Discussion: Setting Blogging Goals and Managing Expectations in 2019
It’s that time again. Time to reflect on what I accomplished with my blog last year and where I hope to take it in 2019. Overall, I’m very happy with where I am with my blog. After almost three years of blogging, I feel like my blog is a good reflection of what I’m all about, at least in the bookish sense anyway. Every year I feel like I become a little more comfortable with what I’m doing and worry less about comparing myself to others. I know what I am and I know what I’m not, so this year I’m gearing my goals towards tweaking a few things here and there about myself as a blogger that will challenge me a little without turning blogging into a chore rather than a love.
- CONSISTENCY. I have long since figured out that I will never be one of those amazing bloggers who is able to post every day of the week. I’ve only accomplished that a couple of times in my nearly three years of blogging and I just found it to be way too stressful. So instead of trying to post every day, my goal for this year is continue to improve on my consistency. Four posts a week is usually easily manageable for me, even if I have a lot going on in my personal life, but I’d like to stretch myself a little more this year and try to consistently get to five posts every week and occasionally even six as time allows.
- REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS. I always aspire to be one of those super organized bloggers who has their posts scheduled way ahead and every year I fail miserably. 2019 is the year to finally admit to myself that blogging way ahead is just never going to happen. Although I might be a great planner in my own mind, I’m the absolute worst at actually executing the plans I make. The majority of the posts I write are done the night before they are scheduled to go live. I’m just a procrastinator at heart. Always have been, always will be. So, my goal in this area is basically to take an organizational baby step and try to get three or four posts scheduled ahead. I’ve done it for the past two weeks and although it will take some getting used to, I do like that it has freed up my time each evening so that I can more easily blog hop and/or read. We’ll see how long I can keep it up. Wish me luck!
- FOCUS. When it comes to social media, I’ve tried and failed at pretty much every platform. I’m just a socially awkward person and I’m never going to do more than sporadically post on either twitter or Facebook. In 2018, however, I did finally start my own Bookstagram account, and while I don’t have many followers yet and don’t post as often as I probably should, this is actually a platform that doesn’t make me feel like the Queen of Awkwardness. I love taking bookish photos and looking at everyone else’s photos. I find it almost therapeutic. All of that said, my goal for 2019 is to focus my social media attention on that Bookstagram account (posting more consistently, commenting on other posts, etc.).
- SELF CONTROL. Yep, you probably know where I’m going with this one. I’ve finally gotten to the point where I do get approved for a fair number of ARCs on Netgalley. The temptation to go hog wild and request everything under the sun is always there, but I’m determined to exercise better self control in 2019. I love to read and review ARCs but I also have a major goal this year of clearing out more of my backlist so I’m aiming for a better balance between ARC reading and reading books I’ve purchased.
- BE MORE SELECTIVE. Along similar lines with not requesting too many ARCs, I’m also aiming to be more selective in terms of the blog tours I take part in and in the challenges I join. My goal is to only take part in tours for ARCs I already have a copy of, or for books I’m definitely interested in reading that publishers I work with have invited me to take part in. I’m also trying to be more selective in the challenges I take part in. I want to read more audiobooks this year, read more from my backlist, read more retellings, and write more discussion posts so I have chosen only those challenges that I think will help me achieve those goals.
So that’s what I’m hoping to see on my blog in 2019. Wish me luck!
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Have you set goals for yourself for the upcoming year? Do we share any?
These sound a lot like my goals every year😊 I don’t post very far ahead either, but I do about 90% of my blogging for the week ahead on the weekend. I’m just too tired after work during the week to sit down for ANOTHER two hours at the computer and blog. I have my posts mapped out for the week and I get up Saturday morning and start working on them. It definitely helps, then during the week I reply to comments and blog hop.
That’s the kind of rhythm I’m really hoping to get into.
Like you, I know I’m never going to be one of those bloggers that is so organized that I have posts scheduled for months in advance and 50 reviews just ready and waiting. Never going to happen. Also like you, I’ve taken a giant step back from ARCs and blog tours. I made that decision a year ago and haven’t regretted in once. I have one blog tour coming up in a week or so and it’s my first in 5-6 months. And with ARCs, I just got tired of reading on someone else’s timeline. I want to read the books on my shelves when I want to read them. It’s been a great decision. Good luck with all your goals, Suzanne!
I’m glad to hear you haven’t regretted your choice to step back from those things. I don’t think I’ll regret it either, especially if it makes it easier to achieve my other goals.
Thank you for a very interesting post. I am struggling with pretty much the same stuff when it comes to blogging and reading, and the lesson I am always trying to learn is to never rush things or take on more than I can handle. That, and to never compare myself to other bloggers.
I agree about not taking on more than I can handle. I don’t want my blog to become a source of stress in my life.
I posted my goals today, too! Haha, I love that productivity Gif. Very relatable. Self-control and being more selective are things I need to work on. Books sit around for way too long before I read them. I want to change that. Good luck with your goals!
Same here. I’m embarrassed how long some of my books have been sitting there unread.
I’m trying to dial back my commitment to my blog a bit as I simply don’t have the physical time for it – but I do love it… So I’m trying not to blog more than 4 times a week…
I think 4 times a week is excellent, especially when you have so many other things going on and are teaching classes, etc.
Great goals!! I am with you on fewer ARCs. I did pretty good with it last year but would like to do even better. Good luck!
Thanks, I’m really hoping I can stick with that goal.
These are good goals Suzanne! I ususally posted every day for two years now but as work, my dad’s death and life in general are taking their toll right now I think I’ll go with posting 4 to 5 times a week. Good luck with your goals!
Thank you!
These are such reasonable and smart lessons learned from the year. I have a pile of books from 2018 still to be read, so I’m also being more careful about what I request. We’ll see how that goes. 🙂
Hopefully we’ll both be successful with that goal. 🙂
I was nodding my head a lot when reading this, but I did have to let out a gasp when you revealed you write most of your posts the night before. My co-bloggers would do that too, but I need them scheduled for the upcoming week. I don’t have the time or energy during the work week to write posts. I am trying to be more selective when requesting galleys, and only signing up for tours I have galleys for (which would guarantee I actually read the books).
Yes, that lack of energy during the week is really starting to catch up to me. I’m getting more and more on board with the idea of blogging more over the weekend so that I don’t have as much to do during the week when I’m so tired, busy, stressed, etc.
Good luck with your goals. As a fellow procrastinator, I always fail having a month-worthy post ready to share and I always find myself the previous night getting everything done. I like your idea of taking baby steps. I think I’ll try it too. 🙂 Yes to requesting less ARCs. It’s also one of my goals – however, two days ago I didn’t resist getting my hands on two of my can’t-wait-books of 2019. =P Not all of my requests are accepted yet, but in the last months I’ve had access to ARCs that I wasn’t expecting to (my requests were denied by the publishers before) and now they’re accumulating.
Happy readings! 😉
Thanks! Good luck with all of your goals as well.
You should be happy with you are with your blog Suzanne. It’ such a great blog! Comparing to others I think is something that happens to all of us so I’m glad you feel you are overcoming that 🙂 I also admire people that post every day but I couldn’t do it either. This is the first time ever I have blogged ahead some and I know it’s not something I can keep up with either! Blogging ahead is supposed to give us some peace of mind not stress us out right? I know you’ll have another great blogging year!
Thanks Daniela! 🙂
These seem like good goals, best of luck with them! 🙂
I’m really awkward on social media too, so I can totally relate on that front. I’d love to be one of those people who post really funny and relatable things on Twitter or Facebook, but I’m just not! I probably like Instagram best of all the social media sites too, although I have let mine go a bit quiet of late.
Thanks! Yes, I had let me instagram go quiet after the holidays too. I’m trying to gradually get back into the swing of things now.
I’ve tried scheduling my posts in advance, but it never works for me. I either write them the night before and schedule them for the next day, or I type one up in the morning. There’s just not enough time in a day for me to sit down and plan our my posts. Besides, things are always changing, so that rarely sticks anyways.
Like you, I post when I can. I don’t stress about it if I’m unable to. We moved recently, which affected my reading and reviewing, and then our computer crashed. I tried working from the iPad, but it was too difficult. Now I have all these reviews and posts to write, so the blog will be full for a few days (but still probably spaced out).
Happy reading!
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
Yes, I think the one time I tried to blog more than a few days ahead, I ended up having to go back and change a bunch of things, so it ended up being more work. I did manage to get four of my posts for the upcoming weeks taken care of yesterday but we’ll see how often I can make that happen when life gets busier.
These are great goals to have! I think for my own blogging goals, it’s to just do what I want, read what I want and post consistently. I took a year off and I don;t want to get into that slump again again!
That sounds like a pretty good plan to me. 🙂
I should have a goals post up soon, but yes, we do have some in common. I really want to focus on the books that I already own this year. It doesn’t mean I won’t accept or request ARCs for certain books, but I’m not going to go crazy. I’ve been fairly good at this over the past year, but I still feel like I need to focus on books I own a bit more -even reading less from the library if that’s what it takes! LOL
-Lauren
I hear you on the library. I don’t even know why I go to the library looking for books considering that I’m practically drowning in books I already own and haven’t read. My house could be a library, lol.
I think these are great goals! I love that you choose challenges that go along with your reading goals for the year, that’s smart! I’ve had fun with bookstagram, and I can’t wait to see more from yours!
Bookstagram is so much more fun than I was expecting it to be. If I had realized I would like it so much, I would have set up an account when I first started my blog. Oh well, I guess hindsight is 20/20, lol.
These sound like great, doable goals! I’m glad you’ve found a social media that works for you. I don’t think I’m really “good” at any social media, but I do have some that I enjoy regardless. Being more selective is always one of my goals, even though I’ve always been pretty selective. The TBR just keeps growing though, no matter what I do! Lol. Good luck with tthese!
Ha, same! No matter how many books I read, I somehow still seem to acquire that many more.
For me, blogging has been a side hobby. Thus consistency is always a MAJOR problem. I don’t even bother to read books for months whenever I’m busy with college. I know I should stop doing it. I should read because that’s one of the ways I can actually de-stress. Let’s hope for a better blogging year then.
I can’t even imagine trying to blog while taking college courses, so I can completely understand the lack of consistency. Here’s hoping we both have great blogging years in 2019!
Be More Selective is on my new year’s goal list too. Good luck with these.
Thanks!
Those sound like great goals! I’m trying to think about what I say yes to this year 🙂
Thanks! Yes, that’s something I really want to work on. It’ way too easy to over-commit.
I love following your blog and I look forward to seeing where you take it in 2019! I have really slacked off on social media as well. Mostly because I want to keep a positive outlook when it comes to reading. Instagram is a happier place, but I am no photographer. lol I hope that you have a fantastic year of reading! 🙂
Aww, thanks! Yes, staying off social media is probably the best way to maintain a positive outlook. Sometimes twitter can be fun, but usually there’s just too much drama for me. I definitely prefer the vibe on Instagram.
Realistic expectations and being more selective are high on my list too. It’s good to take a step back and remember that this is a hobby.
Great goals!
Exactly! It’s easy to get so wrapped in all of the schedules and commitments and forget that.
Finding realistic goals that work for you is the best thing you can do. I hope these work out perfectly for you!
Thanks!
These are all really great goals to have coming into the new year… I think the key with making goals & intentions for the year ahead is knowing what works for you & what doesn’t; that doesn’t mean not challenging yourself, but rather knowing and accepting certain aspects of your personality, instead of trying to change things all the time. Such as you have done with these goals of yourself. Best of luck with meeting these in 2019 & I hope it is a happy year for you.
Thank you!
These goals sound wonderful. I’m especially happy to hear you’ll be sharing more discussion posts. I think they’re among the most interesting things you post here!
Thanks! Yes, I need to get through my busy season at work and then I should be back to posting those in April.