How to Keep Blogging After Almost Giving Up

Hello my friends! Well, it’s August, more than half the year is over and my original blogging goals have not come to pass. I’ll even admit that I’ve struggled to keep blogging. And I’ll also bet a lot of you are feeling the same way?

When I made my initial goals in January, I had a plan to post at least once per week on my blog, and at least once per week on Medium. I also planned to work on diversifying my income into multiple income streams.

Then Coronavirus happened to us all.

To be honest, we began to self-isolate back in February when everything began hitting the news about what was going on in China. And when we found about the first case in Washington state (where we’d just moved from three months earlier) we really, kinda freaked out.

Undiagnosed health issues were already a focus for us at the time. So we knew we needed to take extra care to protect ourselves from getting the virus. I suffer from Hypothyroidism and worried (and still do!) what Covid might do to me.

Not to mention the fact that Hubby watches business news every day, and as an analyst he started running the numbers about how likely things were to progress, and it didn’t look good.

Over the first few months it didn’t seem to get very bad here in Wichita, as we’d originally thought it would, but it’s not like we were immune either. The initial high topped out at 200 active cases at one time, and less than 10 deaths.  Then the second wave hit over the last two months, and now we’re close to 3000 active cases, with the numbers growing higher almost every day. (There seems to be a tendency around here to not wear a mask unless forced to.)

So, what I’m trying to say is, as a reaction to suddenly having to change our entire way of life, my own priorities radically shifted.

Quarantine

At that point, I lost focus on blogging, writing, affiliate marketing, and all of it. I just took a step back and decided that my family’s health needed to take precedence over everything else.

And even though I was spending all my time at home, (like everyone else!) I just didn’t feel like I could think about writing. I was too busy worrying about grocery shopping, planning meals to cook, how we’d get to doctor’s appointments, how to stay in touch with family all over the Country, and worrying about their health as well. Generally, just figuring out how to live during a pandemic.

As a result, I completely changed my focus to work on our house more. We are still in the process of completing our “move in” by consolidating three households into one– with limited storage space.

But I kept worrying about the fact that I wasn’t writing or posting or even thinking about topics. I went through days feeling insecure, like a failure, and wondering if I was going to give up on blogging altogether.

It has been nerveracking, but at the same time, when I didn’t think about it, I felt better.

So in the end, I guess I don’t regret it, I needed it to remain sane!! And even though part of my side-hustle has fallen by the wayside, I’m totally okay with it now.

So missy, what I’m trying to say is, if you’ve let your own blogging or other personal development goals go up in smoke this year too, you should NOT FEEL BAD!

This has definitely been a huge time of reflection for all of us- like in the whole world! It’s also been a time where millions have suffered job loss, income loss, ill health, and even death of loved ones. My heart goes out to everyone who has been negatively affected in any way, by Covid-19.

I am extremely grateful I am not sick so far, nor is anyone in my family. I also acknowledge that we’re so blessed that both me and my husband can work from home and we’ve still been able to through all of this mess. I’m also very grateful for the processes that I’ve put into place that have allowed me to still make income online too.

What’s Next?

If there’s one big takeaway from my experience, that might be helpful to you too, in this constantly changing, difficult, and unpredictable life it’s this: preparation is more important than ever!

To that end, I’m going to shift the plan for my blog and my writing from what I’d originally planned for this year, and going forward, my focus is going to be this:

How to Be More Prepared for Whatever Comes Next!

And with that, my posts will target the following 3 topics:

1. How to create a better financial plan for yourself and your family, i.e. budgeting, paying off debt, saving and more.
2. Developing additional income streams for yourself (that can weather something like what we’ve been going through), through blogging, writing on Medium, affiliate marketing, selling on Etsy and Poshmark, etc.
3. How to create the home/family life that you really want, through simplifying, minimalizing, planning and more.

I know that this has been and continues to be a scary time. But thankfully, the world has not come to an end just yet!

People need inspiration right now more than ever. And even though lockdowns have lifted, we’ve had a huge leap forward in terms of how people live, especially online.

Online shopping, reading, streaming, learning and working has become more important now than ever before. Don’t be afraid to start your own blog or create your own products to sell. I’m telling you, it’s not too late, it might even be the perfect time to begin.

Conclusion

I know it’s hard to get back on track, after what we’ve all gone through, and until there’s a vaccine. But I’m sick and tired of feeling tired and unfocused, I need structure again. And I’m starting by working through my tendency to indulge my stress and fear through inaction and Netflix.

I’ve taken the last few months off in order to focus on essentials. But I’m ready to get back into it and re-start working on my business in a more organized, planned way. How bout you, are you with me?

You must realize that you definitely have knowledge, insight, talents, thoughts and skills that can benefit others who are struggling? Things that only you can offer to the world, your own unique perspective and take on life are VERY needed!

So, if you’re ready too, come along with me for this journey and make your plan to ADJUST and ADAPT! Let’s work together to find ways to help positively impact the world in our own unique ways.

Thank you for reading and sticking with me. I sincerely appreciate you, as my reader, and look forward to hearing from you too!

I’d love to hear from you in the comments how you’ve survived Covid-19. How your own blogging or side business has fared, and how that’s changed your plans for this year.

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Clarrisa Lee

Clarrisa Lee is a blogger, writer, and small business entreprenuer. She runs 3 successful Etsy shops, plus she's a pro-seller on Poshmark. She loves helping others learn how to get out of debt (like she did!), make more money, and learn how to start their own small business' too! She is happily married (unfortunately with no kids yet!) and currently lives with her husband in Wichita, Kansas.