I’ve posted one blog entry every day since October 2009 without ever missing a day. But every year in December, I take two weeks off from blogging. I write all the entries ahead of time and queue them up to post automatically on the desired days. It’s a heavy lift getting all of those done before my winter break. But every December when I write and schedule my last post for the year, there’s a sense of mental relief knowing I’m officially blog-free for two weeks.
Blogging has never been a chore—I do it because I enjoy it. But it’s also a daily to-do that’s never completely done. There’s another day, another blank blogging page, always there waiting. The first day of my annual blogging break means that, for the first time that year, my to-do becomes an already-done.
Blogging, working, exercising, studying–you can’t do it every single day without taking a break. The quality suffers. You start to break down. What once lit you up starts to burn you out. It’s important to schedule time to rest and recharge.
My annual blogging break starts after this post today, and I’ll be back live on January 3, 2018. Until then, I hope you all choose one thing to intentionally take a break from during the holidays. Whatever you temporarily say goodbye to will inevitably be back when you’re ready. And putting it in the “done” category will free up some space to do something (or nothing) else.
Enjoy your break, and thanks for reading.