January 23rd, 2009 in Communication

Confessions of a Lazy Blogger

Lazy Blogger

When I first started blogging a few years ago, I went through a series of stages that most authors can appreciate.

Wow, I’m online!
Ok, now what do I say regularly?
This is really easy!
People are actually reading me?
Better check my stats…
Better recheck my stats…

And so it goes. In those early days life was simple and something like blog stats meant a lot to me. I joined a few networks and saw the others as competition. When top 50 productivity lists came out, I felt honored to be among the ranks of 43 Folders and Zen Habits. After all, those are the big dogs, I thought. I Stumbled. I Dugg. I plugged away at Delicious. I posted for LifeHack and others.

LAZY

But, as with many things in life, I just got lazy and didn’t really care about so many of those things. Checking my stats became an afterthought. RSS subscribers- if folks showed up, cool. If not, my quality of life was really not affected all that much.

I even tried an experiment when I went on vacation. I watched my traffic while not posting for a week. Guess what? They were nearly identical to when I was posting like a maniac. I realized that my small fish of a blog was in a very big pond. A humble truth was once again realized.

TODAY

So what’s my outlook today? I blog because I can. I have something very unique to discuss with readers- the spirituality of work. Very few other folks are talking about it so I know that I’m filling a void. RSS subscribers are a handy item for job interviews but beyond that, my children’s quality of life is not affected one bit by how many folks are reading TDS in Google Reader. And that’s ok.

In the big pond of blogs, some small boutique shops can survive. With the right attitude, a unique product and a willingness to be at service to the wider community- The Daily Saint and this humble correspondent will be around for a long time.

MikePierre

Mike St. Pierre is the creator of The Daily Saint, a productivity blog with a spiritual twist. Mike is a professional educator in New Jersey where he lives with his wife and three children.

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11 Responses

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Mykhailo Poliarush says on January 23rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
Hi,
>> if folks showed up, cool. If not, my quality of life was really not affected all that much.
You chose right way.
Moreover, it would be better to incline yourself on value rather than on statistics. Other things will come up automatically.
You know if you live in rush life goes by so quickly.
All I do just relax and concentrate on value need to be achieved.
Thanks,
Mykhailo Poliarush
Patrick is Very Evolved says on January 23rd, 2009 at 11:04 am
Laziness is often confused with efficiency.
Patrick
Mike Bite says on January 23rd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Well said Mike,
BUT it’s easier said when:
1. having achieved the goals you once set
2. don’t need the success or money the
project brings or should bring
3. or when it stills comes, even you didn’t do a thing
BUT for this happiness you once:
1. did work hard, probably very hard
Before you usually can enjoy you might have to do some work.
That’s why you should find work you like to do and enjoy. And you’ll never have think about it anyway.
Cheers, Mike
Irene says on January 23rd, 2009 at 12:53 pm
greetings! discovered your blog just now, because of mentioning in the post, going to follow it for a while.
Vincent says on January 24th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Hi Mike,
Sometimes bloggers are totally into their stats that it is good to remind them that their stats don’t affect everything in their life.
Cheers,
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Pat McHenry Sullivan says on January 24th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
It’s always exciting to find others who care about spirituality and work, or how to bring more integrity, purpose and joy into all work. One of my recent articles is on etiquette for spirit and work in Workforce Management magazine, or how to bring spirit to work respectfully in any environment.
I’ve been focused in this field for many years, including a column on spirit and work in the San Francisco Chronicle for several years (will there in their archives of a year or more ago), a large library that’s available to anyone who can come to Berkeley, CA and a growing online resource at http://www.spiritandworkresourcecenter.com. We’re happy to pass on information that’s useful to people of any faith (including those who do not belong to any religion) for all types of work. That means we’re always happy to know about your work. A larger bibliography, which will go online, is in the works.
Khalil Gibran said that “work is love made visible.” Can’t think of a better motto! Even when you’re only thinking about yourself, work is a lot more satisfying and less stressful when you put some love in it.
Best wishes, Pat McHenry Sullivan
Kasey Chang says on January 30th, 2009 at 1:46 am
I blog for the “fun” of it. As far as I know only a handful of people read my blogs, and only two out of five of my blogs I consider “useful”. :D But those are the ones I update the most frequently.
Lisa Hendey says on February 2nd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I am a better person for having your blog in my life and doing my best to follow your words of wisdom. Keep up the great work! Lisa