Motivating the Unmotivated: How to get your blogging mojo back
I'm writing this based on my experiences with abandoning my blogs, and my experiences returning to them. I'm writing to help you (and also future me) get on with things when you really don't feel like it. I'm really interested in other people's methods, this is a very real & present issue for me; please leave your tips & recommendations in the comments, useful links very welcome.
Motivating the Unmotivated : Photo-editing by Kathleen Bright; using images by Arindam Das & Evil Paul, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution
I recently read a brilliant article, which stated, "The creative myth leads people to waste time waiting for lightning instead of working hard and relentlessly."
Eureka!
How many times have you heard "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration" or variations on that theme?
Motivation waxes & wanes, but – as I keep realising – you have to persevere whether you feel motivated or not. Sometimes I'm full of creative energy & sometimes I'm just not; I have to carry on regardless. Well, I say I keep realising it; I'm wondering if this time I've actually learnt the lesson or if it'll be coming round again in my future… I am trying. :)
There are some things I do that help me keep my creative energy, I find them especially useful to implement just as I feel it starting to slip away:
- Making lists of my achievements
- Checking my motivations
- Getting inspiration from other people
- Writing down ideas as soon as I get them
- Logging off
Making lists of my achievements
How I do it: I make a list each month using Ta-da List (it's free & simple). I update it many times each day. I find I forget what I've done if I don't write it down, which leads to despondency. Plus, this way I have a record I can look at when my self-confidence is flagging. Hurrah for Aide-mémoires of My Awesomeness!
Examples of stuff I put on the list
- Solicited feedback from Chiz [on my websites]
- Started using Google Webmaster Tools for [my websites] BP, IWH, KB & MMM
- Decided not to go to Inferno [club night] & cancelled dancing with Helen C – need rest
- KB: Updated [website]: Added quotations from others about me
- Newly created Incompetent Chef [blog] – from Idea to Implementation – wrote about guacamole http://incompetentchef.tumblr.com
Checking my motivations
Sometimes I feel resistance to doing something because I don't really want to do it. I worried that this might be the case with regards to blogging – in which case, it would have been a good idea to stop, there's no point in posting without passion. I did a lot of thinking about it & every time I came to the conclusion that I definitely don't want to give it up. I made a list of my reasons & that was useful. It's helpful because it gives me direction too – if I'm not sure what to do next I can have a look at my reasons & let that guide me to the next action.
Work out why you started blogging, work out why you stopped, work out why you've not started again. Work out if you still want to blog & why / why not; perhaps the reasons you don't want to blog are not inherent to blogging: Maybe a change of platform or someone to help you with site administration would fix things. I find meditating & journalling helpful for working things out. Write stuff down!
Reasons I blog
- I have something to say that I want to share with other people to help them
- I'm vain & full of self-importance; I want people to read stuff I've written
- I want feedback on my thoughts
- I read something & want to respond to it – I start writing a comment & then realise it's ridiculously long (from little comments great articles grow!)
- I want to become (more of) an authority on entrepreneurship; blogging helps me direct my learning
Getting inspiration from other people
Hang out with life-affirming people who have high levels of energy, motivation, positivity, bounce, creativity etc. Socialise with inspirational friends. Read awesome blogs. Listen to inspirational songs.
Awesome blogs: My personal favourites
- Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog
- Copywriting Tips for Online Marketing Success From Copyblogger
- Trizle: Rock Business
Writing down ideas as soon as I get them
Carry a little notebook for those snippets of entries that come to you. I have a journal that goes nearly everywhere with me. It applies online too – bookmark & tag when you run across things that inspire or speak to you. I use Delicious & Google Reader; there are so many great tools out there.
In addition, I find it really helpful to write things unrelated to my blog. I write other blogs about feminism, sexuality, vegan cooking for beginners… I have a few personal blogs in which I write the usual self-absorbed rambling & whining. I write poetry, I write short stories & flash fiction, I write complaints to businesses, I write thank you cards, I write lists of so many things… It's all good practice. Even though I write all these things, and have been a writer for longer than I can remember, I still felt trepidation upon returning to Inspire With Hope. I dread to think how much worse it would have been if I hadn't been writing all this time. If you don't write much; start now. (The comment section of this entry would be a good place to begin… :))
Logging off
Eliminate distractions – I like to believe that I'm self-disciplined enough to stop checking email, LiveJournal & Twitter all the time (and I'm working on that!), but I'm not. Log out of IM. Go offline. Remove the temptations – sign out, close the tabs, disconnect.
…And that's how I wrote this post.
Now I'm off to read some comics, because treats, rewards & relaxation are also important aspects of being & staying motivated.