This post completes my blogging challenge. The usual subject of the final article in a such a series is “what I learnt”. My goal with this blog has been to add as much value as possible to you, the reader, so I will try use my learnings to answer the question “should you do a blogging challenge?”
The disadvantages of doing a blogging challenge.
Writing a post every day is challenging. I was expecting that it would be difficult, but it was a lot harder than I anticipated. There were days when a combination of things at work & home made it almost impossible to post. On the upside, I did write what I think is one of my best posts on such a day.
Opportunity costs. I frequently did not have the time to pursue other interests because I would not have the time to write my daily post otherwise.
Promotion. If you care about building a significant audience fast you have to invest a lot of time in promoting your blog. Probably at least as much as you spend writing. Only publishing great content is, as you would expect, not enough in the short-term.
Detail. You will not have the time to publish an in-depth post about a subject. There are many posts where I would have liked to go in more detail, but was not able to do so because of time constraints.
The benefits of posting daily.
Output. Writing is never finished and can always be improved by making edits and adding or subtracting information. The challenge ensured that I shipped something every day, something that would not have happened if I would not have the daily deadline. And shipping is what it is all about.
Learn new things. When you write about something your understanding of the subject improves. It is also a great way to identify flaws in your thinking.
Focus and prioritise. Having a lack of time obliged me to not do any useless activities such as reading the news and only work on the important.
Surprise yourself. You will write about subjects and ideas you never expected.
Writing becomes easier. Like with most things, practice makes perfect. Drafts of my initial posts required a lot of re-writing, but over time the quality of these first versions improved.
Do I recommend doing a blogging challenge?
Yes. Ten weeks is not a long commitment in the grand scheme of things and you will learn many things about different subjects (including yourself!) by blogging daily. Do let me know if you decide to start your own blogging challenge so can follow you.
What´s next?
I look forward to using some of the freed up time for other projects such as continuing to learn to code. Now that I have acquired the habit I will continue to post here, but no longer every day.
