Do You Ever Want to Check Out from Your Online Responsibilities?
March 4, 2013 by Gina Conroy
Filed under Balance, Blog, Encouragement
Please tell me I’m not the only one who gets overwhelmed with all the online responsibility stuff I need to maintain in my writing life just to keep an online my presence and platform. Stuff that writers need to do like blog, Tweet, comment, and write. Let’s not forget write!
Please tell me I’m not the only one who falls short miserably time and time again because there’s no way I can do all those things consistently and manage a family of six… and pursue other things I love like dance and ________ (fill in the blank.)
Please tell me I’m not the only one who on occasionally checks on from my online presence and “responsibilities” and wonders if all this “stuff” is worth it, especially when there’s not an immediate return on my efforts (or a pay check!)
Good, didn’t think I was the only one.
So what do you do after you check out and need to get back online?
Confess
You start by writing a blog post confessional like this one or talk to a trusted friend. This can help clear your soul and mind, and help you focus on what needs to be done. Keep it real and people will understand and most likely relate. If you need a little jump start, you can begin your confessional in the comment section if you like. 
Regroup
You take a deep breath, access what the most important thing you need to do right now is, and you do it! Since it’s Monday, my blogging day, and I had nothing scheduled… writing this post is hopefully the catalyst to get me back on track and start writing those guest blogs I owe people, among the other online responsibilities I have. (Now if only the computer I started those posts on will cooperate!)
Just Do It!
Instead of selling a product, those marketers who coined the Nike slogan back in the late ’80s appealed to the person wearing the running shoe by suggesting that passion, determination, and hard work can get the job done. As writers, we need to embrace that slogan and just do it! I learned a long time ago in door to door sales that once we take action our emotions and attitude usually catch up, eventually. Inaction breeds more inaction, so suck it up and just do it!
Now that my kick-in-the-pants-self-pep talk is over, I think I will!
How about you? Do ever want to check out from online responsibilities and what do you do to make yourself just do it?
Gina, you’re not the only one.
Like Ron said, we do need to keep in touch, but sometimes we place too much pressure on ourselves. We expect perfection and then, when we “confess” to checking out, we turn it into an apology. But is that really necessary? Or helpful?
I find that my online “responsibilities” often distract me from more important things … like writing. We all joke about how writers are the worst procrastinators. Well, some of us (like me!) actually are!! In that case, I find that apologies are more harmful than endearing. Yes, I check out of twitter, facebook and even my blog for periods of time, but if I spend that hiatus on more important things (like producing the next few chapters, a Bible study or article), then any given apologies feed an untruth that claims those online “responsibilities” are equal to or more important than the stuff that really is important. Does that make any sense?
Rather than apologize, I offer a proportionate explanation. “I’ve been busy with real life.” Or “I know I went MIA, but I needed the last week to sort out something God’s been teaching me, and here it is.” People know what it’s like to be busy. If I apologize for every interruption, they might think they need to, too. And I don’t want that. Be real. Be reachable. Don’t apologize for either.
Tanya Dennis recently posted..After pride … {Big Word: 1 Kings 9-11}
Great points, Tanya! I like they way you take a negative thing such as confession which does suggest “I did something wrong” and turn it around to a simple explanation, which in fact, was my point with of my first point… maybe I should change CONFESS to EXPLAIN!
How about every day? It does feel like something I have to do instead of something I want to do. Once you’re published, though, it is more important. This is the age of direct marketing. Your readers want to hear from you. You’re fighting for their attention and cannot afford to let any of them find another author who will tweet what they had for breakfast. I rely on my smart phone. I can even post a blog from anywhere. But even a simple tweet and fb post will keep your readers involved in your life. And don’t hesitate to ask your writing partner for help.
Yes, it’s more important to keep in touch with readers and even more important to write that next book! Guess it never ends, but it is an adventure! I use my smart phone to tweet and Facebook when I’m running around town doing the mom thing! I’ve found that the readers who contact me use my Facebook authors page! And as for needing help, isn’t that a given?