on time and blogging


Cristian is wondering 'where do we find time to blog' in a recent blog entry. Good question. I am not sure. My guess is that I spend anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour a day, depending on what I'm writing about. One thing I do over the day is to leave open several mozilla tabs as I find things that I'd like to link to... and then I let the ideas evolve through the day. At some point I just post the comment...

I don't think that time is the problem, rather, it's a question of how we like to express what we think, and if we are naturally inclined to write. Some people find it easier than others I think, and for many it's actually part of the thought process.

That little calendar on the top does seem to create a certain pressure to "produce" though, which I think is bad. Blogging should be fun, as Russ said recently. And that means it should be done at your own pace. I've been noticing that more blogs are dispensing with the calendar, and I think that's a good alternative when posting is sparse. Quantity can never replace quality, specially when "quality" is measured by how much we enjoy the process.

As usual when I write about blogging, I end up with the feeling that I'm not even scratching the surface. All sorts of ideas come to mind, connections, and so on.... leaves me a bit unsatisfied, but I guess that's good. We are only scratching the surface. Since what "blogging" means is constantly evolving, our understanding, expectations, and ideas of it also change quickly. We'll just have to keep on riding the wave.

Categories: personal, technology
Posted by diego on March 1 2003 at 3:31 PM
Comments (please see the comments & trackback policy).

I think the calendar is essential when you first start blogging, actually. It's sort of like training wheels. You feel that pressure to make sure there's no blank links on your calendar which gets you into the habit of posting daily. Daily bloggers - IMHO - are the best bloggers. But after you get the habit going, you can drop the calendar because you don't need that reminder and your readers could care less if there's an easily-accessible archive or a search button around.

My new design makes the title of the post the most important info now instead of the date/time which means I could skip a day or so and it wouldn't make the blog seem empty (like a calendar does). But I still have that sensation of "I need to post today" from having a calendar for so long, which isn't bad since it gets me started and once I'm started I really enjoy it. It's like excercise that way - but for your head and not your body. What else are you going to do with your time, sit in front of the TV?

Just my thoughts...

-Russ

Posted by: Russ at March 1, 2003 5:04 PM

I hadn't thought of it as a creator of habit! Good point. I would say however that I can see how it be intimidating... which might turn people off for no reason other than their software is implicitly telling them that they're not "doing what they should".

think that the navigation that the calendar provides is important as well, for archiving more than anything else.

Posted by: Diego at March 2, 2003 1:22 PM

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