Hey everyone, today I have an interesting guest post on the blog! When Andrea @ Little Red Reviewer tweeted a mysterious tweet in what was probably November about a secret project of hers, I caved and asked for more info – I am truly a cat, what with my curiosity. And so I’ve been sitting on this little secret ever since! Now I’m finally allowed to tell you, and I think it’s very exciting! Because it will serve as a great motivator to all of us. It’s that Little Red Reviewer is releasing A PRINT BOOK of HER BEST REVIEWS! (And here’s the Kickstarter.) How awesome is that? There’s just something absolutely magical about our fangirling about books hard work becoming an actual print book – it’s like making a full circle. I can’t quite describe the spark, but I’m sure you know what I mean.

So because Andrea needs to somehow deal with and express her own excitement at this project, she’s been doing a lot of work – writing guest posts, doing interviews and such – all related to her kickstarter. I’ve invited her here today to talk about a topic that’s important to us all – a topic that’s especially relevant now, when we’re all making our 2019 resolutions. And it’s about… being an organized blogger. Or being a little too organized and stressing ourselves out. Ring any bells?

I relinquish the stage for Andrea @ Little Red Reviewer!

Hey, book bloggers, let’s play two truths and a lie. You know, the game where I tell you three things about myself, two of them are true, and one of them is a lie, and you have to guess which one is a lie.

Here we go:

1. I’ve been blogging at Little Red Reviewer since 2010
2. I’m over the moon about my Kickstarter for a print copy of The Best of Little Red Reviewer, a print book that showcases my best work
3. I’m super organized

Which one is a lie? Well, I know the first two are true! So that leaves number three. Which is the biggest lie I’ve ever told. I’m the least organized person I’ve ever met. My bookshelves aren’t organized, my closet isn’t organized, my e-mail isn’t organized. And don’t tell my boss this, but my desk at work isn’t organized very well either.

So how have I kept a book blog going all this time, and not been organized? Don’t get me wrong, I love all the blogging organizer tools out there, the calendars, the idea that with enough planning and enough willpower, you can be the bloggiest blog that ever blogged! Those things are really neat! They just aren’t for me.

I got a secret for you:
You don’t have to be organized to be amazing book blogger.

A GIF of Marilyn Monroe, shrugging and smiling

Got five or ten books in your TBR? You don’t have to read them in the order they came into your house, you don’t even have to read those specific five or ten books if you don’t want to.

I’m loving this meme that’s trendy right now, where people are slowly clearing out their Goodreads “Books I want to read” list. Good for you for decluttering a virtual list! Big secret? You can just delete the entire list if you want to.

I’m a little obsessed with 2009 movie Up in the Air, which starred George Clooney and Anna Kendrick. Clooney plays this guy who makes his living as a motivational speaker, and on the side he is an HR downsizing consultant (fancy word for he helps your company lay people off.) In his motivational talks, he talks about “what’s in your backpack”? What are all the things that are weighing you down, and why are you letting them weight you down? Just take them out of your backpack, so they aren’t weighing you down. His characters takes his own advice way, way too far, but still, it’s an interesting idea. (Up in the Air is a great movie I highly recommend, especially if you were a fan of Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada. I even wrote a blog post about this!)

All the things we kept getting told that we have to do, to be a successful blogger? All the ways in which we are supposed to be organized so we can be successful? The need to post more content more often than someone else, or get more ARCs, or write more book reviews? I took those things out of my backpack a long time ago.

All the things we keep getting told we have to do to be successful #bookbloggers? Being organized, posting more content, getting more ARCs? @redhead5318 has taken those out of her 'backpack' a long time ago. Read her guest post… Click To Tweet

Blogging for me is a little like doing yoga. I’m only competing with myself.

Writing a book review is like taking a 1200 word photograph. How am I feeling about the book, right this second? If I am a mirror, how am I reflecting my experience of the book? If the book is a mirror, what image of the world, of me, of my experience, is the book reflecting?

I guess what I’m saying is don’t worry so much about if you are organized enough, or organized in the right way. Blogging is a journey, not a destination.

Thank you, Andrea, for the post! I must say, I could use Andrea’s advice – although for me, being organized is the way to stay sane, because otherwise I start panicking and feel insecure. People are different. So maybe planning and organizing everything is also what makes you feel better about things like it does for me, but we can still use Andrea’s advice – and stop stressing out about it when we fail to stay true to our plans (cause let’s face it, it happens a lot! At least for me.) Make your plans, but don’t eat yourself up about not posting enough, not having enough views or follows this month. Don’t become your hobby’s hobby! You are the driver of this vehicle – not your blog, not your views, not your responsibilities. And nobody should be able to tell you how much or how little you need to be organized about your blog – not even your peers or trends!

And on a side note, you can stalk Andrea’s Kickstarter progress here:

How important is it for you to be organized in your blogging? Do you stress out about it? Or do you let it go, when you plan but sometimes fail, because real life happens? Or maybe you don’t plan at all?