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Are You Too Emotionally Invested In Your Blog?

One of the most common problems that bloggers have is they aren’t attached to their sites.  When they started the blog it was new and exciting, however as time progressed it became old and dull.  This can cause a blogging hump around 3-4 months that most people have to work through.  However it is possible to go the other direction with your blog as well.  Although it is less common, there are times when a person can get too attached to their blog.

One of the ways to tell if you are too attached to your blog is how you treat criticism.  Some people will always criticise your work.  Even if you grow your blog and become an “A List” blogger, if you take a week off people will start writing about “Has … lost his edge?”  The question is how do you take the criticism.  Is an attack on your website the same as a personal attack on you?  Would even a personal attack on you because of your website, i.e. John Chow is such an ass for doing this or that, hurt you personally in any way?   If yes then there is a chance that you have grown too attached to your site.

What are some other signs that you might have grown too attached to your blog?

1) You blow off time with your family -  If you are spending all your free time working, and not spending any time with your family or friends then it could be time to take a break.  If it is causing strife in your family then it may be time for a gut check on where your actual priorities lie.   That isn’t to say that you should stop, but perhaps tone down the amount of time you spend working on it some.  Or even spend the same amount of time actually working, but just tone down the time you spend reading other blogs.

2) It’s interfering with work - If you are staying up late at night to work on your blog, and it is interfering with your full time job then you may be putting to much of yourself into it.  Growing a blog takes time, and there is only a certain amount you can do to rush that.  You need to make sure that your blog is actually generating significant income before you let it interfere with your day job.

   3) You’re checking your stats multiple time a day - This could be a case of over attachment, or just poor time management.  Either way, if you find yourself checking and rechecking your traffic levels and daily earnings to get real time statistics, take a break.  Try making a contract with yourself that you will only look at your statistics once a week.  Can you do it?

You need to treat your Blog as a business.  That is advice that is often given to bloggers who have begun to run out of steam or motivation to continue working on their site.  By treating their Blog as a business, they are able to get the motivation to continue working even if the reward are taking longer to materialize than they had hoped.  The same can be true if you are too emotionally invested in your blog.  Instead of it being an all consuming aspect of your life, treat it as a business.  It is something that you would like to see succeed, and you will work to make succeed, but it isn’t something which affects you as a person.

Sometimes taking a step back from blogging, and cutting down on the amount of time you spend on it, can help recharge your batteries.  If it has started to become a drain on you, or to interfere with other areas of your life, tone down the amount of time you spend.  You will probably be happier for it.