#93 - Should You Begin A (Sleep) Blog?

As a scientist, I collect data.

And some data that I’ve been unintentionally collecting is feedback on my blogs.

People’s feedback has been consistent. They like the blogs, and the fact that they present scientific evidence in an easy-to-read and digestible way.

This feedback is great, because my intention was to bring the sleep science to the people.

Technically, many scientists’ salaries come from tax payers.

Yet, the knowledge scientists produce finds it way into scientific journals. And these scientific studies have ‘paywalls’ - so the public then need to pay publishing companies extra if they wish to read the science.

So it’s been nice to bypass this process - and pass on the knowledge from what my sleep team and collaborators from around the world have learned - straight to you.

But there are other things I have learned from writing blogs, and I’d love to present them here - in the hope that it may inspire some of you to start your own blog.

What It Is To Be Human

In my 20s, a good friend of mine once told me he spent New Year’s Eve visiting patients in hospital. When I asked why, there was something in his answer that stuck with me for decades:

“Everyone has something interesting to tell.”

I’ve found this to be true.

People have gained knowledge throughout their lives. Whether it’s something they’ve learned through their own life experiences, overcoming adversity, their qualifications and/or their work experience.

So it’s likely that many of us have something interesting to tell. Something that other people will find interesting - and possibly learn and benefit from.

Think about what you’ve learned - whether you benefitted or not - and what you would like to tell the world.

If you regularly read my blogs, and other people’s blogs - think about why you do.

Answering these questions may give you insight into your ethos. For example, my ethos is that I make decisions in my life based on evidence. What’s your ethos?

Human

When I began to learn how to write scientific studies, my mentor Professor Leon Lack said:

“In the first paragraph, you want to make a series of statements about the topic. And each sentence should make a single point. But at the end of that paragraph, you should turn things on its head, by starting a sentence with “However, …” And suggest there is something we don’t know. Provide a little mystery to invite the reader to continue reading.”

I didn’t know it at the time, but what Leon was teaching me was to hook my readers in from the beginning.

When you go to write your blog, think about what the ‘hook’ is.

How are you going to get your readers interested in your topic. How you will write something towards the end of the introduction, so it creates a sense of mystery, and your readers want to learn more.

For me, I try to connect to my reader by giving an example from my life or my work. It helps to personalise the blog. In some ways I guess I’m doing this now.

But more than ever, we need to capture the attention of people early on.

For example, let’s have a look at how everyone has some interesting story to tell. Most of you should be able to get to the end of this first story in this beautiful documentary called ‘Human’. This is a terrific example of a ‘hook’.

Competing Demands

On my own journey to spread the science of sleep, I had to do my own experiments with social media.

Do I continue writing these blogs?

Do I start a Youtube channel?

Even though I quit Facebook in 2017, do I need to start building a network there?

Do I get onto Pinterest, or crank up the Instagram posts?

As you may have already experienced when watching the beginning of the Human documentary - your time is precious. So you need to think about how you invest that time to communicate to others what you have learned.

So you can do your own scientific experiments with social media. You can try these various social media outlets. Or you can try and focus on only 1 platform. Whatever you do, collect data. How much feedback to you get?

And stick with this, because you’ll need to collect data over a long time (eg, months).

I’ve heard so much conflicting information about whether someone should write a blog or not. Conflicting information is my ‘bread and butter’. In science, you can get two different studies that report different results. This is why you need to keep collecting data. Thirty studies will tell you more than a dozen studies, and a dozen studies will tell you more than 2 studies.

The point is to collect enough data so you know enough to be confident in your choice.

You Don’t Have To Be A Scientist

Being a scientist is part of my working week - and I love it! I am truly thankful for what I have been taught about interpreting scientific studies.

But I believe most people can also be taught how to do what I do.

It is a shame that currently, our society has become so divisive. This is in part due to 2 things I’ve written about in this blog. What people believe is credible information - and - social media.

But like I said, people can learn scientific principles. Things like reading information from the primary source (ie, the actual scientific study, not just the media commentary on the scientific study); reading multiple sources on the topic (ie, those undertaking my online courses know how much I stress the value of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, right?).

If you understand these scientific principles, you can apply them to your own blog.

It lends credibility to what your saying, and builds trust with your reader.

Conclusions?

For me, just the fact that I know people read these blogs is rewarding. But then I’ve got people (subscribers) who tell me they look forward to reading my blogs. And then some of them believe enough in what they can learn from me that they become members.

And then there’s other people working in the sleep business, who say that they like what I do - and they say this because they’ve gotten to know me through my blogs.

In truth, these blogs have opened doors. Doors that I didn’t even know existed.

It will be hard for you to imagine - but beginning to write your blog now, could open doors for you in the future.

The only favour I ask of you, is to enjoy the process.

• Prof MG

p.s. If this blog inspired you to start your own blog, I’d love to hear it. Go you!