If you want to make money from your blog, it takes a lot of time and effort before your blog starts to get a lot of traffic and get noticed. Bloggers have to work a lot to build their brands, and we sometimes will spend as much time creating create as you do at your full-time job. As a disabled blogger, I have more time to create blog posts than most people because I don’t have a job, and I treat my blog like it’s a business, even though I don’t make a lot of money from it. I try to do something with my blog seven days a week because I am always trying to improve, but I don’t do the same tasks every day, and some days I do less work than others. Rest days off your blog are so important because blogger’s burnout is real, and I come up with my best ideas when I have a healthy balance with blogging. I blog a lot because I love what I do, but believe it or not, I do have a life outside of my blog and enjoy doing things that have nothing to do with blogging. What do I enjoy doing when I am not blogging? In this post, I am going to talk about five things I enjoy doing outside of blogging.
Watch TV- I don’t watch a whole lot of television, but I do watch some TV at the end of the day because it helps me relax and wind down. As a disabled blogger, I will not quit watching TV any time soon because the media is ableist, and you can get a lot of ideas for your blog from TV shows and movies you watch. Most of the ideas that I come up with, I get from TV shows I watch, because the media often poorly represent the disability community, and you can get content ideas by simply turning on the news. When I am watching TV, I am not always looking for content ideas, but sometimes I get them without even trying, because it’s hard to completely shut my brain off from blogging. It is important to do activities such as watching TV that have nothing to do with blogging because you can’t do your best work if you are overworking yourself.
Hang out with my family– If you don’t already know, I have four sisters, and most of them live locally. I am relatively close with my sisters and am blessed that most of us live close to each other, because not everyone has good relationships with their siblings, but I am grateful that I do. My sisters live close, but even though it doesn’t usually take more than twenty minutes to see one another, we don’t get to hang out that often because we all live separate lives. My sisters and I occasionally have a sister night where we play games and catch up on each other’s lives. Friends and family sometimes give me a lot of ideas without even trying to, because my entire family isn’t disabled, and you can get a lot of content ideas from conversations you have with people. I don’t always post ableist comments said by family members because some people get offended, but family members do give me more ideas than they think without directly giving me a suggestion. I don’t share a lot about my family life online because I am the only content creator in the family, and I respect their privacy, but I do things with my family outside of blogging that I never talk about publicly.
Do a little exercise- Endometriosis pain has made it more difficult to stay active because exercise can trigger flares, and I don’t exercise at the intensity I wish I could, but I try to move as much as I can. Some people use exercise as a form of self-punishment for all the things they ate that they shouldn’t have, but I use exercise as a form of self-care, not self-hatred. Exercise can be very therapeutic if you are doing the right kind, and you should do a little exercise if you are able. I love to exercise because it is my time to escape from the challenges of my disability and focus on what my body can do instead of what it can’t. When I exercise regularly, I create better content because it gives me more energy, which I often struggle with because of pain. Exercise is something that I have the privilege of being able to do, which makes it more exciting because not everyone has that ability and would love to do five minutes of the routine I think is the worst thing in the world.
Read posts from other creators- I have never been much of a reader because I have dyslexia and struggle a little more with comprehension than most people. I don’t read a lot of books, but I do enjoy reading blog posts from other creators because often blog posts are much shorter than reading a book, and I love to support other creators. When I am not blogging, I read posts from other creators, and although that can technically be considered part of work because you need to engage with others to grow your blog, I don’t think of it as work. Reading can be a great activity for bloggers to do in their spare time because when you read posts that are not your own, it exposes you to different writing styles, which improves your vocabulary and writing.
I play with my nieces- My mom babysits two of my nieces and because I live at home, I get to see them more often than some people. Since they do come over during the day during work hours, I can’t play with them all day long because my blog would never grow if I did. I do give myself breaks to play with my nieces because sometimes it’s hard not to want to play with a one and three year-old. I don’t always get a lot of work done when my nieces are over because they are loud and a big distraction, and sometimes I just take a day off to play with my nieces, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Blogging is something that I am able to do more than most people, but I try to take breaks from it because you can’t be a good blogger if you aren’t taking care of yourself. I work a lot because you have to in order to gain an online presence, but I don’t force myself to write blog posts when I don’t want to because there is nothing wrong with taking a random day off in the middle of the week. Bloggers work a lot, but we do have days off because it’s important that we don’t overwork ourselves and are able to separate work from pleasure. I give myself time off from my blog because it’s not healthy to be working constantly unnecessarily, and it often leads to burnout. I get a lot of ideas when I am not blogging and often struggle with writer’s block when I am trying too hard to come up with new ideas. I don’t struggle to come up with new ideas when I am well rested, and usually that only happens when I force blogging. Make sure you are engaging in activities outside of your blog because it’s good for your mental health and overall well-being. What activities do you enjoy outside of blogging? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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