Ep #111: Reduce Blogger Burnout with Joanne Ozug

Sometimes food blogging can feel like one big, gigantic mess! Because there’s so much to be done at any given moment, there’s no way to stay on top of it all. That’s why today I’m talking with Joanne Ozug about ways to reduce blogger burnout. Because if you’re not careful, burnout will stop you in your tracks! If you’re interested in better work life-balance discussions, listen to my discussion with Traci York on Food Blogger Life Balance and to my talk with Julie Piatt on the Spiritual Side of Blogging.

Today I’m talking with Joanne Ozug about a very important topic: how to Reduce Blogger Burnout.

Because if you’re anything like me…you want to do ALL THE THINGS!

And not just DO them, but DO THEM PERFECTLY!

Trust me, there’s no way to do it all perfectly and so having this as a goal will only lead to one thing: a tired and defeated food blogger.

It’s like this. If you’ve decided to take on the mission of being a food blogger then you must accept the challenge of trying to juggle multiple balls in the air, standing on one leg, and chewing gum.

Seem impossible? I get you. But there are ways and today’s discussion goes into this very topic. Because you have to find ways to reduce blogger burnout before you hit a wall.

You have to be deliberate about what you should and should not do as a blogger. Click To Tweet

Joanne has grown a successful food blogging business from a simple idea. Of course, the simplicity of her idea, to share her recipes and passion for cooking, turned into what most of us experience today, a highly complicated and time-consuming business. Joanne has spent some time deciding how to grow her business in a way that works best for her. It all began with one question: Could she be the kind of boss to herself that she wanted to work for?

Because she found the demands she placed on herself to be egregious. She knew there had to be a better way to keep up with the demands of the job while still having a life. After some time she found a formula that worked best for her, and believe it or not, it did not include pinning a hundred food pins a day.

She just decided that would not be a part of her business model. And that’s ok. So, think about that for a minute. What is currently a part of your business plan is there because you think it “should” be and not because it provides joy or purpose to your work?

Take a moment and write those down. You are creating a list of ways you can reduce your work load and hone in on the things that keep you excited about your work!

Being a people pleaser gets in the way of being your true authentic self. #choppedcon Click To Tweet We all do so much. The things you do, they either need to fill you up or really be productive in some way. #choppedcon Click To Tweet

Our goal at ChoppedCon is to help you be your best. We hope this discussion on ways to Reduce Blogger Burnout is a resource  for your work as a food blogger.

Now, go forth and Be Your Best You!

Featured Content – Reduce Blogger Burnout

Here are some of the highlights of my discussion with Joanne, where we talk about:

• Why Joanne started her blog and how she came up with that awesome name
• How her husband’s career impacted her career choice
• Her passion for cooking
• We discuss the state of blogging today and how much is expected of bloggers
• Joanne shares her concerns about being her own boss — are we the kinds of bosses we’d want to work for?
• Marly talks about the difference between food bloggers and other blogs
• Joanne talks about a checklist she created on everything she does for each post
• We talk about social media and Joanne shares about what social media platforms she doesn’t use as much anymore
• Do you reply to comments on Instagram? We discuss that as well
• Are you a people pleaser? We discuss how that can be problematic for food bloggers
• We talk about food photography and how that turned into a passion for her
• How to survive a creative funk!

Show Notes

This episode on how to Reduce Blogger Burnout includes references to some resources you might find interesting. Here they are:

• Learn more about today’s guest at Fifteen Spatulas
• Give a shout-out on Twitter and Instagram to say thanks for the Chopped Podcast interview!
• Marly mentions an article on the benefits of baking
• Related Episode: How to Define Success via FriChats with Cara and Marly
• Connect with Chopped Academy Online:  Instagram  | Twitter
• Connect with Marly: Namely Marly |  Instagram  | Twitter
• Production, music, graphic art & sound design by Shawn Beelman
• Learn about future Chopped Podcast episodes and get some awesome tips on food blogging by subscribing to the ChoppedCon newsletter. Just add your email in the subscribe section at the bottom of this page. You’ll be glad you did!

Subscribe to the Show & Feedback

Thanks so much for listening to today’s podcast. I hope you found it informative and helpful to the work you do every day. Make sure you don’t miss out on any of the Chopped Podcast episodes by heading on over to iTunes to subscribe to the Chopped Podcast. While you’re there, provide a review and rating is a great way to help other podcast listeners find it too! That’s it for today’s podcast. As always, thanks so much for joining in the discussion!

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