How to Break Out of a Blogging Slump

Have you been feeling unmotivated towards your blog? Is your to-do list growing and growing without any of those tasks getting checked off. Do you just feel stuck?

If so, you might be in a blogging slump.

Maybe your real life has gotten in the way. Maybe you’re struggling to find the time to dedicate to your blog. Perhaps you’re frustrated with your blog because it’s taking longer than you expected to gain traction.

Whatever the reason, I want you to know that you can absolutely overcome this slump.

It happens to most of us at one time or another.

Earlier this year I was in a blogging slump myself. I was a new mom with a brand-new baby and I was so focused on my family life that my blog was getting cold and stale from sitting on the backburner so long.

I was feeling completely unmotivated to spend any time working on my blog.

But I also didn’t want to let my blog fizzle out and fade away. I loved my blog and I still dreamed about it becoming a sustainable business. I was so motivated before the blogging slump hit me and I longed to feel that motivation again.

With effort, I was eventually able to claw myself out of my blogging slump.

Looking back I can clearly see the steps I took to rise from my slump and I am confident they will work for you too!

READ OTHER BLOGS

Always continue to read other blogs that interest you. They do not need to be in your niche. Click to Tweet

Find blogs that you love, or return to old favorites, and give yourself time to devour them. Read them for enjoyment, not for work. Let yourself be entertained, educated, and inspired by these blogs.

You’ll probably notice that reading these other blogs gets you thinking about your own blog.

This happens because as bloggers we read other blogs through a different lens.

For example, when I was going through my blogging slump I had a new baby at home and I was frantically searching Pinterest for ideas on how to get him to sleep.

While I was reading the baby sleep blogs, I kept noticing little blogging things like “oh, I love how subtly she links back to her previous posts” or “I love how well her blog is organized. It is so easy to read!”

This led to me thinking about how I could incorporate the ideas and strategies I loved as a reader into my own blog.

So, keep reading those other blogs. Soak them up!

Sooner or later they will have you feeling inspired.

HAVE A CASUAL BRAINSTORM

Instead of forcing yourself to have a full-blown brainstorming session when you’re not even in the mood to open your laptop, try brainstorming casually.

Lay down, close your eyes, and give yourself space to daydream about your blog.

Think about the stories that you want your blog to tell. Think about the people that you want your blog to help.

Let one idea lead to another. Dream about what you want your blog to become.

When your brainstorming daydream is finished, journal out the ideas that you felt most inspired by. You could even collect them in a note on your phone.

This casual brainstorm will help you remember what you love about blogging. You’ll find that these ideas stick with you and cause you to start thinking about your blog more often.

WRITE SOME EASY POSTS

Instead of piling on the pressure to write an epic piece of content, start writing something that you know will be easy.

You could write about a first-hand experience or a subject that is interesting you at the moment. Or you could do a round-up of posts that center around a particular topic in your niche.

Write about something that is fun for you. Click to Tweet

One of the first posts I wrote when I was on my way out of my blogging slump was a list style post of places that offer free stuff for your birthday. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to publish the list on my blog.

But once I started writing, the post became more than just a list of places that you can get free birthday stuff. I expanded to include a step-by-step process for how you can get your free items without frustration – because that is what was popping into my mind while I was writing.

Just start writing about anything and let the ideas flow. Writing one post will lead to another and another and soon you will be back in the habit of writing on a regular basis.

TALK TO OTHER BLOGGERS

This is the most important thing you can to do climb out of your blogging slump.

Our family, friends, and real-life people do not understand the blogging world.

It is so powerful to communicate with other bloggers who just get it. So, reach out to members of the blogging community. The EBA facebook group is a great place to start find other bloggers to connect with. They’re probably looking for blogging friends themselves.

Build relationships with other bloggers. And when you’re feeling stuck, disheartened, or unmotivated discuss it with your blogging friends.

Chances are, they’ve gone through something similar and they’ll be able to relate. They may even be able to offer valuable advice about what worked for them.

And even they haven’t gone through a blogging slump of their own, just having the opportunity to talk it out with someone who understands will be therapeutic for you. And it’ll be beneficial for them as well, because most of us experience something like this at one time or another.

GET INSPIRED BY SUCCESS STORIES

Hearing other bloggers describe how far they’ve come with their blog and their business – and knowing that they started in the same place that you did – is incredibly powerful.

I’ve always been motivated by blogging success stories, but during my blogging slump those stories were particularly motivating.

I was so lucky that the end of my blogging slump correlated with the opening of EBA, so blogger success stories were all over the place.

Stories from bloggers who have only been at this 1 or 2 years longer than me resonated the most. They’re so close to where I am and they’ve gone where I wanted to go.

Those EBA success stories lit a fire in my soul. I couldn’t help but feel inspired by the success my peers were seeing. I knew that if they could do it, I could do it.

As an EBA student I know that I have all the tools that I need to be successful. I just need to take responsibility for my success and do the work.

I set the personal goal for myself to become one of those success stories in one year’s time.

You can find blogger success stories right here on the EBA blog. Let them motivate you!

THE MAGIC OF NOT GIVING UP

You have the power to choose not to give up on your blog.

You’re the one that gets to decide if your blogging slump is the end of your blog or if it’s just a little hiccup on your path toward success.

My blogging slump could have been where my blogging journey ended. Instead, I think of it as a little time that I took off of blogging. It didn’t affect my blog’s long-term success in any way.

Make the decision to work on getting out of your blogging slump and then get started. You can make it happen, and your future self (and blog) will be so glad you did.

*****

This guest post was contributed by Heather O’Donnell. Heather is the founder of Happy Humble Home, where she helps women take control of their finances and have fun being frugal. Heather struggled financially for years before she finally learned how to save money without suffering. Now, she is passionate about sharing her frugal tips with women who need them. She’s also a wife, new mama, and EBA student.

 

If you are interested in submitting a guest post for the EBA Blog, please contact Maggie at maggie@lwslinc.com for our guest post guidelines.