It’s the end of the year. A time when people begin to reflect on the year gone by and make plans for the year to come. At this time of year, people often get nostalgic and sentimental about things… and they also become hard on themselves for things they didn’t do, but wanted to.
We all have dreams, goals and hopes. We all have something(s) we want to achieve in our lives. For some people it’s publishing a novel. For others it’s just finding the time to sit down and write. And for others it’s something else completely.
When I started this blog almost 4 years ago, my only goal was to finally finish something I started and stick with it. While there was a lot of procrastinating and excuses throughout the years, I think I managed to achieve what I set out to do.
One thing I think is super important for this time of year is to think about the things in our lives that are stagnant—as in, not moving forward, not going anywhere. Being stagnant may seem OK at first. After all, you’re to a point where you feel comfortable… but you’re not growing or changing and that can get BORING, fast!
Plus you can only spin your wheels for so long before you run out of gas. If you feel like you’ve been “stuck in neutral” during the last year, I highly recommend reevaluating your life.
What are you spending the most time on? Where are you wasting the most time? How could you put yourself in a position to be more likely to achieve your goals/dreams in 2012?
These are questions I’ve been asking myself and discussing with my business coach over the last couple months. While my original goal/dream was to finally build something from start to finish and stick with it, my goals have evolved over the last 4 years and now I want to build something sustainable that I stick with, that allows me to share my multiple interests and that helps me achieve my big dreams in life.
With that, I will make the huge announcement I’ve been talking about on Twitter for the last couple weeks… I am shutting Procrastinating Writers down as of early 2012.
I’ll give you a second to take that one in…
This decision wasn’t an easy one for me to make. In fact, it was prolly one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my life.
The truth is, I was getting bored with PW. It wasn’t inspiring me anymore. It wasn’t allowing me to write about the things I am passionate about and care deeply about because it’s such a niche blog. Plus I’ve finally decided to embrace the fact that I’m a Multipotentialite. And instead of run away from what I am, I want to use it to my advantage.
So while Procrastinating Writers may be going away… there’s still more to the journey I’m on.
To take PW’s place, I’ll be launching a brand new blog. This time the focus will be on teaching writers how to adopt holistic practices in life/writing to help inspire their creativity. My new focus will allow me to write about all the topics that really didn’t fit with PW.
Originally I was going to leave PW up as an archive… but now I’ve decided to redirect the URL to my new blog, and am only bringing a handful of the best blog posts from PW to the new site.
This change-over will likely happen around the end of January—beginning of February. So you have until then to soak up all the PW articles that you can. Soon they will be nothing more than a memory and a redirected URL.
I know I will lose some of you with this change over. And that makes me sad, especially because I’ve worked really hard to build this blog from 0 subscribers to over 1,100 subscribers and 5,000+ visits a month… but this change over will also allow me the opportunity to attract new readers; ones who will be more engaged with the community I’m creating.
Hopefully you’ve learned enough from this blog to give me the benefit of the doubt and check out my new site when it launches. And if not, that’s OK too.
Either way, I encourage you to take a look at your life and the things that are stagnant. Find the courage to take a risk and push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s worth it.
More details about the new site are coming soon, so stay tuned!
About The Author: Jennifer Blanchard is the founder of Procrastinating Writers. She is co-founder of the Better Writing Habits Challenge. For more great writing tips, tools and advice, be sure to follow her on Twitter or Facebook.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Jennifer, I chanced upon PW three years ago when I first began my freelance writing career. Your insight and advice has continued to be invaluable in my growth as a writer, but it makes sense that one must propel forward. Your best writing will only come from creating something you love and desire to grow. PW will always have a place in my heart, but you continue to inspire with your decision to move upward, onward and to procrastinate no more. Happy holidays! Looking forward to the next chapter.
Thank you Amy! I appreciate your comment. This decision hasn’t been easy and I’ve wanted to go back on it several times but I know this is the right move for me. I am not able to turn PW into the blog I want it to be, so it’s time for something new. I hope you stick around. I think you’ll really like what’s coming!
I have gotten so much good info from PW. Thank you! I’m really excited about your next step and can’t wait to see what you do with the new blog, though, so I’m taking this as an awesome announcement. Congratulations!
I’m guessing you’ll post links on Twitter and so on so we can find the new blog once it’s set up, right? Looking forward to continuing the journey with you. Good luck!
Thank you Kim! I’m glad you think the announcement is awesome (I think it is too). It can be hard to let things go sometimes but this feels like a positive step forward so I’m excited. I will post another article on here with the new name and URL and then eventually ProcrastinatingWriters.com will redirect to it. And yes I’ll also post the links on Twitter. I’m not closing my Twitter account, just updating the name so feel free to continue connecting with me there.
The new blog sounds interesting. I’ll stick around to see how it goes.
I think it’s great that you know when it’s time to move on in new paths. Some people hang on for fear of losing anything, but they don’t realize that the momentum has to have a new boost now and then. I’ll try to follow. I’ve enjoyed your inspirational tips. And thanks for the link — I think I’ve finally found the one word to use to describe myself, instead of trying to describe a lifetime policy of trying anything once!
@Eugenia Totally! When I found Emilie’s site I finally felt like I found my home and like I wasn’t alone anymore. Learning that term has changed my life! And on top of that, I am now building a Renaissance Business instead of trying to make my blog a business. Hope to see you on the new site!
Hi Jennifer,
I came across your blog not too long ago and have enjoyed reading your posts but… I’m very excited to see the new direction you are going by incorporating holistic practices into our lives.
Peace & Blessings,
Tania
@Tania Thank you! I’m so looking forward to launching this new blog. In September 2010 I earned my certification in Holistic Health Coaching and haven’t been able to incorporate it into my blog/business yet. This new blog will allow me to do that so I’m excited!
Wow, this is my first time here, and the first post I read is about you shutting down the site! But that’s OK, it’s cool that you’re following your passions and very cool that you’re a multipotentialite! – I’m sure your new blog will be awesome! Wish you the best
Thank you Denise! Feel free to browse the archives. There’s a ton of great stuff and the site will still be up for a few more weeks.
Good luck in your new venture!
I really wish you would leave this site up as is, though. I have linked to this blog or sent people emails pointing them to your posts for resources over the past couple of years, and I would hate to see all that go away.
Hi Jennifer,
I just found PW, subscribed, and then read the post that you are discontinuing it. I was, however, relieved to see you are not shutting it down tomorrow. The explanation you gave of your new blog sounds very interesting. If I am subscribed to PW will I automatically be subscribed to the new one?
I am doing some rewriting on my first ms and I heard that new writers should have a blog before they even start querying agents. I know nothing about blogging and I am hoping to glean as much information, from as many sources, as possible.
Good luck on the new chapter in your life! I am anxious to watch it unfold.
Lisa
I did need a moment to take that in
But hooray for the new blog! I like your use of the word “stagnant” instead of something like “stationary”, by the way – it’s far more impacting and puts across that feeling of not going anywhere, and despairing because of that, (and how I often feel…!) really well!