Struggling to keep up with all of the responsibilities involved with blogging? Here are 4 simple ideas to implement:
1. Blog When Most People Are Offline
I’ve done this during many seasons of life — and it’s something I still try to practice today. I’ve found that many more people are online in the mornings, but fewer people are online early in the mornings, early afternoons/later afternoons, in the late evenings, and on Saturdays. So I try to plan my blogging and computer times around when more people are offline.
This eliminates distractions and allows me to work more efficiently and effectively because I’m not getting as many emails and there aren’t as many comments or social media responses coming in. For instance, I set aside a block of time on Friday or Saturday to go through my To Answer Later emails. I could do this at another time during the week, but I’ve found that very few people are in their email on Friday afternoons and any time on Saturday, so I can quickly answer a bunch of emails without getting responses back almost as fast as I’m sending them (as I often would at other times during the week)!
A few more tips for working more productively:
- Set a timer. A timer can be your best friend as a blogger. Set it for 15 or 30 minutes and commit to working only on one project until the timer goes off. This will help you to be more focused and motivated and it will encourage you to not go off on rabbit trails or get sucked into the black hole of social media!
- Close your tabs. If you have 25 tabs open on your computer while you’re trying to write a blog post or work on a project, there’s a good chance it will take you a lot longer to complete. Only keep a few tabs open while you’re working on a project and it’s much easier to stay focused.
- Stay off of email. One of my biggest time management tips is to shut down your inbox while you’re working on writing blog posts or other projects You will survive without knowing as soon as someone is sending you an email and you will be so much less distracted! (Find more tips for managing your inbox here.)
2. Have Dedicated Blogging Time
Want to take five times as much time to to get things done? Try to blog while also cooking dinner, overseeing homework, and cleaning out the fridge. It will guarantee that you just don’t get anything done well and that it takes WAY longer to do anything than it should.
I’m a fan of compartmentalizing blogging and home life/real life as much as is possible. Which is why 99% of the time, I stick to dedicated blogging times. Not only does this allow me to focus on blogging work without being distracted, but it means that when I can then focus on my family without being distracted by blogging work!
You might be in a season of life where it’s hard to find dedicated blogging times. Here are some creative ways you could accomplish it:
- Hire a teen to come over for two hours every afternoon and watch your kids while you work.
- Swap childcare with a friend one afternoon each week so that you can focus on business stuff without interruptions.
- If you have a toddler, turn on a DVD and put your child in their high chair or booster seat and give them a snack while you get in a little work.
- Have your kids have an afternoon quiet time when you get your work done.
- Get up 30 minutes earlier and knock out some work before your kids get up.
- Talk to your spouse about going out and working at a coffee shop 1-2 nights per week while your spouse spends time with the kids & puts them to bed.
3. Make a Detailed & Prioritized To Do List
Every night before bed, there is one thing I almost always do. It’s simple and it only takes a few minutes, but it has revolutionized my productivity, helps me sleep better, and allows me to go to bed feeling peaceful and calm.
So what is this life changing thing I do? I check my Google calendar and write a detailed time-blocked to-do list for the next day. Ta-da! I know you are shocked at this amazing tip. {Insert sarcasm.}
It may seem boring or simplistic, but doing this consistently has completely changed my life.
There are a few things I ask myself while putting together my schedule for the following day:
- What appointments do I have?
- What do I absolutely have to get done tomorrow?
- What would I really like to get done?
- Are there fun things that I should put on the schedule?
- What does my soul need? {Down time, rest, laughter, time with friends, etc.}
Once I know what needs to be done the following day, I make time blocks and put each of the things on my list in one of the blocks of time. Each hour or half hour, I block out for a specific project or to-do item — in order of significance and priority. Certain parts of every day are the same, but each day varies somewhat, depending upon the projects and activities scheduled for that day.
I find this to be especially helpful when it comes to blogging. I block out what I need to do during my blogging time in the order of importance. This way, when I open up my computer to start working, I don’t just start putting out fires or get distracted with busy work. This guarantees that I get a lot more done — and that I get lot more of the most important things done, too!
4. Stop Collecting Information
It’s so easy to get stuck in “collection mode”… book-reading, podcast-listening, idea-brainstorming, conference-going, blog-hopping… and never actually make it to “application mode”.
There are lots of amazing and interesting and wise voices out there sharing great ideas, but some days, you need to tune them out and focus on flat-out getting stuff done.
Learning from the most experienced people in the market does nothing for you if you don’t actually go out and DO SOMETHING with what you learn.
Start paying attention to how much time you spend collecting information versus how much time you spend getting things done. It might surprise you.
Tips to help you collect less information and get more done:
- Unsubscribe from email newsletters that aren’t encouraging you to take action or pushing you toward your goals. (Need some inbox help? Read my post on my 4-Step System to Achieve Zero Inbox.)
- Stop attending webinars if you aren’t actually doing anything with the information you are learning.
- Listen to fewer podcasts and read fewer books this month and invest that time into taking action instead.
- Quit over-researching things. Seriously. Oftentimes, you’ll learn way more from just jumping out and doing things than you ever will if you just read articles, watch videos, or read a book.
- Cut back on who you follow on social media. If they aren’t enhancing your life, it’s okay to hit unfollow.
- Turn off notifications. Okay, I’m going to get up on my high horse for a second, but I just have to. People! You don’t need to be getting notifications for almost anything! You don’t need to know when someone subscribes or unsubscribes or follows or unfollows or likes or comments or anything else. Try turning off all of these notifications and prove me wrong. The worst thing that can happen is that your inbox and phone are quieter! 🙂
When you stop collecting information, it gives you the space to be able to go and apply what you already know. And that, my friends, is one of the most effective ways to get more done as a blogger!
What are YOUR best tips to getting more done as a blogger? I’d love to hear!
This is such a great post, Crystal. Your points about a detailed and prioritized to-do work list is so spot on in my experience. If I don’t have a plan before starting up my laptop each morning, I’ll certainly get distracted by all sorts of things and before I realize it, my work time is over. I have 4 tabs that automatically open each time I open my browser (dashboard, email, & 2 blog-related sites). I think I’m going to take those down because even 3 extra tabs sometimes distract me – especially email. Thanks for sharing such practical tips.
Thanks so much for your encouragement! I’m so glad it was helpful!
This is such a great post. I love the practicality of the things you have listed, it helps me actually know how to accomplish investing into my blog. I will definitely put some of these into place in the upcoming months! I have an almost one year old and work part time so these things will be a must for me. Thank you!!
You’re so welcome!
Hi Crystal,
I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed as I try to expand my presence on social media. My current project is entering the world of Facebook. This probably sounds strange because I know most people have been on Facebook for years, but I’m a newbie. Do you know of a good resource to explain the basics of developing a Facebook page for a blog? Thanks!
We’ll be launching a course on that very thing in 2018 (you’re not alone!). In the mean time, I found this article to be very comprehensive and helpful: https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/24422/the-ultimate-facebook-marketing-cheat-sheet.aspx
Thanks Crystal!
Such great tips. I need to have a plan for when I open my computer because I am also easily distracted. The only tip I can suggest is if you have 5 minutes, find something productive to do in those 5 minutes that will make things easier for later. Fold a load of clothes so the kids can put them away when they get home or unload the dishwasher or even chop a few veggies for supper.
I love the 5 minute tip!
I really struggle with #4!! I am a researcher by nature, perhaps moreso than being a writer. I also have a fear of doing something wrong and putting it out there for all to see. A small typo or something slightly not factually correct. It is paralyzing! People on social media can be so critical. The people who disregard your whole opinion bc you misplaced a comma or something. ? So I go back to collection mode instead of doing mode.
I decided that those are the people I’m okay with disappointing… because I often have little typos. I try to always proof my work, but I don’t have a formal editor and know that I miss little things here and there. I aim for excellence; not perfection.
My philosophy is there: If someone is going to nit-pick things like that, they just aren’t the person I’m trying to reach. And I’m okay with bothering them (and deleting their comment if it’s unkind/sharply critical) and I’m okay with them finding another blog to follow.
Information gathering is my weakness. I have so many pdfs in a file on my desktop, all filled with roughly the same ideas/thoughts. I’m trying very hard to have just a couple “virtual mentors” that I follow and listen to (you being a favorite 🙂 ).
One of the best things I did was to just stop following all but a few people online. It gave me so much more peace and time to focus on investing in building my own stuff! 🙂
I love your last point, stop collecting information. There comes a time we need to just start doing. It won’t be perfect, or the best, but the more we do it, the more we improve.
Yes! The more you practice, the more it becomes comfortable — and easy and a habit! I’m cheering for you!
This post was great timing for me as i have my 3 kids home for our long summer break. Especially love your last point and after reading it went and unsubscribed from a lot of emails. Not only were they not encouraging me to take action but i was struggling with the comparison thing. For example i should be producing a flash looking newsletter like they are. Essentially too much info is clutter that distracts us from the most important stuff.
Love that you do a very simple text based newsletter that has great content
“Essentially too much info is clutter that distracts us from the most important stuff.”
YES, YES, YES!
Hi Crystal I’m guilty of collecting information. I’m a new blogger and dead keen to learn from successful bloggers. So I find myself browsing their sites and bookmarking and downloading stuff. This swallows my time. I have since stopped this habit. I narrowed down the bloggers from whom I learnt the most and subscribe to them only. This frees up my time to actually work on my own blog. Thank you for a very informative post.
YES! I’m so proud of you! I’m so glad that this post encouraged you!
This post is amazing and inspiring! All the notes about collecting information is exactly what I have been doing! Now it is time to stop all of it and get to work, efficiently! Thanks for the inspiration and wake up call. I needed to hear it from someone else!
I’m so glad that it encouraged you!
Ohhhhh, ALL THE YES!! I especially relate to the advice to stop collecting information!! I have spent So. Much. Time. on webinars and how-to-tips and feeling that I’m missing out if I don’t take every class and do all the things! It recently dawned on me that it’s time to stop reading about doing things and just DO THE THINGS! I’m a perfectionist who wants to follow all the rules and dot every i and cross every t. I’m trying to allow it to sink in that there are no rules! I’m the CEO of my blog and I get to do my thing my way…maybe even create a new “thing”, a new “category”.
You are so encouraging and helpful, Crystal! Thank you.
“It’s time to stop reading about doing things and just DO THE THINGS!”
YES!!!!
#4 is what I need to do! And I am in the process of just stopping accumulating “advice”. Instead to just choose 2 – 3 and then unsubscribe from all else! Thanks for the reminder!
You’re so welcome! It’s made such a difference for me!
Well, it seems a lot of us suffer from collecting too much information and not getting around to implementing it! I think it can be because it’s easier than actually making a plan and doing the hard work of getting it done (guilty here!), but also because our culture puts such a high emphasis on knowledge (which is good and bad).
I also need to discipline myself to make a schedule. I find the busier and more chaotic it gets, the less I schedule and plan, and therefore run around getting things done without a good plan.
I am a two year old blogger (yikes!), who has felt like this year’s events stalled me in my plan to grow and step up my blog. I’m sure it’s partly my fault (poor time use), but also just how life happened in 2017. The only tip that may be obvious to many is that if you don’t have time to write a new post (or as many as you’d like), don’t be afraid to share good posts you’ve written in the past!
I have had to rely on this a lot lately. It’s better to share some good material I’ve previously written on my Fb page than to just remain silent…especially since some of the earlier stuff probably wasn’t read by too many people.
Thanks for the reminders! Here’s to a more productive 2018!
Yes! That’s such a great tip! Thank you so much for mentioning that!
Love this! #3 is what I’m currently focusing on. I agree: so simple, but so powerful!
So I’m haveing a hard time just trying to figure out if i wordpress.org. I don’t think I am cut out to do this, I really need to figure this out. I’m not computer smart.
I love the ideas for having dedicated blogging time. Any advice for how to get younger kids to respect “quiet time”? Mine are 2yo and 4yo and when I’m home after my day job it’s constantly “mommy mommy mommy!” (My older daughter was this way even before I went back to work full time, so I can’t blame it on me being at the office away from her all day.) I’m really struggling with getting them to play independently for any length of time that allows me to dive into anything for a decent amount of time.