Hey guys, this is D.J. Lewis here representing one-half of D&A Anime Blog! It’s been awhile since I’ve done this little personal segment of mine, and although A. Goldman and I talk about anime, manga, classic gaming reviews and more on our blog, we want to give you guys (the fans) a behind-the-scenes look and what we do outside of the blog.

For instance, this year I plan on taking the next step in my journey to becoming a DJ/Producer. So far I’ve already got my brand name, as well as my first upcoming collaborative music project with musical artist KING SHABAZZ. I actually met him back at Anime USA 2018 and I gotta say, he’s a really cool dude. If you haven’t heard his music you can check him out right here.

Aside from that a lot has changed for me over the last decade or so; like say me turning 30 last November, as well as going through two different job changes and trying to save up to hopefully move out in Summer or Fall 2021. It’s also really awesome that after four years of running the blog with my best friend and partner of 17 years, that things are really starting to go in our favor. Honestly, I never would have even thought about having social media accounts had it not been for the blog, because ten years ago, I sort of didn’t like Facebook or Twitter. I know it doesn’t seem like it but it’s true.

I feel like somewhere in the near future I’m going to write my own book about my life experiences with being on the Autism Spectrum, my passion for music production and anime, and life goals in general. Ten years ago I thought I had it all figured out; I’d graduate college with my Associates Degree, get a job in Information Technology, Post Production or even Tech Support. Sadly it didn’t happen that way, however after going through a handful of retail jobs (each more depressing than the last), it wasn’t until 2018 that I finally figured out what I wanted to do – personally; aside from running this awesome blog with my friend.

For a lot of people this year, 2020 is the starting year for a brand new decade of finding yourself, reinventing yourself, re-imagining possibilities, and leaving old baggage behind. This decade I want to travel more; not just to more cons although that’s part of it, but to experience new things and try new stuff that I’ve never gotten the chance to try before. (Like going to LA for the first time.) Hopefully before this decade is over I’ll find love in my life, and I know she’ll be awesome whoever she may be. As far as where I want to go with DJing (once I get my hands on a controller), I’m just gonna go with the flow – wherever the flow takes me.

That’s my thoughts as a founding member of D&A Anime Blog for now, until next time my friends, stay nerdy! 😉

As a blogger, you find yourself faced with the many trials and struggles that come along with blogging; setting deadlines, consistency, figuring out what content to write about, or even the fact if its relevant or not. Blogging is a 24-hour job. Even when we’re sleeping the internet is always running – ALWAYS! Whatever topic you find yourself writing about you always have to make sure that you stay up to date with whatever the topic is. For us and maybe a few of you out there, it’s anime. With the level of popularity that anime is at now than it was 20 years ago, there is always something to write about. Despite this being the case on our end, we’ve found ourselves suffering from one of the negative aspects of blogging. We have given it the term ‘Blog Burnout’!

Blog Burnout is one of those moments where you find yourself scrambling for content to write about and post; so much so that mental stress kicks in, and you decide to procrastinate more often than you should. Add in the factor that life happens at the drop of a dime and before you know it, it’s been a week since your last post (then small doses of depression kick in). Blog burnout is at its worst when combined with writer’s block, because now your mind is stuck at a dead end and you feel like there’s no way out.

That’s what happened to us in the month of May.

When you find something that you’re passionate about, you do it because it’s something that you love to do. Even if you don’t make a dime off of it you do it because it makes you happy, and quiet as it’s kept it’ll even make some of the people you’re sharing it with happy. That’s one of the reasons why we love blogging about anime; because we find so many cool people who love the same things as we do, and they’re as passionate about what they do and like as we are. So what if people make fun of you for it, its the things you love that makes you, you! As for how to curb blog burnout, here’s some tips:

1. Plan out your posts in advance!

Making a rough draft of what you’re going to write about will save you some time in the long run. Make a spreadsheet on what type of content and topics you’re going to write about, and mark down the days that the posts are going to go out. You can even schedule when the posts are going to hit and even set a time, that way you can take care of whatever ‘adult’ responsibilities you have, and still run your blog.

2. Get plenty of sleep!

This one may be a challenge for many bloggers, as we may find ourselves up past midnight blogging about our topic(s) of choice because that’s the only time where all is quiet with no responsibilities in sight. If you’re a millennial (and most of us who blog are) then you’re probably in your 30’s or probably close to them. You haven’t hit your MLC (Mid-Life Crisis) yet but at the same time you don’t have the same sleep pattern as you did in your teens and 20’s. To make sure you’re at 100% when blogging, it’s a good idea to get plenty of sleep.

3. Collab with somebody on a few posts!

Sometimes its a good idea to find ways to expand your topic of interest to write about, and even though we can do it on our own most of the time, collaborating on a post with a fellow blogger may open up the door to bigger projects and ideas down the road.

Hopefully this post will help any of you who have come up against this at some point and time in your lives. Until our next one, keep your passion alive, and stay nerdy! 🙂