Even the most successful people in the world need a break sometimes, and I’m here to tell you it’s okay to take a break. When I first started blogging again at the beginning of July 2020 I didn’t really give myself any break. I was publishing a new blog post every single day. Thats 7 posts a week. Which is insane to think about now.
I was so strict on myself in needing to keep posting to keep my audience engaged, and of course I now know that this isn’t the way it works. I created myself a blogging schedule and this helped me so much in knowing when my breaks were so I didn’t burn out. I thought I would share some benefits and importance that taking a blogging break can do. These points are helpful for blogging but can be applied any other area of your life where you feel like you need a break.
IT CAN HELP WITH PRODUCTIVITY
Taking a break and doing less can actually help you become more productive. It sounds weird doesn’t it? You’re probably thinking “Olivia? How can doing less help me be more productive?!” Well think about it like this… You are up to your eyeballs in things to do and you only have a short amount of time to get it done. You rush and rush and rush and produce mediocre results because you haven’t given yourself the time that you need to make it a quality piece of work, because you simply don’t have the time. Doing less and having less on your plate means you can divide your time and attention into making sure what you are producing is the best it can be.
Being busy and having a lot to do has its benefits too of course but you can’t just keep going at that capacity. There will be a point where you burn out and then wont have any energy to put into any work at all. Do you see it all starting to make sense now?
IT GIVES YOU TIME TO REST AND RELAX
A blogging break doesn’t have to mean a month off, it could just mean a day or two. Depending on what mood I’m in and how busy my weekend is, I take Saturday and Sunday off usually. This gives me time to be present in real life with my friends and family and it’s a few days off not thinking about my blog or writing posts.
I have a loose schedule I tend to stick to, but its okay if I go off it or do something different. I don’t put pressure on myself to make sure I stick to what it says.I like to forward plan, so if I know I’m taking the weekend off, I schedule posts for the next week before the weekend comes, that helps in not worrying or thinking about my blog on my days off.
IT CAN HELP CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Taking a break can really help with changing perspectives. Whenever I am feeling overwhelmed by work or any other area of my life, I like to take a step back and this really helps to put things into perspective. When you are in the motions and going with the flow, it can be hard to see what is really going on. When you take a step back from something (I mean physically not figuratively) you are able to see more aren’t you? Well thats the same in blogging. Take a step back and you will be able to see the bigger picture.
IT ENABLES YOU TO RE-EVALUATE YOUR GOALS
Sometimes we need a break to re-evaluate what we want. What are your goals for your blog? What would you like to achieve? How are you going to achieve it? Time away from something can give us that space to be able to reconsider and re-evaluate what our goals are. It allows us to have a renewed head space in order for us to see what it is we want to achieve.
Personally this is my favourite tip, because when you feel like you’re in a-bit of a blogging rut I think the best thing to do is take time away and see what it is what you want.
Do you take breaks, whether is blogging or another area of your life? Do you feel better for it afterwards? Do you have any tips on how a break can help re-motivate you?
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this subject, and hope this post is an encouragement if you have been thinking of taking a break recently. I cannot express how beneficial it is to take time away from things, it can help so much in the long run. Olivia x
Great post! I am doing this when I go away this week. A break from work and blogging. Thanks for sharing and for some tips to help.
What great timing!! I hope you come back feeling refreshed and ready to get started again!
Looking forward to this through the month of September 😁
I hope it is a time of refreshment and re-evaluation for you! 🤗
Hope so too!!
My favourite tip is the one about reevaluating your goals as well, what I found with my blogging break is that it gave me a new perspective on what I really want to get out of blogging. If you don’t take a break, you don’t really give yourself the time to look at the bigger picture, and you may end up regretting in the long run
You will for sure regret it in the long run, there’s only so long you can go without a break without your brain becoming overloaded. And that in turn then has an impact on your productivity.
Thanks for sharing that with us!
It is so true re less is more. A focused quality outcome is the key. Interestingly enough, at the height of the pandemic here, I was churning out so much material, as I am involved in part of the response at a local government level, that I had reached overload. When things eased off a bit, I decided to give my blog some tender love and care because I had ignored it yet again. In this instance, the change up helped me mentally.
My daughter and I were talking yesterday about coming up with content for blogs. I said what has helped me in addition to finding inspiration and avoid writers block as outlined in your recent posts is keep chipping away at a range of drafts – so a minute here and much longer there 😊 So, I don’t have a set time or mapped out post list to achieve (which is not like me at all). However, mentally, it seems to work for me – for now.
I love that idea Sean. I have so many ideas saved up in my drafts folder, some I have never bothered to publish and some just ideas. We have ideas sometimes right under our noses that we need to utilise and like you said “chip away”
Thanks for sharing that!
I totally agree with you
I take a break whenever my intuition is getting tired and it definitely refreshes me!
Splendid post
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Amazing post, like always. Yes, I agree with productivity, it gives so much time to think about you and then maybe when you come back you have better ideas which are fresh and organised. 😉 xx
Thank you!! I always feel more fresh and ready to go whenever I take a break and come back! There are so many benefits to doing it 🤗
Nice post as always. Yes, taking some time out and then writing produces a quality post. However, there are also bloggers who come out with a great post within a short time frame. So, i believe it certainly depends on individual capabilities and intuition. Accordingly, we can have our blogging break.
I agree too, sometimes people work great under that pressure and stress. It just depends on the type of person you are 😊
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my post!
Thanks for sharing such amazing posts! 😊
Haha, oh my! Where would I be in life without the WordPress post scheduling tool? An actual lifesaver. I like to joke that my posts are up before I am in the morning, haha! A wonderful post as always Olivia. Thank you for sharing your wisdom x
Hahaha right?! It saves me so many times too! I love that 🤣 Its just so handy to have there for us isn’t it? Helps me keep track of what im doing that week too!
Thanks for reading x
This is so timely for me haha! Just took a one-week break last week! How long would you say is a good break from blogging if the goal is to refresh?
I would say whenever you feel ready to come back then come back. Do you feel refreshed and ready? Then I would say you’re ready! But if you feel like you need longer off then do it!
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
WHAT SHE SAYS IS S0-0-0-0-0 TRUE! EVEN FOR LITTLE BLOGS WHERE THE BLOGGER WRITES FIVE-LINED POETRY EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE! 😀
BE YOUR BEST—TAKE A BRIEF REST!!!!! <3
Thank you so much for re-blogging🤗
THANK YOU FOR POSTING SUCH FINE WISDOM!!!!!!!!!!! YOWZA! 😀
Amazing post. I truly agree with it.😃🤗
Thank you so much 💖
😃😉🤗💙
YOU NOW HAVE THE SECRET TO LONGEVITY AS A BLOGGER. (!) EXCELLENCE NEEDS BOTH PREPARATION AND REST TIME. YOWZA TO YOU FOR DISCOVERING THIS! <3
I’m so glad that you liked this post. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to post as I didn’t know how well it would be received, but it seems like people are resonating with it!
A LOT OF FOLK HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM…AND NOW THE BEST SOLUTION. YOU ROCK, LADY! 😀
Thanks so much!! 😁
YOU HAVE IT, HONEY! 😀
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I will now haha 😁
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Great post with some really great tips! I used to get frustrated with myself when I would hit a brick wall with blog post ideas but now I’ve learnt to just take a break and not put the pressure on myself 😊
Its the best thing to do! We can’t always come up with ideas, we need to rest sometimes! 🤗
I couldn’t agree more! I just took a short break last week and already feel more productive this week!
That’s great! I think they help so much. Glad it helped you 😁
It’s sooo true!!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful post dear💐💐💐💐
I agree with your words.
I’m planning to take a break too, after scheduling few posts for a week, to reduce my screen time and increase productivity.
I love this! Thank goodness for the scheduling option that allows us to take time off but still post content! I hope you come back refreshed and ready to start again !
Scheduling is a blessing!
I hope so too. Thanks for your warm regards! ☺
Nice post. I’ve been contemplating taking a blogging break v
If you feel like you need it then do it. Maybe if you dont want to take a complete break from posting, write some posts and schedule them so you dont have to worry about it whilst on your break! ☺️
I’d think about it.
Taking is a break is really helpful! Thanks for sharing!
Also, I nominated you for the liebster award! No pressure, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. 🙂
Aw thank you soooo much for thinking of me! I’ll go check out the post 😁
Your welcome!
Very useful tips. Thank you!
You’re so welcome! I’m so glad you enjoyed ☺️
Hi, Olivia! This is a timely, very relatable post. I agree with you 100%! Whether it is a blogging break, a break from screen-time, or a general mental health break, it is critical to maintaining well-being.
In one of my recent blog posts, we talked about this as well. I mentioned how getting R & R not only boosts our productivity but restores our creativity as well. We just simply weren’t designed to be ‘on’ all of the time, and that’s what so much of our culture has pushed. It is literally killing people.
As an intuitive (INFJ), I find myself requiring these mental health breaks. If I’m feeling detached from life or my blog, it’s usually my body’s way of saying, “I’ve had enough! We need a rest now!” For me, either taking a nap, a walk/jog, or organizing and cleaning our home works wonders! Sometimes I need to step away for a day. Sometimes it’s a week. Whatever the case, I think it’s important we all listen to that inner-voice saying, “Hey, can’t we just slow down?”
I’m grateful you have been taking breaks. You’re all the better for it – as a writer, a person, and a friend. 🙂 Take care, Olivia. Thanks for this great post!
Hey Holly!
I agree with you. The world has turned into a 24/7 place and its as thought theres this invisible pressure that we must be available and ready 24/7 too. But of course this is not the case.
I think its amazing how our bodies are so alert and on all the time to be able to recognise that a well deserved break is on the horizon. I guess the detrimental thing is when we ignore those signals and keep going anyway it causes us to burn out. Which can have even more of an impact on us and can cause us to take even more time off to recover!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us ☺️
Heyy!! Great post!! I was thinking of taking a short break but I wasn’t quite sure about it earlier but after reading this, I’m positive that it’s going to be a good break! Thanks a lot for sharing this amazing post! Also, I’m fairly new here (I’ve just been blogging for a month now) and it would be really nice if you could check out my site and let me know some feedback (or follow it if you like it 😂) so that I can make it better!! Your experience can help me make my site better! https://whatareuuptoduringthelockdown.wordpress.com/
Thank you sooo much 😊
Taking breaks from busy schedules and relaxing helps a lot in moving ahead with work productively. Nice post. 😊
For sure! It really does 👏🏻 sometimes it doesn’t even need to be a long break, just any kind of break would be benefitial!
Agree 😊👍
What a beautiful and inspiring post! Breaks are a great way to put everything into perspective but they make me feel lazy gradually. So I prefer to take really short breaks😂 But this article was quite insightful and made me think. Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed. I guess everybody is different! I enjoy taking shorter breaks too, I find the same things happen to me, I get bored and get annoyed that im doing nothing haha!
Thanks for reading!
This post was so reassuring to read. I’ve had my blog for over 5 years and I’d say for at least three of those I didn’t miss a week- cannot even imagine posting 7 days haha! However, for the last couple of years I’ve been at uni and had a part-time job. And I’ve always been so hard on myself for not blogging as regularly, I guess because I did it so strictly for so long? But reading your post has helped solidify what I’m trying to tell myself already; it does help me to re-evaluate and keep a fresh perspective!
I don’t think a lot of people understand that blogging can be like a full time job. Its so much more than just posting a few words and thats it. Theres so much that goes on behind the scenes that nobody see’s so I understand you and are with you!
Don’t be hard on yourself, sometimes ‘real life’ has to be put before everything else!
Yess you worded this so much better than I ever could!
This is well written. Yess! I take breaks a lot. sometimes just to breath you know? Life in general is overwhelming
Yes, taking a breather is so important! We can’t just be on all the time