LFGryph

We’re coming into the last week of Blaugust, and there’s been some chatting in the Discord about what comes next. Do we plan to stick with daily blogging, do we pick a different schedule?

I joined Blaugust 2023 in part just because Belghast is awesome and it’s been a while since I did one of these. 🙂 

Also because “Update Blog” had been on my To-Do list for months, ever since I let my WordPress sub lapse and couldn’t decide if I wanted to start it up again. (Plus realizing I still had links to Vine and Google+ on my socials widget…) I stared at that bullet point every weekend, and then said, “Eh, I’ll get to it next weekend.” Joining Blaugust helped my timesense deficient brain move the task from “not now” to “now.”

I like blogging, and it’s something I’m capable of doing daily. I have things to write about, and I enjoy both the writing and editing process. Now that I’ve done some updating on the site, it doesn’t feel like I have to do So Many Things just to write in it again.

But, like last time I did a full Blaugust, I find other things are starting to slip. 

I’m all sorts of messed up on my daily exercise routine. I haven’t been doing the work-related studying I usually do during the week – staying up to date with veterinary and shelter podcasts and the like. I’d been meaning to get back into daily meditation and that’s gone out the window. While I’ve mostly kept to my already semi sporadic streaming schedule up until this week (and that was more Life Stuff than writing getting in the way), I haven’t been doing any extra clipping or highlights or sending anything over to Tiktok, which was something I had previously been trying to do.

Only so many hours in the day, and we have to pick and choose.

Now, some of this I can blame on my unexpected hyperfixation on Good Omens 2. Brain is still getting its dopamine fix from that, its previous season, and the book. I am riding this one until it peters out on its own, no regrets. OTOH, I do a quick check on tumblr, put something on in the background, and then I can do other things at the same time. [Season 2 soundtrack releases tomorrow, woot!]

So it’s not as big of a time sink as you’d think.

Some of it is if I’m going to do a very short post, I’m going to just throw that up on social media. I enjoy writing the most when I get in the zone. And I enjoy blogging the most when I’m really crafting a post, with pics, alt text, links, and the whole shebang. That takes time, focus, and at least some amount of executive function. Which are all things I have in limited supply.

So, what has Blaugust added to my routine that I definitely want to keep or expand on? I am happier doing longform writing regularly, and Blaugust is always a good reminder of that. It’s given me incentive to pick at my Steam backlog and try some new games which was very much on my list of things I meant to do. It’s helped me reframe some of what I do at work, and remember not everyone is out there doing the kind of work I do. And Blaugust always shines at introducing me to awesome new people.

I think for me, I’d like to work towards combining the “Gryph is Playing” with the “Gryph Streams” type posts, so I can give both video and commentary on games I’m playing. Realistically, on today’s internet, if someone just wants to catch one of my streams or VODs they are more likely to just head to Twitch or Youtube than find my blog. The videos over here would be better used in conjunction with my overviews rather than as separate posts.

I’d also like to use this blog more for longform posts where I really have something to say than for daily check ins. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using a blog that way, or even as a personal diary! And I do enjoy the challenge of doing daily check ins for a month. There’s just that time crunch.

I’ve learned that on days I don’t work, and don’t have to worry about getting out the door on time, I do enjoy writing in the morning and then editing in the evening. So, that’s something new and interesting I either didn’t know or forgot about myself. 

I also learned that I like breaking my blogging into tasks – writing and first edit, upload all the pics and do their alt text as its own task, second edit, place the pics, third and more edits. I’d previously been doing the pics as I wrote/edited and it turns out my brain likes it better as its own discrete task.

I’m learning to not hate Discord so much, which is another plus. My brain still finds it very overwhelming in a lot of ways, but it’s getting better.

There’s still a week left of Blaugust, and I’m pretty sure I’ll complete it. But I’ll have to find a schedule for my blogging that I can better maintain without letting other things slide.

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Curious about #Blaugust2023? Visit the Blaugust 2023 is Coming page, where you can also join the Discord. Or check out #Blaugust2023 on social media.