As a blogger I sometimes get sidetracked by by the very tools that improve and prove my work. I know I’m not the only one. Giving attention to these tools is very important to the growth of your blog, but it can slow it’s growth as well.

So what tools am I talking about? Let me give you a breakdown of my tooling destarctions.

Blogging Networks

Site Like MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog have given me a bit of an edge. I would not be the blogger I am today without them. It’s really fun communicating with other bloggers. But they are also a distraction to my blogging routine.

Statistic Sites

It’s not hard to become obsessive with these tools. I use Google Analytics, Google Webmater Tools & Technorati. I have spent hours a day analyzing the death out of my statistics. The truth be told I really don’t need to spend this much time on them.

Social Networking Sites

Sites like MySpace & FaceBook have never really been a problem for me but I know it is for many people.

Ranking Sites

Sites like Alexa, Technorati rank and Google PR; Checking my ranking like a day trader checks his stocks is not healthy.

Social Bookmarking Sites

You know these Digg, Stumble Upon.. Oh what an easy side track for me.

Blogs & Feeds

Between Bloglines and and Probloggers blog’s ( Darren Rowse, Yaro Starak ….) I spend way to much of my time everyday.

The Challenge

This comming week I am going to force myself to blog! I am going to take a step back from as many of the activities above and just blog as much high quality content that I can muster. Please don’t get the wrong idea all the above activities are very important to varing degrese, but I have to take a step back to improve and enjoy my craft.

Join Me

If you find that your blogging is suffering from one or more of the tools I mentioned above I invite you to join me in my quest for one week. At the end of the week I know that my work well bare fruit and I well find my placement within the community even stronger. With any luck I’ll be able to better manage my time when I prove to myself I don’t need an eagle eye on my stats.

What slows you down? I would love to hear your comments on this subject. Feel free to share how your quest on this challenge works for you.

Categories: Blogging
Tags: Blogging, Blogging Networks, Social Bookmarking Sites, Social Networking Sites, stats