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After launching Frugal Asian Finance, I have realized 6 unexpected benefits of blogging (i.e. new friends, becoming savvy about social media).
There have also been many downsides to blogging that are not always openly discussed (i.e. insecurity, competition).
Today I will discuss the five things I stopped doing after starting my personal finance blog.
1. Constantly questioning my productivity
I like to keep myself busy since it makes me feel productive and happy.
However, this could serve as a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, I feel motivated to find meaningful projects to do and resources to learn such as reading about real estate investment and how to do online business.
On the other hand, it makes me feel guilty even when I’m watching Youtube videos or going shopping.
When I’m not working, I feel like I have to justify that fact by coming up with some lessons learned or benefits from fun activities.
Sometimes doing fun stuff stresses me out because it makes me feel like I’m not making the most of my time.
However, after launching my blog, I have found myself feverishly writing posts, exploring social media, reading other blogs, and interacting with other bloggers.
I get up every day thinking about the to-do list for my blog and just can’t wait until I get off work and finish all the daily duties as a mom and a wife to have some blogging time for myself.
The question “What did I get done today?” still creeps into my mind every day. However, knowing that my time is well spent on my blog gives me a great sense of accomplishment and reward.
2. Questioning my purpose in life
I work full-time and enjoy my job. However, I can’t feel like I have accomplished something in life unless I have started a business of my own and see whether I can grow it.
Ever since my first year in college, I have always wondered what kind of business I can start, if ever, and whether I can make it successful.
Although I haven’t monetized my blog, seeing the positive feedback I have gotten and the success of many bloggers gives me hope that one day maybe I will also succeed.
What’s a better feeling than being able to add value to other people’s life while creating wealth for your family?
While my current job can help me fulfill that purpose to some extent, being able to develop my own product or service that others need, at least in my opinion, speaks volumes about my ability as an entrepreneur.
3. Fearing the unknown on the internet
When I started blogging, I did not want to talk about the specifics of our lives. I feared that someone might actually know who we are, where we live, and how we live, and that they might do something harmful to us.
However, as time went by and as I opened up more about our lives, I’ve gotten more comfortable sharing our stories with hundreds of readers and bloggers I have never met. I went from writing about our house in Washington DC to why we sent our son to China and the trouble we have in our marriage.
I still choose to blog anonymously for various reasons including safety. But my fear of the unknown on the internet has been drastically reduced by all the positive feedback I’ve gotten from the reader and fellow bloggers.
4. Watching TV shows
I love watching detective TV series (i.e. Bones, Law and Order SVU) since I learn so much about many aspects of life that I can’t or don’t want to experience. Watching those shows has helped me understand why people do certain things that are frowned upon by society.
I’m also intrigued by the logic a capable and dedicated detective processes in order to catch a criminal. The power of a strong and unbiased legal system (or the lack thereof) never ceases to amaze me.
After I started blogging, however, I have stopped watching TV shows altogether. Anything I want to do now is converted into the time I can spend blogging instead.
I’m not sure if it’s sustainable in the long run. But I’m pretty sure at this point that I feel happier writing a new blog post than watching a new TV show episode.
5. Fighting with Mr. FAF over frivolous issues
I have to admit that sometimes I get irritable when I’m around Mr. FAF. Anything he says or does can get under my skin for some reason. But now that blogging has become one of my priorities, I allocate a specific amount of time to being with Mr. FAF every day, and I want to make it good.
I want to be stress-free and dedicate more quality time to blogging. That means improving my relationship with my spouse and letting go of trivial arguments that will only undermine my productivity.
Mr. FAF has also realized the benefits of blogging to our relationship and has tried to be supportive by agreeing to be interviewed by me and helped me switch my site from http to https for more security.
Conclusion
Over the past seven months, I have stopped constantly doubting my productivity and ability as a person and a potential female entrepreneur. Blogging has helped me be more productive, confident, and less fearful of the unknown.
I have also stopped many activities that used to take time from my life but weren’t as fulfilling and rewarding as blogging such as window shopping and watching TV shows.
Despite Mr. FAF’s doubt that I will not be able to turn my blog into a business, he’s supported me in many ways because he knows blogging has become one of my top priorities in life.
Mr. FAF sometimes helps me take care of Baby FAF in his free time so that I can take some time off to blog and not be so stressed out about my progress. And he does that because he cares about my happiness, not because he sees a monetary benefit to me blogging one day.
Blogging has definitely enriched my life and shown me that a promising future as an entrepreneur is not impossible.
Related:
6 Unexpected Benefits Of Personal Finance Blogging
5 Downsides Of Personal Finance Blogging
Interview with Mr. FAF – Husband Of A Personal Finance Blogger
How Blogging Has Affected My Marriage
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I have found many of the same changes after starting the blog! I am suddenly much more aware of my time and need to work to make the best use of it. It is certainly hard and exhausting, but I’m loving it so far! 🙂
Yay it’s great you’re loving blogging too! It’s definitely time-consuming, and I don’t know what I’m doing most of the fun. But it’s fun!
Wow, Mrs. FAF. All five resonate with me. I especially like number 2, though. I used to mock my younger self by saying, “never hath God given a man so much talent and seen so little come of it.” But blogging has given me a purpose in life. Now, my impact on the financial mores of this country will not come anywhere near Mr. Money Mustache’s impact. But if I can help a handful of people turn their financial lives around, my efforts will be worth it. Thanks for the great post, Mrs. FAF. I’m glad blogging has worked as well for you as it has done for me. Cheers.
Hi Mr. Groovy, it’s great to hear from you! Having a sense of purpose in life, as you mentioned, is such a great feeling. I’m sure you’ve done so many other great things without even realizing it. I’m still trying to find my way, but it’s been a fun journey so far! ^.^
AHHHH me too! Holy cow can you STOP twinning! Everything is dead on – except #1…you are definitely more effective than I am. My lazy cannot be stopped.
LOL can we ever stop twinning? Ahhh I can’t believe it. Do we twin on everything? @_@
You ARE productive! You’re multitasking and running multiple businesses!!!!
TV was a big one for me, too, with an exception for a few shows now. I’m still a sucker for a good documentary too (omg I sound so lame when I put it that way hahahaha)
Haha no you sound so intellectual! I honestly don’t have enough patience to sit through a long documentary no matter how interesting it is. Mr. FAF, however, loves watching documentaries, and he does it when he’s drinking by himself too @_@
I can relate SO MUCH to this! Except…blogging made me question my life purpose. Maybe it’s a quarter (third?) life crisis, but blogging has made my day job harder to go to. I never thought I would want to start my own business but blogging made me start wanting to..
I know! I have the same feeling sometimes. I’d say that you did find your passion for running your own business! I want to turn mine into one too one day ^.^
Blogging is great for personal growth. Sometime you get stuck in a rut and you don’t even know it. Blogging gives you a new challenge. It’s really cool that you have made great strides. Yeah, watching TV is a huge time suck. It’s fun, but blogging is so much more productive.
Blogging is indeed both challenging and fun. I have to admit I do get burned out sometimes. The most recent burnout happened last Wednesday. But overall, blogging does make me feel more productive than window shopping @_@
Your work ethic is insane (I’ve mentioned this before).
Keep it up, but also keep an eye out for signs of burn out. It feels great to have a full weekend without any “goals” or “things-to-do” constantly on your mind. 😉
I did get burned out, which I will write about in a future post. 😉 Thanks for the great suggestion! 🙂
These resonate with me! I also now make time for myself to specifically work out, which is crazy since my days are so much busier writing, reading, tweeting! (That’s a benefit of blogging I didn’t fully anticipate!)
Yup, totally spot on with me, though you’re doing a much better job juggling everything. I have such a hard time keeping up with blogging tasks. It takes me forever to do any one thing. The one thing I do make sure to have time for us a daily walk with my husband and son. I think#5 is so important!
I totally feel the same, though I still binge watch TV quite frequently, I feel less guilty about doing that because it’s usually after a long day of working on my blog. I feel generally more productive even if I don’t do anything for the blog because I’m constantly thinking how to improve and new things I have to learn that I feel even my free thinking time is more productive too 😛
I definitely still feel there’s room for fun stuff but I also struggle with feeling it’s taking away from time to develop my blog. Lately, I’ve been saying no to more and more social events except for a couple things a week. I shouldn’t feel so stressed about it because life is about building relationships too!
I find that after you become a blogger or entrepreneur, you start to prioritize a lot. You don’t have time to fuzz over trivia things. If that’s the case, you would rather spend more time on you passion.
For me, I am happy to blog and monetizing it is not a priority. I just hope that I am still motivated and passionate to continue years down the road.
Keep going FAF, this would be worth in long term. Best gain I see for myself is improvement in writing as a non-native speaker.
Good observations, do you think that blogging has helped you become better at your W-2 job? If you still have one that is?
Great question! I do have an 8-5 job, and I think the answer to your question is Yes 🙂
It’s interesting how starting a blog is having positive influences on other areas of your life – I’ve had a similar experience. But are you serious that you questioned your productivity?..I think I mentioned previously that I was exhausted just reading your “day in the life” post – you’re crazily productive!
TV definitely sucks a lot of time.
I am. I don’t know why I do that to myself. It can get exhausting and stressful sometimes @_@
I give you a lot of credit for sharing the deeper parts of your life than most of us are willing to do. We have those same or similar struggles, but we choose to “hide” behind a veneer of know-it-all financial/frugal wisdom that magically solves all our problems.
So, thanks again for being open and honest. It’s inspiring me to be a little more open going forward. Nice post!
Thank you so much for your kind words! 🙂
The questioning purpose in life is cool! Although I hated writing in school and college probably because I was graded, here there aren’t really any concrete rules to stick by which is great 🙂
You can just let thoughts flow and be honest with yourself while reading and learning from others in the process. I have made so many improvements in my financial life just by reading other websites.