My Hiatus and What I’ve Learned

Some of you may have noticed that I have not posted anything since the beginning of this month. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t continue on with any of my previous commitments. After, so many times of self-reflection I just decided that I needed to stop.

I had been incredibly unhappy with what my blog had turned into recently and to be completely honest with a ton of other areas in my life as well. I was loosing sight of what was important to me and I was stretching myself so thin that every single day I went to bed completely exhausted.

The first reason for this unrest was my Read a book a day for the rest of the year challenge. The challenge itself was not the real problem, but it was a cause of another: my sudden lack of control in requesting Netgalley e-arcs. I requested books every single day. I was thinking that because I was reading so much and so quickly that I could easily keep up with all the reviews that I needed to get done because of this. Before this time I only allowed myself to have about 4 netgalley books pending at a time. Now, I have 42 e-arcs waiting to be reviewed.

The problem wasn’t just that. At first I was keeping up with all my requests with ease, but what really got to me was that because I was reviewing a book everyday I was rarely writing any other kind of post. Plus, this didn’t give me any room to breath so that I could read any other books that I had on my shelves.

On top of that this meant that my blog got really predictable. Where as before, I posted whatever I felt like posting for that day while enjoying trying to come up with something unique to write about that I enjoyed. I am at my happiest when I have variety in my life. I need unpredictability in order to feel good. I’m not even talking about anything major, but just something different to spice things up and surprise me.

The worse part of this time for me was the fact that no matter how much I talked about trying to find a balance it was not working because of work. Monday-Friday I have a ton of my time blocked out due to work. It would be fine if it was in the morning, but I start work later in the day and leave at night. Which means my mornings are booked with preparing for work and after work I’m too tired to really want to do anything else, but relax and sleep.

On top of all this I lost something else that is really important to me: writing. My dream is to be a writer and write novels that would inspire others just like the novels I have read have inspired me. With reading, working, and blogging writing my own stories was put to the wayside and that was something that became heartbreaking for me.

One of the best parts of my hiatus has been getting back into writing again little by little. Due to this hiatus my ideas have been sparking again and I have found three new story ideas and have furthered several of my older ones.

Now that this hiatus is officially over I am going to do a few things:

1. I am going to finish all the Netgalley books I have been approved for and I am NOT going to request any more until I have completed all of them.

2. My only true commitment each day is going to be to write for 30 mins. To 1 hour or more each day towards my own books.

3. If I can continue the book a day challenge I will, but I am no longer just going to read books for review.

4. As soon as I finish all my Netgalley reads I am going to get back into writing posts that are not just review posts.

5. If I am feeling too stretched for time I am not going to let it stress me out anymore. I am going to go through with my commitments one slow step at a time.

6. As far as Netgalley goes I am only going to request to where there are only 2-3 books pending to be read on my shelf at any time. (In reality one at a time would be ideal, but for now I am on a Netgalley ban for a long time anyway)

7. I am not going to go on a hiatus like this without mentioning it first again. I feel like I disappeared for too long and there are a lot of things that I’ve missed.

8. I am going to read way more of my own books. I have so many I haven’t read yet and I’m angry with myself with getting caught up with all the arcs instead of just reading the things I purchased because I thought I would love it.

Things will probably be wonky for a while. For now reviews will continue to be my main content, but if I can find a way to do all I wish to do then I will do my best. I might not post every day during the next few weeks and months, but I will finally find my balance.

Thanks so much for reading! Let me know your thoughts and any tips down in the comments below. I’m terribly sorry for being gone for so long. It’s been a bumpy road, but I think I’m finding my way back to a happier place.

-Till next time!