Your ability to regularly produce content and provide deliverables on time is directly related to your success as a blogger. A blog schedule can keep you on track by giving you a clear plan to follow.
Whether you’re blogging full-time or hustling on the side, you don’t want to “just wing it”. You risk allowing your blog to fall by the wayside when competing with everyday life. Plus, you’ll waste valuable time figuring it out as you go instead of tackling tasks head-on with the limited time you have.
Here are some time management tips to help maximize your blog schedule.
A blog schedule is more than just writing blogs
There’s a lot more to blogging than just writing. In reality, there’s a long list of behind-the-scenes tasks leading up to publishing. This includes blogging tasks like:
- Brainstorming blog topics
- Pitching publications
- Receiving client assignments
- Organizing and prioritizing tasks
- Researching for SEO and topic expertise
- Writing and editing
- Creating corresponding social media images and posts
- Submitting deliverables
- Publishing and updating content
Additionally, you have to manage the business side of blogging by tracking expenses, invoicing clients and networking and collaborating with other bloggers and brands.
Underestimating the time it takes to properly execute these blogging tasks could easily put you behind schedule.
Blog schedule management tips
If you have your own blog, you’ll need to decide how often you want to push out content to your audience, and then create a blog schedule to hold yourself accountable.
If you create content for clients, a blog schedule will help you avoid missing deadlines and teach you to become more efficient in your writing.
Spend time prioritizing tasks and time blocking for each day
The day can quickly get away from you if you aren’t intentional about your time. Prioritize blog projects and tasks based on deadlines and personal commitments. Then set time limits for each by defining blocks of time for your day.
Time blocking works well if you need help focusing your attention throughout the day. You can stick to one-hour increments to give yourself frequent breaks or choose longer time blocks when needed.
If you work best first thing in the morning, then block out time in the AM dedicated to the most pressing tasks first. Alternatively, if you’re a night owl like me, you can save the most important tasks for when your brain is buzzing with creativity and focus in the evening.
The key to time blocking is follow-through. Blocked time is solely for the task at hand. So, remove all distractions, especially other business-related tasks that can sneakily steal your attention. Close out other tabs, stop checking your emails, avoid pulling up social media, lock your office door… whatever it takes to keep your focus on the task and in line with your blog schedule.
Use a project management system
Project management tools can help you track blogging tasks from beginning to end, allowing you to fine-tune your blog schedule.
You can quickly view big picture projects and individual details with programs like CoSchedule, Trello, or Asana. These tools make it convenient to shift projects and tasks around if you need to change deadlines or reprioritize your blog schedule.
You can also easily share and collaborate with team members or clients using a project management system.
Batch similar tasks together to save time
Although you might blog about different topics, the process will generally be the same. This gives you a great opportunity to use batch processing to work more efficiently.
By batching similar tasks together, you can intently focus on the same task for multiple blogs at once. Consider batching things like:
- Researching keywords
- Creating images for blogs and social media (particularly ones that use the same template)
- Scheduling social media posts
- Responding to your audience’s comments and interacting with other blogger’s content
You can batch tasks on a weekly, monthly, or project basis, depending on what works well for your blog schedule and workflow.
Integrate your calendars so nothing is missed
A lot of us are juggling multiple roles while being a blogger. Maybe your blog is a side hustle that you chip away at after your full-time job. Or maybe you’re a stay-at-home parent that carves out time throughout the day to build your blogging career. Even if you’ve dove headfirst into the blogging world and it’s your primary source of income, you likely still have a busy personal life.
Therefore, you might benefit from integrating your personal and work calendars so you don’t overlook important deadlines or overextend your commitments without realizing it.
Google Calendar makes this really easy to do, allowing you to hide or show calendars as needed. Plus, it’s readily available on all of your devices whether you’re at home or on the go.
If you’re old school and prefer to use a pen and planner, try color coordinating your deadlines and commitments to keep your personal and blogging schedules separate but together.
Treat blogging as a business
Your blog schedule needs to be a priority. Without it, you’ll be at the whim of other competing interests and might not reach your blogging goals.
Take time to plan out your content and then create a realistic blog schedule to meet deadlines and your own expectations. As you tweak your blog schedule, you’ll get into a rhythm that’ll ultimately save you time and money by making you more efficient.
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