You have a ton of RSS subscribers.
Tons of people are signing up for your lists.
There is so much engagement that you can’t even find time to reply to every single awesome comment you get.
Everyone wants to guest post for you.
Everyone wants to interview you.
A number of A-List bloggers keep praising you.
This is NOT where you are but this is where you want to be. Really, this is where every blogger wants to be. The problem is that you don’t know what you’re doing wrong.
You’ve taken every course, downloaded every eBook, signed up for every list possible and you can memorize every “21 ways to do something” blog post but you’re not seeing any progress. You can’t seem to come up with any new ideas and its killing you.
So what is the Problem?
The problem is simple. You are an INFORMATION GLUTTON.
“What is an information glutton?”
An information glutton collects and consumes a large amount of information but does not produce any useful output from it. I’m not saying you shouldn’t collect this information.
There is a lot of good content out there that provides immense value and is definitely worth reading.
What I’m trying to tell you is once you have it, do something with it. Don’t just soak it up and move on to the next shiny looking post like some sort of sponge or leech.
One major problem with information gluttony is that it can become very addictive, especially for the brand new blogger as well as the frustrated one. It hinders progress and is a habit that has to be broken.
I once fell into this black hole of information and only realized this a long time later on.
Getting Over the Obstacle
Here I’m going to explain in detail, the two measures I took to break the habit, become more productive and pump out post after post of awesome content.
Cut off the Flow of New Information
That’s right. Cut off any sources of new information you might have. Don’t worry; this isn’t permanent. It’s simply a measure that will allow you to become more focused.
Your Tasks:
1. UNSUBSCRIBE to blogs feeds you barely follow.
2. UNSUBSCRIBE to unnecessary email lists.
3. DO NOT sign up for anything new.
Work on What You Already Have
You don’t have to read every single blog post you’ve ever saved or bookmarked, unless you have the time. Just read your favorites and skim the rest.
The reason you’d be doing this is to refresh your mind, study writing styles and pick out reasons why you liked these posts in the first place. They also help you come up with new ideas for your own content.
Your Tasks:
1. Scan through all the content you have gathered or blog posts you have already read and pick out 5 of your favorite and most informative ones.
2. Look at the writing styles and formatting of each of the posts. Are they list posts? Are they case studies? Write down the type and titles of each of these posts.
3. Read through the content of these posts and be thorough. Every post you read will most likely have a clearly defined task or list of tasks the writer wants you to do. Write them down.
4. Ask yourself if there was anything missing in these posts. What points did the writer omit? What questions do you feel like asking the writer? Again write these down.
Following Through
If you managed to finish the tasks above, you should have the following lists:
1. Popular post types and writing styles.
2. Clearly laid out goals to accomplish.
3. Missing information and points.
The first thing you would want to do is to look at your goal list and implement each one of those goals.
I know this may be a lot of work but believe me, in the end it’s all worth it. You would be doing something you don’t usually do which is creating useful output from all that information. This will create a new habit which is the habit of following through.
When you’re done with this, pick out a writing style you would like to adopt or make up your own unique one. Writing styles are important.
A writing style can make or break a blog. A good writing style gives you identity and credibility as well as keeps a reader interested.
Finally, use your missing information list to come up with new blog post ideas. Fill up a hole that your favorite blogger left. Do extensive research on it.
Expand on an idea they didn’t explain in detail and you are well on your way to producing amazing content. Again, most importantly you would be producing useful output.
Over to You
Do you suffer from blogging gluttony?
What other habits do you think you have that hinder your progress?
How do you plan to break them?
Tell us in the comments. We love to learn.
Nathan Kash (@electricblogger) is the owner of Electric Blogging, where you can discover techniques of generating traffic, writing excellent content, social media utilization and monetization. He provides blogging tips for the newbie blogger as well as seasoned professional.
Saad says
This Will Surely Help me because i get soo many newsletter each day and most of the sites i dont even remember subscribing too
Nathan Kash says
Hey Saad,
This was the same thing that used to happen to me, until I realized what my problem was.
My inbox was getting filled with stuff I never really needed or no longer had an interest in.
It’s what I call “intellectual hoarding”
Thanks for the comment
Your online subscriptions should work a lot like most other things, needing of a bit of spring cleaning and tidying up every now and again. Subscribing to a mailing list or RSS feed is not a life long commitment, and if you find yourself constantly receiving content that you never take the time to read, let it go! Keep things up to date, get rid of that old stuff that you have just gotten used to looking past/deleting. You shouldn’t leave useless junk lying around your house, why do it with your online experience?
Nathan Kash says
Hi Paul,
… One of the important keys to being organized and more productive in all aspects of your life is to declutter.
I love your comment
Especially, in the online world when it comes to your inbox…
Nathan Kash says
Hey Jane,
Thanks again for the amazing opportunity to guest post on your amazing blog!
If anyone has any questions or whatever, I’m here to help
Very interesting point. An information glutton just keeps soaking up loads of information, which is not the right way to go. Once you get some interesting or valuable piece of information, you should try to use that to deliver something of real value to the reader.
Thanks.
Nathan Kash says
You\’re welcome Faissal.
Glad I could help.
Too much information is a surely a bad thing.
Just got to organize the important things that are worth your time.
Finally an article that talks about exactly too much information can do.
I can only hope to have this problem one of these days. :] It still some really great advice though.
Aditya says
Hi Nathan,
Anything in excess can be harmful and one has to focus on the particular work they are upto.But i must say that too much information can also be helpful,in the sense that you can make out things work and write a complete article on some specific points and your new article is ready.Nothing is useless in this world the way you perceive things makes a difference.
Nathan Kash says
Interesting point Aditya. I understood this earlier on that’s why I started focusing on producing output from the info…
Everyone should be very goal oriented while blogging and commenting because in that time you should focused on that and mind that you are clear on that topic and you are missing information and any good which you caan achieve.
Hey Nathan,
Nice post. Your this post will surely help me because I think I am suffering from blogging gluttony…..
Better Organization and management is the key to win this situation.
Thanks..!
Nathan Kash says
Hey Veer,
Thanks,
Blogging gluttony can really hinder a lot of progress where you spend more time absorbing and less time actually doing something worthwhile.
Great post Nathan is a sticky post. I love how you laid out the steps to make your blog better. Well written post. thanks
Nathan Kash says
No problem Michael.. glad I could help
Eyern says
Interesting post, lately I find I am looking for information more than actually blogging.
Take it easy,
Nathan Kash says
Hey Eyern,
It’s all about finding the balance and producing a much useful output as possible!
Thanks for the comment!
Until reading this post, I never realized I was an information glutton. I never knew I had just so much stuff coming in that I was already getting overwhelmed with it and losing track and focus on my own blog. It was only when I started to clean up and organize my mailbox that I saw how much junk I’ve been getting. Since then, I’ve been taking out all of those RSS feeds that I found not really to be helpful and have also unsubscribed to a lot of emails, too. Not only is my mailbox now “cleaner.” But I can now focus on those that I’ve found useful and study them a little bit more thoroughly.
Nathan Kash says
That’s awesome Adeline!
We were actually on the same boat. Too much flow in but not much flow out.
It soon builds up and sort of overwhelms you and you don’ know where you’re going wrong!
When you do some spring cleaning, thing become simpler and easier.
Thanks for the comment
Hey Nathan,
It’s true if you want to get to that “PRO BLOGGER” status, you need to stop some of the habits that are keeping you from progressing and reaching your end goal. We can not be constantly reading, we to spend time doing.. you might feel as though you’re missing out but.. you’re really NOT!
Nathan Kash says
Hey Simmeon,
I like that, “STOP READING START DOING!”
I should have used this in the post
The journey to problogger status include getting rid of unnecessary habits that could be costly down the line and developing those that would actually help you.
Cheers for the awesome comment!
I have first time read about the information glutton. Is it conventional terminology in blogging or your own research Nathan. It is unique concept in the field of blogging.
Nathan Kash says
Hey Nawaz.
It’s actually not conventional. I read and have helped launch some personal development/productivity blogs. So this post is sort of a blend between my personal development knowledge and blogging.
Along with actually having and overcoming this problem and a little more research, I wrote this post.
Thanks for the comment by the way
Yes I am agreed with your post we do forget some time where we subscribe for the news latter and why this Emails are coming thank you for sharing your experience advice with us.
Nathan Kash says
You’re welcome Mark,
I’m glad I could help!!
Ron says
Great tips and I like the very first step. De-cluttering! I need to do those kind of things, unsubscribe to some rarely read emails, uninstall unnecessary software or programs and etc.
As of now, I am using my own version of to do list with matching time target/goal to get it done. As a freelancer myself, I suffer all the time with that “blogging gluttony” and I hope by implementing and taking those advice you said above can get me to work better than before.
Nathan Kash says
Yep, it’s a 3 step process,
De-clutter—>Process —> Output
Once you have thee steps down, you will be a blogging juggernaut!
You’ll be more productive and as a problogger open up opportunities to make more income!
Awesome comment
Thanks!
All ways trying to do different thing but have important meaning . I think That is the necessary step of sucess.
It always about priority - so many things to do.