Time

I’ve had the last couple of weeks off from writing and posting. It’s something that I would suggest to anyone. I do it a couple of times a year. Give yourself time to disconnect from your passion. It’s a great way to reset yourself and at the same time remind yourself why you love to express your passion to begin with.

Here are some ways you can disconnect and use the down time productively.

Research time. Great opportunity for you to pick up a book, enjoy it, and then along the way give yourself some great topics to discuss when you jump back in. My best post ideas have come from taking a time out, checking into something I’ve wanted to get into or was curious about, and fully give my time to ingest it all. Not in bit size summaries, but in a full contact sort of way. Digital can never replace how I feel with a book or comic in my hands.

Take a vacation. Immerse yourself in something different by taking some time off from everything. This isn’t a strategy for just work. Passion is work I believe too and you need to unplug from it occasionally. Besides, taking a vacation somewhere you’ve never been instead of squeezing it out of your usual haunts is a great thing to do. Again, a new haunt is great source material for future postings.

Blogging requires in some sense to be connected to a digital lifestyle. A digital detox is a great best practice a couple times a year for a couple weeks at a time. In fact, I would call it essential. There is something freeing about going analog and picking up a pen. It’s a forgotten art these days, but an art. As such connect to the true roots of writing as you knew it before it got to be a digital way of expressing yourself.

Tearing yourself away from the screen doesn’t mean you are abandoning your art, followers, or yourself. Give yourself a break and fresh look. What is important through this exercise and why I recommend it is to help you strike a balance. Balance is great and it keeps away the potential for burn out to happen. I would hate to stop altogether, because I just did it so much, I lost myself and the “why” I do this in the first place.

So take a digital diet, experience something new, experience life away from the screen so you can be better for your audience upon your return. Even a athlete takes a break from their craft. We need to do that too from our passions so we can come back to them with renewed focus and energy.

Thanks for reading and being patient with my lack of posting the last 2-3 weeks. I’m excited this new year to be even better than I was the year prior with your help! Stay true.

✌🏻 Shawn