It’s hard.
Being productive all day at work and then coming home and trying to be just as productive on your blog can be a struggle. And when you are struggling with blog productivity, it’s real hard to make the progress you want to make.
When you don’t have the time you’d like to spend working on your blog, you have to work smarter to improve your productivity. One place to start is by be aware of what actions you are doing or not doing that are sabotaging your blogging progress so you work on correcting them.
See if any of these mistakes look familiar to you.
Not Having a Blogging Plan
Guilty.
I’m the one who just jumps on the computer to work on my blog and have no idea what I’m going to be doing.
So guess who ends up wasting time until I get into the groove?
Not the best use of my limited time. Having a blogging plan helps you determine what is important to work on now and what you are going to work on next.
What can you include in your blog plan?
- an editorial calendar that tells you important dates to blog about.
- goals both short and long-term
- post ideas that you can work on
- tasks and an estimate of how long you need to work on each(perfect for when you want to get
Taking time to sit down and determine what you want to achieve and the steps to get there will help your blogging productivity.
Not Breaking Blogging Tasks Into Smaller Steps
How often do you do this? Instead of trying to break your blogging tasks into more manageable steps, you just jump in and try to do them in a big chunk.
The thing is, this can make tasks seem overwhelming and we get frustrated trying to finish them.
Take the time to break your tasks down before you work on them.
There are advantages to breaking our tasks into smaller steps. Not only does it make our tasks more workable, but it helps us stayed focused on the task and see progress which helps us stay motivated.
Not Scheduling Time for Important Blogging Tasks
You’re trying to juggle working a fulltime job, family, friends, time for yourself and blogging. It is not easy to try and fit everything in a day.
When your day is so full, the last thing you want to happen is that you sit down to blog and get so distracted you end up doing nothing.
Take time to schedule your blogging tasks on your calendar and make a commitment to stick to your schedule so you can ensure that you are making the progress you want to see on your blog.
Not Having a Dedicated Work Space to Blog in
Yes, the couch might be a comfy place for blogging, but if you find it hard to stay on task, you may want to set a dedicated work space up where you can blog.
Here are some of the benefits of having a dedicated workspace-
- Easier to get in work mode
- Reduce distractions
- Easier to focus
- Better organization
It might seem silly to have a spot just for your blogging, but it can make a big difference in your productivity.
Not Taking Breaks from Blogging
Yes. It seems counterintuitive, but as much as you want to go all in on your blog, it’s also important to take breaks from blogging.
Whether it’s taking a break during a long blogging work session or a day away from the blog, taking a break can help reduce blogging mistakes and burn out. It gives you a chance to recharge and come back to your blog with a fresh mind and more energy to devote to your blog.
Not Keeping Your Blogging Work Organized
Being organized is not my strong suit and I waste so much time when I’m working on my blog because of it.
Yes. It takes time to get organized, but it is worth it.
Having systems in place that organize the different aspects of your blogging means you can quickly find what you need while you are working on your blog. It saves you time and helps you stay on track.
You can use a project management tool like Trello or Notion to help you with your blog organization. You could also have specific folders and documents that you use for your blog. Or if you love being able to write on paper, a physical copy of a blog planner might do the trick for you. And don’t forget about organizing your blog email or the graphic design program you use for blog images.
It might take some time to find the system that works best for you, but once you do you’ll appreciate how it helps your productivity.
Trying to Do to Much on Your Blog
When you are short on time, it’s not unusual to try and do too many things at once on your blog.
Of course, we want to get everything done that we can, but when you are jumping around trying to do too many things at once or multitasking it affects your focus and you will start to feel overwhelmed.
Work to prioritize your blogging tasks and complete one task before moving on to another. And recognize that you may not be able to do it all with your blog and it is okay to let some things go.
Procrastinating While Working on Your Blog
When it comes to ways we sabotage our blogging productivity, procrastination is a big one.
There can be a number of reasons we do it- not feeling motivated, stress and overwhelm, perfectionism. When we are trying to fit blogging into a the short amount of time we have, it’s understandable we feel this way. But we want to avoid getting into a cycle of procrastination.
Work on getting out of procrastination by breaking down your tasks into small steps to work on. It’s will seem less onerous and the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel as you check these steps off your list will motivate you to keep working.
Ignoring Your Health So You Can Spend Time Blogging
It might not seem like it has much to do with blogging, but your health can have a big effect on it especially if you are ignoring important aspects of it so you have more time for blogging.
Sleep is something we often give up. We are told to get up earlier or stay up later so we have more time to blog. But less sleep is not a good thing. Not only can it mean you are tired during the day leading to difficulty focusing on tasks, but it can have an effect on your overall health.
We also have a tendency to not eat as health and get less exercise when we are trying to fit so much into a day.
While we want to make time for blogging, don’t make it at the expense of your health.
Limited time for blogging means we want to avoid those things that reduce our productivity. By being aware of we stay focused on our blogging tasks and reach our goal of having a successful blog.
