Dries Buytaert

In the 15 years that I've been blogging, it's never been this quiet on my blog.

Blogging is an important part of me. It's how I crystallize ideas, reflect, and engage with thousands of people around the world. Blogging encourages me to do research; it improves my understanding of different topics. Blogging sometimes forces me to take sides; it helps me find myself.

I miss blogging. Unfortunately, I've lost my blogging routine.

At first, COVID-19 was to blame for that. I'd write many of my blog posts on the train to work. My train ride was one hour each way and that gave me plenty of time to write. Once in the office, there is zero time for blogging. COVID-19 interrupted my blogging routine and took away my protected writing time.

Then earlier this year, we moved from the suburbs of Boston to the city. Renovating our new condo, selling our old condo, and moving homes consumed much of my personal time — blogging time included. And now we live in the city, I no longer commute by train.

Admittedly, I've also felt blocked. I've been waiting to blog until I had something interesting to say, but nothing seemed interesting enough.

So I'm eager to find a new blogging routine. I'm a fan of routines. Routines add productivity and consistency to my life. Without a good blogging routine, I'm worried about the future of this blog.

To get back into a blogging routine, I made two decisions: (1) to target one blog post per week and (2) to balance my inner critic. I will no longer wait for something interesting to come along (as this blog post illustrates).

When you break out of any habit, it can be hard to get back into it. To get back into a routine, it's better to write something regularly than to write nothing at all. These seem achievable goals and I'm hopeful they get me blogging more frequently again.