Oct 19

Written by:
2010/10/19 08:35 AM 

Life is so overrun with things that time has become such a precious commodity. Time is money, rings so true.

With all this technology, instant this, and instant that one would expect us to have oodles of time on our hands. But what it has just done, is make us efficient in what we do so that we can do more of what we do.

Money makes the blog go round

So many people get into blogging hoping that it would be a way to earn a living. Only to find that it is so far from the truth. They find that blogging is really hard work and really time consuming.

You see it’s not just about writing. It’s about research, reading, commenting and all those wonderful processes that go with blogging. These take up precious minutes away from other time consuming things.

Things like family, work, clients, leisure, etc. However, if we were able to blog for a living then that could sort out a lot of time issues.

Blogging for money would make a huge difference as it would replace some of those other time consuming processes.

But the reality is that only 1% of blogs fall into that category. If you are one of the privileged, then well done, if not, then suck it up like the rest of us, who also have no time to blog.

Finding time to blog

Set realistic goals. When I started, I blogged about three articles a day, Now I’m down to one article a day. Sometimes I skip a day or two. Set realistic goals. Don’t burn yourself out. Once a week, three times a week. Set something that you can realistically keep.

Use time wisely.  Use your time wisely, there is always free time around. Even if you write one paragraph here and there. Could you even find time to write during your lunch break.

Fight procrastination. This is my nemesis. I love to procrastinate. Like everyone else we all procrastinate at some point at different levels. Fight it. Learn to be productive.

Prioritise. Gain control. Drop unnecessary tasks. Steer away from off-topic posts. Keep to the point.  Don’t give up everything that gives you pleasure.

A good tip from time management experts is to keep track of your daily activity in a log, you will soon see where your time is going.

Delegate. Get some others to help you. Whether it’s your family or friends. Whether it’s home or work. Encourage others to guest blog for you.

Plan ahead. Think how you can build up an article store. Ready to use when you really do not have any time. Plan your day, your week your month. Stick to that plan as much as possible. Put together an editorial calendar or a blogging schedule.

Stop checking stats. For new bloggers, even perhaps seasoned bloggers, continual checking and worrying about traffic stats is a huge time consumer. Use that time to construct blog posts instead.

Get rid of the TV. Wow that's radical. But perhaps you don’t need to throw away the TV, but perhaps not spend so much time in front of it.

Let go of your blog guilt. If you are like me, you might feel guilty if you miss a post or two. Learn to let that go. Don't feel guilty. Your readers have just as many time constraints as you.

Add the extra stuff later. Sometimes it’s good to get the blog post out. Then come back and add some more meat to it. Get the gist of your post, don’t waffle . You can always add that little bit extra later on.

Have fun. If blogging is not fun, then it’s a burden. Nobody loves a burden. Have fun with your blog and writing.

Over to you.

Is there anything else you can add? What about your time constraints and your experiences?

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