Episode 565: 5 Ways to Minimize Blogging Anxiety (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT565 – 5 Ways to Minimize Blogging Anxiety

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Sponsor (Ella Gilbert)  00:36

Hi, food bloggers is Ella from Alpine Ella. Picture this food photography and blog posts without the hassle. That’s where I come in. I offer food photography and blog post writing services tailored just for you. Email me at [email protected]. And let’s chat about how I can bring value to your business.

Megan Porta  00:57

Hello, how’s it going today food bloggers, I hope you are having a great day. Welcome to this episode that is focused on self care and mindset. Thanks for joining me. In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about five ways to minimize blogging anxiety. Blogging anxiety is a real thing, am I right? It’s probably not in the dictionary, but it should be. And it’s not to be confused with general anxiety. Although I think it can definitely lead to general anxiety. As a blogger, you carry a lot of pressure. There is pressure inside the industry telling us what to focus on, what not to focus on, who to follow, who to talk to, who to listen to how to spend your precious time, also how to create recipes, and do all the tasks involved in blogging, what you’re doing wrong, and what you should do differently. I could go on and on. Outside the industry, there’s pressure to make your business successful, and sometimes loved ones with the best of intentions add the pressure of doing so in a timely fashion. There’s also the pressure to prove ourselves and to justify these crazy business ventures. All of this pressure can lead to blogging anxiety, if we’re not careful. I have been there so many times over the years, I cannot even count. If you are there now, do not beat yourself up about it. This is a tough job acknowledge that. It’s no joke. And often our loved ones don’t fully understand the weight of our blogging anxieties that we carry around, it can be really hard to explain and it can feel like a huge burden. This topic is the entire reason I started these mindset episodes. There are such few resources for bloggers that focus on how we’re handling the anxieties that come along with the job. We’re expected to do all the things, but we have such limited resources about how to emotionally and mentally handle doing all the things. This can so easily lead to terrible things like quitting general anxiety, burnout, and even depression. Even if it doesn’t lead to any of those really bad things. Blogging anxiety alone is still really icky.

Megan Porta  03:29

I put together a few examples of specific things that can lead to blogging, anxiety, feeling criticized by your audience or your peers or random people who just comment on your content. Feeling anxious when reading comments, because of some bad things people may have said to you in the past, not feeling understood or supported. Feeling overwhelmed by conflicting advice, or the amount of time “required” to be on social media (required was in quotes, by the way) that feeling like you’re never as good as your competitors, and that you’ll never be as good as your competitors. And feeling like you will always be behind. Maybe you can relate to some of these and you probably have your own unique examples. There are unfortunately so many of them. So let’s talk through five ways that you can minimize blogging anxiety. 

Megan Porta  04:22

Number one, hire someone to respond to your comments.  Have you heard my goulash story? I got absolutely pummeled with terrible, terrible words, just a few years into blogging because my American goulash recipe did not adhere to a typical Hungarian goulash recipe.

Megan Porta  04:44

Nevermind the fact that I addressed this right away in the post and that the title has the word American in it. I was called awful things, things I’ve never even thought about people who actually do bad things. I remember reading through those comments. There were many, it wasn’t just one or two. And I thought, What have I gotten myself into? I don’t want to take verbal beatings like this for the rest of my blogging career, this will absolutely sink me. I took everything that was said really personally. Then I deleted the really awful comments. And I kindly replied to the moderately awful ones. But I still took a lot of it to heart. Here I was offering up a delicious pasta dish that my mom made for me as a kid. And that I have always loved and found it super comforting. And I was getting blasted for it. What in the world! Soon after this, knowing that I did wish to continue blogging, minus the anxiety of reading terrible things directed toward innocent little me, I made the decision to outsource all responses to comments, specifically on my blog, and on YouTube. By the way, people are so mean on YouTube, what in the world is up with that?

Megan Porta  06:07

I’ve had someone managing my comments for me ever since. And I’m so grateful to be in the dark about what people are saying about me or about my recipes. Also, after my cookbook was published, and I read a few, scathing and totally uncalled for reviews, I’ve also stopped reading Amazon reviews, none of it is worth the shock, the stress or the anxiety 0%. If there’s a platform for you, that provides overwhelmingly positive comments, and you enjoy responding to them, and they make you feel good. Keep doing that for a boost of competence. For me that places Instagram, it’s very rare that people lash out at me there. If there’s even the occasional negative feedback though about you as a person or the content you create, pass the handling of those comments on to someone else, and ask the person you hand it over to not to relay any bits of negative information. You do not need that negativity in your brain, in your life or in your business.

Megan Porta  07:07

Number two, join a quality mastermind group. In the same way that a supportive spouse or a supportive partner or group of friends or supportive family members can keep anxiety at bay in your life, a quality mastermind group filled with supportive and encouraging peers can help to keep blogging anxiety at bay. There’s something so special and important about feeling understood in this industry, am I right? This job that we do is a really difficult thing for outsiders to truly understand. So having peers who get you and get what you do they get what your goals are, and why you have those goals, and who support and love you through the ups and downs that you face in your business. This is extremely important. I have people in my mastermind groups who tell me all the time that they’re grateful for the relevant information shared within the group, but that the supportive component of being in the group is the most valuable thing to them. And that is what keeps them going. Most of the time. This is a totally unexpected perk. By the way. Having a carefully curated circle of business support provides immunity against blogging anxiety. 

Megan Porta  08:23

An important piece of this is making sure everyone in the group is positive and supportive and helpful, and that everyone is coming together in a spirit of complete harmony and peace. As you probably know, one bad apple can ruin an entire group. So how to avoid this, either join a paid group hosted by a reputable leader who is willing to take on the role of ensuring a quality experience for everyone, or facilitate a group yourself and carefully select the members. Either way, find a group like this, it will minimize blogging anxiety greatly. 

Megan Porta  08:59

Number three, minimize time spent in Facebook groups. A lot of good information can come from Facebook groups, I have learned a ton about blogging over the years from food blogging specific groups. With that said, they can be toxic at times. Anytime you have a large group of people talking to one another from behind their computer screens, you’re bound to get some drama and some toxicity. If you’ve been in the staple Facebook groups for food bloggers, you probably know what I’m talking about. I have seen all out fights and harsh unnecessary words tossed around in these groups. Before I know it I’m scrolling deep into the comments getting all riled up about the drama, but feeling like I can’t look away. I think it was around 2018 when I was kicked out of one of the main Facebook groups for food bloggers. At the time, I was devastated to say the least. I cried for two days straight and I begged the admin to let me back in. I was told ‘no’ more than once. Looking back, I feel nothing but relieved for not being a part of that group for the past six years. It feels like I’ve saved myself so much time and so much energy. I’ve still managed to find ways to access relevant information that moves my business forward in the right direction. I just want to say I do not think it’s bad at all. To be in these Facebook groups. It can be so helpful and valuable to be able to get quick answers to the questions you have as you move through your journey. This is not a message to leave those groups. I do think that it is important to limit time spent there and to be really careful about not reading drama, and not engaging in toxic threads and not letting that stuff sink into your brain. intentionality in this area will greatly diminish the amount of blogging anxiety you experience, which leads naturally to number four, be selective about who you allow in.

Megan Porta  11:03

Whether it’s in a Facebook group or another platform or group. This one is a biggie. Like I said earlier, one bad apple can ruin an entire group or an entire project or platform or venture. So can’t really good about setting and holding boundaries with the people you allow into your business circle. Maybe you follow someone on Instagram whose posts give you a draining awful feeling every time you see them, unfollow or maybe there’s a frequent poster in a Facebook group you’re in who makes your anxiety just shoot through the roof. When you even just see their name, refuse to read their posts. Or perhaps you join a mastermind group that has a member who shows up to gossip and talk badly about people leave the group or at least share your concerns with the facilitator. There are a lot of really good kind quality humans in a space of ours. Most food bloggers are delightful peaches, I love food bloggers. With that said there are some who do not fall into that category. And it is okay to stay away from them. Doing so will be good for your soul as it will greatly reduce blogging anxiety. 

Megan Porta  12:14

Number five, set a timer for social media. If we’re not careful, social media can so easily boss us around it can tell us who we should be more like, and it can strip our competence from us. So in addition to being careful who you follow on social media, as well as what you decide to engage in, it might also be helpful to give yourself time constraints. Setting timers for myself, when I go on to social media keeps me focused on what I’m there to do. There’s a setting on iPhones under screen time that I set for daily Instagram usage. When 15 minutes is up, I’m kicked out. I obey this as if I’m a teenager, and my parent is lovingly setting limits for me. I have some blogger friends who set timers on their phones or watches when they log into social media. It’s too easy to scroll endlessly without time limits even for the best intentioned, most disciplined adults. And there’s a lot of opportunity for anxiety to build, the more we mindlessly scroll. I believe that setting time limits for myself on social media over the years has greatly reduced blogging anxiety.

Megan Porta  13:26

That’s all for this episode. Let’s recap the five ways to minimize blogging anxiety. Number one hire someone to respond to comments to join a quality mastermind group, three minimize time spent in Facebook groups, four be selective about who you allow in and five, set a timer for social media. Let me know if you have things that you do to help reduce blogging anxiety in your business. I’m always eager to hear new ideas because I fall victim to blogging anxiety still, so it’s always good to have tactics in my back pocket. Let me know and thank you so much for being here. Have a wonderful rest of your week. I will see you next time.

Outro  14:06

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self care episode. Here on Eat Blog Talk in 2024. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.