The irony of starting a new blog and then failing spectacularly to add anything to it has not escaped me. In the next few days I’m planning on adding a series of posts that I’ve been trying to find the time to write for the last few months. Most of these, in the spirit of the new blog, will be a lot more focused on classroom practice than was the case on the old blog, although there will still be musings and random tangents I expect.
My big worry is that once term gets going again I’ll slip out of blogging again as the other things on the to do list become more urgent. To try and stop that from happening I’m going to try adopting two ideas.
Post every day if possible, every other if not. I hope this way I won’t let the habit die. It will also keep my blogging focussed on classroom practice.
Stop aiming for perfection. I have a terrible habit of wanting to spend hours on something before I’m happy with it. That’s been the biggest problem for me in the last few months in a whole range of areas, so I’m planning (within reason) to move to a ‘get it done and get it out’ approach.
I’m currently thinking I might try and use some of my lunch to get stuff written in, but I don’t know how that will work in the cold light of term. Those of you who are bloggers yourselves, when do you find time to blog?!?!
Welcome back, Dave!
After seeing my blogging output taper off to a drizzle in the final quarter of 2008, I decided that I was trying (and failing) to hold myself to too high a standard. When I started blogging, I was doing 4-5 posts a week sometimes, but soon discovered that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and basically wore myself out. If I was going to continue blogging, I needed some structure and goals.
After much thought, I decided I did actually want to continue blogging, though not without setting the bar a bit lower. I set myself these goals:
* Write 2-4 posts per month (1x/week at most)
* Spend more time commenting on others’ blogs (I had all but stopped doing this, too).
These goals are realistically attainable for me, given my work and home demands. With young kids and full time jobs, I don’t know how folks like us can ever be super-prolific bloggers, but if we can emphasize quality over quantity, there may be hope for us yet!
Best of luck in the new year!
Oh, and to answer your question, all my bloggish activities take place after the wife and kids go to bed. I’m a night owl, and my wife is decidedly not!
Thanks Damian. You’re right that the addition of a family to the equation changes the work dynamic! Looking forward to reading some more from you in 2009. Happy New Year :0)