I’ve always had a problem with perfectionism. Although I thought it was a good trait to have, I soon realized how it is also something that could have me spiralling. Blogging has become an important part of my life and as much as I enjoy it, more often than not I find myself needing to retreat. Being a blogger is more than writing pretty posts and screaming about books; behind the scenes, we are networking, reading, creating content, creating graphics, marketing and promoting. For many of us, we have to balance blogging, work, and personal life.
So, how can I cultivate a healthy mindset as a blogger?
In this post, I’m not going to talk about habits but about the intention we have when it comes to blogging. I want us to consider the way we approach our blogging work and the mindset we develop.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Today’s theme is a love freebie!
Surround yourself with a healthy community
This doesn’t need saying. Surrounding yourself with an encouraging and supportive can make all the difference in your blogging experience. However, we mustn’t confuse this with blind positivity. Criticising a book or publication for harmful content is not negativity or malice. Be part of a community who helps uplift the vulnerable and isn’t afraid to call out harm.
Celebrate the small goals
It’s not crazy to celebrate your milestones. I find that it’s important to take the time out to acknowledge your achievements and the hard work you put into your blog. Whether it be getting a number of followers, receiving an ARC, or collaborating with another creator – these are all worthy of celebration.
Know what you can’t control
Sometimes our plans don’t work out, and that’s alright. You can set the goal and do the work but sometimes life gets in the way and muddles it. And you know what? That’s okay! Knowing what you can’t control makes you realize not to be hard on yourself.
Commit
Make time for your goals. If you’re one who likes to have a routine, set a time whether it be during the day or during the week where you dedicate yourself to your project. Commit to the work you are doing during that time and cut out all distractions.
Be clear with what is important
In this case, it is your well-being. Be clear on what your priorities are. Be compassionate to yourself. Set expectations that you know is good for your mental health.
What are some healthy blogging habits you’re working on?
If you enjoy my work here at Camillea Reads, consider helping me with my medications and savings by donating to my ko-fi or subscribing to my Patreon!
Great advice!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Such a brilliant post and creating a healthy mindset is so important. As much as I love blogging, it’s easy to see how you can become consumed by it. My philosophy has always been to enjoy it. At the end of the day I blog for myself and if I don’t enjoy then why do I do it.
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I really love this list, Cam! Celebrating the small goals and knowing what we can’t control is so so important! I think we can get tunnel vision and focus on future milestones, all the while missing the milder ones that are happening in the moment. And knowing what we can’t control is key because once we release a post into the web, there’s no telling how it’s going to be received! I agree that we have to be clear with what’s important us in the end 🙂.
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These are the kinds of posts I probably should have read before I started blogging. I think so many of us get into blogging thinking it’s going to be so much fun, not realizing how hard it can be as well. I definitely feel like the more I blog, the better I get at balancing the fun side as well as the side that demands so much time and effort. Yes to celebrating small goals! It’s so easy to feel irrelevant but it’s so important to celebrate yourself and what you’ve accomplished personally without comparing yourself to others.
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This is fabulous advice, for all bloggers, old and new. I’m still working on some of it (like learning what you can’t control), but I wish I knew some of this when I first started blogging. I had to come by them all naturally as I went. Love this post!
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This was a great post. I like the fact that you kind of went off-topic this week. 🙂
My TTT .
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What a wonderfully positive post and outlook! 😀
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This is such a wonderful post with such a great outlook. I think it’s so needed for the community because it’s so easy to get overwhelmed and caught up with the perfectionism. I loved reading your recommendations on keeping a healthy mindset so much!! 💖
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What a great and important post! I have a feeling this will certainly help a lot of readers in the blogging community. It’s so freaking important to have a healthy mindset around blogging. Thanks for sharing!
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Love your post! As I new blogger, these are all important points I’m trying to pay attention to. I want blogging to be fun, so I’m not overextending myself, and I’m focusing on a few things at a time. ❤
My Top Ten Tuesday Love Soundtrack
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Welcome to the community! Your blog is very pretty 🙂
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Thank you! ❤️
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I agree that it’s important to commit to blogging, but that we also need to know when to let go. There are times when I had to take a break from blogging to take care of myself.
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I love how your post is reminding me to take it easy and like do book blogging but not take too much stress. These tips are super useful so thank you for that! Currently, though I’m happy to be blogging as hard as I am because I was on a huge hiatus earlier and it feels damn good to be back 😀
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This is the post I need to read tonight. Book blogging has its pressures and sometimes felt like it’s a chore. It stressed me out and fall into a hiatus. Thank you for these tips, Camillea. ❤
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This year Chana and I are taking a more relaxed approached to blogging. In previous semesters we’ve been so worried about not posting on a scheduled date, or blogging consistently, that we ended up ignoring our blogs for months at a time when our workloads became too difficult and the stress of blogging became too overwhelming. When we were figuring out our goals this year, we realized that we love the blogging community, and we can’t plan around all our tests and homework assignments, so instead we’ll do the best we can. It’s been freeing to take this approach, because it allows us to do as much as we’re able and not worry about how much else we could be doing if we had the time.
And yet, reading this post was still a very good reminder of what exactly it is about blogging that makes me not want to quit blogging even when it’s put to the side for a bit. There’s the wonderful community that’s always supportive and willing to have discussions with me, and don’t mind when we fall off the face of the earth and suddenly reappear. And there are all the cool milestones that we reach and events that we get to be a part of! It’s still so cool to me that I’m now a part of the blogging community that I always looked at from afar. I’m so glad that I started blogging and even though I can’t always make it a priority, I’m glad it’s now a part of my life!
Great post! ❤
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THIS POST I just want to keep it and frame it to remember it always. Thank you for the wonderful, well needed advice, I always need these kind of reminders. Blogging is wonderful, but it’s also sometimes stressful and, being a perfectionnist, too, it can be a struggle to… want to do it all, juggle with it all. I find it so important to try and lower my expectations, sometimes and to be easier on myself so that I can handle it without my mental health taking a toll. Thank you for this post ❤
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This is wonderful advice, and I agree that a healthy blogging mindset is key to being a happy blogger!
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This is such a great list, and for me a healthy community is HUGE as well! Another aspect is giving myself permission to take breaks and not force myself to do things.
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I’m late to this post but it feels even more relevant during these weeks! Thank-you for the reminders. I personally am working on not clinging to ideas of how my reviews ‘should’ be, as well as celebrating the small goals.
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