I’ve asked the lovely Lacey Wilcox to compose a post for me about motivation. Lacey writes about all sorts of things concerning motherhood, spirituality, and life in general on her blog, Live Loved.
Sometimes finding time can be a struggle, and sometimes you find yourself using your time in all the wrong ways. I’ve asked Lacey how she deals with blogging motivation, and here’s what she had to say:
I began my blogging adventure about a year and a half ago. Don’t read my posts from that era. At that time, I used it as a sort of online diary. Which means that I wrote. And wrote. And wrote…
Since then, I’ve learned a little more about blogging: like the fact that you should probably try to keep your posts under 1,000 words.
I’ve also learned a little about motivation. Some days, it’s easy to write. I could spend all day in front of the computer and type the entire time.
But there are days where I can’t think of anything to write, let alone even want to try. Days where I am just simply unmotivated.
Ever have those moments?
Maybe you’re a fellow blogger who has moments of un-motivation. Or maybe, motivation eludes you in another area of life: dieting, working, cleaning, exercising, finances, etc.
Here are a few things that have helped me to be motivated in my blog. I’ve found that some of them are useful in other areas, too. Like being motivated to eat an apple, when cheesecake is calling my name.
Or am I the only one that happens to?
But that’s another blog post.
This one is about things that help motivate me, when I don’t want to write at all:
1.) Goals. In different areas of my life, I try to sit down and set short and long-term goals. I start with an end in mind (the long-term goal), and then come up with steps that help me lead there (the short-term goals). When I get discouraged or don’t want to stick with it, I try to remind myself of those goals. For example, one of my blogging goals is to make money. But to make money, I need traffic. So, each month, I set specific goals to increase my blog’s traffic. Reaching those short-term goals put me one step closer to reaching my long-term one.
2.) Take a break. I understand that deadlines and duties call, but if I’m stressed and unmotivated to write, I’m better off to just walk away for a bit. Do something to clear your head: run, yoga, read, clean, or, eat cheesecake.
3.) Competition. I’m not the most competitive person in the world, but sometimes a little healthy competition can motivate me. Sometimes, it’s with myself, challenging myself to write a certain number of posts, or get a certain number of views per day. Other times, I view other blogs in my niche and try to think of how I can do something better.
4.) Start writing. I had a high school English teacher who talked about “breaking the power of the white.” What she meant was that sometimes, in order to get something great, you just have to get something on paper. Sometimes, I just start writing every thing in my head. I’ve found that if I can just start writing, I soon find myself writing good things.
5.) Go back to your roots. A lot of times, it helps to remind myself why I am doing this:
· I love it, even if I make no money.
· it helps me to connect to a world outside myself.
· I have an intended purpose and goal (number one).
I know I didn’t just amaze you with some unknown wisdom, but these are things that I’ve found helpful when I have zero motivation to write.
What do you do when the un-motivated monster strikes? What tips do you have for motivating yourself, even when you have a bad case of the “I don’t want to’s?”