At the start of November, I announced<\/a> I was participating in National Blog Posting Month, also known as NaBloPoMo, in which bloggers post daily for the month of November. In the days leading up to the start of the month, I was hesitant. I wasn’t sure it was a good fit with my schedul
\ne, wasn’t sure that NaBloPoMo would be a good move.<\/p>\n

But it seemed like an interesting challenge, if not a little scary. I figured you should do things that scare you, right?<\/p>\n

Wrong.<\/p>\n

I failed at NaBloPoMo. I failed pretty miserably, in fact. But as with many situations in life, I learned more from my failure than from my success.\u00a0 Here are some of the lessons I learned from failing at NaBloPoMo.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Quality matters more than quantity.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

You may all disagree that there are quality posts on this blog, but I wasn’t loving some of my posts. I’d rather take the time to ruminate on an idea, take some time to develop a few thoughts, or do some extra research to make a post a good one. Forcing something doesn’t always fit with being authentic. I learned that I’d rather be authentic than prolific.<\/p>\n

That’s not to say that there weren’t many bloggers who produced 30 great, authetic posts that came from their heart in November. Kudos to those who did. I just learned that wasn’t how I work, at least not now and not with what I currently have on my plate. And that’s okay.<\/p>\n

2. Knowing your priorities makes saying no easier.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saying “no” isn’t my strong suit, and I was feeling a large amount of guilt over not bl
\nogging daily. But when I thought about the fact that I wasn’t blogging because I had paid writing assignments due, a child who needed some extra TLC, a spouse who deserved to have a conversation with me without my laptop on my lap, a fun Thanksgiving to plan with my family, and it got easier to say “no.”<\/p>\n

3. Sleep matters. And it’s okay that I like it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I also read an article on how making high school kids crazy over getting into college is bad for them and how we are not prioritizing sleep. I’m a big fan of my child getting enough sleep, and a huge supporter of moving back high school start times. And then the little light bulb went off over my head. Maybe I needed sleep, too.<\/p>\n

Since I was usually scrambling at 11:54 p.m. to churn out a blog, NaBloPoMo wasn’t conducive to sleep for me. And sleep was something I decided to prioritize. I’m a nicer person when I’ve had a decent amount of sleep, and I decided NaBloPoMo wasn’t worth being cranky for a month. I have tried for years to be one of those awesome people who could function on little sleep. As I get older, I’m able to admit that I am not one of those people, as much as I would like to be.<\/p>\n

Hi, I’m Shannan, and I like sleep.<\/p>\n

4. Listen to your gut.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I felt a fair amount of trepidation heading into this, and it made my stomach turn a bit. I took that as a good sign. The whole “do things that scare you” philosophy may not always be the best advice. If you have a really good reason to do things that scare you, then go for it. Just because something is scary, though, doesn’t mean it is what you need, nor does it mean that you will benefit.<\/p>\n

If I had trusted my instincts a bit more a the start of the month, I would have pressured myself less and saved myself some angst.<\/p>\n

5. The mission matters more than the numbers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I went 22\/30 for NaBloPoMo here (counting this one). I also wrote 13 posts on the Tween Us blog<\/a>, 3 blog posts for Chicago Parent and 5 freelance articles. I like to think that the mission of NaBloPoMo of encouraging frequent writing and of working to hone my craft through practice has been achieved, even if the numbers have not.<\/p>\n

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:<\/strong> Letter to my daughter about what truly matters<\/a><\/p>\n

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