Mark Twain

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do ...
Explore. Dream. Discover." Mark Twain

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Drowning and other thoughts

I am drowning.

The problem is this.

Each day since April 1, I visit each blogger, read the posts, read the comments, usually leave a comment and move on. At that time I had 20 followers.

(I was swimming pretty good at this point).

Each day I find new blogs to follow. Sometimes I reach back into their history and see what they wrote about prior to the challenge. Gosh, I discover there is alot of good stuff out there.

(I am starting to tread water here.)

New folks find and follow me (Yeah!!). I visit their blog. Wow, how could I have missed this person? I follow them back. I look back to their postings starting on April 1 - maybe further back!

(I am starting to gasp for air, need a life vest.)

Each morning, I log on to my computer. Yikes! 54 unread postings.

(Last night there were 5!!! Don't these guys sleep?)

I dig in. I start reading and responding. I get caught up, mostly. After lunch I check again!! More! Double Yikes!! And I repeat!

(Does anyone know blogging CPR?)

BRIGHT IDEA!

Let's all take a break this week so we can all catch up!!

Okay, so that is a stinko idea, if you want to meet the April challenge. And I will be standing on April 30 with a minimum of 26 postings under my belt. But I have made a discovery. A discovery that none of my blog friends warned me about.

(Where were you guys????)

The REAL challenge of this month isn't writing the daily posts to your own blog ... it is keeping up with the bogs you follow!

So now I am asking ....
  • Do you read every one's blog?
  • Do you comment all the time?
  • If you get behind do you delete or just wait until you have more time ... say a week to catch up?
  • How much time do you spend on blogging each day - the whole process: creation, reading, commenting!!
  • Do you do something I haven't mentioned to keep from drowning?

Inquiring minds (of new bloggers) ... ok, it is just me, I want to know.

(Throw me a life-line for cry'en out loud!!)

:-)

(PS - I love you guys. Don't stop posting! Don't stop following! Don't stop reading! Don't stop commenting!

Don't stop! I'll deal.)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It can get to be a bit heavy at times I know. I follow around 40 blogs and I am constantly weeding....probably sounds harsh but you have to stay sane.....if they aren't posting more than once a month I may scratch them, if I lose interest in a topic ie..crafting I may scratch them....I also (and I know this is old fashioned) don't like bad language, so, if I find that are overusing a certain word I may scratch them just for my own comfort. Just because someone is following you does NOT mean you have to follow them. I check my reading list every day for new posts from those I follow. I do not always comment. Sometimes there just isn't anything to say. I don't believe in just tossing off some useless comment, it has to be relevant. I head over to the comments tab a couple of times a day (okay, maybe more) to see what comments have been left on my posts. I have removed the setting that means I have to approve each comment...I can always delete a comment from the comments tab if I think it's necessary. Some days I may post multiple times, some days I may not post at all (except for the A-Z)....if I felt I HAD to post every day it would stop being fun wouldn't it? Sometimes I save a post in draft for use in a dry spell. That's about all the tips I have for you....I am fairly new at this myself.

Julie Flanders said...

You made me laugh about the blogging CPR. :D

I can totally relate to what you're saying. I'm enjoying the A-Z Challenge so much, but it definitely feels overwhelming at times. I don't have any advice, but I'm right there with you!

Laura said...

I can relate! I was trying to keep up, but if a day was busy then following all the blog updates just got to be too much. Then my carpal tunnel flared and I couldn't type for a couple of days.
I just had to let some things go and pick up the new ones. I've been trying to comment and follow when someone follows me.
I know that I'll have to go back and scale down on the blogs I follow. But I have found a lot of new blogs that I enjoy...and yours is one of them.
So, if I don't always comment, please know that I am reading! And I will be trying to catch up...

Cindy 6 said...

I have the blogs and such that I follow go into my "google reader" account and I get to them when I can. I do a lot more reading than commenting, if I go a week or so without reading I can be up to over 300 posts to read and I usually kind of skim through and focus on the ones I am really interested in. You shouldn't feel like you have to post on every post just when you feel really passionate. Most of my posts get no comments but that doesn't mean no one is reading them and that's ok.
Push off the bottom of the pool and kick to the surface, you will figure out your stroke.

unsure of the future said...

I find it all a bit overwhelming at times too. Even tho I'm following quite a few people, there are only a few that I read every one of their posts. Mostly I just skim through posts to see if they are something I'm interested in reading. I read the ones that interest me and pass those that don't.

Aurora Smith said...

I only comment on the ones Im following.

Like yours! :P

Linda said...

LOL, I am here reading a day late and commenting, so no great ideas from me! More and more I am allowing myself to just do the best I can and let myself off the hook. I didn't even read any blogs yesterday but I have a sister in law visiting, managed to finish a felted scarf project, knit on a hat and post a blog of my own so not a bad day really!

g-girl said...

unfortunately, you just can't read everyone's blogs. i don't always comment on people's blogs but if i am a regular reader and commenter, then it is a must. most of the time i save up all the posts i haven't had time to read so that i may read them at an undetermined later date! the actual blogging part takes time (i'd say an hour or two?) and then commenting? that could take an entire day. lol! hang in there. :)

Anonymous said...

I've had my blog for awhile, but I wasn't good about posting until the A-Z Challenge. I don't get 50 posts in a day, so I can't help you with blogging CPR. Today, though, I had 99 views -- I was excited about that.
I'm discovering many talented bloggers, but I'm careful about who I follow. I hope no one is offended. It's just that I can't be a dozen places at once, and there are only so many hours in a day.
That said, I do enjoy visiting. Congrats on your followers. Maybe someday...

MM the Queen of English