Blogging til you drop
Heck, it's been a while hasn't it?! I have been meaning to blog about all sorts of things, but events and computer problems have just got in the way. Now I have nothing to do but revision. So I'm obviously going to avoid that, and blog instead.
My curiosity has been awakened by this article on the New York Times website:
"A growing work force of home-office laborers and entrepreneurs, armed with computers and smartphones and wired to the hilt, are toiling under great physical and emotional stress created by the around-the-clock Internet economy that demands a constant stream of news and comment...
Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.
Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet."
Now, I can't obviously relate to this. This is my first post since February. But seeing as I am not being paid for this, I can just write as I please. Certainly last summer, when work commitments got a bit much, blogging virtually ceased. Obviously it's different if you blog for a living. You can't just stop - you might have to get a proper job. As this example from the article shows:
" “I haven’t died yet,” said Michael Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. The site has brought in millions in advertising revenue, but there has been a hefty cost. Mr. Arrington says he has gained 30 pounds in the last three years, developed a severe sleeping disorder and turned his home into an office for him and four employees. “At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen.” "
Blogging for a living is presumably the same as any job. If you end up working stupidly long hours at stupid times, and don't do enough relaxing or exercise, you will screw yourself up. Surely 'merely' earning thousands of pounds in revenue and having a decent life outside work is better for everyone concerned?
Anyway, dear reader(s), you don't have to worry about me. I will continue to blog as and when I please. And any weight gains I have will be completely unrelated to blogging. It'll be because I eat too much and exercise too little.
Cory
