There is so much that a blogger needs to do. First, he needs to write a post. A really good and engaging one, not just any ordinary boring post. Next, he’d need to market the blog and then network with the readers and fans. Of course, these do not include the time and effort coming up good topics and ideas before subsequently promoting the blog via various methods such as social networking sites, visits to other blogs and interaction on forums. And that is just blogging alone. A blogger has a life to live too – chores, commitments, relationships and most likely, a full-time day job.
There is so much to do but so little time. So just how does a blogger get the best of his/her time?
1. Create goals and write them down
Creating goals are not just applicable at the office. How can you achieve something without even knowing what is it that you want? You will achieve better success at blogging if you know what you are working towards. You can make your own WordPress website checklist which will guide you through your business goals. For instance, you might want to set a goal of having a conversion rate of 5%, which is the percentage of product orders out of the total number of site visits. With this objective set clearly, you can then start planning your efforts to achieve that result. And don’t forget to write your goals down. It’s even better if you can stick them at a place where you can always see them.
2. Create a schedule
You can think of blogging as a “job”, where there is a fixed time for it. Creating a schedule works for me because without one, I tend to dilly-dally because I feel that I have all the time in the world at home to blog. I do, but this isn’t being productive at all. It is best to set a fixed time, say 2 hours, to write and publish a post. This way, you are unlikely to wander (physically or mentally) as you have given yourself a deadline to complete a task. And of course, once you have a schedule, make sure you stick to it. Mitz’s blogging routine might help you get on track!
3. Use tools to help you
Why spend time and effort doing things yourself when there are a myriad of tools created by nerds and geeks to assist you? For example, you can use Evernote to compile interesting articles in one place, so you don’t have to Google around anymore to look for ideas. Once you have posted your latest article, tell the whole world about it automatically by using Twitterfeed, which tweets your blog posts as well as of other blogs that you are a fan of. Finally, use ScribeSEO to SEO your blog posts. These are just some of the tools that I have found useful; there are many more out there waiting for you to discover and utilize.
4. Set up a home office
Having a home office works for me because whenever I enter the “office”, I feel focused and am ready for “business”. If you are having trouble working with children screaming in the background or when you’ve just heard that your favorite TV programme is about to start, you might want to consider setting up a home office. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; a quiet corner where you can work on your PC is good enough. You can make it as conducive as you want by putting up soft lights, playing your favorite music, whatever, as long as there are no disturbances when you are working there.
5. You don’t have to be perfect
A lot of time is spent when a blogger tries to be perfect – you don’t have to be. I speak from experience as I have rewritten posts numerous times for the fear that the readers would not like them. And then I spend more time selecting the “ultimate” layout and theme for my blog. You must realize that you can’t please everyone, for “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”. What looks good to you might not sit well with your readers, so just do whatever you think is alright and don’t spend too much time rewriting and revamping.
There you have it, five tips for improving your blogging productivity. Hopefully with that, you’d be a better blogger with the least time and effort invested. Happy blogging!
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This post was written by...
jasmine – who has written 6 posts on Lets Build Websites.
Jasmine is an experienced web hosting professional, web designer and e-Commerce consultant. She is passionate with SEO and social media marketing. Her latest blog is Top 10 Web Hosting which reviews the best web hosting companies. Her favorite web host is iPage web hosting.
{ 54 comments… read them below or add one }
nice article !! A much useful guide for the newbies and to work and promote their blog…
Athiban Raj recently posted..Indians Smartphone Users Outweigh Americans
To be an effective blogger or article writer I think it helps to always be alert to possible topics or unique angles to a topic as you proceed through your day. Coming up with interesting, helpful, or amusing topics is often a big part of the challenge of being a productive online writer.
“Create goals and write them down” Its The Best Way Best Of Your Time, You Cant Forgot Anything Which You Shared With Your Self..!
Really great point you discuss with us.Its very helpful for achieving goals. thank you so much for it sharing.
This is indeed a great list Jasmine. This is the core of great content creation and if bloggers have the focus to follow this advice to the tee they can certainly create compelling content that would have readers coming back for more. Thanks for sharing.
Edd recently posted..Designing A Brand Logo
Great tips.
I think setting goals and actually writing them down in stead of “keeping them in your head” is vital if you want to be productive. If you don’t really know where you are going you can never fail…but you can never get anywhere either.
I use a little program called focusbooster to help me stay focused as I find myself easily distracted when I have to do something that I don’t like or find boring. It’s just a timer that gives you a work time and a break time. I have it set at 25min working followed by 5min break. Then 25min working again etc. etc.
Danny recently posted..Tanaka power equipment TBC-255SFK Commercial Grade Gas-Powered Powerhead Grass Trimmer/Stick Edger/Pole Saw 3-in-1 Combo Kit (CARB Compliant)
Hi jasmine..!
great sharing again. Concise and informative post. Goal setting is most important point. It is in reality a nice and helpful piece of info. I am happy that you shared this helpful information with us.Thanks for sharing.
saha recently posted..Best Online OCR tools to convert images to text
Thanks for the tips.
A great one that I found is to have contextual to do lists.
Eg. have a list of things to do when you are tired, but still want to do something productive.
Eg2. A list of things to do while you are waiting in line, or walking down the street..like make phone calls.
Dr Efficiency recently posted..How to Make a Website – Part 1: Domain Name from GoDaddy
Hi Jasmine – excellent productivity post. I know that I am a famous procrastinator. I’ve found that If I give myself a written goal for the day it helps me to keep my nose to the grindstone! Thanks again.
David recently posted..Sale on Dr. Katz Products Ending Soon
David, thank you for your comment. Sometime I do procrastinate too although I know this will only delay things and is never a good habit… haha, maybe I am just being lazy. Yes, having a goal or milestone to achieve definitely helps!
it’s impressive how many good applications are there! and I am reading your article justnow, that I’m preparing to productivity tips from tomorrow
Time management is a separate branch of the project management sceince. Though the rules and laws of thee sceince seem to be simple and easy, in reality it’s rather hard to organize oneself to spend time properly.
Thanks for your tips)
Daniel recently posted..Extremely Amazing Charity Website Layouts
These 5 Productivity Tips to Get the Best of Your Time is helpful for every blogger to write creative post and save time and it’s true that schedule work is very important in blogging.I really enjoy the article.
Bhupendra recently posted..Make Money Selling Photos Online
4th one is the best and the one I lack! I have quite small apartment and there is no room for that, but I will pull it off one day
Zogs, you don’t need a big room for that, just a small corner… if it’s quite it will be better, with no distractions and etc. Good luck and happy blogging.
Jasmine recently posted..Best WordPress Web Hosting
Hi Mitz,
Creating goals and write down them, making schedule and the best part is no need to be perfect.
Really like it.
Thanks for sharing it.
vishvast recently posted..Google Chrome for Android
Those tips are useful, this can help me to finish my job in the easiest way and to conserve more my time.
Angel Collins recently posted..OSHA’s GHS Adoption Clears OMB — Federal Register is Last Step for Revised HazCom Standard
I actually plan a bit of distractions in my schedule. If I can finish a job in an hour, I give it an hour and 15-20min because I just know that somebody is going to call me, or my computer will go crazy on me, or somebody is about to come uninvited.
Lily recently posted..Is the Healthy Trim Price Worth It for the Results?
The best productivity approach I’ve ever used is get the 2 most important tasks done at the beginning of the day. Generally that involves writing 2 articles (but not always). Once those 2 tasks are done, regardless how I get side-tracked throughout the rest of the day, I at least completed something important. I got this idea from Tim Ferriss 4 Hour Work Week Book. This tip alone is worth the price of the book.
Yeah, a blog is just like a life. I was thinking about this earlier on and thanks for remind me that when working on computer is that i have to work smarter. Twitter feed is new for me.
I have a problem want to ask you: Do you know How to get comments on recent post published?
Ferb recently posted..StudioPress User Guide Book is Released
I heard a good quote the other day that sums up the last point:
“It’s not about perfection, it’s about progress”.
Or here’s another:
“You don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it started”.
Dr Efficiency recently posted..How to Make a Website – Part 1: Domain Name from GoDaddy
Jasmine I agree with no distractions, and music does it for me. It certainly is a routine when turning on the PC, to just simply popping in the headphones and getting down to business. As far as perfection is concerned, one can only strive towards it. Having a schedule has been a work in progress, I have so much on my plate as of late.
Thank you for the reminder, I need to learn to take those breaks!
Bryan Ring recently posted..Traffic To Your Website Requires Savvy Business Blogging
Hi Bryan, thanks for your valuable input. I too have a lot on my plate lately, this makes my time management that more important.
Jasmine recently posted..Omnis Web Hosting Review
Making a schedule may be the most single hardest thing to do. There is usually not enough hours in the day.
Bryan Ring recently posted..Build A Business WordPress Site
Blogging is a fun thing to do. Especially when you write posts that really gets your interests. Jasmine is truly correct with all the things she has written. It is truly important that we sent goals when we start blogging, like for example we wanted to give people updates for projects etc. Schedule is also very important for consistency. Tools will make our job faster and easier. I usually blog everywhere as long as there is an internet connection or wifi signal. Though setting up an office at home is a brilliant idea. And lastly, perfectionism is bad. LOL based from what I’ve observed! Overall, awesome posts Jasmine!
This was well done, no underestimating the part your mood comes into play. Being happy changes my day just by choice. I guess procrastination plays a major role for me as well.
john recently posted..Queen Creek Homes For Sale
Thanks for these helpful advices! They are especially useful for me, I have been always in trouble when I had to schedule my time and do it with a high efficiency.
Julie recently posted..cosmetic dental surgery
These are great tips for boosting productivity all together as well and not just for blogging. I especially like the one about setting up a home office. I once read somewhere that its a bad idea to work in the room that you sleep in and that you should always have a separate room in which to work. I try and do this at uni but sometimes my housemates are using the other room and so I have to work in my room. I always find I sleep best when I work away from my bedroom!
Harriet recently posted..Sony Ericsson Xperia X8
Thanks for the great advice. I personally agree that trying to be perfect can waste you lots of precious time. Its important to be yourself while blogging.
Users and bloggers have no idea how much a good schedule is and to stick to it. I set alerts in iPhone to add fresh content to my site on Monday Wednesday Friday and sunday.
Wilhouse recently posted..Fantasy Baseball – Top 20 Player Ranking of 2012
Hi Jamine!!!
How are you?
“You must realize that you can’t please everyone, for “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”. What looks good to you might not sit well with your readers, so just do whatever you think is alright and don’t spend too much time rewriting and revamping.”
Correct. As long as we are in the right path; doing things which is pleasing, giving the right ideas to our readers it doesn’t matter whether they like it or not. We just did our duty as a real blogger. Some people may attracted to honey, some are attracted to bitter melon. It depends on the person’s way of living and consciousness.
You are very ideal and organized. I think your name really suit to your article. Very mild smell, yet very pleasing to nose
Great post and great tips! I feel like obviously these tips can be applied universally, may you be a blogger, financial professional, or just a regular employee in any industry. It truly is astounding how doing simple things like making fixed schedules and realistic goals can help you realize these goals in the long run. Thanks again for the post, I’m really enjoying your blog.
It looks like I just had deja vu. I need to concentrate on so many tasks and have just a lack of time. I must confess 24 hours a day does not seem like enough for a blogger. I am trying to learn a time management. One of my secrets I never check my email during I am working and never concentrate on something else.
The very first thing that I really love to be back here in your blog is that there are a lot of useful information and great thoughts to treasure. Anyway, we have different lifestyles on how to get the best of your time but you made an awesome list.
Annette Golphin recently posted..Timber Windows & Timber Doors
Thank you for these tips. Definitely some things I will have to keep in mind as I get more serious with my new blog. Right now I feel like a chicken with its head cut off, just running around doing random things without any kind of schedule or balance. It would help a lot to get more focused and set some goals. That last point about avoiding being a perfectionist is especially important. It is far too easy to obsess over every last detail trying to get things just right. At some point you just have to accept things and go with it.
Jeremy recently posted..Buy An eReader & Save Money On Books
Hi Jeremy, thank you so much for your comment. We certainly need to be focused and have a schedule to be more organized.
Jasmine recently posted..Omnis Web Hosting Review
I think in the past I focused on negative motivation. Like sometimes I don’t want to make any progress or that I don’t know what is stopping me. Also that I need to accept myself more and don’t overpush myself into unrealistic things. Just need to take it one step at a time.
In the present.. is really important, too much toughts about the future or the past can suck up a lot of energy and it really can mess up my actions. I think I’m on the right track, one step at a time. Habits & things from the past are not yet completly gone and have their impact still on this day. I just need to take the right road from now on.
Inspirational!
Jeniffer Cox recently posted..IBS Breakthrough
I have to say, that some of the best productivity tools are not so niche-specific. For my kids, I have them using an iPhone app called epic win, that turns tasks into “quests” and by completing them you “level up” your avatar.
I’m just saying, scribeSEO might be awesome, but for general productivity, there are far better solutions.
what a lovely, concise article. great idea about having a home office, i can see how it cn make a huge difference between ‘home mode’ and ‘work mode’,sometimes difficult to achieve when working from home
Great article. I wish I’d read this and the ‘website checklist article BEFORE redeveloping our site. Oh well, I suppose it’s better to learn this stuff late than never. Now, I’ll just have to try and retrofit as many of these gems as I can.
Alan Fagan recently posted..Custom Colours
great post, youre sooo right, this year i decided to be more organized, i set up a blogging schedule has really helped me focus this year. also when i have great ideas (often away from my computor) i make a note of them, mind you, now i have yellow post it notes everywhere
Julie, I can really visualize your yellow post-it notes everywhere… Anyway, why not use Samsung Notes? That will certainly keep things more organized!
Jasmine recently posted..Omnis Web Hosting Review
Jasmine, I think all your tips are great. I especially like #5 as a simple reminder that we spend a lot of unnecessary time thinking of what “others” will like. Its good to be reminded that we all have these insecurities, but what ultimately makes us successful and stand out is putting our own spin on things.
liz recently posted..Your Questions Our Answers
One of the things that I do when I make a goal for myself is to jot it down. I always have that organizer with me all the time. Which do you think is the most essential thing or item for you to get organized?
Thanks for these tips! Really helpful for those who are not so well-organized!
-Jonas
Jonas V. recently posted..how to pick up girls
Add spell check and Evernote will be perfect.
I’ve been using it for work for sometime now and it’s one productivity tool that has survived my OC-ness.
KN recently posted..Af: Karoline
You’re right, Mitz. I found that setting up a blogging schedule has really helped me focus this year. I set aside time for writing blog posts, writing my other stuff and doing social networking, SEO etc. The actual writing takes up most of my time, so the schedule (and goals) make me stay focused so I don’t waste any of this time doing things I don’t need to be doing.
Your blogging schedule was great in helping me set this up.
Anne recently posted..Turn a Room Into a Stress Free Sanctuary
Number one was the biggest change for me this year. I joined Tiffany Dow’s 365 Day Challenge which made me think about what I want to achieve each week. So far so good. Tiff said to make it minimalist so that you could leave room for some “life stuff”. So I have made a weekly goal list and so far have stuck to it. I work full time so my goals were the minimal amount that I wanted to achieve each week. I find that I am actually achieving even more, because by getting that stuff done, it leaves me time to do other stuff. I actually made myself a spread sheet and tick it off each week to keep me on track,
jan recently posted..The Demy Kitchen Safe Digital Recipe Reader
What is Mitz’s blogging routine?
I am actually working on a tool right now to make it easier to keep all online activities in one place.
I the tool is a success for me I might make it a free tool other webmasters can use..
Sounds like a cool tool! Great idea Bjorn!
Also here is my blogging routine.
Hi Bjorn, that is really awesome as I believe this tool will help us to be more productive, right? Can’t wait to see the tool!
Jasmine recently posted..Omnis Web Hosting Review
This is a really concise article. I really like the part about having a home office – it’s so important, even if its only a corner! Makes the difference between ‘home mode’ and ‘work mode’, which is so important when you’re working from home!
I think it depends what level of blogging you are working towards as to how organised you are, but you are right that we all need aims and goals to strive for.
Goals are very important and sometimes it motivates us to continue life and keep going…
MarryAnnh recently posted..Relaxation Techniques For Anxiety
Thank you for agreeing with me, Marry Annh. Without setting goals, we would be working rather aimlessly and this will make us slack and slow. Thus, it is very important to have goals and work towards those.
Jasmine recently posted..Omnis Web Hosting Review