JonesPC

Last week (or it may have been a little longer) I talked about how I wanted to switch my other blog over to wordpress. That blog was built using Dotnetnuke and while DNN  was ok, I have been using Wordpress on Jonespc.com and love the features. The problem, as I mentioned in that blog post is there is no easy way to convert a DNN blog over to Wordpress. I had to cut and paste every blog post I ever made over to Wordpress, modify the dates so they would reflect the original posting date, then add 301 redirects for all of the post that I thought needed it. There were about 300 blog post total that I had to bring over and it took me about 3 days to complete it all.

After I finished transferring all those post over and figuring out the differences in wordpress version 2.3 verses the version that I’m using here, I was burnt out. I didn’t make any blog post for about a week. I haven’t even finished adding the finishing touches to Jonzee.com. Not even sure if Im going to keep the theme that I installed.

Right now I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, and even though I have made attempts to start posting again, I am still feeling the effects of that long process. Have you ever done anything so much that you need a break? Sometimes you have to take a step back and relax, even when it come to things you love to do. This saying isn’t anything new, but I remember a few years ago, I was having a discussion with a friend and she told me…

"too much of anything can kill you".

She meant it literally, and about a year ago I remember reading about someone who drank too much water and died that kindof supports her belief. Even though her belief was in a literal sense, being that the conversation we were having that brought out those words were about things people do that are bad for them, I do think that saying applies in a non literal sense.

You can love and have passion for just about anything, but if you drown yourself in it, you can get burned out. It can temporarily kill you, or your love for that thing. I think that is what happened to me, and it has happened to me before. Remember a while ago I briefly mentioned I was writing a book? Well I was hot and heavy on finishing that book after I made that blog post. Wring a little every day, planning out the story in my head, reading and re-reading to make sure the continuety of the story is in tact, eventually I got burned out at about the half way point. I stopped writing again. I saw it coming and tried to hurry and finish it before I got to that point but that point came and now the book is on a brief hiatus.

Sometimes you just have to take that step back and take a break. The thing about that point where you burn out is that the more you manage and pace yourself, the longer you are able to go before you get to that point. If you are real good you can pace yourself in a way that you will never get to that point. Pacing means taking breaks in most cases. and once you take that break, it takes willpower to end the break and get back to work. I really admire people that are able to be completely consistent with their blog post, especially those that arent doing it as a job, their main source of income.