Why am I getting worse?

I read books. I watch videos. I spend an inordinate amount of time on chess (my poor girlfriend would agree), and not only am I not improving, but I'm actually getting worse. In the past two days, I've dropped almost 300 points in 5 minute blitz. I'm seriously considering just quitting. I love the game, but it's frustrating beyond belief to work so hard at something and see no progress, to see the opposite of progress in fact. Any advice?

Play slow chess to improve, and then transfer those skills to Blitz.

How do you expect to improve if you don't give yourself time to think?

True.  Trying to get better at blitz by just playing blitz is very difficult, better to play rapid and improve there.  Once you've improved your game of chess, then try playing it in blitz.  Get an opening down that you know how to play well, and with some middlegame study you can breeze through pretty easily.  A killer for people who want to play blitz often is that they spend too long trying to think of a move.  You have to have some idea of what move you want to play before your opponent even makes theirs to keep up.  That should gain you the time you need to make critical decisions when you really need to spend time thinking of them.

Blueemu has a good point. You develop your calculating and thinking skills in slower chess. Then you can use these skills in quick chess. This isn't the whole story. of course, but it will help

you have strong empathy.. what's your zodiac sign? pisces?

it looks like youre burning yourself out. just today you've played like 20 games (Im guilty of this too tbh). just take a few days off and when you come back dont think about your rating, just concentrate on playing good chess. 

IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO GET BETTER YOU WILL NOT PLAY 5 MINUITE BLITZ AND INSTEAD FIND OUT WHAT MISTAKES YOU MAKE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

PS YOUR GIRL FRIEND IS MORE IMP;ORTANT THAN YOUR BAD HABITS AT CJHESS.

Wow! Thanks for the feedback and suggestions everyone. It's true that I may be burning myself out. I get frustrated and keep playing when I'm probably not in the mindset to do so. From now on, I think that I'll play longer games. I think I'll also take a little break from chess for a few days and come back to it when I'm not so annoyed and frustrated.

Others have mentioned tilt and it seems to be an important factor in your particular case, but I'll give you some rating specific advice.

Something that's really important at your level is simple tactics. You shouldn't be too concerned with books at this point, but rating appropiate videos can help quite a bit. Ben Finegold is amazing for all levels, and once you're at the more intermediate phase there's this great playlist called "Road to 2000".

So practice your tactics and your rating will skyrocket.

you are being milked. few suspect the care with which theses ratings, so-called, reflect a strategy to gather money. across the gaming world the accummulation of massive data sets have soon the proper course to addict, then convert that addiction into the almighty dollar. frustration is a key component, and for the chess lover, that means crippling the ability to rationally assess the implausibles in one's play, psychology, and opponents. i personally am tired of seeing my opponent's clock run in reverse at critical junctures, or noting full minutes drop from my time. i looked at statistics of my play, and the time loss is the most frequent single factor -- and i'm not talking about being playing slow, i'm referring to milli-second losses.  i recommend directing your loyalty to sites not so greedy, cuz, in the words of joe-of-the-he-who-blows-knows, chess.com is a pile of manure  

No advice to give... but some cold facts. All players reach a plateau. Perhaps you are close to yours? In any event- it’s apparent a rating is the primary motivation. Why not just quit now ? Get it over with and save the time and energy. Seriously. 

Take a break. You're probably burnt out, it happens.

Before going into 5 minutes blitz games you must have a good grasp of openings/book moves /early strategies/piece development/traps used from youtube videos by average players etc.If you like fast games 10 minutes is the minimum at the lower level of rating.Don't get disheartened.Me eligible for a rating of at least 1850 in rapid is struggling at 1650 odd rating due to massive engine use here.But since rating points increase is not my out look and ambition not much problem in that.Stopped playing 5 minutes blitz now due to this same reason.

What is book? it doesn't work as long you not increasing your instinct. Just try a simple and experiment yourself, we are not professional bro, not even trained... You just need a good day to play chess, same as you gain/tilt in Dota

When one is in losing streak, it calls for a break. Take a few days break from chess.

Dear MrDeCesare,

I am a certified, full-time chess coach and International Master, so I have seen it and tried it all.
There are so many ways to get better and I know it can be overwhelming.
You can learn from free videos on youtube, there are books at your disposal that can all help, but they are not tailored to your needs.

One of the most important things you can do is to analyze your games! You must learn from your mistakes! That is a priority. You can't really move on to a new, different topic and learn new ideas if you still make the same mistakes over and over again!

This is where a chess coach comes into the picture. A good coach can show you how to study, what to study, gives you the material YOU need. Naturally, it takes time to use everything in practice, but if you are relentless and persistent you will succeed!
You should learn the main principles in every area of the game (opening, middlegame, endgame).  Don't focus on only one part! You should improve your tactical vision as well as it is part of all areas!  
This how I built my training program for my students. We discuss more than one topic during a lesson so it's always interesting and they can improve constantly. I give homework too and the right tools to make practicing enjoyable and effective!
Don't worry about your rating and the ups and downs! Just keep on playing and practicing!

I hope this helps.  I wish you good games and 100+ extra ratings