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FacebookNY Times Article Suggests Effects of Blogging = Weight Loss/Gain, Sleep Disorder, Exhaustion, Heart Disease, and Nervous Breakdown
April 6th, 2008 | Posted in Blogging 31 Comments »
One of my readers sent me a link to today’s New York Times article on blogging titled “In Web World of 24/7 Stress, Writers Blog Til They Drop.”
I find it touching that someone would think of me while reading the article. 
Actually, I read a sneak peak of the article in yesterday’s Blog Herald. It made me think hard about how much I’ve been posting lately.
Here are a few excerpts from the article:
Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.
Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as the Internet.
…
“I haven’t died yet,” said Michael Arrington, the founder and co-editor of TechCrunch, a popular technology blog. The site has brought in millions in advertising revenue, but there has been a hefty cost. Mr. Arrington says he has gained 30 pounds in the last three years, developed a severe sleeping disorder and turned his home into an office for him and four employees. “At some point, I’ll have a nervous breakdown and be admitted to the hospital, or something else will happen.”
“This is not sustainable,” he said.
The article exposes the negative physical effects of blogging not often mentioned — sleep disorders, weight loss/gain, nervous breakdown, and heart disease. In the addictive drive to write more and more posts, the blogger often embraces an unhealthy physical lifestyle.
My Response
If I didn’t have blogging and podcasting as my hobbies, I would probably lead a more active lifestyle, would go to sleep earlier, and might be more productive in all my other endeavors.
Anytime that any hobby, be it blogging or basketball, begins to hinder your health, stop posting/playing so much. Unless you’re making a living from it, no hobby should detract from your mental/social/physical health.
On the other hand, blogging and podcasting energizes me and makes me enthusiastic about life and my career. Since my wife also blogs, our blogs have given us a lot to talk about.
Blogging gives me a sounding board and a space to publish my thoughts. The rewards of blogging are numerous — interacting with others, engaging in exchanges about the latest trends, thinking analytically about the day’s events. It makes life a lot more engaging.
Most of all, blogging gives me a space to write and allows me to express the creative side of me that is often left dormant during the day with technical writing.
A Solution?
How can one put aside the negative effects of blogging? I’m not a model example of what I’ll recommend, but here are 5 tips I’m trying to implement:
- Do the most important things first. Whatever your priorities are, make sure you do them before you begin blogging. This is a principle, I think, common to Getting Things Done and Covey’s 7 Habits. If you have a goal to track your budget, get exercise, clean your house, read scriptures, play with your kids, or finish a project, make sure you do that before you start typing that post. You may find that, after finishing what’s important, you lose the energy to write the post. It works the other way too: if you expend energy to write a post at the neglect of what’s more important, you lose energy to do what’s important. Don’t let your priorities get out of whack.
- Always give priority to sleep rather than your blog. If it’s past your regular bedtime, click Save and return to the post later. It’s always good to give yourself 24 hours of space between writing a post and publishing it anyway. I guarantee that a post written and published in haste late at night often turns into a regret the next morning.
- Make your posts shorter. More and more I’m convinced that long posts aren’t read. I find myself timing out on most blogs after 1.5 minutes, which matches my own readers’ habits as well. If you have a long post, break it up into several posts. Or start alternating long posts with short ones. This method still keeps you in the rhythm of writing without compromising your physical health.
- Listen to podcasts while you exercise. If you’re so addicted to blogging and podcasting that you can’t lift yourself from the computer chair to get some exercise, start listening to podcasts while you exercise. You’ll still feel like you’re immersed in Web 2.0, and while listening you’ll also be generating ideas for new blog posts.
- Make other activities more blog-like. Let’s say you have a goal to read the scriptures each day, or to track your eating habits each day. You can give each of these activities a blog-like spin. For scriptures, I have a Ning group I created that automatically posts a chapter a day. I add my comments below the chapter/post, and friends I’ve invited sometimes participate. With weight loss, you could use SparkPeople, which includes online calorie counters, teams, daily posts, and other interactive features, to make it feel like you’re engaged in blog-like activity.
Do you have any tips to avoid the physical dark side of blogging?
Tags: New York Times, Ning, SparkPeople, the Blog Herald
Home Business Blogwrote an interesting post today on Here’s a quick excerpt Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies … what I’ll recommend, but here are 5 tips I’m
Evanwrote an interesting post today on Here’s a quick excerpt Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as
dlendewrote an interesting post today on Here’s a quick excerpt Other bloggers complain of weight loss or gain, sleep disorders, exhaustion and other maladies born of the nonstop strain of producing for a news and information cycle that is as always-on as
For scriptures, I have a Ning group I created that automatically posts a chapter a day. I add my comments below the chapter/post, and friends I’ve invited sometimes participate. With weight loss, you could use SparkPeople, … VisitNY Times Article Suggests Effects of Blogging = Weight Loss/Gain …for more information.
Newbie Saying Hey! - Apr 6, 2008 Do I have an eating disorder? - Apr 6, 2008NY Times Article Suggests Effects of Blogging = Weight Loss/Gain … - Apr 6, 2008
Original post:NY Times Article Suggests Effects of Blogging = Weight Loss/Gain …by at Google Blog Search: online weight loss product Blog tag: Online weight loss product Technorati tag: Online weight loss product
Tom, great post. Your tips are dead on. After having some health problem in December too, nothing as serious as described in the NYT article, but I can definitely attribute it to excessive online work.
Trying to manage multiple blogs, multiple jobs, and of course completely ignoring my body, it broke down. It was my own fault and I was very lucky.
Here’s what I did. The same week I had a wake up call, I reduced my workload by about 70%. I simply turned things off, unplugged devices and started taking care of my body.
It was actually quiet liberating. For a while I just didn’t want to know what was happening on the web. I didn’t post on my blog, I didn’t turn on Twitter or check any of the other social networks.
This post made me think that I’m starting to veer off the path some. It’s time for some reflection. In the end, the most important thing you can do (and you advise) is set your priorities.
Thom Allen’s last blog post..NASCAR Crash Demonstrates Focus On Safety
Thom, I definitely agree with you about setting priorities. Tonight I made a priority chart that looks something like this:
1. 11 p.m.? Go to bed.
2. Read scriptures.
3. Put away laundry.
4. Get exercise.
5. Blog.
The idea is, I can’t do #5 until I’ve completed numbers 1 through 4. I have no idea if it will work, but it’s my attempt to set my priorities straight.
Is it blogging itself, or what drives people to blog that cause these problems? People like Malik, Arrington, and the late Russell Shaw seem to strive to be on top of everything, all of the time. I get the impression that if they don’t get the story first, they’ll have viewed themselves as having failed. Their readership may or may not fall off, and their revenues may or may not fall off.
It seems to me to be more of a driven, workaholic lifestyle that contributes to the health problems of some bloggers. Not taking care of yourself when you’re living that kind of life doesn’t help, either — Om Malik, for example, was a heavy smoker before his heart.
Still, you did offer some excellent tips to help negate the bad effects of blogging. In fact, those tips can be applied to just about any job.
I admire people who take the time or make the effort to reflect on their lives and priorities. Stephen Covey calls these Quadrant 2 activities: Important / Not Urgent. I have noticed that moderation is often a key ingredient to a happy fulfilling life. I have also noticed, that great success is born of passion for an idea or activity. The key is to find the balance point (which is constantly changing) and decide who you are going to spend your time.
I’ve actually been losing weight since I started writing/blogging more. What has helped me is to get up every hour and move my body. I have a treadmill in my office and I’ll usually spend a few minutes every hour at full speed. I also ride my bike to coffee shops around town to get my heart pumping.
You are also spot on with the sleep. Our bodies really do get worn out from “thinking” so much, so it is important to sleep enough to replenish.
Not to sound morbid…but what happens to a popular blog when someone actually does pass on?
@Scott, I agree that blogging isn’t the culprit. It’s like some drug that changes peoples behavior. It’s a desire to stay connected 24/7, whether you’re writing or reading.
I know for me a lot of it was poor sleep routine, poor eating and sitting for extended periods of time. But all of that was a choice, not a requirement. And yes my work habits played a big part. Being connected all the time it was very easy to stay connected even after I had put in a full days work.
@Thom, this isn’t unique to blogging. The Japanese have a word for it: karoshi, meaning death by overwork. And, as you pointed out, by poor eating and lack of quality sleep. It can happen in any line of work.
[...] At least I’m not damaging my marriage: I am lucky (or not) to have blogging in common with Dick. But we have adopted a new priority plan. Basically we have to do 7 million things before we can [...]
Unless you’re making a living from it, no hobby should detract from your mental/social/physical health.
I know I said this when we were talking last night, but I was kidding. Even if you’re well-paid, your health should take precedence, right? But maybe then we wouldn’t have police officers, ER doctors, judges, soldiers, wardens?
Jane | What About Mom?’s last blog post..Giveaways: Cookie Kits, TurboTax, Mother’s Day loot, SEATTLE, oh, and blogging could kill you
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Blogging is just like any other happy out there that doesn’t require activity….. fun for a while, but you will eventually need to mix in some exercise otherwise you’ll end up as a chubby mess.
Free Trialss last blog post..Wu-Yi Tea Easy Weight Loss Tea
I blog about weight loss which helps to inspre me to get up and do some exercise!
Losing Weight and Getting Healthys last blog post..Huge Weight Gain
Hi thom,
Great post there! I didn’t know that we can suffer heart attack if we are too engrossed with blogging..
Come to think of it, I feel more lethargic everyday and its hard to get to sleep early..
Ohh man.. I guess I have to get my priorities right first. Need to start exercising again!
I better watch out all my blogging about weight loss is gonna make me fat lol. How ironic.
Quick Weight Loss Tips & Reviewss last blog post..Quick Weight Loss Tips on eHow
You would be surprised, but one thing that can easily sabotage your weight loss goals the lack of sleep !
When you get too little sleep, your body is under stress. This triggers the production of two hormones that can cause issues for those trying to lose weight : adrenaline and cortisol.
Problem is when your body is under emotional or physical stress such as what happens when you don’t get enough rest, these hormones are released when they are really not necessary. This imbalance can have an impact on your eating habits and as consequence, disturb your diet.
Although I spend a significant amount of time in front of a computer I make it a priority to take breaks throughout the day (and night!). Just getting up to stretch, going for a walk, and doing something that doesn’t involve a computer helps to alleviate the feeling of exhaustion. I would also recommend getting rid of the sugary coffee and donuts and switch to some healthy snacks (figs, fresh fruit, muesli and antioxidant rich green tea)
It’s easy to slip up and not exercise when you get obsessed with writing. It’s really easy to get lost in your work and forget about eating then over eating because you’re starving. Even worse when you’re writing about weight loss telling people to eat 5-6 times a day.
It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re really into something. Before you know it you forgot to eat or it’s already 4am. It’s always good to have someone you love give you little reminders so you don’t forget.
Nice post buddy, couldn’t agree more. Weight loss is all about three simple things, mindset, diet and exercise
Very nice information. Thanks for this.
I do blog about staying healthy and wealthy and so I am very conscious about my own health and so am a regular exerciser…..blogging or no blogging
Hi. I read a few of your other posts and wanted to know if you would be interested in exchanging blogroll links?
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Good Info I’d Like to know how many of you here have lost / gained weight due to blogging.as far as i’m concerned I haveen’t neither gained or lost weight due to blogging as I maintain a healthy lifestyle which includes exercises and Good food etc
Raja
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