Midnight Chat: Are You Obsessed?

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Okay, who wants to hear a confession? (Of course you do, those are delightful!) I think I have a bit of a blogging obsession problem. The site was down for awhile on Tuesday night, and I had an actual panic attack, and I am pretty sure that isn’t normal. I freak out if I don’t have a post done exactly at midnight, and if I miss a day? Well. That is just unacceptable! I have given myself some ridiculous standards that no one other than me would know or care if I adhered to, but I feel like a mess if I don’t get it done. I know there are a ton of reasons for this, all of which are kind of bummers like anxiety and having control over something when my life feels out of control. Let’s not focus on that stuff, let’s just have fun with it.

How To Tell You Having a Blogging Problem- Answer the following questions:

1. Must you pop a Xanax if your post is twenty minutes late being posted?

2. Would you actually lose sleep if your site was offline for a length of time?

3. Do you have trouble understanding the difference between a goal and a mandate?

4. Do your nightmares include recurring themes about ARC rejections?

5. Are there various lists and calendars scattered around your house with book titles, post topics, release dates, and other blogging/reading shenanigans?

6. Are you a bit worried that your mailman thinks you are stalking him, even though you just want books?

7. Does not having a chance to comment on all the blogs give you indigestion?

8. Is editing a small graphic as time consuming as some minor surgical procedures?

9. Do you spend hours on end searching for the “perfect” gif, even though any of the last three hundred would have been lovely?

10. Confess- do you think you are obsessed?

Great job! Now, add up your “YES” answers, and use this handy scale to let me know where you fall! 

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Where do I fall? Obviously, I do pretty much all the things on this list, so I am a 10. Tens in lots of circles are good, so let’s go with that. tumblr_n85eocjTxX1ruqqz3o1_250

So, am I the only one who gets a little… overly “concerned”? Or do you have moments like this too? How do you deal with it if you do? 

Posted November 7, 2014 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Discussion / 29 Comments

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29 responses to “Midnight Chat: Are You Obsessed?

  1. When I clicked on this post, I thought for sure it was going to be about The 100. And clearly, it’s not… Okay, so I’m about a 6! I get a little anxiety when I don’t publish everyday (however, I kind of got over that during my two-week hiatus). BUT. I thought for sure I’d have a post to publish every day for the first couple of weeks in November. And oops, I missed Thursday. However, I feel calm about it and I’ll just make myself do better at writing up posts and scheduling (which I try to do anyway but can never stick to). But yes, about the commenting thing! I feel that way sometimes when I don’t respond to a comment on one of my blog posts after a few days. I’M SORRY, PEOPLE, I’M JUST SLOW. But yeah, I’m getting better and better at not being so obsessive and compulsive about blogging. 🙂

    • Ha, that is because we were talking about The 100 while I wrote it 😉 Hey, a 6 isn’t too bad! And if you can figure out how and why you aren’t so OCD about it… pass that info along maybe?

  2. I totally get overly “concerned”. I about freak out if I post my blog and the text isn’t the right size, the pictures are somehow all close together and angled weird and God forbid I get a post past that 12:00 “deadline”. If I don’t manage to get a post up at all that is “mandated”, I tend to be really upset. I landed five on your scale though so not…too bad. 🙂 …

  3. I’m a bit protective, whooo! I thought I’d get a ten to be honest, haha. 😉 I’m a lot cooler about blog stuff now than when I first started, I still hate when a post isn’t up by midnight too, and sometimes when it doesn’t publish. The other day I couldn’t get on it properly, it wouldn’t load and when it did, was going really sloooooooooow that I couldn’t do anything and I panicked a little, especially since I like having my weekly posts all done on the weekend. I haven’t dreamed of ARC rejections yet, but I did dream of an ARC approval and then was disappointed when I woke up, mean dream. 🙁 I’m trying not to get stressed out with anything, so if something doesn’t work I just go on something else and play a game before I try again.

    • I am actually the opposite- I am MORE ridiculous now than when I started! I love your stress relief though, I think I need something like that. I think I just have NO time to do anything, so since I have such a finite amount of time to begin with, I stress extra hard? I need to be more disciplined and do it on the weekends, I think that would take a LOT of the stress away!

  4. I stress out way too often about blogging too, but I’m trying really hard not to, because it’s supposed to be fun. (And I’m having a hard time reading right now so I’m going a bit crazy coming up with posts.)

    At least I haven’t had my site go down, that would really panic me. I do worry that I’ve forgotten to comment on someone’s blog. I spend WAY too long getting my posts ‘just right’. I spent the entire day yesterday working on a top ten Tuesday post and it’s not even done yet. Yay I only got a bit protective!

    • The site going down is the WORST, because you have absolutely no control over it! Ugh. I am like you, I spend wayyy too long getting it “just right”. I think the thing is, I really DO enjoy blogging, and when I actually care about something, I tend to freak out about it way too much 😉

  5. I am definitely a six. The mailman option was my favorite absolutely 100% pertains to me. I have post it notes all over the place with dates on when to post certain things. I can’t sleep sometimes when I have been rejected for a book I am dying to get. I was heartbroken when I was rejected for Twisted Fate by Norah Olson. I consider myself a tad bit obsessive especially if its something I love. So I can relate!!

    • That is the worst, when you are rejected for a book you NEED. I have only requested two books that I HAD to have, and thankfully I was accepted for both. I was rejected for one that I really wanted, and that stung, but I don’t know what I would have done if it had been the “had to have” ones. That is why I usually don’t bother, I am too scared!

  6. Hahaha a lot of those cracked me up because they sound like me! Don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone! I try to not look at my blog every 10 minutes. If there’s a problem with something on my blog, I just take a deep breath and tell myself to chill out. ARC rejections hit me hard. I get really sad and depressed when I don’t hear anything but I try telling myself that the next time will hopefully be better.

  7. I agree what you mean by havign control about something. I am a bti of a control freak and I like to make sure I have control over some things and I can imagine freaking out when your blog is offline, I do that every time it happens as well. Although never as bad as a panic attack so far. For a long time I forced myself to have a post every day, nowadays I don’t missing a day or two and it feels good to be more relaxed about that.
    I am not too obsessed, although I feel bad when I haven’t been able to blog comment on a day. I only have one calendar though and I don’t use gifs or edit graphics.

    • I go through phases where I am calm about it, and then phases when I freak out. I think that when the site goes down, it throws everything out of whack, and I get more panicky than usual. I think writing this post has made me see that I need to calm down!

  8. I am the completely opposite of you, haha! I think of blogging as my hobby, and as long as it’s a hobby, I don’t feel obligated to post every day, or to comment on all the posts I read. I blog because I enjoy doing it, but whenever I have to many scheduled blog tours or whatever, I’m stressed about my blog which is supposed to be a hobby, so I decided to just not take that many things that require pre-scheduled posts, and to just post what I want when I want.

    • I LOVE that! I get way too into stuff I enjoy. Like, either I don’t care at all about something, or I go overboard and care too much and burn out. It’s such a battle for me to just be in the normal range! I love that you can just look at it as a fun hobby and continue on with life!

  9. *raises hand* I AM OBSESSED. I ALWAYS schedule my posts for 7:00pm. And even if I finish drafting at like 6:51…I still schedule it for 7pm. >.> I also have no other scheduling time…like EVER. *deep breaths, deep breaths* So yes, a wee bit ocd there. And omg, I have totally nervousness when publicists email me back ARE THEY GOING TO REJECT MY REQUEST??!!
    I don’t actually spend as much time as I should editing. And I don’t freak out too much if I don’t get around to EVERYBODY. But it does worry me hugely if I leave my comments unanswered…I just…I just feel so guilty. I have to answer and visit everyone’s blogs asap.
    Speaking of which *glares at own blog* I’m so behind because of NaNo.

    • YES! I do that too- AND if it happens to take me a minute or two longer, I STILL leave it scheduled for midnight so it looks like I finished on time. Ridiculous!

      I have only emailed publicists twice. And neither worked out. One I got no response from, the other I got the auto-response. Blech. I am pretending that those things did not happen, just so I can sleep tonight.

      I freak out too, which is dumb, because when other people comment days later, I don’t think twice! So why am I holding myself to such ridiculous standards that I hold exactly NO ONE else to!?

      Also, keep working on NaNo, because we all want to read your books when they get all fancy and published 🙂

  10. HAHAHAHHA SHANNON THIS IS AMAZING HAHAHHA

    I only said yes to 3 things, but I think that’s still considered obsessive, right? I always have trouble looking for the perfect gif, but ever since getting a pinterest, it’s gotten better. Ummm, oh yeah I hate not being able to comment on other blogs, or finish commenting back on my own (even though I procrastinate way too much on doing that). I don’t care if I don’t post exactly at 12, but I always try to make it so I post every two days.

    I hate ARC rejections, but only if they’re physical ARCs. The reason why this hasn’t happened to me yet is simply because I haven’t asked publishing companies for books yet. When I have my first blogoversary, I’ll try a small company and see what happens.

    • I SO should have started with a smaller publisher. You’re smart, why didn’t I think of that!? No, I hauled off and begged for books that I had no business begging for 😉 But I even get upset with eARCs. Because I take it personally, which is kind of ridiculous. Like they even know who I am, they probably look for certain numbers, and move on.

      You can find gifs on Pinterest!? WHY did I not know this!? This will save me lots of time, THANK YOU!

  11. I only said yes to two things…so I’m not completely obsessed but maybe a little too laid back at moments? I do obsessively wait to find out if I’ve been approved for a review book and stress because I almost never get them read on time! I also feel anxious and just plain bad when I don’t get around to commenting on all the other blogs!

    Love this post!

  12. I only said yes to two (which surprised me) but when I think about it I don’t tend to stress out about blogging too much. But when I have free time I literally check my blog every ten minutes – so that aspect is a bit obsessive 😉 . About ARC rejections, I think I’ve only requested an ARC from a publisher once and they never responded but I decided after that to focus on building my blog etc before trying again. Once I reach the “try again” point I think my obsessive level will increase a bit :/ Great post!

    • It is definitely scary, requesting books! I feel like when you ask for one, you are basically saying “is all this work I’ve put in worthy of you trusting me with this book?” and when you hear a no… it’s hard to take in! But it will happen, try not to obsess too much 😉 (Like I should give advice, right?)

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