As many of us with health issues will know, working a traditional job can be a challenge with long hours, commuting and the difficult aspects of a work environment. Now I didn't ever imagine I would be blogging with chronic illness (and about chronic illness!) back in the day when I was still at my previous job, but I almost can't imagine not doing it now.
Blogging has flexibility as one of its main benefits. It can be done from your sofa or your bed, at whatever time of the day works for you and in your pyjamas if you wish! All of which can make it a great choice for those with chronic illness for whom a 9-5 job would be impossible, or really problematic. Aside from the financial aspect, it also helps us become part of the chronic illness community and personally I find it motivating to have my own little project. I hope this post is interesting, and has a few helpful tips too!
My thoughts on blogging are written as part of the September linkup party hosted by the lovely Sheryl of A Chronic Voice. I'm very happy to be participating again, and look forward to reading the other submissions!
Feeling
I think many of us have a lot of feelings about how our lives have changed since we began to experience the symptoms of our chronic illness conditions. One of those feelings can centre on work and how it has proven, or proves to be, incredibly challenging due to our health. Personally I began to experience vestibular migraine in my second 'proper' job after leaving university and to cut a long story short was 'let go' because of it. Was that legal? No, of course not. But heartless employers will often find a way won't they . . .
My symptoms were far worse while working. Bright lights, a long commute, unnecessarily stressful (and often pointless!) meetings etc all added up to an increase in my symptoms. It wasn't until years later that I started a blog, and started blogging with chronic illness and all my symptoms. This past month has seen me having a lot of positive feeling about blogging. I finally feel more settled in the blogging life, my page views are increasing beyond what I ever hoped for and I feel as though I have found my niche - blogging on chronic illness conditions, and cooking up low histamine recipes. It suddenly feels a little bit like a job, a real one and not just a hobby!
Gruelling
Now if my past job felt gruelling at times, it definitely is the case that blogging can be at times too! I can only say to be kind to yourself and look after your health first. Do I always listen to my own advice? No of course not . . .
Blogging can definitely take over daily life at times. There always seems to be something else to do, whether it's starting or finishing a post, putting graphics together, promoting it on social media, networking with other bloggers, replying to comments or just brainstorming new ideas. It's definitely not just typing out 500 words and pressing publish.
I find blogging gruelling in a positive way though. It's building my own little corner of the internet, and getting my ideas out there. During August I had the most lovely feedback and comments, and replying to those was definitely time-consuming but in the most wonderful way. It really does put a smile on my face when I hear or see someone cooking my recipes or responding to my posts saying they were helpful to them.
Tempting
What's been tempting about blogging with chronic illness this past month? Well doing way too much because I enjoy it and am definitely a bit of a workoholic! Not giving into those temptations can be really important for our health though, and I have had to give myself a talking to about not doing everything all at once.
Some things I have learnt recently about blogging when you have chronic illness conditions:
1. Have a rough schedule, but a flexible one - I try and do one chronic illness post a week and one new recipe. This is the ideal, but if it doesn't happen due to symptoms, then I give myself grace over it. Staying up until midnight to finish a post is rarely a good idea and may have you feeling even worse the next day.
One way to help prevent fatigue and still be consistent with social media is to schedule your posts. There are lots of ways to do this such as the scheduler within Pinterest, or Tailwind. Have a look at Rachel's post on why it is important to schedule social media for more tips and tricks!
2. Pace yourself - I work blogging around other necessary tasks. Doctor's appointments, medical admin, life admin and catching up with friends and family come first, blogging comes second. Make sure you take breaks, take your meds at the right times(!) and have time away from your computer screen.
3. Find your niche and one that you are passionate about - if you don't love what you are writing about then you simply won't write! Or at least find it tedious to do so.
4. Make some chronic illness blogger friends! I am very fortunate to have quite a few such friends now and it is so lovely to be able to bounce around ideas, ask for advice or simply gossip about anything but blogging! To my two favourite blogging friends (both beginning with S!) - I love our groups chats, and you both make me smile so much 🙂
5. Consider monetising your blog - if blogging is a passion of yours and you have a degree of readership, then it can also help your finances. And we all know that the chronic illness life is an expensive one! Working with an ad company is one way to earn money, you can use affiliate links or work with brands on paid posts. I can't promise you it will earn you millions, but it should at least cover the costs of hosting, domain, photo editing etc etc.
For lots of great tips and help on blogging have a look at Jenna's post 10 tips for improving your SEO as a blogger.
6. Promote your posts! While you may get lucky and get good SEO without ever promoting your post, it is fairly unlikely. Sharing your posts will get it out there, and social media is key in my opinion. Pinterest is my best referral platform by a long-shot, but I also share on Twitter and Facebook and I have a weekly round-up of new posts and a few older ones on my Instagram stories each Sunday.
I would caution against being too aggressive on Instagram though as too much self-promotion can have the opposite effect. I know many of us get irritated by an endless stream of Instagram posts and stories about a person's blog posts, and several friends have commented that they either unfollow people who do that or don't engage with them. So find a happy balance where you share, but not overshare!
Running
The past month finally made me feel as though I was running a small business with my blog! Such a lovely feeling I can tell you. Blogging feels like it has become part of my daily routine, just as going to work used to be. I started working with an ad company in August and so have a small but steady stream of earnings, and I've been in talks with a couple of companies about paid partnerships. I honestly wouldn't ever have imagined running a business from blogging, but it's a lovely feeling. Does it officially make me a CEO?!
Mending
I was stuck for a moment on what to write about blogging and mending, then it came to me as clear as day. I have been mending behind the scenes issues with my blog! Yep, all the little niggly 'backend' things about blogging that nobody seems to talk about but which are rather time-consuming. Now I am learning slowly, but if you have no idea what your cache, SEO or backlinks are, then I advise two things: 1) a lot of time on google, and 2) find yourself a good web designer!
I hope this gave a little insight into blogging with health conditions! I would definitely recommend it if you love to write - it doesn't have to be about chronic illness of course, you can blog about pretty much anything!
I'm active on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter if you would like to follow along for more content on living with chronic illness!
A big thank you to A Chronic Voice for hosting the linkup - go check out the other entries!
Related posts
Living with a vestibular disorder
Please follow the advice of your doctor as to all medical treatments, supplements and dietary choices, as set out in my disclaimer. I am not a medical professional, and this post, as well as all other posts on this blog, are for informational purposes only.
Pain Reaction says
Great post! I'm horrible at spending all of my spare time focusing on my blog. Hopefully I can pace better when it's not so new. It's always so tempting to work on something when I have a baby sleeping on me. I hope I'm able to make some blogging friends soon too.
throughthefibrofog says
Thank you! Wishing you all the success with your blog, must be tricky working on it with a baby, so you are doing amazing to balance both 🙂
Laurie Hanscom Harmon says
This post made me feel like you were talking to me. Thank you for sharing the resource from Jen. Bookmarking this post to reread.
throughthefibrofog says
Hi Laurie, thanks so much. Glad it was helpful!
Laura Mckee says
Thanks for this insight. I too have vestibular migraine as one of many things so it’s hard to blog, I can’t believe you were let go, that’s crazy! It’s great to see these link up posts as I really want to get involved now I’ve made blogging my full time project and am in a place I can be more connected. I’d love to make some friends in the community now I’ve got my own system going too. 💜
throughthefibrofog says
Hi Laura, nice to meet you through the linkup! Wishing you all the best with blogging, and hope that it works well alongside vestibular migraine. I know screens can be tough to manage with the condition can't they. Thankfully my tolerance has improved a lot over the years. I'll be visiting your blog soon no doubt! 🙂
Rhiann says
Congrats on such a brilliant and thoughtful post Claire! You certainly write about the experience of blogging as well as the problems and drawbacks with such eloquence! I totally agree that it can take over your life - it seems that even after the writing there is still so much to think aout and consider - and what is even more doifficult to consider is just how much to share about our health and medical conditions - and if sharing too little and painting over the difficult parts is being inauthentic. You offer such great advice too on anyone consideing starting blogging - I agreed with all of them! Well done!
throughthefibrofog says
Thanks so much Rhiann! Lovely to hear that you found the post interesting. And I totally agree, it's hard to know what the balance is, but I think it's OK to be on our own journey with what we share, and what we feel comfortable with.
Catherine Green says
I have never been so vocal about my chronic illness as I have since I discovered the Spoonie community online! Blogging is very important to me, and I'm glad you are enjoying the growth of your business.
throughthefibrofog says
I'm the same. It's been a really good way for me to be more open, both within the community and with those close to me as well.
Shruti Chopra says
"To my two favourite blogging friends (both beginning with S!) – I love our groups chats, and you both make me smile so much 🙂" - it's soooo nice to have friends like that. It's definitely made the experience of getting into blogging so pleasurable for me. Thank you for being so good to me Claire.
And yes, I love your tip about sharing old posts on Insta - I try to do it but forget to do it regularly. I will now so thank you for the reminder 🙂
throughthefibrofog says
Ah, you guys make blogging so much more fun! It's lovely to chat and bounce ideas around, and get some help when we need it too. Thanks so much for being so good to me Shruti!!!
Shruti Chopra says
aaaaawww - big hug!
throughthefibrofog says
big hug back! 🙂
Anne Sweet says
Blogging can be a full time job, but it's great when you can work out a balance, especially when ill. I'll have to check out your recipes 🙂
throughthefibrofog says
Hope you find something tasty you like!
Nikki Albert says
Blogging with chronic illness is an accomplishment for sure. It does require a lot of pacing. I definitely pace my writing and social media due to fatigue, pain and dizziness. But I is worth it because writing is the one passion I have I can still do.
throughthefibrofog says
I have the same love of writing, always have and my previous job involved a lot of writing papers and books etc. But yes, pacing is so important!
Lisa Ehrman says
I share your concerns about blogging. I'm finding myself working too many hours, because I want to grow. But, sometimes I let myself get stressed out. Thanks for sharing 🙂
throughthefibrofog says
It's definitely easy to spend a lot of time on it isn't it. But breaks and rest is so important 🙂
Alison says
Claire - Love this post! I think you put some wonderful advice on here, and I was nodding along much of the time. I think it's so important to have a sense of purpose and I love that blogging is giving you that! It's been similar for me too.
Keep up the great work!
throughthefibrofog says
Thanks so much Alison! So glad that it is helpful, and I so agree that having a sense of purpose is important. Perhaps more so at the moment, with everything feeling so up in the air.