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LOSING INSPIRATION
+ 7 WAYS TO RECLAIM YOUR BLOGGING MOJO.

23 April 2017 21 comments

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Do you ever feel like you're falling out of love with blogging?




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It happens to the best of us. Just at some point or another, you question yourself, your motives, ideas don't seem to come as easily, or you don't seem to have the same energy about it all as you once remembered.

It might just be that the words aren't flowing, or you can't think of a suitable topic to write about. In cases like mine, it might be more than that, that you've a deep-seated and elemental feeling that something needs to give way here - that it's either a change required (or several changes), or that blogging might just not be for you..

If you've been reading along with me lately, you'll have probably heard my interspersions of taking my blog in a different direction, shifting the subject of my content, feeling like I've hit a bit of a roadblock, or more intersection with it etcetc. And you might have noticed that this is my first blog post for a week - against the usual thrice weekly grain I've kept up for some time now!

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I've been thinking, and I think the nub and gist of things here, is that I've just lost inspiration. And I don't mean, I haven't been on Pinterest lately to peruse the plains of beautiful flatlays and post ideas, I mean the kind of self-fuelled, inborn inspiration that fires up from your belly when you've got a post you're dying to share, the kind that sparks your own creativity, really, the excitement and joy over blogging.

I feel like I've been in this purgatory for a little while now, F and I have even had a chat as to whether I think it's time to hang up my clogs. And that got me thinking, no, this is something I love doing, I just need to find the love in it again. So in today's post, I want to share with you several of my personal tips that are helping my own blogging journey, and with any luck, might help you on yours.


REMEMBER WHY YOU STARTED..


It's definitely easy to get caught up in the minutiae, or be whisked along without having an opportunity to stand still and take stock of why you blog.

Why do you blog? What made you start?

It may be that you want to pursue it as a career, or to share your passions with others. For me, it was more as an outlet, to note down and share my thoughts, passions, experiences and memories, and that's really what incited my slight diversion away from being heavily beauty focused, and incorporating more lifestyle and 'behind the scenes' posts - very much still in the process mind you!

Decide what you want from blogging and take things from there. If you blog for the passion and enjoyment, keep that at the forefront of your mind - say no to PR samples that don't excite you, write only what you want to write about. And even if you want to make it full time, and turn your hobby into a business, try not to get bogged down in the numbers - worrying about how many followers you've gained or lost is a surefire way to dig yourself into misery!


..AND ASSESS WHERE YOU'RE GOING


Indecision is the killer of productivity. I know only too well myself how many hours I can while away if I can't make a decision about something!

I think it really helps to decide what kind of blogger you want to be.

What kind of content do you want to produce?

Where do you want your blog to go?

For some, it's a full time vocation we're after. For others, we just want to be casual bloggers, blogging for the love of it. Neither answer is right, nor wrong.

Here's another adage for you as I seem to be full of them today ;) - Comparison is the thief of joy. Oh how most of us know that one only all too well! Whilst seeking inspiration from other blogs can be useful, I do think that when it comes to answering questions like the above, it's a task I like to first attempt by consulting only but myself. When I'm lacking a direction, I'm easily swayed, and end up just focusing on 'why I think her blog is better than mine' or thinking that 'I like her blog, maybe this is the kind of thing I ought to be doing'.

'Ought to be doing'

This is exactly what we're trying to avoid, the 'ought to be doing', 'ought to be posting', 'ought to be thinking' (!) - it's about finding what makes you happy in your heart, and I think that's an activity best tackled alone.

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UPGRADE YOUR AESTHETIC


There's no wonder of 'good vibes' that can come from tweaking your blog design and having a bit of an aesthetics update. I've a few changes in the pipeline - which I was hoping would be implemented by the time this post went up, but ho hum, it's been a busy couple of weeks of 'project-ing' for me and I'm really feeling 'in the mood' for this post, so it's going up today anyway!

As a person, we change and grow, and it's only natural our blogs should do the same, to harmonise with us as we evolve. Try seeking out a new a theme, obsess over font choices, brand colours, perhaps even getting into coding and website design yourself.


INJECT MORE OF YOURSELF


I often think that losing inspiration or motivation, is mistaken for feeling like your blog is becoming less you, or as if there's some sort of disparity.

I think I can definitely attest to this feeling. I want to feel closer to my blog, and like it represents me more truly, and so I'm making the changes I've mentioned to bring us closer together, one of which is to put more of myself into my blog. For you, this could be tweaking your writing style to reflect more of your personality and character quirks, shooting more photos with you on the other side of the camera, writing more informal, chatty posts, or sharing more of your personal experiences.

Treat your blog like an extension of you, as after all, that's what makes it special and unique.


NARROW YOUR NICHE


It may well seem counterintuitive but sometimes too much choice is too much choice. Doing a little bit of everything in a bid to please all can put a strain on your creativity, and leave you feeling stretched in all directions. (If of course this is exactly what you want to do, then by all means, as you were!)

The other day I was at the garden centre, choosing azaleas and roses for the garden. I'd gone with the distinct thought of pale, blush pink, but after perusing row upon row of shrubery, I started thinking 'ooh, what about that peachy shade? Or perhaps the frilly yellow ones? Or maybe white?'

OK enough with storytime, but you get my drift. Limiting your options can really help with your vision and your creative process, and get your idea's machine firing on all cylinders.

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ASK YOUR AUDIENCE


Whilst I blog for myself, and hold the final say when curating content for Barely There Beauty, I wouldn't be where I am without you, my lovely readers, whose opinions I hold in high esteem!

I think it can be really helpful to open the floor to your audience and find out what they enjoy most about your blog, what they'd like to see more of, and other questions of a similar ilk. I did pretty much exactly that last month (which is still accessible here if you fancy adding your two cents!) and it was so positively helpful - I'm quite excited to be sharing the results with you at the end of this month.


GIVE IT TIME!


It's a process!

I think we bloggers can have it tough - trying to invent quality content around the clock, especially for those that post several times a week, or heaven forbid everyday!

Sure, we can buffer against the inevitable idea-drought (by banking post ideas in a notebook when the rains are full and heavy, or checking out lists like this one for inspiration), but every journey has it's peaks and troughs, every upward trend it's spikes and low points, so perhaps just giving yourself a little space and time, you might find that everything's sorted itself out by the time you return.

Case in point, my aesthetic, particularly on Instagram, is a bit disjointed and all over the place at the moment and of course it's affecting my inspiration and motivation but I'm giving myself the time for things to naturally form their course, whilst I figure out what I enjoy.


If you're feeling a bit 'meh' about your blog, I hope you've found these tips helpful. Let me know if you've any tips yourself, or if there's anything you're trying to get back your blogging mojo, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

And FYI, I intend to get right back into that thrice weekly schedule again from now, so thank you for your support in the meantime :)

Don't forget to follow on Bloglovin! 


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xx



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