An end to daily blogging
By @edent
· blogging meta · 13 comments · 250 words · read ~231 times.
If you explore this blog's archives, you'll see that I've been blogging continuously every day since the start of 2020. Before that, I was blogging every month since mid-2008.
Today, I am very hungover. Although I usually write a bunch of posts a few days and weeks in advance, I find myself looking at my publishing calendar and seeing it blissfully empty.
Part of the reason I blog is that I truly want to learn something new every day - and I want to share that knowledge. Whether it's a cool programming trick, and interesting book, or thoughts on the world - I enjoy lifelong learning.
But I am tired. Also hungover - but mostly tired. Perhaps it is a little burn-out. Perhaps it is a little disillusionment with the state of the tech world. Perhaps I'm spending too much of my energies elsewhere. Either way, despite the little dopamine hit I get when my posts go viral, or when new friends leave comments, I think now is the perfect time to throttle back.
So, this is the 3,094th post that I've published on this site - and it is likely to be the last one for a little while. I'll still be writing when the mood strikes. And I'll still be wittering away on Mastodon.
Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing.
Be seeing you!
@blog Congrats on getting this way to begin with!
I try to write regular blog posts, but don't seem to find/invest the time to write and/or it takes a lot longer that originally planned. At times I didn't know what to write about, but currently there are quite a few unfinished drafts sitting around.
In an interview Raymond Chen, who publishes a blog post daily (The Old New Thing), said that he once had a buffer of 18 months.
Rest and hopefully we still get to see regular, not daily, posts. 😊
Noooo!
But seriously, thanks for all the interesting content
@Edent I've enjoyed your posts, Terence, and I'm sure I'll enjoy some more when you feel ready! Even the ones which are quite mysterious to me at the start, eg EMF or whatever it was, you have a way with words that helps me wanting to find out more. I hope the urge returns; I never found a way back to blogging, half way through my "My life in computers..." series (only really possible if you're VERY old).
JP says:
It was nice to read, sometimes to skip and once so often a reason for a full read, checking a link and what not. Writing that often sure is an achievement, so my respect and gratulations to it. Hopefully you'll find the need, and the reasons for it, soon again!
Cheers and cheering from the nether-lands!
Roger Bamkin says:
.... you've given ... well done.
I’m sorry to read this, but I totally get it. I’m feeling burnout on Dirty Feed too, hence my break, and I only publish a few times a month.
A constant publishing schedule is great for all kinds of reasons, but you do reach a point where stops you thinking, in favour of the publishing scrabble.
@Edent A well-earned rest
@Edent Hope you enjoy your rest! Having tried to blog every day previously, I've found it hard work - even with scheduled posts written in advance. For the most part, I post something every other day now, but still end up with gaps here and there.
Wow! That is a long streak! But blogging shouldn't be a chore. So lean back. Enjoy the time-out and don't put the bar too high for your next post.
I have been blogging on and off since 2004. Sometimes twice a day. Sometime no post for 2 months...
@Edent Thank you for your service - I've learned so much, always opening that email subscription (I think it's the only one I reliably click through on each day) 🙂
A well earned rest 👍
Jenny Slatter says:
Thank you Terence. Had only recently joined your blog and as a dinosaur era ex-techie I have found them enlightening and adding to my knowledge base. However, understand your decision and look forward to whatever comes, whenever. Jenny Slatter
I've been following your blog for the last year or so and have really appreciated your thoughts, especially all the little hacky projects you do. You've been one of the ones that inspired me to start my own blog! Thank you 🙂
I've been an occasional reader - following links from Mastodon. Your posts have always been educational and entertaining. That's a mix that I don't often find. I publish a new post every two weeks and that's hard enough. Doing one everyday... I can't imagine. Thanks for what you've done. I'm headed to the archives. Enjoy your time off!
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