The Harsh Realities of Blogging
I must apologize, dear readers, for the lack of posts recently as I faced the harsh realities of blogging. I really don’t know how people do it. That is, they run and maintain multiple websites or blogs as well as their own day-to-day lives. Just this week and last week alone, I have been plagued with work, having personal projects coming to head, daily late-night childcare arrangements, and a snowball effect of having to maintain all my six different sites in one go.
Constantly tired from all the activities mentioned above, I have not been able to actually finish a blog post before my attention is required elsewhere. What I have as a result is a whole bunch of drafts that will likely become like my half-read books on my shelf, never finished.
After getting the site maintenance and web installations up and running, as mentioned in my previous post, it hit me. I decided enough is enough, and I need to consolidate my work, personal AND blogging life. I have found myself talking about design than actually doing it, and that really pissed me off.
So I’ve closed down two of my six sites, deleted data like feeds and web connections, re-routed servers or web addresses, and reorganized the focus of my remaining four sites. The interesting thing is the longer you have a site online, the harder it is to clear it out of the system. Think about it, you have Technorati, Feedburner, Mybloglog, and everything else you signed up on that need to be cleaned out somehow.
Of the remaining 4, one of them is my family’s blog, and the other is my personal portfolio site. The other two sites are this blog and IDAsia.org.
Actually, I must admit IDAsia.org is really the big culprit here. Managing that site is responsible for my big computing time suck and tipping me over the edge into blogger burnt out. However, I do hope my investment in time will be repaid in the future. As it is my site, maintenance is not complete, but like laundry, feeding babies, or changing diapers, it never ends.
So I thought to now give myself a break and really enjoy my Wired magazine article. So hopefully, I can get over is burnt out and get back to this neglected site soon. You have to love blogging because the moment you don’t and start to stress about it, it becomes a chore, and it shows.
Design Translator
March 24, 2007 at 5:56 amHi Drew,
Thanks again, I’m glad my thoughts can really apply across to all disciplines. Thats a dream come true.
drew kora
March 24, 2007 at 1:54 amYeah, just want to say again this is one of the best design blogs out there. Even though I’m a print/web designer, the principles and current trends/technologies going on across the interweb that this blog discusses really help me out.
Design Translator
March 23, 2007 at 3:24 pmHah-hah, Matt that gym analogy is too perfect!
Wow that email advice is a great idea! I’ve always wondered what to do with that function. I’ll try it out it, as it means I can add a blog post anywhere and when i get the mood to do it.
Also thanks for the kind support and please do keep intouch, as will I by visiting your blog.
Matt
March 23, 2007 at 10:59 amI have the same issue. It’s like going to the gym, that little bit of time it takes to do it is so tough to find.
I just started doing something that helps out. My blog has an email address that I can post to. Throughout the day, if I have an idea, I’ll shoot an email to the blog that shows up as a draft post. Then, when I’m home for the night, I’ll check it and weed through things for ideas for posts. Takes a lot of pressure off having to write something from scratch when you’ve only got 10 mins.
Keep it up though – love this blog.
MT
Design Translator
March 23, 2007 at 4:48 amDo drop me an email to let me know when you get it done? I love to check it out!
drew kora
March 23, 2007 at 2:41 amThanks for the compliments on the site. Like most designers’ sites, it’s a work in progress. Hopefully when my schedule clears up this summer I can finish it up and post some of my more recent work.
Design Translator
March 22, 2007 at 6:19 amHi Drew,
Thanks so much for your message. It’s very very heartening! I totally agree with you on the aspect of quality vs. quantity, and I have learnt the hard way!
I’ve always thought that a successful blogs is about frequent updates. But I’m like you, I end up either un-subscribing, delete the emails of just stop visiting the site as I cant keep up. So it make sense to have fewer posts, but make them good to give the reader a good experience and satisfy his/her curiosity on “what is this fellow up to” this week.
Thanks and again and please keep in touch. BTW nice website you have and I’ll be keeping track of it.
drew kora
March 21, 2007 at 10:32 pmThere are several blogs I read, but I really can’t keep up with them all. If you only get around to posting once every few days that’s fine with me. Your posts are always interesting and enlightening. I’d rather have a few very good posts each week than one a day that’s so-so.
Keep up the awesome work. Family first.