Blogging - Where Do You Find the Time?
December 7th, 2004Anne Davis has a wonderful post on that often asked question: When does one find time to Blog? She quotes Ton Zijlstra and Lilia Efimova and then answers the question herself by talking about how important blogging is to her work. She says:
“At first, it does seem like an add-on and it does take time to explore the different avenues to see the incredible possibilities.But the payoff is enormous! This type of learning gives me ownership, a voice, and a stake in the whole process. I’m writing, learning, and engaging in dialogue in a way I had never done before. All this with a simple piece of technology that costs little or nothing, allows me to publish instantly, receive comments and continue the conversations.”
I mentioned something similar the other day. Conversations are one of the key ingredients to getting something out of your blog. And it doesn’t have to be a conversation published on your blog (in the form of comments or trackback or linkage). It can be meeting someone at a conference who reads your blog or networking with colleagues who write about similar ideas and theories.
Getting back to the “When does one find time to Blog” question, I agree with Lilia and Ton. It has become so embedded in my lifestyle that I don’t even see it as time that I am making. It is time that I already have. When I get aked the question, I usually joke and say that I don’t have a life. Then I mention that my wife goes to sleep early on the weekdays and Hallie has been sleeping through the night since she was 6 weeks old. Every night after my wife goes to sleep, I go downstairs, start up the laptop, and read my aggregator. It’s become part of my day. If I don’t do this 5 days a week (maybe 6), I get a strange feeling, like when you forget to wear that piece of jewelry that you put on every morning.
Sure, I could watch TV, read a book (which I do during my lunch hour these days), but I choose to blog. It relaxes me, winds down the day, makes me feel whole. Blogging has become so ingrained in my life that, without it, a void would be created. That’s a good thing folks. I have found my niche and I am loving every minute of it.
So, the answer to that question of where I find the time to blog? I just do. Plain and simple.