Should I remove the Yakezie badge? | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

Hey guys,

I've made the decision to drastically cut back my posting schedule and pretty much leave it at an "as I feel like it" level.

I'm a fairly new father, work has become as crazy as it ever has been in my 6 years at the company, and working evenings and weekends on my site was quite simply wearing me down and taking all the enjoyment out of my site for me.

Being part of Yakezie has been fantastic because I have learned so much, got to read a lot of great content, and most importantly got acquainted with some amazing people! However, the down side is that it added extra pressure for me to keep up a posting schedule and to feel like I had to be "on" every time I sat down to write because time was so scarce. Overall, I feel that lead to lower quality posts and compromises that I otherwise wouldn't make just to meet deadlines and to leave enough time for commenting, forum reading, etc.

So, I'm taking a step back. I still would like to complete the Yakezie challenge and will definitely do it if I ever have more time on my plate than I do now. I know many of you guys are in similarly demanding situations while still managing to push through and it simply amazes me! I wish I could do the same, but I tend to be such a slow methodical writer that I just can't do it the way I want to in the time I have and still adequately promote others and complete the requirements of the challenge.

I'm still definitely going to hang around the forums and comment on your sites – if you'll have me! The only thing I'm hoping will really change is the stress I feel to perform on a daily basis. I don't handle stress well :)

To make that happen I am going to have to refocus my efforts, clean out my RSS reader a little bit, and make other cutbacks – so I'm sorry about that!

Thanks everyone for all the support and helping me grow my site!

That said, do you think I should remove the Yakezie badge from my site because I won't be keeping with the requirements of the challenge?

I wouldn't think you'd need to remove your badge!  You're sticking to the spirit of the Yakezie!  You'll just take a little longer to become a member…

Good luck with life – we'll be here when you can make it in, lol.  :-)

Sorry to hear life is getting hectic.  Good call on pulling back.  Don't need to give yourself even more stress from your blog.  I sometimes think blogging helps with the hectic life.  I agree, you should leave the badge up because you are following the spirit.  Good luck and do keep in touch! 

I agree with Crystal. I think it's great that you are still going to try and support others – that's the whole point of this group! I know what you mean about life – I think I'm in the same position as you. 

Let us know if we can do anything to help out.

Keep the badge! :)

It has been really crazy with us too with a new baby, but I'm taking some time off work so that should really help.

Cutting back is perfectly OK. Hopefully, you'll come back stronger than ever after a bit of rest. Everyone needs some R&R.

SavingMentor said:

 

I hope this step back will allow me to refocus my efforts and still continue going forward and that this isn't the beginning of the end of HowToSaveMoney.ca.

 

 

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Don't let this happen without contacting people here first.  Someone may be able to take over – your site is easily one of my favourites and I point people to it all the time.

 

The Single Saver said:

Good point, Sustainable PF.  I know Crystal is looking to add to her blog empire by managing blogs for people. 

 

Sustainable PF said:

SavingMentor said:

 

I hope this step back will allow me to refocus my efforts and still continue going forward and that this isn't the beginning of the end of HowToSaveMoney.ca.

 

–

Don't let this happen without contacting people here first.  Someone may be able to take over – your site is easily one of my favourites and I point people to it all the time.

 

Yep, willing and able!  Webmaster Crystal at anybody's service!  :-) 

I definitely would not remove the badge. I'm sorry to hear about getting burnt out on the blog. For me, it's important to step back and take a look at priorities…Write down your goals for blogging and decide where efforts should be split.

For me personally, contributing to Yakezie definitely takes away from my posting schedule. But, I don't let that bother me at all, as being active in the blogging community carries significant currency "weight" in my mind.

In my view the badge is about the "spirit" of being part of the Yakezie challenge. I would leave the badge up so long as you want to be a part of it even if you need to scale things back somewhat.

Sorry I'm late on commenting :(  Yeah, I would say not to remove the badge and take it easy.  I used to post 3 posts a week and found myself getting really burnt out.  Then I cut it back to two posts and one round up post, which I find a bit more manageable.

It's better that you're cutting down than leaving completely, I get so sad when some great PF blogger friends leave without a real goodbye or not keeping in touch.  I'm glad that you're here to stay, and if there's anything I can do to guarantee you  stick around let me know :)