Life Update: Why I Took A Break From Blogging

Hi there! It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post here. When the summer arrived, I decided to take a step back from blogging to focus on my freelance writing business and school. I cannot express how much I’ve missed blogging and creating content for my audience. But I’m back and I’m ready to pump out some content. Let me fill you in on my life update and why I took a break away from blogging!

Summer School

I took some summer classes, and let me just say that they completely burnt me out! I had an Anatomy and Physiology class and a Statistics class. Now, I enjoy learning, but taking on core classes at an accelerated level was horrible. I found myself buried in assignments and back-to-back exams with very little time to breathe. The way that my classes were scheduled on top of the workload was so intense that taking a day off would mean falling behind in my assignments.

I was miserable and barely staying afloat. Just imagine having 6-9 Statistic assignments a week with 50+ subquestions, quizzes that were scheduled on Sundays, and a teacher that rarely answered questions via email. I had to teach myself, which wasn’t ideal considering that math is one of my weakest subjects.

I was also juggling my Anatomy and Physiology class, which had a lighter workload but still drained the daylights out of me. All I wanted was my life back! I wanted to write and enjoy my new chapter of freelance writing. But with taking on two summer classes, I was mentally drained. So I took a step back from the activities that I loved like blogging and interacting with the writing community.

Freelance Writing

Everyone knows that starting a business isn’t easy. It requires making new connections, establishing relationships, and creating a sustainable plan. As I got started cold pitching, warm pitching, and maintaining a social media presence, I gained some traction. I found clients that wanted to pay me for writing!! That was a HUGE win considering I never thought I could make any income writing in the first place. But it wasn’t an overnight process.

I was applying to writing jobs and following up for a couple of weeks before I heard back from any companies. At first, I felt discouraged. Anyone would if they didn’t feel like they were being heard or seen. I knew that I could write great content, it was just a matter of if a company or client could see that too. So I interacted with potential clients, I reached out, heck I even fell for a writing scam!

The thing that a lot of freelance writers don’t mention is the anxiety and stress you may feel trying to book clients. There’s uncertainty, there’s concern about financial stability… You don’t know how long it’ll take to book a client and even beyond that, you have to consider how long a writing project is or if the pay is worth your time. Of course, in the beginning, it’s extremely tempting to opt for lower-paying jobs, which is what I ended up doing.

I started working for a copywriting company and I was aware that the fee was low for the amount of work I had to do. It was approximately $10 for a 500-1500 word piece. I know, I know! I set the bar low. But I figured that I would try it out, get experience, and make a little income. Obviously, it wasn’t sustainable, so I stepped away from that copywriting gig to focus on other jobs that were more fulfilling both financially and content-wise.

I realized that freelance writing meant that I could pick and choose clients and the work that I wanted to do. Why do a writing job that wasn’t allowing me to thrive, when I could manifest my ideal career?

Moving Out

Following my crazy summer semester, I finally moved out with my partner! **Cue the applause** It’s been a long time coming, but I’m so grateful that we made it. Before officially moving in, we worked on some mini-renovation projects like painting, recarpeting, and cleaning. When people say that moving out is exhausting, they are NOT kidding! Maybe you’ve already experienced jumping through all the hoops of setting things up. I’m talking about the behind-the-scenes tasks like setting up your internet and transferring utilities into your name. We won’t get into all the boring details, but it was certainly a new and fascinating experience!

Busyness Reflection

This summer really burnt me out. Similar to my experiences during Covid-19, it was challenging to gather the energy to do anything outside of school, my business, and moving. I started wondering if I was happy anymore. Truthfully, I wasn’t and it all stemmed from my toxic hustle cycle. My need to be productive has been an ongoing struggle, especially as I’ve been shifting my attention to my mental health.

As I’m growing older, I’m realizing more and more how I used to prioritize everything above my self-care, which resulted in frequent depressive episodes and constantly feeling exhausted. What I want is a balanced life, but even I know that balance can mean one thing one day and something new the next. Every day isn’t going to be the same and I’m simply learning how to take one step at a time and enjoy the experiences my life has to offer.

I suppose that I need to constantly remind myself to slow down and enjoy the ride! So here’s where I am now: I’m working with clients and learning new writing skills every day; I’m going into my fall semester intending to put my mental health first, and I’m establishing a new home and schedule.

This is the latest in my life update and why I took a break from blogging. Toast to a new chapter!! I’m looking forward to posting a little more regularly on here.

Good luck on your journey,

Harumi