Do you plan your blog posts? If so, how far in advance are you planning them? I never used to, but over the last few months I have been thinking about my posts in advance and even uploaded the Wordpress Calendar plugin. Now that's a treat! I can see where I'm going with my blog …
Do you plan your blog posts?
If so, how far in advance are you planning them?
I never used to, but over the last few months I have been thinking about my posts in advance and even uploaded the WordPress Calendar plugin. Now that’s a treat! I can see where I’m going with my blog in advance. Why haven’t I been doing this?? Talk about now being organised. This change in my routine has allowed me to think clearer about the direction of my blog and has helped me manage my time better…
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If you blog a lot and live on the computer like I do, then how do you fit all of this in to your normal life? I don’t always feel like I’m managing it well, but here are some of my tips that keep me chugging along:
I get up early
I am an early bird and find it’s the best time of the day for my brain. I get up at 5.30am if I can. I bash out 2 hours of work (ie. this blog, emails, The Media Maid, Under 100 Dollars and other bits) before I get school lunches, breakfast and get the kids to school. Join the 5am club in 2013 – it will change your life!
Write lists
I always have a list of some kind on the go. It can be a list of blogs I’m designing, bills to be paid, jobs to be done… I always have a list! It’s usually a list that’s handwritten and it sits next to my keyboard.
Clean workspace
I don’t like mess. I may not have time to scrub my showers, but I hate mess. Everything has a place and everything in it’s place. I cannot think straight if there is mess surrounding my creative space. In my new house I have  the best little office set-up. It will be a work in progress, but it will be a place that’s neat and ordered.
Empty your email inbox
Every week I make sure I’ve cleared my inbox and have nothing hanging over my head. I try to keep on top of them as they come in, but that’s not always possible. Again, if there’s clutter in my inbox I can’t think straight and be productive. If you have a overflowing inbox, make this your priority today!
A little bit of everything in moderation
I’m on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and they can be a lot of work if you let them be. I don’t sit on social media all day every day. But I do 15 mins here and there a few times a day. The thing with a smart phone is that you can tweet for 5 mins every couple of hours while you’re waiting in a shopping line, at school pick up, on the lounge at night. The key to a successful social media presence is to be involved.  This means you need a presence every day, but you don’t have to live for it. Just use it little and often to grow your followers.
Eat properly and exercise
I cannot skip breakfast ever. I wasn’t always good at this, but over the last few years I’ve realised this is a massive part of making sure my day is productive. If you don’t eat breakfast I bet you eat rubbish at 3pm and stay up too late. So eat breakfast and go to bed early (then you can wake at 5am!). Also, exercise. This used to be a dirty word, but lately I love doing it a few times a week. All round I feel better and I know eating properly, going to bed early and exercising has lifted my productivity and motivation. Oh, and I don’t drink alcohol (at all!). Once you’re off it I guarantee you’ll start sleeping better than you ever have. Don’t let alcohol trick you in to thinking it helps you sleep better. A 2013 goal for you, perhaps?
So there we go, a few motivation tips for you!
Ok, now your turn, tell me what keeps you going and how do you maintain productivity? I need to start planning my attack for 2013.
Have a great day! Last day of school for my kids. I’m hitting the shops this morning to finish my shopping…
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Comments
Cathy
Ha! We are complete opposites! xx
Something Gorgeous
We have a combination of planned and not planned. Although I really take my hat off to people who manage to do this whole thing on their own, thank God we share the workload.
Hope you manage some down time over the holiday period, we are taking a blogging break from today, so Merry Christmas to you and your family. xx
Faux Fuchsia
Dear K
I am always motivated and never plan my posts. I uploaded well over 100 in November so when the blog turned 3 I’d have 1000 posts. I can see the attraction of having it all done in advance, but I like it to be an online journal of what I’ve been up to and what the garden’s like, so I don’t know if planning would work…Happy Christmas! x
Niki
Hey KC, I received the vouchers. Thank you so much. What a great Xmas bonus. Such a lovely thing to be able to have a little spending spree. Have a wonderful Christmas & I will ‘see’ you in the New Year. Love to you, Hubs & all those mad little men. Niki x
Elements at Home
I do have a think about it the night before get my ideas in my head and maybe have a hunt around for some images and see if there is anything that supports my idea. I try and focus on the same thing per week per day. Diy, my house, colour…..you know break it up a bit. I wish I was way more organised though. I was bedridden with that horrible gastro bug sat, sun, mon and most of yeaterday and of course blog posts were not top of my list but I cant tell you the guilt I felt about not getting them done. Not sure why I dont really answer to anyone. I put my self under my own pressure.
Emily
I’ll no doubt be involuntarily joining the 5am club in 2013 when bub#2 arrives!
But I’m a morning person so couldn’t agree more. I used to arrive at work an hour early and enjoy the most productive hour of my day before others arrived.
I plan my blog…ish. I generally have a few ideas or drafts for posts, but if inspiration strikes, they wait.
Clare
I have a note book that I cart around with me & jot things down as they come to me but it’s not really a plan. I’m a bit to new for planning I think.
As for the alcohol free 2013, early nights & 5am starts – I think that sounds like a great idea!!
anastasia
great post – good to think about for 2013. I plan a little but also do random posts and feel free to change it up when I want to…I think planning is a good way to take out that blog post stress and wonder of what to write and share especially in a creative slump!
anastasia
i dont drink alcohol either – haha I thought I was the only ‘strange’ one…
Katrina
We’re not strange 🙂
kell
Oh look Katrina, I can’t even plan our evening meals! I have to be such an organised person because of circumstance but it’s not natural to me at all. I love all your tips especially the early bedtime and rising, that’s my big plan over the holidays. Have a great weekend x
Michelle Hayward
I blog at night, I think best then…I muse on life in the late hours, because being a mum of ten, life is go go go all day, especially when they are not at school, but there is always washing to be done, clothes to be sorted, dishes to do…you know what it’s like. It just never ends. It truly doesn’t! And the SHOPPING! UGH! So I write a post late into the night, polish it up if I have the energy and hit post just after midnight – yes, I KNOW early to bed…I’m a shocker for it. I’m not a morning person! I do half and half with posts though I guess, planned, not planned…some write themselves and then there’s the writers block! Mind you, life is horribly up and down at the moment, so I am finding it’s my sanity valve or safety release or something!!!
PS. I’m taking a herbal sleeping capsule and I must admit that I have been waking early with more energy and ready to start the day at 6 am! 🙂 I’m going to try harder on that one!
Jasmin
Hi Katrina,
I love this post and your post on the new year, I don’t make New Years resolutions either but I love the idea of getting up at 5 so this will be one of my goals, I have to admit I am a bit of a night owl so I will def be changing this.
Also, I’m loving seeing the progress of your house, it’s going to look amazing, lucky you!
Take care,
Jaz xx