Ok so a week is not really a long break, but I needed time off.

I love blogging, I honestly do, and my initial reasoning was to just use it as a platform to express all my loves for anything beauty, lifestyle and parenting related. I wasn’t expecting the large (maybe not to some) following I have received so far (love you all) and the many positivity and support I’ve gotten also. So simply, I was overwhelmed. I started panicking about what content to put out and started also questioning my writing. Am I being too jokey? Do people not get my personality? Should I be a bit more professional? So with every word I wrote I would go back and forth whether it was good enough or ‘bloggy’ enough and before you know it the day was gone and I had just managed a paragraph.

Not to mention I became stats obsessed. I kid you not, the stats had me acting like some sort of addict. If one post I did had done really well and the next post was a bit of a slow burner, I was constantly checking my stats, trying to work out what went wrong. I was becoming more frantic about someone, anyone reading my blog and that’s not how it should be (well not 100% anyway).

Then came comparisons. OMG Firstly before I actually became a blogger, I was just a gal who loves to read others blogs. I love seeing what people are loving this month, what products they are trying, advices and personal experience post. That soon stopped, instead I was not actually reading and enjoying but instead comparing them to my own. From small to big bloggers I was infatuated with the fact that they were all better than me and maybe there wasn’t a place for me in this blogging world. (I know, see how overly dramatic I was being).

So luckily thanks to friends who I have made in this blogging world, I let them in briefly on how I was feeling and they were honest and straight with me that I should have a little break until I was ready to get back to doing what I love.

As you can see it’s only been a week and I’m back because frankly I can’t stay away and I just want to share, share and share it all with you. The week off was good as it got me to properly plan what I want to do with my blog and whether I want to keep it as a hobby or potentially make it into a career (the verdict is still out on that one). I got thinking about my niche and whether I should still keep it the same. My parenting post don’t really seem to be as popular as my beauty posts but I am going to keep doing posts on them, because I like doing them. I was also able to look at various topics and subjects I could post about and whether to increase my post schedule.

If you are frequent viewer on my page you will see that I have had a bit of a mini makeover. I have changed the big narcissistic picture of myself and my blog name above and gone for a simple and creative caricature design of what I feel my blog portrays, which was designed by the amazing Aloha Lola Cards, go follow her guys if you are looking for a change in your blog design, Claire is so lovely, kind and very efficient.

To pretty much finalise. I guess I just wanted to share to you guys, that blogging and really life in general can become so overwhelming at times, and taking a step back wont do you any damage. Trying to perfect and not thinking about your well-being will only do you more damage than good. So if you are worried about taking some time off because you think you will lose readers or you personally feel like you have failed (that was me) don’t be ridiculous. We are only human after all! πŸ™‚

Anyway thank you for reading my little rant lovelies, I’ve got another post up after this on my review of the YSL Touche Γ‰clat Le Teint Foundation, so check it out if you are looking for a new foundation.

Has anyone else had the blogging blues, or felt a bit of pressure from it? What did you do? What advice would you give. Leave a comment below and let me and others know. Thank you so much for reading and I’ll see you in my next post.

 

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17 thoughts on “Where have I been?

  1. Hey hun! I get the feeling too! I’m constantly worrying about whether my blog posts are the sort of content people will want to read, and then I go back and just think ‘Is this a post I would read for myself?’ If it’s yes, then everything is good. I think everyone has a sort of rough period where the worry sets in, but if you want to chat about anything, you know where I am 😊 xo

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Hey boo! You know how I feel about this but I’m so glad you’re back *hugs* I think it’s perfectly normal to feel like this at times and sometimes a break is necessary. It’s so much easier said than done to say not to compare yourself to others because we’re all guilty of this but just keep doing what you do, I love your posts and you’ve done so well with your blog so far, it can only get better x

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yassss boo! Thanks to you and the girls I realise ain’t nothing wrong with taking time out. It really was needed, and i won’t be scared to do so if I need to take a break again (hopefully not) thank you so much for your continued support Hun, your the best!!!! πŸ’•πŸ’•πŸ’•

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I understand how u feel hun. Blogging can be overwhelming at times specially when your juggling between your family and blogging. The break will do you good! 😊

    I love your banner will definitely follow Claire! You have inspired me to change my banner and give it a new look! πŸ‘

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Exactly Sarah! It was just a combination of things, also having a baby under 1 years old really does take up your time as well as a full time job. But I just need to prioritise myself a bit more lol. Oh def do. Claire is amazing xx 😘

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Hi Laura. Thank You for writing this. The blogging blues ha! more like a blogging panic attack. I’m no big time blogger but about a month ago I felt like my post were gaining momentum and then BAMN! it stops and I was like whoa whoa whoa wait a minute. I went from getting 20 views to getting 1 or 2. My subscribers were the only 1s liking and reading no 1 new. I had become caught up in getting the likes and notifications of new followers.
    I learned just yesterday my account was flagged for affiliate link about a month thus why I had not been showing up in the reader. I said all that to say we just have to keep writing and people will support even if its 1 or 100. I like the new caricature on your blog by the way. Cute πŸ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey Girl! I get what you are saying 100%. You don’t really not what you are getting yourself into, so it can be a bit of a shock to go from a big viewing back down again. I’ve just to ignore it now and just concentrate on my content and continuing writing what I love. Oh no, are you not allowed to put links in your post? Thank you so much I love my new blog picture! πŸ˜˜πŸ˜˜πŸ’•

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It was explained to me that I used a link that appeared to be a solicitation link that may have been a scheme or a paid promotion. Lol I wish someone would pay me to promote something but I have not gotten that far but I have an idea what it was so I’ll just stay away from links like those don’t want to get black balled for an innocent mistake. I’ll just keep writing and hope people are reading and getting something out of it.

        Liked by 2 people

  5. I just thought you’d gone away for Easter haha! Seriously though, it’s so easy to compare yourself to others especially when you’re used to talking to yourself then the world is suddenly watching. Last year, I wrote an article about Alton Towers that went viral and overnight I got 150,000 views and while most of the comments were supportive, I was overwhelmed by hate and people commenting on other articles after I closed comments on the viral one. I got phoned by the Telegraph and Channel 5, emailed by BBC News and someone from The Sun actually turned up at my house!!! How did they find out where I lived?? I don’t know. I realized I wasn’t ready for that kind of attention and deleted the post because it was just too stressful having all that pressure. At the time, my usual stats were 50-60 people a day. Now I’ve grown my stats to at least 500 views per day, with a base of people who aren’t just reading the one article but want to see my actual content, it’s easier when the occasional post goes viral but I still hate it, and I scour the article over and over to make sure it’s 100% perfect. I guess what I’m trying to say is that in 6 months time, when your blog has grown even more, you’ll look back on where you are now and be like, “whoa, it felt so big then, how did it grow even bigger??” even though now it looks big. And people read you for who YOU are, not who everyone else is, so don’t worry about writing the same way other people are doing (if you manage that one let me know how lmao).
    Also WordPress stats are very inaccurate, you’ve probably got more people reading your posts than it looks (sometimes I have 20 likes and 15 views on a post, for example). πŸ™‚

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh wow! I wish I had seen your article. Thank you for your advice. I am so happy with where my blog has got to, as I didn’t expect it at al. I will try and remember to give you an update in 6 months, with how it’s going 😜… And yeah my stats are weird like that also!!! Lol xxx

      Liked by 1 person

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