Blogging Kills

Just trying to live up to the drama of the New York Times. Yesterday, Matt Richtel wrote about Russell Shaw, a popular tech blogger:

In the case of Mr. Shaw, it is not clear what role stress played in his death. Ellen Green, who had been dating him for 13 months, said the pressure, though self-imposed, was severe. She said she and Mr. Shaw had been talking a lot about how he could create a healthier lifestyle, particularly after the death of his friend, Mr. Orchant.

This reads to me like the NYT is trying to write the obituary of blogging by pushing some of us to consider its effects on our health.  It poses question, albeit through a quote, "What does that have to do with me?”

Before I answer that question for myself, I want to note that I think this all over dramatized. Of course, I'm no Michael Arrington or Pete Cashmore, but I hate to believe they're all on the fast-track of blogging "till they drop."
 



I'm not worried about my physical wellbeing (yet), but my friends and family definitely question my mental health.  I just started blogging again a week ago with the debut of kristenforbriger.com, and I've already lost hours of sleep on late night posting.  As I type, I'm supposed to be sitting on the beach enjoying my weekend vacation with the family. FAIL!

But, I don't blame this on anything or anyone but myself. The world, especially the online world, will keep moving without me, and it's my job to limit my participation.  If I step away from my computer, or gasp, dare to turn off my Motorola Q for a couple hours, I might miss something "big."  Oh well, life will go on.  I have to promise myself it will, and I'll be better off later for giving my brain a little break.

This is why I like Paul Glazowski's of Mashable's take on all this:

I mean to say that the stress is unnecessary. At least at the level at which it is currently gauged, anyway. Stress diminishes productivity. It’s something you definitely don’t want when you attempt to construct a coherent post. Because well, if you’re racking your brain always thinking a dozen or more steps ahead, you end up failing to achieve the optimal goal of your present task. And if such behavior becomes habitual, well, then that can be a surprisingly deep hole to climb out of with any success.

Bloggers need to put the fun back in blogging.

Amen!  If I want to continue my participation in social media at the current pace, I might create some ground rules, such as:

• The Vaio needs sleeptime too.  Shut it off between midnight and 6 am
  
• Family time means family time.  No quick tweets to say hi and check in.
  
• Take the phone, leave the email and internet.  When out with friends, resist the temptation to open Gmail and Twitter remotely.  
  

What do you think?  Do you know when its time to snap the laptop shut and call it a night? And do you actually do it?