Vanishing Mists: How Wisely are You Using the Short Time You've Been Given?

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is."--C.S. Lewis

"Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes."--James 4:14 (English Standard Version)

Time. Eternity. Those two words haunt me. Whatever you believe about the eternal destiny of man in general or yourself in particular, we all know that our time here on earth is short compared to how long the world has existed--and may continue to exist (eternity is a long time, you know?).

Time may be the only thing each of us has in common--rich or poor, wise or ignorant, pretty or ugly, kind or mean--we can't choose the social status we were born into, our IQ level, our physical looks, or our natural temperament, but we each choose how we spend our time. Certainly, some of us are physically healthy while others are fighting for their life, suffering from an incurable disease. However, each person is born into this world for a specific time--once that time is up, we're gone. Most of us are in a position to choose how we spend much of our time, for good or ill.

If we waste it on excessive TV viewing, drugs, pornography, bar-hopping, or any other self-destructive activity, we have only ourselves to blame.

We can choose to use our time wisely, by taking care of our bodies (through proper sleep, diet, and exercise), engaging our minds (through reading great literature), developing deep relationships (through truly getting to know our family, friends, and co-workers), enjoying the beauties of this world (through taking up hobbies we're passionate about, such as writing or hiking in the mountains), and if you're inclined, getting to know the God who created us (through placing our faith in Christ, reading the Word, praying to the Creator, and enjoying the sacraments at Church).

What does all this have to do with writing? Well, I'm new to blogging (two months) and professional writing (a little over 1 1/2 years), and, in addition to contemplating the eternal value of my daily activities and aspirations, I've been thinking about the present, practical effects of how I spend my time.

Is blogging actually worth it? It's fun for sure. Creating unique posts and looking for ways to build traffic and make money off a blog--I've enjoyed it. But so far, I've made about $2 in two months. That's not a great ROI (return on investment). All the real money I've made has been from writing articles for local, award-winning publications.

So...how much time should I really spend on blogging, and more importantly, on traffic-generating exercises (Entrecard, Blogrush, SEO, commenting on other blogs, etc.)? I don't want to live in front of the computer--I hate cliches, but there really is a whole world out there! I will admit, though, that Entrecard is really cool, and it actually works.

Bob Bly, I think, has the right idea--focus on your paid writing projects and legitimate marketing efforts far more than building up your blog visibility. In only his third blog post, back in 2004, Bly wrote:

"1. For a solo practitioner (freelance copywriter) like me, my time is the only thing I have to sell.

Therefore, I am concerned that, since for me time equals money, my blogging is costing me a lot of money … with no visible ROI other than fun.

2. Bloggers – both those who have blogs and write the journal entries, as well as those who read blogs and write the posts – seem to have much more free time than I do … or more energy (probably the latter, though I work a 60+ hour week).

I am amazed at the detailed posts some of you guys make, or that you go look at, read, and respond to blogs so often."
Three years of minimal blogging later, Bly maintains:

"I am obsessed with not wasting time and being as productive as I can.

After all, my income is directly linked to my ability to produce quality work at a rapid rate.

This November will mark the 3-year anniversary of the launch of this blog, and the experience has led me to Bly’s Theory of Blogging and Personal Productivity, which states:

'Personal productivity is inversely proportional to time spent blogging.'"
Bly concludes, "But the more time you spend blogging, the less work you get done," and asks, "How many hours a week do YOU spend blogging — both writing your own blog, responding to comments on your blog, and participating in discussions on other people’s blogs?"

Good question.

I enjoy blogging, especially crafting posts, but I don't want to get too caught up in the latest traffic-generating ventures or hot blog discussions (commenting and then checking back to see who replied to me and then replying back and on and on)--they can be huge time-wasters. I want to spend the short time I have here on this earth focused on what really matters, temporally and eternally, as well as what really makes me money.

In that spirit, I've added a daily reads blogroll--the handful of blogs that I actually derive true, lasting value from on a regular basis. It may seem to go against much of what I've just written, but I don't think so. I have not been arguing that blogging is a complete waste of time; what I have been trying to emphasize is wise usage of time--focusing on those things in life which we truly enjoy and benefit from. For me, clearly, building up my writing business is probably a much more valuable use of my time than trying to build up my blog traffic--one earns me thousands of dollars and the other has yet to pay me enough to buy a combo meal at KFC.

What do you think? Are you heeding Ben Franklin's advice?

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that the stuff life is made of."--Benjamin Franklin

Related Links

How Much Time Should Professional Writers Spend Blogging?
Lessons for Bloggers From The ‘Death of 2007′
Bly’s Theory of Blogging
The Top 5 Uncommon Timesavers for Bloggers/Writers (Plus: Video of Me Kissing a Hairy “Coo”)
The Not-To-Do List: 9 Habits to Stop Now