How I’m Getting Out of My Blogging Hiatus

I'll admit it. I was in a bit of a funk at the beginning of the year. With my birthday at the end of October, Turkey Day, Christmas and New Year's I had plenty of distractions, I mean "reasons" for getting sidetracked. I'd lost momentum on a lot of things, like this blog. My enthusiasm and motivation for many of my projects had waned. And I wondered about my goals, why I have them, and if I even still wanted to attain them.

When I looked at the last time I'd written a post for this blog, writing a new post became this huge "to do." There were many stops and starts, writes and rewrites and "other work" behind the scenes- before I was finally able to get this blog post out. 

As I seriously questioned what I'm doing and where I'm going, I realized that this is the year of recommitting to many of my long term goals and projects. Because it's taken much longer than expected to achieve these particular goals and projects, it's been hard to stay excited about them. But I knew that I had to do something to get out of my funk. In the past, I have gone through periods like this.

So what do I do at times like this?

I let myself play.

I allowed myself to do things that I enjoy doing without worrying about getting back to work. I socialized and did things for fun. And I think that there must really be something to this because recently I read that social engagement can boost brain function.

I look for inspiration.

I listened to TED talks and podcasts. Many lists of the best TED talks and podcasts have been compiled. Here's a good one that I've come across: The Books, Podcasts and TED Talks You Need to Stay Committed to You Goals. Learning something new or hearing the stories of others can really be inspiring.

I do at least one thing a day.

I tried to do something, however small, every day to reach one of my goals or to complete a project. It is important to pick yourself up again, and to continue working on something that has fallen by the wayside. I like this idea of resuming work instead of "starting over again," which seems so much more daunting. Think of it as picking up where you left off and just keep going. Gradually I will build on this by adding one more thing each day, one thing that will help me to get closer to reaching my goals or completing my projects.

I learn from others.

One of the things that I definitely wanted to do to was to start blogging again, so I read the blogs of other well-known bloggers and individuals who are doing some of the things that I want to do. I like to see what these people are doing, what they saying, and how they are saying it. It is a good reminder to me that I have my own unique voice and that I just need to be me, to write from the heart, and to share my thoughts. For me writing is very much about having a voice, expressing myself and hopefully raising some thought provoking questions and/or sharing useful information. 

I start my day off right.

This has to do with having a morning practice. A morning practice is more than just a morning routine. It can consist of anything from meditating, to setting your goals for the day, reading inspirational text, journaling, or simply expressing gratitude. It is different for each person. I am still tweaking what works for me and I sometimes find that it can be a challenge to stick with this depending on what my daily obligations are. But in general when I've started my day off with some sort of morning practice the day seems to go more smoothly.

I re-establish past routines.

It's important to keep or to go back to healthy routines that have worked in the past. For me this includes daily journaling and regular exercise. 

Creativity can't always be manufactured and motivation can't be forced. Sometimes you need space or distance from things, different experiences, and certain routines to stimulate creativity and motivation.

I'm still working on doing all of the above.