5 TIPS TO UP YOUR BLOG MOTIVATION

As the new year kicks off we’re no doubt all full of ideas, fresh passion & ambition for what we want our little blogs to achieve in the year to come. I know I for one started 2015 full of blog ideas & a real drive to make something of this. But naturally as work gets more demanding, we get more tired, and those ideas start to run out, our motivation can take a little nose dive. But fear not, I have 5 tips which I think really help boost your motivation and give you a renewed sense of drive to get to work on your little blog!

They are by no means exclusive, but these 5 things do the trick for me …

The easiest way to get a little more motivated is to reignite your passion, and what better way to do that than spend some time getting inspired. Whether that be an hour dedicated to browsing pinterest and collating your favourite things (food, outfits, locations, photography styles etc) – I do this a lot, you can browse my boards here if you’re looking for a few inspirations, a walk around town with your camera in hand, picking up your favourite magazines for a read or even just reading other blogs or a few books. Theres tons of ways to get inspiration (I wrote a post with tips on inspiration here which you can check out) and actually once you’ve seen a few things which tickle your taste buds you’ll find in no time at all that new ideas are starting to come into your mind!

With all this new found inspiration, you need to make sure you capture it, and the best way to do that is to jot down all your ideas, however big or small! This is something I do constantly, i’m constantly jotting down small blog ideas, and equally brainstorming for bigger ideas and content topics. The most important thing to do is to capture all your thoughts, so you’ve always got a list of things to write about when your content begins to run dry! I take notes in a notepad, I jot down thoughts and ideas constantly on my iPhone, and I’ve even printed an A4 calendar out so I can start planning ideas into a proper schedule!

If you’re feeling out of ideas at the moment, then pop over here and read this handy list of content ideas to help keep your content flowing!

There’s nothing like having a break and a refresh to reignite some motivation. Whether that’s planning a week or weekend off to give yourself some time to refresh & come back with a clear head and renewed sense of motivation, or equally giving your blog a refresh, a few upgrades or tweaks here or there to get a little excitement back into things!

I for one spent quite a long time keeping my blog consistent and not really making changes through fear of messing up what worked, but a few years back I really wanted to make changes, to make my blog more unique, my own. So i dedicated some serious hours to making the changes I wanted, and theres nothing like a bit of a blog refresh to make things feel new & exciting again!

I’m currently in the process of working on something similar for mediamarmalade.com com in 2015 … so stay tuned for that!

It’s not something we often do with blogging, seek advice, as it’s our own thing so we don’t usually invite others to input. But over the last few years I’ve increasingly leaned on my sisters, Jase, mum and dad to get their opinions on things, from outfits & photography, to blog design & formatting. My dad and I even made a blog business plan for media marmalade.com together whilst we were in Dubai last year. Getting advice and opinions from loved ones is a great way of sense checking what you’re doing but also getting new ideas & opinions that you might not have already thought about! Getting my family involved in my blog always re-motivates me  & spurs me on to keep going and do more!

It’s also other people who’s praise you’ll genuinely listen to, and its always worthwhile taking a moment out to pat yourself on the back for what you’ve done. Making sure you’re rewarding yourself for your hard work is another great way to keep your motivation up! Make sure you put goals in place and regularly check in on how you’re doing, if you meet a goal then be sure to celebrate and reward your efforts!

The procrastinators dream this one, but one that really works for me. If i’m ever feeling a little lethargic or non motivated, sprucing up my work tools is always a great way to get me motivated again (it’s that whole new trainers, will spur you to go on a run idea)! You don’t have to have an office to renovate to tick this box, it could be as simple as buying a new diary or tidying your work space, to something a little more extravagant like buying some new kit to try out (lens / camera etc) or upgrading your computer or software you use! Sprucing up your workspace can be as big or small as you want it to be. For me this year I’ve bought a new computer and desk as I was looking to make a more dedicated space to blog, and having this little space has seriously made me want to spend more time sat here working & writing on mediamarmalade.com!

So there you go 5 tips and ideas which can help boost your motivation if it starts to run a little low. Most are free and not time consuming, so they’re great things to try and do every now and then anyway to keep yourself inspired!

I’d love to hear your tips for keeping motivated?