Finding Inspiration for Your Blog Posts

Lately, I've been less than inspired to write posts here. The desire is there--I love having this blog. But I've begun to overthink it. I feel like I constantly have to balance what my readers want to read (that's you!) and what I want to write and how to be genuinely myself in the process.

(Source, as best as I can find)

I was given the opportunity to host the Lifestyle Bloggers (#lbloggers) chat this week, which is every Wednesday from 2-3 pm EST. I choose the topic "finding inspiration for your blog posts". Over the course of the hour, we discussed how to find inspiration, what to do when you're in a rut, getting inspired from blogs and visual sites like Tumblr and Pinterest. All in all, these ladies (and a couple gents) had some wonderful advice that I just have to share with you. 

(I've credited where possible, but do know that I didn't favorite every tweet and don't remember who tweeted everything.)

On being in a rut:

+ "Take a break, forcing a post doesn't work for me. I carry a notebook & jot ideas down." -@daintyandivory

+ "Get out and do something! Leave the computer and choose to do something you love or something new." -@appreciate_day

+ "Sometimes taking a week off blogging doesn't hurt, so you get new energy and ideas." -@VitaPre

+ "Go for a walk. Listen to old music. Make ice cream. Play guitar. Write a story. Call a friend. Sit in silence." -@serpentineshore

+ "My cure for writer's block is no TV, iPad or phone after 9:30 pm, have bath and read a book in bed. You have to switch off." -@thedemongin

+ "I also recommend taking trips to your local library/museum/gallery: get out. get inspired." -@serpentineshore

On finding inspiration:

+ "My inspirations are always visual. I rarely have the patience to go through a lot of text." -@sarmistha_lbf

+  "Don't just follow trends or do what other big bloggers are doing - forge your own path + create your own niche." -@serpentineshore

+ "If I blog about something I'm already passionate about, the inspiration just flows." -@poppybird_

+ "I think people watching is a great place to get inspiration. We're all so different! :)" -@WhimsicalMrsW

+ "Definitely Pinterest! There are lots of great pictures and ideas on there, especially for food!" -@effievanity

+ And my own personal trick: try to come up with 3-4 ideas for each of your topics in under two minutes. It doesn't matter if they're garbage! I feel like this takes the pressure off of coming up with the most perfect blog post idea ever while allowing me to be creative.

It's not to late to pitch in! How do you find inspiration or get yourself out of a blogging rut?