Isn’t it funny how sometimes when you put words to something you’re thinking about, the answer will suddenly present itself? That’s what happened last week after I wrote my post about simplifying my life. I’d been stressing about work. One of the biggest things I had on my plate was my site relaunch, which I had been planning on doing at the beginning of July. As I was getting ready for bed that night, it occurred to me that this was largely a self-imposed deadline. July was the earliest that I could relaunch my site, so that’s when I had planned to do it. But it didn’t even really make sense to do it then.
I decided right then that I needed to push back my relaunch to the end of August. My plans had been made out of impatience rather than strategic planning. I immediately felt much more relaxed.
The day after I posted about simplifying, Jess of Makeunder My Life posted a list of things that she is going to cut to relieve some of her stress. I thought this was an awesome idea, and made my own list of things that I am not going to worry about:
- Relaunch in July. It just makes more sense to do it at the end of August, and patience is a virtue.
- Swap ads in July. One of my first thoughts after deciding to delay my relaunch was “that means that I need to find swappers in July!” The stress came back almost immediately. The thing is, I don’t need to. So I’m not.
- Reply to every comment. This one is hardest for me, because some of my best blogger interactions have been through email, so I really want to reply to each and every comment. But what happens is I let comments sit in my inbox and I stress over things to say in response. The thing is, some comments just don’t require a response. So I’m letting myself off the hook. If I get too behind, I’m giving myself permission to archive all those emails, and start from scratch if I have to.
Self-imposed deadlines are so hard for me! I've been stressing all morning about what I'm going to post about today, but you know what? I don't HAVE to post today! I need to step back and really evaluate things with my blog, I think.
I think we as bloggers are the worst about self imposed deadlines. We know too much about traffic, analytics, best times to post, etc. that sometimes we can drive ourselves up the wall trying to keep up. But at the end of the day you have to do what works best for you. I look forward to seeing your new site in August!
This is great, Kate! I'm glad you're cutting back on things. It's definitely something we all need to do sometimes. And don't worry so much about the comment thing. I really struggle with the guilt that comes with not answering comments, but it's just impossible to do. And I think your readers understand!
xoxo,
Joelle
I can so relate to creating your own stress. My most stressful moments are usually from self-imposed deadlines. I think as creative people, we just have so many ideas, and they build on each other so you feel like it has to be done immediately. I often forget the power of small changes — often as I work on my goals little by little instead of trying to get it all done at once, I discover a new vision for my work that's even better than I had originally planned. Best of luck on your site relaunch, and I can't wait to see it!
I constantly need to remind myself that I DO NOT need to reply to every single comment!
I totally create my own stress too. It's for me it's because I'm super driven, but I sometimes lack in confidence and it creates this whole cycle where I want/need to do something, but then I get anxious so I don't try as hard as I should/could. then I stress about it because it's my fault that I didn't give it 100%, and that stress bleeds into other aspects of my life. ugh. it's horrible I know. Needless to say I totally know how your feeling. and please don't stress about commenting back (no comments necessary love).
xoxo, Emily
i LOOOVE this ! i always stress about giveaways and sponsor posts, and daniel always is just telling me to relax. this helps give me that motivation! thank you!
Priorities. Sounds like you've got them in order :) Oh, and don't forget to take deep breaths!
Kate this is awesome. I think laying out your plans and goals strategically will definitely take away some of the stress. And don't worry about getting back to comments. You should feel the obligations to answer every single one.