The last year of my life has been tough. I have had a lot of ups and downs. I am thankful for some good friends that have stood by me and helped me to keep pushing ahead. It has been difficult at times, and I have come to the conclusion that in order to move forward, I need to simplify things in my life.
One example is this blog. I have a love-hate relationship with WordPress. I love it for what it is and what it does, but I hate it for writing. It is not the writing actually, but all the mechanics around publishing a blog post. I have to write the post, edit the post, optimize it for SEO, assign my tags, my keywords, my categories, and write an SEO description. Then I have to find an image, buy an image, crop it, compress it and upload it. Sometimes, OK often, the thought of doing all that, prevents from writing in the first place. I have almost 90 draft posts waiting for all that to be done to them, erg…
It kind of doesn’t make sense. I sacrifice helping others, because of the mechanics of writing a post. I have to simplify things in my life because time is an asset that is in limited supply. So I am going to make some changes, the first of which is this blog.
- I am not going to have images anymore, unless there is some compelling reason for it. I am tired of the cost and time associated with finding the images and getting them setup. I think the trade-off of good content is preferred.
- I going to wrote shorter posts, more frequently. I know longer posts are preferred by many, but I just can’t swing the time. The thought of writing a 600 to 1,000 word blog post is another thing that sometimes prevents me from even starting. So they will be more focused posts.
- I am going to try and not be a perfectionist. So you might see a mistake here and there from late night or early morning writings. Please kindly let me know and I will fix them.
Peace Pilgrim stated, “The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace. A persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well-being that places harmony in one’s life.“
That is exactly what I am going for. I welcome your thoughts as I attempt to begin anew.
About Todd Nielsen
I hear you, Todd. The pressure we apply is often of our own making, isn’t it? Here’s to your new process!
Your decision to share the ins and outs of simplifying your blog and your life is appreciated, and (I’m sure I don’t have to tell you), the sign of a leader. It is much appreciated. The main page is so full of impact, no other images seem necessary—so glad you’ll save on time to write more often!
Todd, it is life. It also hit me this summer when the 14yr old kept playing Christmas music on the piano in June. So annoying but it worked. Get out of your safe zone. See you on FB.
Best Wishes.
Martha Leah Nangalama (FB is Leah Nangalama)
Great choice! Good points!
I prefer short posts. I find I speed through the long ones and miss a lot of the content. If it is short, I spend more time understanding and internalizing it.
I have not found that images increase my understanding of a blog post (unless it is a graph or something similar). Sometimes a good image will get my attention, but if I already know and respect the blogger (which I do for you), images don’t add anything. It just makes it take longer for me to scroll through content.
I am looking forward to the new you.
Good job Todd! We share similar beliefs and the comment ‘no success outside the home compensates for a failure within it’. I would highly recommend an awesome book ‘Essentialism: the disciplined pursuit of less’ – I took a substantial pay cut to move into a job that allowed the needed balance I needed and my family needed from me. I desire to blog / write on things I have learned and taught – haven’t gotten started, thank you for providing insight into the non-essentials 🙂
Don’t stress over the length of Blog posts – one of my mentors always says “Brief if better!”. Its challenging, but a short, pithy post is very much appreciated!
Good choice we all have to find a balance. I too am sick of images for images sake.
glad you are finishing the balance. It is the content that is important. Happy to see content short or long.
Welcome back Todd,
Life is very unpredictable but we have only one and it is our decision how (well) we spend it.
Great to have you back and may the force be with you (StarWars)
jaro.
Interesting read, I often doubt the balance between the time a search for an image takes and the added value it will have. My blogposts are appearing every Monday around 500 words, that does not really consume time, it is almost an automated process. But the images do take a lot of time. And now you make me even doubt more about my images 😉
Hi Todd,
I hear your frustration and applaud your taking action to simplify! As for longer vs. shorter posts, the shorter posts 300-600 words are actually read more often online. So you’re decision on length will most likely pay off in many ways.
Best wishes!!
Kate
Go for it Todd! Whatever gives you peace, hope and helps you give your best is all up to you. Change is good…and frankly, I like a shorter post! (lol) Glad to have you back! You have been missed.
Wow, Todd you have no idea how much this resonates with me. I also have had a super-tough couple of years. But like you, am pushing through, and even starting new projects–publishing new books too. I do love WordPress though, and don’t find the fiddling as tiresome as you obviously do. Hope it gets easier for you.
Todd, thoughts that are complete, polished, perfectly formed, pristine offer little room for the creative interpretation of the reader. I’d rather see something a bit messy that sparks my own thought processes than something that’s perfected and with a big full stop (period) at the end which is more sterile.
Don’t worry – it’s the thought that’s important not the packaging! I’m delighted you’re up and running!
I am so happy to read this Todd. Good on you. Can’t wait to see this new direction…