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Time Management with Blogging

Posted by rileycentral • 10/30/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogging, future posts, multiple blogs, Online Publishing, time management, writing

I have 3 major blogs and one smaller one. I have picked up some time management tips along the way but I am curious to hear from others about time management with blogging.

One tip I would offer is fairly obvious: Just like some families cook several nights' meals in advance and freeze them, so I sometimes hole up for a few hours and write a bunch of posts that are post-dated.

I guess my biggest struggle is knowing the best way to spend my time. Any help?

My Online Diary: www.damienriley.com/
My other blogs are linked in my proile

User Comments

10/30/08

kat822

I blog when I can, and or motivated, lately, not much motivation, since the lap top is in the shop and I hate sitting at this desk top feels too much like work lol,

how you doing riley?

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1. 10/30/08
  
  rileycentral
  
  When my laptop was in the shop I was off the blogs and it showed. I lost a lot of subscribers. It's just so much more comfortable reclining while I work
  
  I am good! My three kids are trick or treating tomorrow ... life is good. How are you doin'?
10/30/08

Arcticulates

I have the one blog, and I have spent so much time designing it and making it purrrdeeee that I can't imagine trying to do more then that right now.

In order for myself to do quality posts (at least I hope they are quality!) and live a life at the same time I only do one post a week and then promote... promote... promote. Which takes more time then blogging! Yikes!

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1. 10/30/08
  
  rileycentral
  
  I like your philosophy. One this I am learning however is that much blog content gets flushed when the next one is posted. Because of this I have tried to not take posting AS seriously as I used to and just making sure I have a good point. It's taken a lot of stress off me and my traffic looks about the same as before.
10/30/08

Dethmama

I have not figured out the time management thing... I think a lot of it is that because it's so new to me, I'm obsessing about it. I recently added a co-author which took a lot of the "gotta constantly write" pressure off of me.
And "Arcticulates" is right... promotion is VERY time-consuming (and often baffling) for me.

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1. 10/30/08
  
  rileycentral
  
  Congrats on your co-author! I think building friends and relationships is a key part of it. I'm no problogger but I find my stats more consistent now than when I went for the spikes through pure social media etc. Both have their place, but one is more worth your time. Just my opinion.
10/30/08

JohnCassian

In terms of time management, I found these “new” ways help me as I just finished my 100th blog post today (so I am still a baby blogger):

- During the day I think about how what I am doing in the day can be a blog. (Yes, this seems obvious now, but in the past, I lived my busy life during the day and then sat in front of the computer at night trying to think of what I might write.)

- Write a little when I have a thought. I have a drafting file in which I write everything before it goes into a letter, or e-mail, or blog — and it takes less time if I will write a few sentences in my drafting file when those ideas first come to mind rather than trying to remember them all day. Saves mental energy.

- Divide big, long ideas into several smaller blogs, each separate thought is its own blog. These smaller blogs are easier to write and post than longer, more complex blogs covering “everything I have been thinking about everything.”

- If I use a link in a blog, the URL also goes into a URL file because I will also want to use it in the future. Again, obvious, but it took me about 20 blog posts before I got the file and access to the file set up most efficiently for blogging.

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1. 10/31/08
  
  rileycentral
  
  That's great John. I am learning many ways to "automate" the process as well. If you have a procedure in place, you can catch that gold of inspiration and share it with your readers. I love your usage of the term "mental energy." I think we forget to conserve that but just like your couldn't run 100 laps, so your brain can't handle a lot of the raw demands we put on it when blogging.
10/31/08

thefloatingfrog

I have a hectic life with work and my little one so the time I put aside for my hobbies is priceless. I love blogging on my site and have a loyal following of readers and friends. I'm also big into my photography and use Flickr to showcase my work. The techniques I adopt in my photography I try to relay across on my blog, for example. Every couple of weeks I go out for the day and go mad with my photography, dedicating the whole day to snapping different subjects in different light and compositions. I then have an archive of photographs to put on flickr. I aim to put just one, quality photo on a day, this way it keeps the stream fresh and my viewers get to view something new everyday. The same goes for blogging, I could write several articles at once then schedule them to show at different times. Sometimes releasing a batch of posts in one go is bad as it leaves an uncomfortable time between them and you readers may go else where. I'd say be consistent, don't overwork yourself and focus on quality, not quantity.

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1. 10/31/08
  
  rileycentral
  
  Photos make great traffic on my blog, but i'm careful to not do them too often because that's not something I enjoy when I go to other blogs ... a lot of them that is.
10/31/08

Louise

Yup, I guess doing a bunch of posts all at once is a good idea, although I still find myself going online to tweak and check even if I'm all posted-up for a few days in the future. I have to manage the habit fairly carefully because I have two kids and a constantly untidy house...otherwise there'd be a divorce looming...

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1. 10/31/08
  
  rileycentral
  
  Well, we all get an earful of something
10/31/08

BassDem

Post-dating works well, especially when I have a list of to-do items displayed on my blog. My readers know what to expect and come back. I post fishing reports though, so not only do I have to manage time with writing blogs about products and techniques, but I have to fit an outing on the water into my schedule on top of writing the actual report afterwards. Photos have been a relatively new addition. It helps to take a few in advance when I am on the water. When I hit a slow week, I can post a photo. Photos are good to have as a backup. In the past, I used to be able to get in more than a few posts per week. Call it part of getting my blog off the ground. Now it seems as though an appropriate goal might be getting a post in at least once a week. At any point in time, I have at least three upcoming posts that are works in progress sitting in a folder on my computer. I also keep a text file on hand with a list of upcoming post ideas to keep some sort of schedule. When you get an idea for a blog post, make a note of it. I free write all the time just to get those ideas down.

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10/31/08

bradhart

Working from home means I can squeeze most of home chores between working.

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10/31/08

buddhaofhollywood

I git wierless for my house. I drag my laptop all over and I do a liitle bit of bloging allmost all the time. like the other day I was organising my garage and I brought my laptop. Of course it pisses of my wife. He, he, he!
Also I have a small note pad when I don't have PC access I just scrible down my ideas. Other than that is just brute force I spend a lot of time just doing it!
Good blogging to you and
Be Loved!

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