The Pros And The Cons Of Taking A Hiatus

For the record, I am all for bloggers taking a well-deserved hiatus.

Why?

Because they get burnt out like everyone else.

Therefore, if you feel as though you are in desperate need of a hiatus, take it!

However, never overdo a good thing by staying away from your blog for too long.

In this life, there are pros and cons to everything (Including our beloved hiatus).

So, without further ado, it is time for us to explore them together.

You Will Be Well-Rested (The Pro)

Those of us who create content for our blog regularly, are aware of the fact, that blogging can take its toll on our mind and our body; we acquire a few aches and pains from sitting in a chair for long periods of time as well as becoming mentally exhausted each time that we work on a new blog post.

Eventually, we would need to take a hiatus from blogging.

Bloggers who take a hiatus, usually return to blogging feeling mentally refreshed (Bloggers who are mentally refreshed also have a much better chance of creating new content for their blogs with ease).

So, in this particular instance, the taking of a hiatus has worked out in the favour of the blogger.

You Might End Up Becoming Lazy (The Con)

Yes, my friend, you risk becoming lazy by staying away from your blog for too long.

I have read blog posts from bloggers who claimed that they were going on a hiatus.

Guess what?

Some of those bloggers never returned to their blogs; they left those blogs of theirs abandoned forever!

To help you understand this situation much better, I going to use the analogy of a person who used to jog daily before the COVID-19 lockdown period.

One year after, they are not too eager to go jogging; instead of going back out to jog, they opt for staying in their bed to sleep.

Blogging itself can be challenging and if we stay away from such challenges for too long, we might not be in the right frame of mind to reengage ourselves in those types of challenges.

One must never make the mistake of going on a hiatus for too long of a period.

So, in this instance, taking a hiatus (a never-ending one) has worked against the blogger.

You Retained Your Followers Because You Are Seen As A Person Who Keeps Their Word (The Pro)

The blogger who returns to blogging at the end of an announced hiatus is often viewed as a person who keeps their word.

Besides, most of us dislike broken promises or broken agreements.

When someone says to us that they are going to do something, we expect them to do it!

There is a high chance of you retaining your followers if you practice what you preach; for example, by always returning to blogging on the day that was promised by you.

It is always in a blogger’s best interest to keep their word.

You Might End Up Losing Lots Of Your Followers (The Con)

Some people would unfollow a blog that has not been active for some time; for example, one of those blogs that have been inactive for the period of six months.

Also, a blog that has not been updated in a very long time can be mistaken for an abandoned blog.

Most people that I know, would prefer to follow a blog that is updated regularly with new content.

Unfortunately, a person’s blog becomes severely neglected whenever they stay away from it for too long.

Truthfully speaking, it takes a lot of hard work to build a loyal audience and no work at all (in this case, an extremely long hiatus) to lose the audience that you have worked so hard to build.

Your Viewing Audience Will Be Happy To Have You Back (The Pro)

If you are the type of blogger who has a high track record of publishing content that is useful to readers, your viewing audience will be happy to have you back.

Why?

Because they missed you and also because you have developed a reputation for publishing valuable content.

By the way, valuable content is the type of content that is looked upon as being:

• Trustworthy
• Informative
• Evergreen
• Helpful
• Relevant

People are always on the lookout for those types of content.

So, do not be surprised when the incoming views to your blog skyrockets when your hiatus ends.

You Return To Find Your WordPress Dashboard Alien-Looking And You Have A Very Hard Time Figuring Out New Features (The Con)

It is a known fact, that the Happiness Engineers are always making changes to WordPress.

The layout of the WordPress dashboard has changed a lot over the years. Therefore, if a blogger stays away from WordPress for an extremely long period, they may end up having a difficult time navigating their way around their WordPress dashboard.

A blogger who stayed away from their WordPress blog for the period of over a year was shocked when he finally came face to face with the Block Editor.

People who stay away from their WordPress blogs for very long periods and log back into their accounts will have a very hard time readjusting.

Wrapping Up

As you have learned, a hiatus can work for you as well as against you; such as:

• Getting the chance to become well-rested.
• Becoming lazy.
• Retaining your followers because you are looked upon as someone who keeps their word.
• People unfollowing your blog because they thought that it was abandoned by you.
• Having an audience that is happy to have you back after that hiatus of yours.
• Returning to find your WordPress dashboard alien-looking and having a difficult time wrapping your mind around new features.

In the proverbial sense, a hiatus can be a double-edged sword (So, use it wisely).

Please feel free to share your opinion on what you have read via my blog’s commenting section (Newcomers to Renard’s World should read my Commenting Policy; it would let them know what is expected of them).

And, most importantly, thank you for reading!

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