Time To Step Back A Little On The Blog
I’ve published a post on this blog religiously every Tuesday for well over 5 years now. My first post was on November 4th, 2017 and the only times I missed since then were due to Christmas. In total l’ve published 533 pieces which is just a bit shy of two per week, and that includes my silly infographics and Turnip FIRE.
Total word count? 438,248.
Part of me can’t even believe those numbers. When I look in my archive I sometimes see articles that I’ve almost forgotten about. It’s like “Did I write that? …. oh yeah, now I remember”.
Step Back Jack
It’s time to step back. Staring now I’ll be posting every other Tuesday. My T.G.I.F. Friday posts have already been every other Friday, so my new schedule will be one post a week, either a normal written piece or a T.G.I.F. Friday curation.
It comes down to life priorities, and for me sitting in front of a computer is not a top one. My graphic arts business already demands copious computer time, and in a battle between that and this blog, the blog loses.
This blog is not big, it’s not even close. I’ve been losing readership steadily over the last 2 years. But I have managed to attract a small and loyal group of readers who sometimes tell me they get value from it.
First things first – thank you, sincerely. I’m writing this post mainly for you, my loyal readers, because you have been loyal to me and I want to be transparent to you. I could have just started skipping some Tuesdays and you probably wouldn’t have noticed or cared. But I want to write about the change because it is part of my financial independence and FIRE journey.
I’m still tweaking the dials on how to spend my time in semi-retirement, and this change is part of that. If anything I hope it can serve as an example to others who want to do what I’m doing, which is keeping one foot in my career at a part time capacity and another in a new business.
When you throw outdoor sports and fitness on top of that – which are a nonnegotiable priority in my life – there’s only so much time.
And if I’m being totally honest the fact that I’ve been losing readership does play a part in this decision. In the old days when my audience kept growing it fed my stoke to write. Now there’s no getting around it, it’s much harder to motivate myself when I see my shrinking numbers. That’s human nature and I’m not immune to it.
It is some consolation knowing I’m not the only one. Even some juggernaut bloggers like my friend Joe Udo at Retire By 40 have been losing readership. So I think much of it is a change in the way people consume information.
I also think the FIRE movement continues to lose steam as I’ve written about.
A recent scene from a morning run. Less computer time is good.
The Basement Stacks
If you’re new to my blog, I encourage you to explore my archives. This page has every article I’ve ever published in chronological order. You might find something of use there. Or not. If you do enjoy my musings, consider signing up for my email list. Or not.
And if you’ve been with me for a while I appreciate your tenacity. I’m not going away, just stepping back a little. Who knows, the lightened workload might re-kindle my stoke.
No matter what happens, I take the 50 thousand foot viewpoint that I’m grateful to live in an era when I can write stuff, throw it into the ether, and can perhaps help someone. Even 20 years ago that didn’t really exist outside of publishing a book.
That’s all I’ve got folks, I’m looking forward to this next phase of the blog. If you are a regular reader I hope you stay with me.
Hi! I enjoy your blog since late 2019 🙂 just to let you know about your loyal readers ^_^
Thank You Eva, that means a lot!
For a moment there, reading the title, I thought you were going to stop! I’m glad you will continue in a way that suits you and your life. I do enjoy your posts. Both for the information but also I really like your views and values on life. It puts things in perspective in this crazy world.
Thanks so much Nic, I appreciate the compliment!
Hi Dave,
It’s great to hear that you’re making space for more of what you really want to be doing. Yours is one of my favorite blogs so I’ll miss your posts but glad to know you’ll still be posting once a week. You’ve put an incredible amount of good into the world already with your blog. Thank you! And enjoy that extra time doing the fun stuff:)
Andrea thanks for being a long time reader and for the kind words!
Well done. Your posts are always thought provoking. Not sure when I started receiving them. Seems like at least five or more years.
You’ve helped me feel good (intelligent) about spending less and saving more rather than just “cheap.” Also made me healthier avoiding eating out and caring about what and when I eat. (intermittent fasting.)
I’ve had the exercise habit all my life including two Ironman triathlons. We live on the Kona bike course.
I’m 77 now. I am a full time caregiver for my wife who had a bebilitating stroke just over a year ago. Living your lifestyle has given me the me the strength to do my toughest job ever.
Wow – two ironmans!! Sounds like you should be blogging and giving advice, that’s incredible! Very sorry to hear of your wife’s condition but you are obviously strong and prepared for adversity, that’s what endurance sports build. Best of luck and thanks for being a long time reader!
Dave, I’m another satisfied customer so I’d appreciate continuing to hear from you but I get the logic. Take care!
Thanks so much Andrew!
I too am a big fan of your blog because of your writing skills and great topics.
Being a former blogger I too had to step away as the desire/motivation dwindled when interaction with my audience started to decline as well.
Glad you are prioritizing life and choosing to do stuff that you want to do rather than out of obligation.
Hopefully this new schedule will allow you to continue blogging far longer than if you had tried to maintain your past demanding schedule.
Doc! You are missed in the FI community but glad to hear from you. If we started our blogs now I doubt we’d get much traction at all. Thanks for checking in!
Just glad you’re still gonna be around, brother. Been enjoying your blog from the very beginning! (Though I hear you 100% on writing less – I just announced the same on my blog too last week, lol… In fact, for the first time in 15 years I nixed the schedule altogether. Now just gonna go w/ the flow and see how that does?!)
You and Fritz decided to scale back and post whenever you get the vibes, I know myself too much. I need a schedule. If I don’t set some sort of routine it’ll have a decent chance of just falling by the wayside. So for me just scaling it back but still keeping a schedule is probably the best way. Who knows, in the future I might try the “post whenever I have something to say model”, but I’m gonna see how this goes for a while. Thanks for your support dude!
Hi Dave! Good to hear you’ll keep writing! Kudos for re-assessing priorities and doing what’s most important to you. That’s kind of what FIRE is all about, right? 🙂
Cheers!
Julie
Thanks Julie, delighted to have you as a reader!
The view from the other side of the fence: I’m finding less and less FI blogs to follow because everyone seems to be switching to podcasts or YouTube videos, which is not how I consume information. Perhaps we need to start a Dinosaur FIRE club for those of us who want to stick to the written word? I’m glad you will continue to write, even less frequently.
That’s interesting but I think you’re right. The list of those who have stopped is very long, even since 2019. And as Joe at Retire By 40 said in that article I linked to, reading blogs is just less popular because it doesn’t allow for multitasking. As modern life gets faster and faster multitasking is just the norm. I like the “Dinosaur FI” tag, there might be something to that 😉 Thanks for your readership!
The beauty of reaching FI and leaving paid work is that I never have to multi-task ever again. Now THAT is a true measure of wealth!
Amen!
I would definitely join the dinosaur FIRE club! I too don’t consume information the “new” way.
Great call, Dave! I made the same announcement last March, and haven’t regretted it for a second. Life is about priorities, and I’m 100% with you in reducing screen time. Well done!
I’m glad you’re still posting Fritz and like you I’m trying to find that sweet spot of time/work tradeoffs. Thanks for your support all these years!
Dave, Longtime reader. Glad you are doing what you want to do and being FI allows you that flexibility. What I enjoy most about your blog is the TGIF Friday curation. You have fun and interesting and inspirational people and stories in the posts. Please keep them coming!
My TGIF Friday posts have been far more successful than I thought they’d be when I started. Especially the music picks which I get quite a few emails about. So I’m glad to hear you’re a fan and I will continue to do them every other Friday, it’s actually an enjoyable exercise to create. Thanks for your readership Bruce!
Hello! I am grateful for the transparency you write this blog with. It sets the bar high for other bloggers. Although I miss the weekly TGIF (Every other week is still awesome), I understand how priorities shift and celebrate you following yours authentically. It’s an inspiration.
I’ve been consuming fewer FIRE materials as the weight of the world and obligations push me down. I’m squeaking out more time for fun (heading to the Catskills for 3 days next week). But, taking my foot off the gas in my career to do things like that makes FIRE a fantasy at best.
You’re blog is the best place to find helpful information, hear about awesome outdoor adventures, and watch Nature porn 🙂 i’m sure it will continue to be.
I’ll look forward to the articles on the new cadence and hope we’ll hear a little about what this additional free time allows you to do (even if it’s just nap.)
All the best,
Anthony
I also like the suggestion of a Dinosaur FIRE club. I prefer blogs over youtube.
Wow thanks for the wonderful comment and compliments Anthony, I’m grateful you get value out of my blog. And taking your foot off the gas and heading to the Catskills sounds like a wonderful idea to me! I hope to get there this winter for some ice climbing, I love it there! Have fun!
You feel like an old friend though we haven’t met in person. Sounds like a smart move to me. You just can’t let those active hobbies get squeezed out. Fitness makes such a difference as you get older. A lot of our friends are unable to do anything active because they stopped moving years ago. Not us!
Hah, yeah it’s crazy how you feel like you can know someone from just reading their blog and exchanging comments. But almost half a million words will eventually bring out a person’s personality, as long as they’re being authentic and not just publishing clickbait and listicles. You and I know the secret to happiness is movement and fitness and I know you’re out there getting at it too – keep it up Steve. Age might eventually get us at some point way in the future, but we’re gonna give it a run for it’s money and have a great healthspan – cheers!
Good for you, Dave. I think we could all stand to reevaluate our time in front of screens and how much value we get from it. I’ve been reading your work since you started and I’m glad you’re still going to be blogging. You bring a great perspective to the FI world. I’d be all for a Dinosaur FI club as well! I much prefer the written word to podcasts and videos. But I realize I’m often more of an analog living in a digital world.
Thanks for being another long time reader LC and wow, looks like the Dinosaur Fi club is gaining momentum!
It’s good to know more veteran blogs than mine are experiencing some loss of readership, I guess video apps and social media apps have gradually chipped away at people’s attention span and reading an article is too much, no matter if they may be of greater value. A lot of good magazines like Money don’t even print anymore.
Funny enough my last post was about slowing down on the blog and doing monthly updates instead, like you I need a schedule and routine.
Thanks for the posts and look forward to continuing to read/support it!
Tons of things are chipping away at people’s attention and as time goes by I think blogs will continue to decline in popularity, but they’ll never go away. If we ever get to a point where people don’t want to read at all then we’re at the end of times. Good luck with your new schedule and thanks for being a reader Gary!
Good for you man! I hear you on testing out a less demanding schedule vs. just doing it when you feel like it. For me, I notice I feel good after writing, but will rarely do it if I just wait for the right “feels”. Having a schedule, even if it’s not super hardcore, seems to be a nice balance for me. Hope it works for you!
Looking forward to whatever you choose to write in the future.
There’s something to be said about routine and schedules. Some things like exercise I’ve made so routine that it’s like breathing, but others like blogging I’ll have to keep a deadline. Thanks for your readership JSD!
sounds like a plan, man. like you mention. i write the blog for you and about 10 other people who have interacted regularly over the years. i look forward to your next adventure when you finally pull the plug on work. we’ll see who gets there first!
You are one of those loyal few my friend.. and I do not want to be in a race, haha!
Please do what makes you happy. I’ll keep reading your post since it makes me happy. Quality over quantity works.
Thank so much Phillip for your readership!
Enjoy reading your blogs.
Thank you very much Linda!
I enjoy your blog and also completely get how you feel. Between wanting to be outdoors more, work-camping, travel days and all of my hobbies since retiring it’s hard to find time for our blog sometimes. But our top priority is enjoying life so the blog often takes a back seat.
“work camping”… love it! I hear ya, camping and being outdoors is best done while NOT looking at a lit up screen. Thanks for being a reader, I appreciate it!
Hi Dave. I love this idea for you…and for me as a reader of your rich and enjoyable blog. While I know the prevailing advice is that you have to post consistently and often, there’s so much competing for our attention nowadays that I find that I more often read the blogs that post LESS often. I also want to appreciate how truly wonder-full it feels from a reader’s perspective that you take the time to engage with your audience in the comments.
Enjoy the extra time for yourself and I’ll look forward to hearing from you on the updated, reduced schedule!
Damon
Interesting that you say you read more of those who post less frequently. Maybe my numbers will go up when I do this, ha! As for replying to comments, if someone is going to take time out of their day to not only read my ramblings but comment, that’s not to be taken lightly to me. I try to see that from 20 thousand feet – we’re all busy and someone’s time is valuable. Now if I started getting 100 comments per post I think I’d have to pick and choose, but the amount of comments I get is manageable and I appreciate them! Thanks for reading!
Enjoy the outdoors! I have the same reminder from my body to get out more as well, so I partially understand. 🙂
Yep, our bodies are good at letting us know what they need, we need to listen. Thanks Pete!
Time to speak up a little on this blog, being a loyal reader since 2018 and never dropping any comment. Thanks Dave for all those well-written articles that keep me on my path to validate my life decisions.
I also see the trend towards portals like Instagram, YouTube and so on but I still like reading blogs, especially yours. This is because I can relate well to your situation since I’m also on my journey to FI and trying to spend as much time outdoors (hiking, MTB, roadbike) as possible.
So thanks for the transparency, keep up the great work!
Just a little idea for every other week: You could re-engage your older articles by pushing random ones to the top of the list. For transparency, mark them with “Archive” or the actual publishing date. Your loyal readers would probably read those again. Sometimes it’s good to be reminded about stuff you have already written in the past.
Wow first off THANKS for being a longtime reader, I appreciate it. And also sounds like you’re a bigtime cyclist so that automatically makes you cool 🙂 As for republishing old articles, yes it could be done but I’d have to do some technical back-end blog work to make it happen. When I started I made the mistake of using the default WordPress format of the date being in the url and that makes it difficult. There is a fix for that but it requires coding and gets geeky. I might get around to it one day. Thanks for sticking with me and keep the rubber side down!
Even better when we can see in the URL that it was published in the past so it’s just a matter of changing the order of articles on the startpage. I saw something similar on a popular German satire magazine: https://www.der-postillon.com/search
You won’t understand the articles but when you hover the titles you’ll see URLs from the past. He is tagging those articles with “(Archive)” on the startpage. Maybe he is just using an incremental number for sorting the articles and just ramping up the ones he wants to push.
It’s just an idea to keep the audience (us) engaged while you step back a little, which I can totally understand. Also most of the important things are told anyway.
There’s probably a WP extension or add-on to help with this and it’s something I’ll definitely consider. Thanks for the example and the idea!
I’ve been a loyal reader for 3 or 4 years, and I’m happy you’re only stepping back and not quitting. This is one of my favourite of these finance blogs, partly because you’re not all about growing readership to monetize your SEO or whatever. Quality over quantity will keep me coming back. Thanks!
Thanks so much Phronk, I too do not like SEO-focused blogs and I think most folks would say the same. But they do work to get clicks and they’re everywhere. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Our lives grow and evolve and ebb and flow, why shouldn’t a blog?
I’m glad you will still be writing, i enjoy your work… Count me in for Dinosaur FI – I’d much rather read than listen.
On FI blog readership declining in general, I think one of the things to consider is that if people really do get into FI, you hit a point where you’ve read all the theory and ‘how to’ stuff and hopefully get into good habits. And then it’s just time, whilst things compound and by then you’re probably beyond the initial reading frenzy of discovery.
One of the reasons I like your blog is the glimpses of how you live that journey – it’s a serial autobiography – and I never know what little gem will resonate.
Best wishes with your new cadence and thanks for letting us all know!
(and gorgeous photo from your run!)
Your point about FI blogs is a good one, but the counter to that would be that there should be a fresh new crop of folks always discovering them and discovering FI. With the markets down and inflation high I think that fresh influx has been reduced drastically, so that means less readership. It’ll be interesting to see when the markets start rebounding and the bull comes back if FI blogs start taking off again. I’m thinking they might. Stoked to hear you find some gems in my writing Wendy, thanks for your readership!
I agree that readers are probably turning their backs to FI blogs after reading all the theory, but speaking for myself I still like to continue reading about it, as I’m not surrounded by FI people and don’t want to be influenced by them 😉
Hey, I’ve been reading your blog for at least a year or two now. I’m an avid cyclist, runner, and pursuer of FI so this blog resonates with me. I really enjoy your posts that relate to cycling so if it’s not too much to ask, could you let us know what you’re up to as far as training or racing goes once in a while?
I’ve had a “Now” page for a long time and update it every month or so, sometimes I forget. The intent of the page is to briefly explain what kinds of stuff I’m up to , well, now. And for a while I tried doing updates like that on Instagram but it’s fallen by the wayside. I go in and out with Insta as I generally don’t like social media so sometimes it seems a chore. I appreciate you wanting to know and of course for reading my blog Danger. I was considering doing a recap post of ’22 regarding my outdoor life but I want to try to find a link to Fi as I always do, so I’ll work on that idea. Cheers!
Oh cool I’ll have to check out the Now link. I’m got a long layover at the airport tomorrow so I’ll take a look then.
I consider fitness/health to be an integral part of FI. My three pillars of most important things are family/friends, time, and health. Time and good health are limited resources and I want as much of them as I can get. FI gets us more time to increase our fitness and hang out with family and friends. Hopefully you can think of a way to link FI and your outdoor adventures. To me it seems like there’s a lot of ways to do it. Narrowing it down to the size of a blog post is the hard part. FI = more life experiences.
More free time = more fitness time = better life. Simple equation 🙂
Happy New Year Dave! As you know I’ve been a tad AWOL for the past 90 days for kinda the same reasons as needing a break and prioritizing other things, so good on you for scaling back a bit and focusing on other priorities. While I’ll formally announce it, I’m going down to monthly posts this year. In any event, you’ve done a yeoman’s job at producing among the best articles consistently in the community, so you’ve more than earned to scale back a tad bit!
I’m now back engaged here with the gang and Twitter so looking forward to all the new stuff while still catching up on what I missed in Q4
Duuude happy new year to you as well and hope it’s started out good for ya. Funny that you too decided to back off the blog at the same time. I sincerely appreciate the compliment and have been stoked to have you as a reader – and also stoked to see you re-appear. Let’s make ’23 all killer no filler!
Another loyal long time reader here. Also a government worker who works a reduced schedule and it’s nice to know others are out there. I appreciate the great content and am thankful for the TGIF posts with content outside of my normal perusal of articles. Best of luck
Thanks for reading Jackie and congrats to you for scaling back to enjoy life more. Really glad you like my TGIF posts and they will continue. Cheers!
I totally get it Dave! I’m just glad you didn’t say you were throwing in the towel! I appreciate your stuff, hate that your readership has gone down, people don’t always realize a good thing. Keep it up, I’ll still be tuning in! Thanks!!
Thanks for the kind words Jim and for being a reader, I appreciate it!
Totally understand why you’re slowing down a little Dave! The time investment is huge, and readership really isn’t growing.
Perhaps it has something to do with a slumping stock market? Who knows! Anyway, I’m still here, and will keep reading your posts as long as your writing!
Thanks!
Thanks for your support over the years dude, it’s appreciated!
Life is all about adapting and rolling with the turns. You have said it before, you only have one life, make the best of it. I always enjoyed your writings whether it is two posts a week or one post a week. Enjoy the outdoors!
I’m now singing “Roll With The Changes” by Reo Speedwagon in my head – great song! Thanks for the comment and your readership!
DAVE!!!
Totally understand. I’ve been seeing a lot of other bloggers dwindling their blogs after 3 – 5 years and it makes sense. As a relatively newish blogger on my 3rd year, that does scare me a little if all my effort is for nothing… 🙁 but in either case, I’m glad you’re not completely stepping away!!
Your blog was definitely helpful and I’m sure it helped thousands of lives along the way.
Let’s keep FIREing on!
A lot of bloggers have just quietly stopped. I get it, it’s hard and takes time. And when you see a shrinking audience as most surely did, it makes it super tough to get motivated. Thanks for the kind worlds and keep going!
Long time reader, appreciate all your hard work and content mate. I think it’s great that you recognise this and step back to focus on your life. Will be checking back every other Tuesday 😉
Thanks Captain Fi, I appreciate it!
I came to your blog after reading your upbeat comments on Freddy and Joe’s blog. Great writing and now that I’m retired, I particularly like your Friday posts as I have the time to explore your music and books recs. The beauty of time = exploring new things! Thank you for great posts.
Freddy and Joe are good blog friends and I’ve even met Freddy in person, glad you found me and any reader of those guys is a friend of mine 🙂 Thanks for the kind words!