Firstly, I apologise for the title. It’s a bit of a mouthful! However, I couldn’t come up with anything more eloquent. Hmmm. Not very snappy, must try harder. I am obviously still getting my brain back into the bloggers groove. Anyway, on with the post.
I recently had to take a blogging break and even though I couldn’t write a post, I was able to do lots of other valuable blog related activities. They didn’t require me to use many brain cells, but they were all very useful tasks. These are the activities that you can carry out when you need a break from actual blogging, or when you are suffering blogger burnout:
- Reply to all of all your outstanding comments on your blog.
- Go through your spam box and empty it; checking that there are no nice bloggers hiding in there.
- Update your media pack.
- Check your Pinterest boards, do they need a tidy-up?
- Pin posts to your Pinterest boards.
- Go through your blog email account and delete any messages that you don’t need anymore.
- Read other blogs.
- Stumble any posts you have enjoyed reading.
- Brainstorm any ideas for blog posts.
- Go through your draft posts. Get rid of any that you think don’t think have any promise.
- Make a list of any brands that you would like to work with.
- Go through any old films and photos and delete or keep.
- Give your blog a once over. Check all of your social media buttons work. Are you happy with the layout? How could it be improved? Is it time to invest in a new theme?
- Go through old posts and check that you have filled in the alt tags on the photos.
- Check your Twitter and Instagram followers. Are there any old accounts you want to unfollow? Is there anyone you want to follow?
- Go through old posts, can you make them more SEO friendly?
- Does your sidebar need decluttering?
- Do you want to update your profile picture?
- Check old posts for spelling and grammatical errors.
There will be times when we don’t feel like writing a blog post. However, the above list demonstrates that there are still lots of useful things that we can be doing with our blog. Activities that will help improve our blog. However, if you find yourself struck down with a serious case of blogger burnout….
then switch off and walk away for the day. Be kind to yourself and take some time out when it is needed.
Can you think of anything that I could add to the list?
Great tips, actually. So much so that I’ve actually remembered to Stumble, Pin and Tweet you (in the nicest possible way!)
Hahaha, thank you 🙂
Ha ha. This is what I spend most of my time doing, faffing! I’m glad it’s deemed just as productive as blogging, although recently I’ve been a bit slack replying to comments too. Anyway, back to writing the post I’m supposed to be writing (before I checked twitter).
Haha, sorry for distracting you from writing a post 🙂
Love this list - so useful as it’s easy to feel guilty when you get a bit of blogger’s block that you’re not writing. But you’re absolutely right, there’s lots that you can do still in the background. So often I don’t have time to do a lot of that behind the scenes work…in fact this has made me think about taking a week off writing at some point to do the tidy up! Xxx
I go away in a couple of weeks and I will be taking the week off. I think a week break from blogging is good for us, and helps us recharge the batteries
I definitely could do with improving my Pinterest presence. I tend to lurk more than pin, but I should use it to my advantage for my blog. An excellent list. 🙂 #triballove
I’m still getting to grips with pinterest but I do love it!
This just goes to show that blogging is about far more than just writing! I sometimes struggle to find time to do these things, especially replying to comments. I really should spend some time adding alt tags to old posts (I know I wasn’t as consistent about it as I should have been), but whenever I have a spare moment, I’d rather catch up on reading other blogs. I feel like I need to give a bit more love to my fellow bloggers!
Aww, we can only do, what we can do though. Don’t be too hard on yourself, we aren’t superhuman, there aren’t enough hours in the day!
This is great, and really good for when that writing block strikes. I really need to concentrate more on my pinterest, and get my head around stumble.x
I think pinterest and stumble are really good for helping with writer’s block 🙂 xx
This is a brilliant list and it just goes to show exactly how much is involved with blogging apart from just writing nice stuff for people to read…! My own addition would probably be going back and checking / adding the alt text for your images, this has really stuck with me from reading about it through Sassy’s post a few weeks ago. I reckon we should all take a week off from writing to do this sort of admin, although not the same week though obvs
Yes, Alt text is really important and something I need to go back and do for some posts!
Fab suggestions. Some of these I do every day, like replying to blog comments and checking spam (you’re usually in there!) but others I have never done, like pinning posts to Pinterest and checking my blog email (there’s some sort of error with it and I can’t get in!) At the moment I’m trying to go through the archive and improve SEO though. A tedious but necessary task! #tribe
I can’t believe I am still going to your spam!! :- )
these are all great ideas - I do feel in a bit of a rut as of late. I need to learn more about StumbleUpon! #KCACOLS
Stumble Upon is really good for writers block, I find!
I find it really hard to find the right balance. I find I’m spending most of my time commenting on other blogs, replying to comments and replying to emails. So I feel like my blog posts suffer and are a bit crap! Really need to be more organised x #KCACOLS
I love your blog posts! I think it is really hard to do everything, especially when you take into account that we are parents too!
For me I feel like I spend so much trying to keep up with these kinds of things that I don’t end up having as much time to write. But I love the list as they are things that definitely need to be done in my spare time. I really need to get more organized and try to spread these activities out throughout the week in a more planned manor. #KCACOLS #tribalLove
Yes, I need to try and get more organised too. I tend to do all of these things at once and then forget them for a month!
This is what people need to hear, so thank you for writing a list. All excellent points. Simple, but effective 🙂 Alison x #KCACOLS
Thank you 🙂 xx
Oh I hated writing the about me part!
I think taking a break from the blog can be really beneficial 🙂 xx
Aw this is a fab post with some really helpful tips, thanks for the heads up on some thing #kcacols
Glad you found it useful xx
I spend more time faffing with all this stuff than I do actually writing! One day I will be organised…
And to stumble more, that I must do! Thanks for the reminders #KCACOLS
Haha, glad you liked it and it’s good to be reminded sometimes of what we need to be doing 🙂 xx
Great suggestions. I’m going to pin this post. #KCACOLS
yay - thank you xx
Ooh a very useful post - thank you for sharing your tips! I am finding there are always blog related things to do. I never realised how much was involved! #KCACOLS
There is always so much to do!!
Great tips. Always forget some of these things. Thanks for sharing. #KCACOLS
Thanks for stopping by 🙂
That’s a great list! Unfortunately I tend to do all of that when I SHOULD be writing a blog post. Well, unless, I get that spark of inspiration…then I can’t help but write. But if it’s just a review I should be writing then you will definitely find me looking through spam and replying to comments or or going spam! Thanks so much for linking up with #KCACOLS. We hope you come back next week 🙂
Haha, I am the same, the posts you have to write are always the hardest x
Good advice! I’ve got a stack of admin jobs I’m planning on doing over the summer. Reviewing some old, old posts for SEO and checking if I can create pinnable images for them is one thing. Updating my page covers on Twitter and Facebook is another. I hope you enjoyed your break! X #KCACOLS
Oh good luck with the tinkering 🙂
Great ideas. Do you have examples of media packs or even a template?
If you google bloggers media pack then there are loads of examples. Also I think I have some pinned to bloggers pinterest board.
There is so much to do with blogging isnt there? I had absolutely no idea what I got myself into! I dont have a media kit and my pinterst is doing nothing for me so off I trot - thank you! #bloggerclubuk
Glad you found it useful 🙂
I love this Emma! I have been tinkering around with my blog behind the scenes this month, there is just so much I want to do but just don’t have the time. This is a great list and I will be making notes x #BloggerClubUk
Oh fab, glad it was helpful 🙂 xx
Fab list! Some days my head is in a spin and I can’t concentrate on writing a post, but this makes me think there are plenty of other things I could be doing to work on my blog, no more excuses! x #bloggerclubuk
Yep, always plenty to be doing 🙂 xx
This is a great post, with fantastic tips! I was looking over my site the other day and thought wow this needs updating. If you have an outdated site how can you expect anyone to want to work with you. Janet #BloggerClubUK
Glad you found it useful xx
This is a really helpful checklist, whether I feel like blogging or not. In fact I’ve probably just scared myself with how much there is to do aside from actually blogging! But it’s a great list, I’m going to pin it right now! #KCACOLS
Glad you found it helpful 🙂
You are right, it really is a craft to love!