Self Doubt and Finding the Motivation to Blog

It's been one month since I last published a blog post (which I find kind of ironic, considering my last post was called How to Be a More Productive Blogger). I'm not going to make any excuses about being sooo busy I just haven't had time to blog, because I believe that you can always make time for your priorities - and I just haven't been making the time. 

Mostly I just haven't had the motivation to sit down and write. I seem to go through phases of being extremely motivated and can work on my blog for days on end, followed by periods of low motivation, self doubt and lack of inspiration. Whenever other things are happening in my life, blogging is usually the first thing to go. And I've noticed that the longer I go without blogging, the harder it is to get back into.

I also haven't been as active on social media, which is very unlike me. I've been tweeting a lot less than usual so my engagement has decreased. I dropped the ball with Pinterest and my views have plummeted (I was receiving around 300k unique monthly views on there last month. I've just checked and I'm currently getting 180k, which isn't terrible but I'd obviously prefer it to be going up rather than down). This is entirely my fault because I haven't been putting in the effort, but it's still demotivating. 

To be completely honest, I became a bit disillusioned with the whole thing. Blogging, interacting, putting in hours of effort for little reward.  

Last week, Moz updated how they calculate domain authority (which is quite an important thing for bloggers, especially if you're looking to work with brands or monetise your site) and my DA fell from 24 to 18. I know that's not a HUGE drop but it definitely makes a difference. Personally, I'm motivated by positive reinforcement - when my numbers are up and people are leaving nice comments, it inspires me to work even harder. When my stats (in this case my DA) are going down despite my hard work, it makes me wonder why I bother and that's when I consider quitting. 

I deal with self doubt A LOT, which is why the positive reinforcement helps. I often have thoughts like Why are you even writing this? No-one will care and you're a terrible writer anywayWhen I'm in one of those moods I have to stop and take a look at my stats, which suggest otherwise (most of my posts receive around 500-1000 views each and my most popular post currently has 6334 views, although I think that's somewhat of a fluke). People take the time to comment on my posts or tweet me to tell me they enjoy my content. This is what makes blogging worth it for me, but when that doubt starts creeping in, it's hard to make myself believe I'm any good and at those times I just don't want to create anything. I may not be good at many things, but I'm great at the old self sabotage.   

I also often struggle to come up with ideas for blog posts. I want to be unique and not just rehash content that's been done thousands of times before. On top of that, I'm a perfectionist so it's really hard to produce posts that live up to my high standards (and let's face it; nothing is ever going to be completely perfect). I deliberate over proper grammar, spelling, punctuation and syntax and am mortified if I notice a typo in a post that's already been published. I want my posts to be interesting, engaging and entertaining all at the same time - and that's not always possible.

Don't get me wrong; I enjoy writing. I love words, I love language. I honestly don't know what I'd do without writing. It helps me make sense of what's going on inside my head. It provides me with a creative outlet. Hell, it even makes me money. It's just that, sometimes...blogging is hard, man!

Do you deal with self doubt and lack of motivation when it comes to blogging? Please tell me I'm not alone!

Related: Six Things I Hate About Blogging

Let's Connect!


  1. You’re not alone at all, it’s a problem I face and tons of others do as well!

  2. You're definitely not alone! I have a real issue of getting fixated on numbers so when I'm getting less likes and comments the self-doubt creeps in again. I try and just remind myself that I can't be perfect at everything and of course some posts won't do as well as others, and then get right on those follow trains to get the numbers up!

  3. I've been having a bit of self doubt spell and stats definitely have an influence on that, even though stats aren't the be all and end all! I guess you just have to focus on the other positives, such as comments!

    Ashleigh |

  4. I feel you so much with this right now! I'm definitely having a self-doubting spree - I'm really unmotivated with everything, not just blogging, and the more I try and force myself, the more it feels like it's becoming a chore. I guess it's just a matter of hanging on and knowing that the motivation will come back, but it's hard sometimes. This is a really great post.

  5. I totally understand that feeling. I myself find it hard to get back to blogging when I have been away for sometime for personal reasons. Mine is mostly my travels. The social media and yes Pinterest demotivates a lot when the views go down so drastically. Even I have the feeling of giving up. But once I catch up I feel very motivated. Especially after reading the comments on social media and my blog. :-)

    Via |

  6. I think every blogger experience it. Blogging is not a straight line kind of career, It has it's up and downs and it really hard to stay motivated. Also, content writing, in general, is sort of a trial and error sort of thing, some posts will hit home some won't and that's ok. When I start to doubt myself, I remind myself that it's always a learning experience, and what doesn't work teach me an important lesson. If you need a break it's also OK to take it. I would try to set a date for getting back to it and write something even if it's not coming out naturally. Just flex those writing muscles.

  7. I totally get this. My December stats were my best ever by a significant margin and then I went and topped it in January! Since then they've dropped again and it's easy to feel disheartened and think I'm doing something wrong yet I have a loyal readership and receive really lovely comments which make it all worthwhile. I think it's time we focused on the genuine connections we've made rather than chase the numbers.

  8. Yes! I have it too, all the time. I wrote a post about a guide to not making any money blogging to help with my self doubt in what I was doing.

  9. I 100% feel the same! When the DA thing happened, it really made me sad because I was doing quite well for only having 8 months on my own domain, then it dropped even though I'd been improving! I think we need to make sure that we don't lose sight of the fact we started blogging for fun, not for these numbers we get bogged down in!

    Rhianna x

  10. I know exactly how you feel! I was pretty discouraged when I found my Da dropped as well, but speaking with other bloggers I know it's not just me, practically everyone was affected. It wasn't fun but it's good to know we aren't alone! I think we all doubt ourselves when things change. Hoping your motivation comes back quickly!

  11. I get this! I've been blogging for 3 years and have often felt that doubt of "is this worth it?" when I would get hardly any response to all my hard work. It's just now starting to pick up more for me, so that has been a lesson for me that hard work and consistency WILL pay off one day :) But I definitely relate to what you said about perfectionism and having to fight off self sabotage. This year I made some blogger friends for kind of the first time, and it has been SO helpful to be able to chat with people who get it. They help motivate me and inspire me.

  12. You're definitely not alone. I experience self doubt and a lack of motivation fairly frequently. My DA also dropped from 24 to 18, but my PA (page view) increased dramatically. From what I understand it means my home page is linked to a lot (PA) but not individual pages (which affects DA). I was saddened when I saw my DA drop and, like yourself, it definitely make me think "what's the point?".


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