You may have noticed I’ve been a little quiet on this blog. Both in writing new content (podcast episodes don’t count!)* and with checking in on the blogs I follow.

*they don’t count because if it wasn’t for the accountability of Rachel, I would not have kept them going on this blog either!

A Touch of Burnout

I’ve been stretched so thin, with many ongoing tasks – the biggest being the editing of my chonker-of-a-manuscript – that I have actually been suffering from burnout but didn’t realise it.

This year I had big plans. I wanted to start updating my old blog posts; fixing the graphics, removing broken links and adding the AI disclaimer to them all (I know, I know, it’s not gonna do any good, but I still want to do it.)

I also wanted to start cleaning up some of the posts to make them more cohesive with the newer posts. It’s more of a visual issue, and yes, it’s more work – but sometimes I like doing extra housekeeping on this site.

Well, I started… but then fell off the edge of the world apparently.

In fact, there are over a dozen things I want to do to give this blog a facelift including changing some of the pages, maybe changing the layout (I really can’t help myself, can I?) and ended up doing none of it!

Throw In Some Heat

As usual, I didn’t plan how my energy levels would be and I also didn’t take into account the hot-stinking heatwave we had over here. We currently just had another few day of sticky, sweltering heat.

Let me just say, the UK people are NOT heat people. We are not built for this and we just melt into gooey puddles when the temperature hits the 20+ degrees C (that’s in the 68+ degrees fahrenheit for all my US followers)

And remember, we don’t have air conditioning… nor are our homes built with heat-reduction in mind, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. So, it’s like bathing in lava… while drinking a hot beverage… with a heater beside you.

I digress!

I also stopped checking in on my favourite blogs. I hate missing out on the cool and interesting topics these blogs share. I even have some new bloggers I had found that I planned to visit but nope, I just crapped out.

What I’m Planning To Do

First, I’m taking a short break. My manuscript, The Blessed, is now with my professional editor. I’m no longer deep in the weeds of editing and I’ve decided not to touch book 2 for a few weeks.

Second, I am going to plan blog content in a more efficient way. I actually have a list (shocker! I have lists for everything) of new blog post content I want to write.

Normally, when I write on this blog – I have some ideas that are saved in my drafts and then I just snag one and start writing. But I’ve been struggling with doing that recently.

This is were the planning comes in. I’m also going to keep a pad and pen with me and start drafting those posts analogue style.

Whenever I’m on the computer, my silly brain is excited by all the different things I could check and often I’ve spent several hours visiting numerous pages and not doing all the things I need to do.

By taking the work OFF the computer, I’m hoping to get it done. Also, I miss writing by hand, as I’ve not been doing it as much. In fact, I’ve even been considering handwriting letters to friends, just to get me back into it. 🙂

I decided to officially reopen my blog to guest posts. I’ve hosted the odd guest post over the last few months and I’ve always loved supporting other creatives, so I’m doing it again.

This was mentioned in my recent newsletter, but for those who aren’t subscribers, you can now find my Interested In Guest Posting link active. If you want to be a guest on this blog, check out my guidelines.

Next, I want to fix my online schedule and slot in 30mins a day before I start work to visit a few of my favourite blogs each day. That’s what I used to do and I don’t know how that fell to the wayside.

Honestly, sometimes things just end up getting shunted into our schedules and routines and we need to be super intentional about claiming back the time we need.

Spinning Those Plates

Finally, I want to get back to being more organised with all my tasks. My manuscript will be coming back to me in September to put through the editor’s edits before it goes out to a beta team.

I’m also hosting the Advent Calendar Story Train again so I need to keep my eyes on that project.

With the next few months set to get busier, I really need to get on top of things once more.

One of the reasons I think I let all my plates fall, was I got so up in my head with things, I stopped using my Kanban Board which had been a lifesaver for me. I need to do a hard reset and get back some structure in my life.

~ ~ ~

Hopefully you will see more (interesting) content on this blog and for those of you whose blogs I follow, I’ll be popping back into the comments section soon. 🙂

Have a great weekend

Ari

Source: Images from Canva

© Ari Meghlen. All Rights to the works and publications on this blog are owned and copyrighted by Ari Meghlen or their respective owners in the case of guest posters. The Owner of this site reserves all permissions for access and use of all documents on this site. NO AI TRAINING: Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and the development of machine learning language models.