Is Blogging KILLING You?

I know, this is two days in a row for blogging, but after reading the article Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writer Blog Till They Drop, I couldn’t help myself.  This article (written in the New York Times by Matt Richtel) hypothesizes that full-time blogging is detrimental to your health.  It sites the stresses of being isolated at home, the pressure to find or create news constantly, the lack of sleep, the need for traffic quotas and the obsessions of blogging competition.

The article further sites the death of a couple of big name bloggers (and a third major heart attack of another).   Anyway, you get the gist.  Read the article if you like.  But I wanted to chime in here because even though I am not technically a professional or full-time blogger, I AM a full time online marketer working from home with many of the same stresses that a full-time blogger may face.

First question:  AM I DYING?  Uh…NO. In fact, ever since leaving my corporate job over a year ago, my health (both mentally and physically) have never been better.  Yes, there are stresses that come to running any business (whether it is online, a brick-n-mortar store, or running a professional blog).  Every day I must fight to win new viewship, retain old visitors and clients, come up with new and fresh content, and I am constantly looking over my shoulder at the competition.

Do I sleep at night?  Very well, in fact (well, with the new baby, a little less now, but that is not business related).

Do I feel isolated at home?  Sometimes.  I can go two or three days without leaving my house.  Still, I communicate with internet friends constantly online and I spend more time with my wife and family more than ever before.  Plus, with the quarterly seminars or conferences I attend, I find myself getting out MORE than when I was trapped in a cubicle for 48 hours/week.

Do I feel the need to always work?  Sometimes, but there is a self-control conflict here that may be the core of this whole article.  Everything in moderation in fine, but any addiction can be deadly.  If these bloggers lifestyle did in fact kill them (which has not been proven at all, especially since they were not necessarily young men), it would be due to their addiction to blogging and the internet.

But it is unfair to single out bloggers here, because anyone that loves and obsesses over their job can fall into the same black hole.  I know plenty of engineers (from my “previous life”) that worked 80 hours per work and it still was not enough.  Their blood pressure was high, they drank lots of caffeine, and they slept very little.  What about actors?  Or store managers?  Or architects?  Or writers?

Almost every job has stresses.  Loving your job is one thing, but obsessing your job is another.  I know the feeling with internet marketing because it essentially never stops.  There is always more money to be made and there are always others around you trying to steal your spot.  And to some degree, this competition makes it that much more fun and addictive.  At the same time, it is the individual that must prioritize their life, moderate their actions and make sure they live a well-rounded existance in order to thrive and survive.

I turn off my computer at 5:30pm.  I check email two times per day on the weekend, but the rest of the time is for my family.  I go to the gym 3 times per week and make it a priority to watch Lost on Thursday nights at 9pm.  This is the life I created and I owe it all to my work-at-home career.

Blogging (and online marketing) Is Making Me Healthier.
cheers…matt