Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

5 Time Management Tricks For Bloggers

April 1, 2009 | Advice, Feature

Blogging is a rather intense business. Certainly not something where you can “set it and forget it”. So, how can you take maximum use of your time and still get the most output?

clock If you do things correctly, then only a small percentage of your time should be used actually producing blog posts. The business of blogging is a LOT more than publishing posts. If you spend all your available time writing posts, then you’re not going to get to anything else.

Here are a few quick tips that might help you become more efficient:

  1. Write in batches. As I’ve said before, I sit down and write all my posts for this blog in one sitting. Every week. In fact, as I am writing this very post, I’m sitting in a plane on my way back home to Tampa. I’ll have all my posts written within an hour. If you sit and hammer out 4 or 5 posts at once, then you are better able to focus on other tasks for the remainder of your week.
  2. Maintain an idea file. Whenever you think of a new post idea, put it into an idea file. If you’re already working on something else, don’t just interrupt everything and write the post. Just put the idea into a file. Then, when you sit down to do you batch writing (see prior tip), yank out your idea file and go.
  3. Don’t blow your wad too quickly. Have an idea for a post? Have a concept you really want to share with your readers? You might be able to turn that into multiple posts. Don’t feel compelled to throw everything into one long post. People’s attention spans are short anyway, so feel free to break it up. More posts per unit of time.
  4. Work from a plan. It is easy for bloggers to work like a feather in the wind. Going wherever the spirit moves them. This is very counter-productive. Since this blog is about blogging as a business, then let’s start treating your time as valuable. Sit down and create a weekly plan for your blog. Be sure to include time for writing posts, for marketing and promotion, for social media, for product creation – everything. Then, stick to your schedule.
  5. Work in batches. This is a concept I can elaborate more on in a full post, because it is a cool topic. But, the idea is that we all suffer from information overload and that it can serve as a major interruption when trying to work. So, start to structure your schedule so that you work on one task with your FULL attention and no distractions for a period of 50 minutes. Then, the remaining 10 minutes of the hour you can do whatever you want. During the 50 minutes, you remove all distractions from your environment. This includes the phone, email, social media – EVERYTHING. Full, uninterrupted attention for 50 minutes.

Now, go get something done.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. 4 Powerful Time Management Tactics For Overworked Bloggers
  2. How To Never Run Out of Content For Your Blog Again
  3. 7 Tips For Blogging Your Way Out Of Your Full-Time Job
  4. Getting the Work Done – Time Management
  5. What Do I Do All Day? [Problogger]

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  • Keeping an idea file is great. I keep a draft post on my blog, if i come up with something that could possibly be a blog post, i just make a draft with some keywords in it. And using a voice record on the mobile phone is good for the idea file too.
  • Inspiring tips - as usual!

    A little note:

    I was kinda surprised by the language U chose in idea #3: Don’t blow your wad too quickly.

    No meaning to offend or nitpick ok. :-)

    Thks for the tips!
  • LOL at #3 :) too many people out there still looking to automate their blogs. Nothing is free...believe me I've learned it! Besides, it's way more fun and rewarding to be actively engaged in a blog that forces you to constantly think of new things and converse with people. Why skip the hard work? That's where you get all the benefits. If you want big money with no work, just go rob a bank and stop clogging up the internet with your crap :)
  • Hi David,
    I definitely agree with all of these tips. Gotta work in uninterrupted batches! Like, Matty, I tend to write draft posts for my ideas.

    Glad to have found your blog. Great blog theme, by the way, David.

    I look forward to keeping up with your work.

    Dali Burgado
  • Molly
    Great advice as usual.
    Glen Allsopp, since I had to reformat and reinstall, I lost my folder of blog ideas (along with all 10 of the other folders). Google docs is online? I'm going to investigate further. I already invested in a DVD burner to keep everything safely away from my error-prone experimenting.
    Molly
  • Great tips, I can definitely relate to number 2. I have a document in Google docs that is for nothing more than blog post ideas :)

    Cheers,
    Glen
  • I know we have talked about this before, but sometimes it's nice to have your "Idea File" as the draft section of your blog. You can start some idea, rough out a few lines, do the correct URL and SEO work for it, and then file it until you're ready to finish. You can even drop a link or two to other sites online that you plan to use as research later, and then you can forget about it until down the road...
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