Is Blogging Killing You?
It might sound like an amusing question, but it appears that there could be some truth to it. Is blogging killing you? According to an article in the New York Times on Sunday, blogging can be fatal, or at the very least, contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle that could lead to death.
Sadly, two well-known bloggers, Russell Shaw and Marc Orchant, died in the past few months from heart-related conditions. Their stress levels may have contributed to their conditions, and much of that stress may have come from blogging. These men were only 60 and 51, respectively. Another popular blogger, Om Malik, 41 years old, was lucky enough to survive a heart attack in December.
What does this tell us? Well, while blogging might start as a hobby or a way to make some extra money, for many people, it becomes an all-consuming business venture. Like any entrepreneurial endeavor, there is high stress involved. The more popular you and your blog become, the more stress there is to continue to perform and grow. It’s a never-ending cycle.
What should we learn from this? As with any business, make sure you don’t forget your life. Take some time to spend with your family and friends. Take a vacation. Don’t get overly stressed. Life is too short. Your blog will be there tomorrow….or at least in a few hours.
However, I wonder how realistic this advice really is. Can you take a break from your blog?
Written by Susan Gunelius from Women On BusinessPosted on April 7th, 2008 and filed under Blogging News
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9 Responses to “Is Blogging Killing You?”
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[...] about the deaths of high-stress bloggers Sunday. It’s discussed in the recent post here, “Is Blogging Killing You?” There is also a post, “What’s Wrong with the Blogosphere?” at [...]
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[...] Drop that a few bloggers here at BloggingTips have mentioned. Namely Susan Gunelius in her post, Is Blogging Killing You and Kelby Carr in her post, Set Blogging [...]
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[...] из-за стресса. Об этом вы можете прочитать в статье “Убивает ли вас блоггинг?” Я комментировал это: Профессиональный блогер — [...]
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Keeping Your Sanity as a Blogger…
Last week I asked if blogging is killing you. After a series of deaths (or near deaths) of popular bloggers primarily linked to stress, I found it refreshing to read Heather B. Armstrong’s (of the wildly popular Dooce.com) methods of dealing wi…
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[...] In many ways, bloggers are like entrepreneurs, and the most serious ones actually consider their blogs as businesses. And unfortunately, most entrepreneurs have one tricky problem: they don’t know how to take a break and relax. [...]
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Well anything that becomes an unhealthy habit is bad, but indeed, blogging can fall into that criteria. It seems harmless at first, but if you get too into it and don’t watch yourself it may end up being a bad thing.
Hi Susan,
Very interesting article.
I agree that with any entrepreneurial endeavor, there can be high stress involved. I think it’s extremely important to make sure you balance your life.
It’s so important to schedule your days and allow plenty of time away from your computer.
Also very important to get enough exercise-that alone is a stress reducer!
Thanks Susan, for the reminders that life is too short to get so stressed about a blog (or anything for that matter).
Kyrie Bridgewater
So are you going to stop?
–SuperJason (my tech blog)
I’m addicted, SuperJason. In fact, I need to start practicing what I preach. I should have included, “Do as I say, not as I do,” in my post.