How To Fight Overwhelm As A New Blogger

Being a new blogger is one of the most overwhelming feelings. There is so much to do, and you aren't sure if you are doing any of it effectively. Today on the blog, I am going to share some advice and tips on how to fight those feelings of overwhelm. I want you to focus on what is most important on your blog and the plans you have to make it successful. Overwhelm has no place in your head because I want you to feel excited and motivated to be a fantastic blogger.

I wanted to share today's post because I know that summer is an excellent season for starting a blog. Blogs come with a ton of work on the backend, and I want you to be prepared. Please let me know if you found this pot helpful on your blogging journey.

1. Stop Attending All The Summits

Don't get me wrong, summits are amazing. It's so great that so many bloggers can come together and share their expertise through interviews and workshops–but they are hella overwhelming. As a new blogger, your goal shouldn't be to learn ALL THE THINGS but to learn the things that are going to make the most impact on your blog and business.

Don't waste days of your life trying to keep up with hectic summit schedules. Instead, learn from people individually, take email courses, read some new content every day. Summits will not give you the master key to unlocking your blogging destiny–they aren't designed to do so.

On top of that, summits often bombard your inbox with unwanted messages from people you don't truly know, and that can make you even more overwhelmed. This lasting overwhelm can be damaging to your inbox and productivity.

If You Attend Summits, Pick A Few Key Speakers

If you happen to decide to attend a summit, do one thing for me, pick a couple of crucial speakers you want to see. Don't pick every single speaker or go to every single event imaginable–pick a couple of can't miss events and go to them. Get as much information as you can from these events and be present when you attend. Take notes and get involved as possible with those particular presentations.

If you attend a summit wanting to participate in every event, you will be disappointed. Summits are set up in a way that ropes you into buying all-access passes to interviews that may or may not even help you in the end. I am not saying this to bash the summit world, they can be beneficial, but you could also end up purchasing a ticket to events that won't truly help you at the end of the day.

2. Take Things One Step At A Time

I know that as a blogger, you want to be everywhere because the most successful bloggers seem to be everywhere. They seem to have excellent weekly blog posts, tons of awesome social media updates, a million products and courses, et cetera. They seem to have everything together. Your favorite bloggers also usually have a team of individuals supporting them and helping them accomplish these large tasks.

You are not quite there yet, and I am not saying this to be condescending or rude, but you can't do all these things by yourself. Focus is so important during your time as a new blogger. By having focus, you will be able to build up your arsenal of awesomeness.

Start small.

• Get a website (not a fancy one, just one that looks nice and is easy to use.)
• Create some goals (we will chat about this in just a second.)
• Create some content.
• Get in some Facebook groups (this is great because you can build a presence around your blog without even touching a new social media account.)
• Get on Pinterest and start sharing your content there.
• Create a quick opt-in freebie and build up your email list.

After you start doing these things (one at a time) and you do them well, branch out. Get some different social media accounts. Start selling some products. Introduce elements slowly but surely so that you stop the overwhelm but also make progress on all of your goals.

3. Have Some Freaking Goals

Have you ever felt like you are moving, but you aren't going anywhere?

If you don't have any goals for where you want your blog to go in the future, you have probably felt that feeling a lot. Goals are so important because they help you create a sense of movement in your blog. Why are you even blogging? What do you want to accomplish? Setting goals will help you get there.

The basics of goals are that they are SMART. What is a SMART goal?

Let's start with an example of a non-SMART goal: “I want to grow my blog.” While this is a goal you may have, it doesn't meet any of the criteria of a SMART goal. Let's chat about what a SMART goal means while creating a more specific goal for your blog.

Specific

Is this goal as specific as possible? Does it leave out general language? Is it easy to follow?

In the goal above, growing your blog is incredible, but you aren't very specific with how you want to grow your blog. There is so much that you could be talking about. Are you talking about increasing traffic or growing your follower count? You'd want to get as specific as possible about this goal. What does growth mean to you?

Measurable

How will you know this goal is complete? Can you measure it?

How much do you want to grow your blog? Do you want to increase your followers by 100 people this month? If you don't know when a goal is finished, you'll always be chasing after it. Goals should be completed so that you can create new goals for yourself.

Achievable

Is this goal possible to reach based on what you have done or seen others do?

Based on what you've done in the past, how easy is it for your goal to happen? For example, the goal of increasing your page views to 10,000 per month isn't as achievable for someone who's only received 500 page views thus far. For someone who's received 9,000 page views in the past, a 10,000 page view month is more than doable. SMART goals don't stop you from having stretch goals, but you want most of your goals to fall under the SMART category.

Relevant

Does this goal make sense for you? Will it help you get to where you want to be?

The act of growing your blog, in general, might not be the best goal for you right now. For example, you may find yourself wanting to focus more on building engagement instead of growth. Think about the goal you have because if it's not relevant and you set it anyway, you'll likely end up being disappointed in yourself.

Time-Bound

Did you put a date on it? When do you want to accomplish it?

Goals can't go on forever. If goals don't have a timer on them, you may never be inspired enough to take action. So, you may want to grow your blog by X followers in 30 days. Get specific and make steps toward those goals.

More On SMART Goals

Setting SMART goals can help you in every avenue of your life from general day-to-day life goals to goals that you set for your blog. All your goals should be so specific that they meet all five categories in the SMART goal system.

In general, goals are helpful because they allow you to know when you are making progress on something. Without goals, even if you are getting things done, it can be hard to tell that you are doing anything at all. Help yourself by deciding on a couple of goals that you would like to accomplish.

4. Get Some Support From Your Blog Friends

Creating those blogging support groups or being a part of blogging related Facebook groups can be helpful when it comes to reducing overwhelm. For some people, all the groups can become pretty overwhelming, but you have to approach Facebook groups the right way. Don't try to get involved with every single one right away. Do your research and only join groups that will help you.

Don't feel inclined to go for the big groups right away. Find small, niche groups that provide a lot of information and help you grow the most. Find groups that have lots of conversation and a host that is involved and wants the group to succeed. I cannot tell you exactly how to find the groups that will help you the most, but I can tell you to trust your gut and join groups that you feel have the most community and good vibes.

If a group isn't working out, don't be afraid to leave that group. You have no obligation to stay in a group that doesn't move you or your blog forward. Even if you want to join again in the future, leave for the moment, if the group is not helpful to your growth/productivity. If you don't want to leave the group, you can also turn notifications off for that group so you can focus on other groups that are more productive and motivating.

Don't be afraid to grow your blog directly alongside one blogger or a few bloggers in particular. Having blog accountability buddies will help you in the long run because they may have different skill sets than you do. Having someone you can ask for advice, lean on, and work with every single day can be beneficial. The biggest piece of advice I give new bloggers is finding a community, so I feel that you should try to find that community whether it be a group or just another blogger.

5. Step Away From The Computer Every Blue Moon

Sometimes, you need a break. Taking a nice, substantial break is imperative. I am not talking about a break where you go check out YouTube for 30 minutes. I am talking about taking a break from your computer screen entirely.

• Go for a walk.
• Cook a real meal for dinner.
• Read a physical book.
• Take a nap.
• Hang out with a friend.

Anything that you can do to take a step back from your computer would be great for fighting against overwhelm. Sometimes all you need is a few hours away from your computer to come back refreshed and ready to tackle all of your issues with a level head.

Don't be afraid to take breaks in your business. Sometimes some warm breeze is all you need to get excited about writing again. The next time you feel overwhelmed with your blog, I encourage you to take a step back. Close your computer and connect with yourself again.

Final Thoughts On Battling Overwhelm As A New Blogger

During this blog, I walked you through five things you can do to stop the overwhelm. Starting something new is always going to be a little overwhelming. I have the utmost faith in you that you can take a step back and approach this new endeavor in the right way.

I hope that by going through these tips, you can get a great understanding of how to stop the overwhelming feelings you may be having in their tracks. Get picky about the types of content you consume, take things slower, create SMART goals for your blog, get support from blogging friends, and take breaks.