Discussion

Should Blogging Be Stressful? | Discussion

Alice @ Arctic Books34 Comments

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I’ve been feeling some stress, I’m not going to lie. I’ve been blogging for 8 months (ish) and I think I’ve been handling blogging pretty well so far.

I had health class last year and we talked about good stress and bad stress. I believe that blogging is a good sort of stress and it really helps be express myself through the internet and my passions. But there’s always the thin line that separates good stress from bad stress. There’s the line between I’m-doing-this-because-I-love-it and the I’m-lowkey-freaking-out-because-I-have-maybe-too-many-review-copies-to-read-and-too-many-commitments.

The way I see it, there’s two ways to look at this. One, stress is good, no matter bad or good, because it gets you motivated and pushes you to finish those books and write those blog posts and review those books and comment on those blogs. It keeps you going and keeps you committed to book blogging and all the benefits to it.

And two, stress is good, but only to an extent. I’m not going to lie, I do think stress is a good motivator. Sometimes, it’s the only thing that gets me to finish my homework and study for my tests. But that’s where the problem occurs. Say that you’re taking 4 APs (I’m using AP even though I take IB so it’s easier for the majority of people to understand) and you have a few extracurriculars and you basically have a test every day (this is basically my life and I s2g it is NOT fun). So adding blogging to that list of stresses sometimes can be a bad thing.

Sometimes I feel like people forget about their mental health. Stress can be good, but sometimes stress can be bad. So this is what I’m trying to say. I’m a firm believer that stress can be a great motivator and get you to do things even if you really, really, really don’t want to. But I’m also a firm believer that you should always think about your personal life and how blogging can affect the rest of your life.

So here’s what I think. Make sure you can handle what’s on your plate. If there’s too much stress that comes from blogging, take a break because it’s okay! Your mental health is important and you can always make time up during the summer or whenever you have time. Make sure you take care of yourself first!

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I know that I talked about my views on how stressful blogging can be. What are your views? Do you think blogging is a good sort of stress or a bad? How do you handle the stress that comes with blogging? Comment below with your thoughts! I’d love to hear them.

34 thoughts on “Should Blogging Be Stressful? | Discussion”

  1. Great post! I’ve been blogging for over a year now, on and off, depending on my schedule. Stress about what I’m going to post or about how long it’s going to take me to read an ARC and review has always been an issue for me. But what I think bloggers need to consider is the ultimate goal of their website – do they want to make money? do they want publishers’ to send them ARCs on a regular basis? or do they just want to share their love of reading with the community? If it’s the latter, I think stress isn’t as big an issue because they aren’t worried about posting on a regular schedule. I would like to think that blogging has been a creative outlet for me and that I only feel “good stress” but I think that would be a lie. It takes me longer to write book reviews, so to offset that I’ve recently started including more tags and memes.

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  2. I guess blogging shouldn’t be stressful at all as blogging should be a fun, positive outlet but yep, we all get stressed about blogging! Hmmm I wouldn’t say blogging has the good stress because when I get stressed out about blogging I feel like sleeping and never getting up again Hahahah.

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  3. I’m in a little bit different situation, I think. Most of the books I review, I bought myself so I don’t feel the pressure to review something a publisher gave me. I know other bloggers get a lot of ARC and feel they have to review them or they will stop receiving them. First things first, you are more important. This is not your job. This is something you started to express yourself. If it becomes be too much on top of your other commitments, take a break. Your blog will still be here. It’s not going anywhere. Use the good stress as a motivator but don’t let it turn into the bad stress. If it stops being fun then it’s not worth it.

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    • That’s a really good point that I think everyone should take into account. Your personal life and mental health is more important than blogging and sometimes I think people tend to forge that. Thank you for your input! 🙂

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  4. I think it should be (to a degree) stressful. I think it should be like a pet responsibility. For example: maybe your dog peed on the carpet and that stresses you out; but at the end of the day, you still love the dog. I believe that’s how blogging should be: responsibility stress.

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  5. I think since there is a certain degree of responsibility involved, it’s kind of inevitable that it’s going to be stressful at times. BUT I think the stress that I’ve had from blogging has been mostly good because it motivates me to read more (which I had a feeling it would and is actually one of the reasons I started blogging) and I, of course, love to read. I definitely agree though that people should keep their personal lives in mind and not be too concerned if they need to take a break from blogging. It shouldn’t stress you out so much that you’re neglecting other parts of your life (that may be more important like school or work).

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  6. This is so good to read! I have felt a bit stressed because of blogging but that might have been two times, for a day. I have been blogging for 6 months or something like that and I haven’t felt the stress. However, from those six month, 4 were when I was on holidays and the other two I was in my school year but not really stressed because everything was already decided. But in March I started my new school year, and all my extra classes and I have less time to blog, and I notice that. It’s kind of weird because I want to post as I was doing but I know I can’t. Next week I’ll start having test and all that fun (not really) stuff that will make me have less time. I don’t know how I’ll manage. For now, I don’t feel the ‘blogging-stress’ but maybe I shoud ask myself this in three or four months.

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  7. This is such an interesting topic and one I’ve struggled with before. I used to feel a lot of pressure to post regularly and be active on other blogs all the time and I never felt like I was doing enough. With university and work, I already feel stressed enough as it is, so now I try to keep myself from adding stress because of my blog too. I’ve come to accept that I don’t have very much time to put into blogging and that I can therefore not develop my blog the way I might like to. Obviously it still sometimes bothers me when I only manage to upload once a month, but it’s getting better. 😀

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    • I totally understand. I’m super glad that you’ve come to terms with your blog and have a plan for yourself to focus on certain aspects of your life and I think that’s super brave. Thank you for your input! 🙂

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  8. I DO find blogging stressful sometimes, but I LOVE blogging so it covers all the stress. And I agree that everytime you feel stressed, just take a break. It’s not so bad.
    Great post!
    Maha @ Younicorn Reads

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  9. I have only just recently started blogging, so maybe that’s why I feel the stress at the moment? I’m trying to build a readership, trying to find a style I’m comfortable with etc, so I haven’t settled into a groove yet – and that stresses me out more than anything. But then again, I took this on for myself, because I wanted to, so the stress is a good thing because it motivates me to write more, to figure out my strengths and weaknesses in blogging, my aims etc. So – I think it will be stressful to a degree, whether you want to or not, because it’s something you chose to do, a “job” you picked, and that stress is always going to be there. But because you chose it, it’s going to be enjoyable as well.

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  10. This is such a great post and so very important. I have been feeling the stress of blogging a bit and after seeing your post I decided to write my own. I’ll tag it back to your post

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  11. I’ve been at this whole blogging thing for almost two years now, and I’ll admit that I’ve definitely encountered moments of bad stress, especially when I feel like I’m behind on reading or when a publicist asks for a review for any unsolicited books that they sent. That’s only happened a few times, but it really gets to me when I feel like I’m expected to read a book just because someone thought I’d like it. :/

    However, I like pushing myself, so when I’m actually reading and reviewing the ARCs and books that I want to read, I feel like I’m releasing the good stress in a positive way. I also like how so many different people have so many different reading challenges. It’s another type of blogging event that I think is a good stress inducer. I’ve read so much more, in terms of genres and types of books, so far this year because of the different challenges.

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    • Those are really good points! I definitely think that pushing yourself can be good in moderation and challenges can be good stress as well! That’s true, too, challenges can really help me read more! Thank you for your input, Erin!

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  12. I’m kind of in the same situation in that my coursework is piling up and I haven’t had much time to blog, but most of the books I review are my own or from the library, so I don’t have that stress to deal with. I think stress is good as long that you feel challenged enough that you push yourself to meet a goal, but not so much when you’re freaking out. I think making sure you don’t bite off more than you can chew is definitely key to keeping stress under control! Great post!

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  15. Great post. I have been book blogging since January so I’m still in my newlywed phase…so everything seem stressful, but I am doing good trying to not let it be. I am figure out where I am at and how to do my posts and all that.

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  16. Blogging can definitely be stressful if you let it! I’ve taken steps to make blogging less stressful. I, personally, dislike being stressed and don’t find it motivating. What I find motivating is finding ways to deal with the stress and choosing avenues to go around the stress instead of letting it get to me. I guess I’m more of a problem-solver! I don’t accept as many review copies…even super awesome ARCs that look so pretty and are extremely tempting! I just don’t anymore. I limit myself to what I feel comfortable with. I also try not to put pressure on myself due to blog envy. Blogging is just a hobby. That is all. Who cares if other people have better blogs, more time to blog, or are more creative? I’m having fun with my blog and that’s all that should matter. That’s just me though. I don’t like stress. 🙂

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