A Brief Hiatus from Posting and Time to Regroup

Hello again my friends. It has been a few weeks since I’ve written a new post. I want to take this opportunity to explain.

At this point in time, I probably don’t have enough readership for too many people to have noticed the disruption in my otherwise consistent posting schedule. But, perhaps a few of you did notice my absence. ( I can’t say thank you enough for caring about my writing to the point that you might actually have missed me!) I am disappointed in myself for not staying consistent and delivering posts on a weekly basis. But, I’m not giving up or abandoning the blog.

I had fully intended to publish a new post on Monday, March 9. That post is sitting in my drafts folder, halfway written. I didn’t finish it in time to post on my usual schedule; weeks of insufficient sleep caught up with me, and I ended up napping instead of writing. When Sunday night rolled around, I simply didn’t have the brain power left to stay up extra late (again!) to finish. I then intended to post on Wednesday of the same week, but a lot has happened since then.

I, like many others, have been caught up in the pandemic that is escalating quickly and taking over our world. Chicago has one of the country’s biggest international airports, and the number of confirmed cases here is rising exponentially. It is probably only a matter of time (and not much time at that) before we receive orders to shelter in place. Last week, at the time I intended to post, there was a lot of uncertainty at my job over whether we should or would close. What, if any, services would we still provide to the public? When might such a decision be made? Etc., etc., etc. In the midst of such a rapidly changing situation, it felt wrong to publish an unrelated post. It seemed like I would just be ignoring everything going on in the world.

At the same time, I also did not feel comfortable publishing a virus-related post. Yes, I do have a doctorate in psychology, but I am not a licensed mental health service provider. It is not my place to tell you how to reduce anxiety during a pandemic, or how to beat the blues during social distancing. I prefer to leave that type of information to licensed medical professionals and official, credible information sources like the CDC and state and local health departments. Lists and advice posts are also not my style and, therefore, would be out of place on my site. Unless something changes drastically, the posts I publish will continue to follow my existing content format. They’ll be a mixture of research-based, factual psychology/mental health information and the only thing about which I am an expert: my own experience.

I have also been debating the best day and time to publish my posts, as well as whether I should continue to strive for weekly posts or relax my schedule a bit. I started out posting on Wednesday afternoons. But then I rushed to move up my day and time because I thought it might improve readership. However, the result of this change seems to have been me scrambling to write things at the last minute. That means I end up taking naps during the week while Little Man naps instead of writing . When is the ideal time to post that also works with my schedule, maximizes my ability to capitalize on Little Man’s nap times, and still garners readership?

This is a tough question, and I’m not sure I have the answer yet. It may not even matter now that most people are spending an extraordinary amount of time cooped up at home. But, this choice will be relevant once the insanity dies down and people begin returning to work outside the home. Is posting weekly content too ambitious? Should I drop back to every other week, or monthly even? Should I spend more time between posts trying to promote them on various social platforms? These answers, too, remain to be seen. All I can do is take things one day at a time and figure it out as I go along. (Although, please feel free to add any words of wisdom you might have to the comments below.)

I hope my absence, albeit brief, has made your heart grow fonder. I’m also doing my best to get back to a regular posting schedule soon. Hang in there, everyone. Stay safe, cherish your loved ones, help anyone you can, and try not to panic. And, for goodness’s sake, WASH YOUR HANDS!