WHEN YOU JUST CANNOT BLOG (OR PRESS PUBLISH)…

(Last Updated On: July 10, 2019)

I have a confession to make. I have missed about 4 weeks of IBOT now and while it’s partly because of me being really busy, it wasn’t exactly because I didn’t write.

Now, did that sentence even make any sense?

The truth is, I did sit down and I did write.
I wrote 1 post, decided it wasn’t good and saved it in drafts.
Then I wrote another post, decided I wasn’t happy with it and left it in drafts.
That happened a few more times – write, discard, repeat. Write, discard, repeat.
Then 2 hours gone and SCREW IT!

So I wasn’t literally absent from the IBOT link up parties.
I was very present but I always seemed to have the perfectionist side of me manifest right when I was about to press Publish.

And I start feeling like everything I write… resembles that first paragraph up there.
Kind of mumble jumble, not making too much sense.

My husband is a perfectionist, like me.
And according to our counsellor, it’s a huge factor in hindering us in our relationship and our life in general.

It’s good to be a perfectionist, sometimes.
But mostly, when you’re a perfectionist, you always expect the same of your partner. And that doesn’t always pan out very well.

“I asked you to get 12 lemons and you got me 3? It can’t be that hard, for goodness’ sake?” – Me
“You call this cleaning up? There’s dust here. And dust there?” – Husband
“I thought you said you were getting up at 9:30? It’s 9: 35 now.” – Me
“Pass me that please. Can you be a little faster? It’s not that hard!” – Husband

That perfectionist streak in me very often hinders me from publishing my posts.
There are just a million things that can be improved.
And that is not to say that I am near satisfied with the ones I have published.

Luckily, it struck me that this week that hey! I can write a post about how I have not been able to write a post!
Lucky for that lightbulb moment or I’d probably be sitting there once again typing and discarding.

I should just adopt this mantra:

Does this perfectionism thing ever happen to you too?

Finally linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT after a kind-of not-really absence…

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20 Comments

    • Blogging is very hard indeed! Harder than most people who don’t blog would know! Thanks for your encouragement, as always 🙂 Much appreciated.

  • OMG I have really struggled the last few weeks with IBOT too, I have way too many posts in draft form! I am not a perfectionist, I just struggle sometimes with what I am trying to say. Good luck with understanding your perfectionism.

    • Hi Eleise! Blogging is difficult overall, isn’t it? Whether with verbalising our thoughts or having the confidence/freedom to click publish! Thanks, I will have to somehow work with and around it all 🙂

  • Just do it, I agree, publish!
    I have just a few drafts now, that is mainly because I start to write things on the iPad while im out or something and takes awhile to get back to it. #teamIBOT

  • Yes! I’m a new blogger, and I have a draft folder full of potential posts, and yet, I re-read them and think, that’s not good enough, and I scrap it and start over, again and again. I really need to learn to just hit that ‘publish’ button – what’s the worse that can happen, after all?!

  • Yes how true. I think I’m my biggest critic, that’s why! 🙂 I’m a relatively new blogger too (less than 1 year old) so am still adapting and learning and finding myself on this whole blogging journey 🙂

  • Oh yes I can definitely relate! I wrote two posts last week but they didn’t sit right with me. Something was missing…whatever it was! I love the quote you included in your post today – “the worst enemy of creativity is self doubt.” That is so true for me. Thanks for sharing 🙂

    • I love that quote too! Sometimes, I am brimming with ideas but the only thing in the way of those ideas coming to pass is my own doubt. And I definitely get that “something is miss… whatever it is!” thought all the time 🙂

    • Definitely a good attitude to have! Sometimes I just become my biggest critic though so even when I write for myself, I’m the very person standing in my way. Kind of silly but a very real issue for me to face 🙂

  • I would write but don’t delete. Save in the drafts so that you can go back and have another look at it. Sometimes instead of writing I just share photos…so I don’t have to write 🙂

    • Hi Annaleis! Sometimes when I can’t write, I then become more active on FB/twitter/instagram.. so I’m still around and posting pics and all 🙂

  • I’m not a complete perfectionist, but I am with some things. My boss is though, and that can make it really hard for all of us, because he expects so much from us. At least you are both aware of it though, and can work on it together.

    • It’s funny because we aren’t like that with other people. I am definitely much more accomodating and understanding towards others than my own husband. It’s as though it’s something reserved for each other and ourselves lol.

    • Haha maybe you figured something out! Sometimes it’s good to just see life in the big picture and not stress out over everything like more perfectionists do. My MIL used to say : “If it doesn’t matter in the big scheme of life, don’t stress.”

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