If you aren’t careful, blogging can really take over your life. With so many tasks and chores on your plate, blogging can become something that seems never ending and you’ll start to feel like you don’t have the time to master it. Thankfully, I have 25 time management tips for bloggers here to help you make your tasks more manageable!
1. Set specific goals for your blog.
Having a few explicit objectives for your blogs lets you focus and prevent wasting time on tasks that don’t matter.
2. Create a blogging schedule.
Decide how many hours you need to get your blogging tasks done each week. Break those down by day, and stick to working that much. The set amount of time will force you to focus and get things done in a timely manner.
3. Work when you are most productive.
If you are exhausted at the end of the day, don’t try to work on your blog after the kids go to bed. Instead, get some rest and wake up early each morning or let naptime be your blogging time.
4. Do the same tasks together.
Sit down to brainstorm and outline your next 10 posts instead of one at a time. Edit 20 pictures for 3 blog posts rather than doing them all separately. Working on groups of tasks like this allows you to stay focused and get more done in less time.
5. Hone in on 2-3 subjects, max.
Having too many subniches in your blog makes things harder when it comes to time. However, if you are focused on just a couple, you will be able to spend more time on each and see better results.
6. Keep a notepad ready for ideas.
Rather than staring at an empty post screen, trying to decide what to write, let inspiration strike you anywhere. It could be by looking at a magazine in the checkout lane or visiting the library. This book of ideas will keep you from wondering what you are going to blog about.
7. Schedule posts in an editorial calendar.
If you have a ton of ideas, you may waste time trying to pick from a list each time you need a new post. At the first of the month, schedule your post ideas in a calendar. That way, you can start writing when the mood strikes and never waste time picking from your pool of ideas.
8. Use social media tools.
If you are pressed for time, scheduling your tweet and FB shares is a great way to get things done faster. CoSchedule lets you schedule social media shares right within your WordPress dashboard. How much quicker could you get?!
9. Forget the editing.
When it’s time to write your posts, just sit down and type. Avoid hitting backspace. Once you have the rough draft, you can go back and edit, add links, or flesh out an idea.
10. Turn off Facebook notifications.
Almost every app will notify you of new messages or threads that have been started, but Facebook seems to be the biggest time suck for most bloggers. Close out the website on your computer and mute the app on your phone while working to prevent time being wasted.
11. Bookmark direct links to Facebook groups.
You may need to access blogging groups on Facebook throughout the day. To prevent being distracted by your news feed, save the links to the groups. Bypass the Facebook homepage, do what you need to do, and then close it out!
12. Close our your email.
It’s tempting to keep your inbox open in a tab in case you get an important message. However, that can be very distracted and cause you to spend more time than necessary on other tasks.
13. Track your blogging activities.
When you are sharing in FB groups, are they really returning the stats you desire? How about all the time you spend on Pinterest – are you getting the followers and page views to make it worth your time? Analyzing your stats regularly helps you decide how to best allocate your time.
14. Add social share buttons to your blog posts.
SumoMe and Shareaholic are two services that add icons to the top, bottom, or side of your blog posts for quick and easy sharing. When you need to promote a post, visit the post’s URL and share from there rather than visiting Twitter or Facebook directly and getting distracted.
15. Stop checking your stats – or bank account.
Though it’s nice to track the numbers, refreshing every 10 minutes to check for an increase is a waste of time. Track your income and numbers once a day if necessary, but no more than that!
16. Avoid taking on too much.
It can be hard to turn away blogging work, but you need to in order to effectively manage your time. Having too much to do can overwhelm you, causing you to procrastinate or not put out your best work.
17. Ask for guest posts.
When you need time to work on things other than actually writing posts, seek help from your fellow bloggers. Many will happily submit a guest post in exchange for some promotion and link love.
18. Learn that things don’t have to be perfect.
Everyone wants to have the best photos or most cleverly written posts. However, if you don’t have the time to craft everything perfectly, don’t! Know that your readers will still love to read you even if you can only give “good enough”.
19. Fit in blogging tasks when you can.
Use the carpool line to dictate blog posts into your phone. Do your social media scheduling or sharing while at soccer practice. Get creative with your time to have more of it!
20. Create a to-do list every night.
Before you leave your blogging station, decide what needs to get done the next day. Knowing exactly what you need to work on each day cuts out the wasted time of “What do I do today?”.
21. Utilize the Pomodoro technique.
This involves setting a timer for 25 minutes and working solely on the task at hand during that time. Follow up the sprint of work with a 5-minute break before diving back into another 25-minute interval.
22. Find a blogging intern.
Know someone that wants to learn how to blog? Hire her as an intern, trading work for your knowledge. This will free up more time for tasks that need your attention while getting other work done for you!
23. Get into a blogging routine.
Doing the same tasks every time you sit down to blog will eventually become natural to you. You won’t need to refer to a schedule or maybe even to your to-do list, once you’ve learned exactly what to do and in what order.
24. Barter for services that take too much time.
Don’t hesitate to trade services if you need more time. If you need to reduce the time you spend on social media, for example, find a fellow blogger that may trade you for some photo editing or proofreading – basically, tasks that would take you less time to do.
25. Hire a virtual assistant.
If you have tried managing your time as a blogger and finding it impossible, outsource! A virtual assistant can help you with your email account, social media, scheduling posts, or even writing posts.
Other posts you may enjoy:
Leave a Reply