Whenever I ask ProBlogger readers “what’s the biggest challenge that they face as a blogger?”, the answer I hear most is “Time”.
Finding time to blog is something that all bloggers struggle with.
Whether you are just starting out and blogging as a hobby, blogging as a part time job while juggling work, home, and a social life or even blogging as a full time business amidst other demands such as up-keeping of social media accounts, responding to comments and emails etc…
Finding time to write is a consistent challenge.
This issue is so prevalent, we actually published an eBook on the topic – BlogWise: How to Do More with Less (featuring 9 busy but productive bloggers such as Leo Babauta, Gretchen Rubin, Brian Clark, Heather Armstrong and more).
7 Tips for Busy Bloggers on Finding Time to Blog
I’m someone who periodically struggles with the challenges of being productive in limited timeframes. Over the last 10 years of blogging, I guess I’ve settled into something of a workflow and routine. What follows is a collection of reflections on what I’m learning.
I hope something in it connects with where you’re at!
1. It Starts with Life Priorities
I feel a bit like a parent saying this but the truth is, time management is a lot to do with priorities.
It’s important to take time out to identify what is truly important to you, as this is a starting point for working out how you should spend your time.
If blogging is important to you, the first step in finding time to do it is to name it as a priority.
Of course ‘naming’ it as important is only half the battle. For many people there is a HUGE gap between what they say is important and how they actually spend their time.
One of the most confronting exercises I’ve ever done, when it comes to time management, was when (as a young adult) I was challenged write a list of my priorities. I then had to track how I used each 15 minute block of time over a week.
At the end of the week I tallied up the different activities and was amazed to discover how much time I was spending on things that did not feature in my priorities list, and how little I spent on the things I’d named as my priorities.
My list of priorities included things like studying, career, relationships etc.
My actual use of time was dominated by TV, computer games, time in the pub etc.
Of course, at the time I was young and reckless… but I suspect if I did the exercise again today there would probably be a bit of a disconnect between my priorities and how I spent my time. The activities I ‘waste’ time on and my priorities today might be different but the pattern would probably remain.
One of the keys to finding time to blog is working out whether blogging is actually important to you and arranging your life so that time is allocated for it!
I know it’s sounds obvious but it is easier said than done… and needs to be said.
2. Name Your Blogging Priorities
In the section above I talk about ‘life priorities’ but now I want to hone in on your blogging priorities.
The challenge many bloggers face is that they feel overwhelmed and often distracted by the many elements of blogging that they feel they need to do to have success.
Writing blog posts, reading and commenting on others blogs, responding to readers comments, guest posting on others blogs, being active on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, LinkedIn, Pinterest (and more), working on your blog design, writing an eBook, finding advertisers, creating a media kit…. the list goes on and on.
I’ve had periods in my own blogging where this list overwhelmed me – to the point it almost paralysed me.
When I felt overwhelmed, I tried to strip my blogging back to the core tasks I knew I needed to do to keep my blog moving forward. Again it was really about priorities.
What do you need to do to grow your blog and make it sustainable?
For me, I strip my focus back to these areas:
These are the priorities I have with my blogging. Simply by naming them simplifies things a little for me so I’m not looking at a long, crazy list of little things that I need to do.
With this list in mind I’m can set myself some achievable goals in each area.
For example, when it comes to ‘Create Content’ I’m set myself some goals with how many posts per week or month. Then I start to think about the types of posts I want each week.
So here on ProBlogger, my current goal is 5 posts per week as a minimum with 3-4 of those posts written by me and at least one of them to be a longer form piece of content (like my Guide to the Amazon Affiliate Program).
Within each of these areas I would normally have at least a couple of goals/priorities at any one time.
Simply having this list of things I want to achieve suddenly gives me direction on how to spend my time, which makes me much more effective when I do blog. Instead of sitting down at the computer to blog and then working out what to do, I have a list of things I need to get done – and I find myself just knocking them off.
3. Batch Process Your Main Tasks
I won’t go into great detail on this as I’ve written about it before but a number of years ago I changed the way that I do my weekly tasks and it significantly boosted my productivity levels.
Before making this switch, I would sit down to blog and find myself going through a whole day flitting from one thing to another…. but not really getting much done. I’d write an intro to a blog post, then jump onto Twitter, then talk to another blogger about a collaboration, then go back to the blog post, then moderate some comments, then jump on Facebook and then…. well you get the picture.
So I began to carve out longer chunks of time to do the most important tasks in ‘batches’.
For example, one of my weekly rhythms is to use Monday and Wednesday mornings to write. On those mornings, I will often set myself up in a cafe and work offline for 2-3 hours. This enables me to write as much content as possible for the days and week ahead. It is not unusual for me to write 4-5 blog posts that I’m then able to schedule onto the blog for the coming days.
By silo’ing off time to do the most important tasks, and removing other distractions, I found I churn through a lot more work than I had previously been able to do.
I now ‘batch’ process many tasks. I’ll often set aside half an hour to do social media for example (instead of popping into Twitter 20 times a day, I might spend a longer period once a day). Email is similarly something I try to do in batches, similarly I tend to read other blogs via RSS in batches etc.
Read more about ‘batch processing in my post ‘How Batch Processing Made Me 10 Times More Productive‘.
Mental Blogging
In the early days of my blogging I had very very limited times to blog. I was working 3-4 part time jobs at any one time while also studying in the evenings. As a result I often would only have half and hour here or there during a lunch break, late at night or early in the morning to write content.
In order to be more effective at those times, I began to do what I now call ‘mental blogging’.
So while I was working in one of my jobs in a warehouse packing parcels, I would begin to write my blog posts in my mind. I would come up with a topic, decide upon a title and then begin to map out my main points – all in my head.
I sometimes would use a small notebook to jot a few words down to remind me what I wanted to write but after a shift in the warehouse, I would often be ready to sit down and quickly write out a pretty decent blog post (sometimes more than one) because I’d effectively written it already in my head.
Since that time I’ve come across countless other bloggers who do a similar thing during their own daily activities.
Later on I did a similar thing by jotting down my notes on my iPhone or even speaking blog posts into an audio recording app on my iPhone while I was out on a walk.
4. Idea Generation and Editorial Calendars
In my early days of blogging one of my biggest time sucks was coming up with ideas. I would sit, staring at my computer screen for hours on end, trying to work out what to write about on my blog that day.
I discovered that a much more effective strategy is to put aside batches of time specifically to come up with post ideas.
Instead of deciding what to write about each day, I began to create times to brainstorm and mind map blog ideas. I would then developed a file for each post topic so that on any given day I could sit down and within seconds I’d have something to write about
Mind Mapping is my favourite technique for generating potentially hundreds of ideas (read Discover Hundreds of Post Ideas for Your Blog with Mind Mapping).
Just having the ideas ready to go when you need them will save you a lot of time. You can take this a step further and consider creating an Editorial Calendar where you actually slot the ideas into a calendar over the coming week, month (or longer) and map out where you’ll be going with the blog in that period of time.
Editorial calendars may not suit everyone but I know of numerous bloggers who plan their blogs content well over a month in advance. This not only gives them an idea of where their blog is headed but they also find it useful to monetize their blogs as they’re able to share their calendar with advertisers who may wish to sponsor a relevant series of posts that might be coming up.
5. Break Down Big Jobs into Small Bites
Late last year, I recorded a free webinar where I shared 10 things I wish I’d known about blogging when I started 10 years before. In that webinar I shared the story of creating the first eBook that I developed over at Digital Photography School.
The idea of creating an eBook was something that I’d been meaning to do for at least a year or two but I’d always put off doing it because I didn’t have the time for such a big project. I’d never done something like that before and I felt overwhelmed by it.
In the end, to get the eBook created and launched, I decided that the only way I’d find the time to write it was to get up 15 minutes earlier every morning to work on the project.
15 minutes a day isn’t much (although we had a newborn at the time so 15 minutes sleep was precious) but I was amazed how much I could get done in that short period of time, on a daily basis. Over the coming 2-3 months I completed writing the eBook, had had it designed, had worked out how to market it, had researched how to sell it (shopping carts etc) and was ready to launch.
I effectively broke down a big job into little bite sized chunks until it was complete. That eBook went on to sell thousands of copies and became the template for 19 other eBooks that I’ve now launched (the main source of income to my blogs today).
I often wonder what would have happened if I’d never found that extra 15 minutes per day!
6. Slow Blogging is OK
“I have to post something today!”
Sometimes, as bloggers, I think we create monsters for ourselves for no good reason when it comes to posting deadlines and frequency.
I’m very guilty of this and it’s been something of a relief to realise that I can slow down my blogging a little and not see it ‘hurt’ my blog.
Here on ProBlogger you may have noticed a bit of a change lately. I’ve gone from posting 7-10 posts per week to posting 5-6 times a week.
For many years here at ProBlogger I felt the need to publish daily posts and at times, even aimed for 2-3 posts per day. While there were some benefits of doing so (more posts can mean more traffic) there were also costs in terms of the quality but also personally (it’s hard to sustain that kind of publishing for years on end).
Since slowing down, I’ve been fascinated to see that our traffic has remained steady (in fact some days it has been higher). The other impact has been a rise in comment levels, in positive feedback but also in my own energy and passion levels.
While deadlines and targets for posting frequency can be motivating – there may be periods of time when slowing down has some big benefits.
7. Make Space for Preparation, Creating and Rest
I first came this concept via an Aussie blogger Kemi Nekvapil, but I think this idea originally comes from Jack Canfield who talks about creating days for ‘preparation’, ‘success’ and ‘rest’.
Kemi talks about the structure of her week and how she has 3 different types of days during her week. They are ‘preparation days’, ‘success days’ and ‘inspiration days’.
So for Kemi, her Mondays are preparation days when she is getting ready to have a creative ‘success’ day, Tuesdays are successful days, Wednesdays are preparation days and Thursdays are successful days. Fridays are her inspiration days where she gets to do whatever she wants to do for herself.
By giving herself days with a different focus, Kemi says she’s able to keep her creativity up and to sustain herself.
It makes sense really – if every day is a day where you have to produce something and you never have time to prepare or to have a break the quality of what you produce will suffer (as will your energy levels).
I love this idea and almost intuitively have done something a little similar of late. My wife (V) works on a Wednesday, so on those days I’ve had a bit more to do with the kids (drop offs, pick ups and a shorter working day). I’ve decided to go with it not being quite as a productive day and make Wednesdays a little less hands on with work, giving me a little more space to just ‘be’.
I’ve been doing a little work but also am trying to put time aside on Wednesdays to read, walk and have a siesta. It might sound a little like a lazy day on some levels but I’m noticing that having a quieter day in the middle of my week certainly makes me more productive on the following days.
What Are Your Tips for Finding Time to Blog?
What I’ve written above just scratches the surface. I am by no means an expert on this and am keen to learn from your experience.
I totally agree with the suggestions you made Darren. I would like to add the following tips: 1. Have pre-baked articles ready, written in other times, 2. Give yourself time to think (mental blogging, but with discipline) and 3. Write about things you can write without preparation (passion, travels, small problems could have be solved otherwise, hacks you use, etc). For me the most important tip is the batch processing and doing the “heavy” duties, first. Other than that, I’m totally in favor of Covey’s priority matrix (adjusted in blogging style, of course). Thank you for sharing.
I agree completely with all your points. For the first one, wow. I can not believe how many times my internet has gone out and I have been unable to write. Simply publishing a prewritten article on my iPhone is way easier than having to type a whole one out on that tiny keyboard!
I agree with points two and three because I find that when you write about topics like that, they usually are better quality articles. They also sound less like other websites, because all the information is coming from your brain – less research.
I agree with you, Darren. Priority and discipline are very important. If blogging is important, we need to make it a priority. And anything we put our time and effort into, becomes more important.
I work full time and I’m busting my butt to become a blogging giant – one thing that helps me is carrying aroudn a notebook. I know there are apps that I can use to take notes on blog post ideas, but a spiral notebook works best for me. I have loads of them in my home office.
I use the notebooks to take notes when I’m listening to podcasts, to write down ideas, to work out ideas, to draft blog posts and presentations, scripts for YouTube videos. They’re a life saver.
My second step is to carve out a few hours each week to write and schedule. It’s more than a few hours, but you get what I mean. My boyfriend knows that one day on the weekend I’m blogging. He restores cars and tractors so we match up our hobby time. The dogs have yet to figure this out so I get up early in the morning to walk them for a few miles so that I can get them to sleep for a few hours.
It’s amazing how much I can get done when my fur babies are napping. Otherwise, they’re in my lap – 200 pounds of furry love :)
Thank you so much for the tremendous amount of insight in this article. I am just getting my blog off the ground, and this is such a great resource for me as a beginner. I feel even more fortunate to find posts like this going into the blogoshpere before I get going. Thanks again.
Thanks for these great tips. As I have only been blogging a little more than a week I have a lot of learning to do about the entire process. However, it did not take long to recognize the time issue. I am going to try designating each day to different aspects, but it is still going to be difficult as I am still learning a lot. Every new post I read gives me an idea of something to implement, change, or just not do. Its definitely not easy and definitely can consume a lot of time. Its during that time, at least for me, that I get to do some soul searching and self learning. This whole process is quite a growing experience and I keep finding myself wanting to do more, even though I can barely handle what I do. Thanks again for such insightful tips.
I was already doing the “mental blogging” without knowing, hehe. I mental blogging even when I am stopped on traffic. I have been using the app “Evernote” to help me to catch my ideas in the right time when they come, I use the voice record a lot.
I saw this video on your twitter and I also liked it a lot too!
I agree with your Darren..Slow BLogging is still ok,we should not regret it…Thanks for this masterpiece.
I think half the battle is gathering the content like photo’s .. so I take all my photos of outfits, purchase, or products that I think will make an interesting blog post on the weekend. I can’t do any of this during the week because I have a full time job.
I write a blog post on Sunday evening and post Monday. Then write a post on Tues evening and post on Wed and so on ..
And if I don’t post .. then I don’t post .. lol. The people that follow my blog follow a ton of other blogs so they’ll have plenty to read if I don’t get a post up :-)
Monica.
“There’s not enough time” is really an excuse that people come up with.
You don’t “FIND” time you “MAKE” time to do the things you want to get done. We all have 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week – some people make the time to get things done, while others make time to talk about getting things done, or plan to get things done, or create reasons why they can’t get what they want to get done – done.
Yes we have limited time in our days, and yes some of us have other priorities. (A single mother of 5 certainly doesn’t have as much time to dedicate to blogging as an unemployed college graduate struggling to find work), but that single mother of 5 isn’t going to “FIND” any time to get the work done, she can only “MAKE” time to get it done.
Just my two cents on the topic of time and I certainly am in the boat of not having enough of it to get all the things I want to get done done – but I do what I can to make the most out of the time I have.
I’ve never been one to except the “not enough time argument.” Many people who say they don’t have time to do things productive are too busy consuming other media: TV, social media, movies, etc. I’m a single dad with a full-time job. I’ve been able to keep my blog http://www.danerickson.net going. I’ve written two books in the past two years. I’ve recorded several songs and podcasts in the past six months. And I still take time to hike, bike, practice music, karate, and more. No time? Nah.
I’m taking it easy by just publishing once a week while I get the hang of it : )
A lot of people have problem finding time doing their own things but as mentioned watching tv, playing games can be a way to relax but it’s actually used up a lot of time. And as a blogger, I don’t think they should have new post on time scheduled but a post that solved readers problem is enough to bring readers happiness.
Mind Mapping is my favourite technique for generating potentially hundreds of ideas. But i can not apply Mind Mapping when search and comment to lose time. May be see again “Discover Hundreds of Post Ideas for Your Blog with Mind Mapping”.
I agree with you .Thanks for sharing
Great tips. I especially like the idea of breaking writing into batches. I get easily distracted and often bounce from task to task. It sometimes takes me hours to write a simple post that should take 10-15 minutes. I’ll definitely try to implement that idea going forward.
This article has come at such a good time for me. When I started out, I would publish one or two posts a day because I had the time. Once I got a full-time job and some other commitments, I was still trying to stick to this schedule, which was compromising the quality of my posts. I’ve now decided to chill out and focus on one or two great posts a week. I’m still having trouble balancing social media and other stuff surrounding my blog and there’s still so much I want to do with it, but I guess it takes time to figure it all out and get the balance right!
Thanks for the inspiration!
I’ve no more time to blog about my views.But maintain the posting time by using Google calendar.It means first set some goals today and activate mobile alerts.It makes my work easy for me.
Great suggestions, as always, Darren — thank you! May I humbly share an edit that was once given to me? We can hone our skills but we don’t “hone” in on something, we “home” in on it. Perhaps it harkens back to the days of homing pigeons. :-)
This is really great. I especially like tip #3 about batching major processes. This is such a time saver. One of the hardest things for me was always coming up with good ideas to write about — now I keep a notebook with me while I read my RSS feed & scan the news in the morning, this way I can capture inspiration as it comes up.
Thanks for the helpful article.
I usually split my work into parts and do it partially. It almost saves more time and I can even find time to other work. Anyway, Thanks Darren, will follow other steps to find time to blog :)
Really useful post for pro bloggers, they always craves for time!
The best tip I have is not to beat yourself up about it. I have to write blogs for my own website and every time I do there is a sharp spike in traffic as it gets syndicated around various channels. The problem of course is that work and life get in the way, so I simply refuse to get worked up about it.
The outcome of this approach is that when I do write I tend to find that it’s from the heart (or hip!) and is usually more relevant and coherent than if I had to force the piece. Far too many bloggers get caught in the trap of thinking that quantity and quality are interchangeable when the reality is that one quality piece will do more for your site than a dozen fillers.
Google looks to promote high quality content but sadly too many blogs (and comments) don’t add anything. If you set out to create a piece that you will still be proud of in two years time then you are on the right track.
Thanks for the blog Darren, first time I’ve caught it but expect a Twitter follow any second now!
Darren,
Please check this site out and maybe it will give you something to blog about
jameswalter.smartmediatechnologies.com
thanks James
I’m a pretty organized person – okay so I’m obsessive at times – but the one thing that plagued me for a long time was frequency of posting new articles. Every expert in the blogging universe has a different opinion and when you’re new it’s easy to make yourself crazy trying to follow the plethora of advice. Not that there isn’t plenty of good information, but sooner or later you have to suck it up and following your own path. For me that meant learning to pay attention to the habits of my readers. I ended up regularly posting 3 new articles a week for about a year, then “life” got in the way and for a time I cut back to two. Funny thing was I never lost traction – in fact my traffic improved and I started getting more comments! It’s a learning process, but until we get to the point of having enough courage to experiment it’s tough finding the right path. Thanks!
Good posting! I have thought about posting more on my blogs. Plus there is always the unwritten rule of updating websites…. how much is enough? Some people say twice a week is just fine. Others swear by posting every day.
I try to post at least once or twice a week. It’s true, though, that not paying attention to your blogs and not making time for that is a major mistake.
I like your scheduling idea. I have not tried that before, and hope to try it now. Thanks for the great suggestions!
This is a great post – so much stuff in one place, and just what I need to read :) Thank you!
I am relatively new to blogging. Time was my biggest struggle at first until I had some content written and “in the bank” (scheduled). I have been able to workout again, so the time management is improving. I use Evernote to jot down ideas that come to me for future blog posts. I have them organized by category.
Darren’s suggestion that I use the most is mind blogging. I have outlined and written most posts in my mind before I sit down at the computer. I write on a few subjects, so I tend to write 2-3 posts in that area at the same time.
I appreciate all the good suggestions that the rest of you have shared. Thanks.
My two tips arre these: treat your blog posts as you would a client task and schedule in time for them each week. If you really are snowed under, turn the telly off and write a post instead of watching that comedy rerun.
Great post on a perennial problem – and not just for bloggers. So much to do, so many books to read, so little time. As you say, it’s all about prioritising – at the end of the day, we make time for what’s really important to us – and if we don’t have enough time for our blog, maybe that’s a reflection of its importance in the scale of things. And perhaps there are times when other things have to take priority.
I can particularly relate to your tip about blogging in your head – I do a lot of that, usually when I’m walking the dogs.
Loved the video, by the way – the splitting of the week into different types of days has got me thinking.
Many thanks – really enjoyed this post,
Sue
I adore the idea of ‘preparation days’, ‘success days’ and ‘inspiration days’.
My blogging routine is haphazard, I’ll admit – I also try to batch tasks such as scheduling posts, commenting, lining up tweets, but it’s so tempting to keep checking back in during the day and wasting time.
Time management is important , other points are also matters like article topic, and targeted audience… Overall a interesting post
Great tips, its also a problem I have. I found that putting aside an evening and writing several posts, then scheduling them is a good tip if you find it hard to make time each day.
I also completely agree that the speed you post doesn’t need to be quick in order to sustain a userbase/get traffic. If its good quality writing, people will come and read it regardless of when its posted.
I’m Completely agree with you. Thanks For sharing nice blog post!!!
Thanks very much Darren. Funny how it takes others to help you teach yourself…. I’ve been teaching time management from a holistic perspective for quite awhile. It is a humbling experience, reminding me that it’s always easier to others to do than to do yourself. I love how you approach your craft in the context of life. And I appreciate how you provide specific counsel that I can and will apply. Really So glad to realize (one of those duh/eureka! moments) I can give myself permission to blog slowly. So thanks for reminding me of what I already knew (needed it) and expanding it so iI can connect it with new thoughts (value that big time).
1. Schedule time.
2. Have a plan/to-do list before I ever sit down. Otherwise I don’t know what to do and end up wasting the time.
3. Batch.
It’s taken a long time to get to this point but I’m more efficient than I’ve been up to this point and I find it helps me enjoy blogging more and I can produce more quality work since I’m not working on blog posts at the last minute or feeling rushed.
Thank you for these tips! I like your series of time management articles so much, I featured them in a separate post in my blog. They also fit my topic perfectly, so I would do a disservice to my readers if I didn’t.
Editorial calender was what I was Looking for
This were great tips. Writing a few posts at a time for later definitely frees you up to focus on other things.
Although few of these were new to me, I needed this. Recently I feel like I’ve fallen behind on my blogging. I do have two blogs and a new writing gig that pays but I still want to get myself back to providing value on my blogs and also trying to monetize. Thanks.
I found some great tips from this article. There are tips that I have been using, so they resonate to me a lot and there are also ones I heard before, but never had a chance to apply them into my daily work. By reading from Darren’s stories, I think I now get more ideas on how to apply them properly.
Thank you for sharing the great information as usual.
Keep up the great work, Darren.
Of course….. there is no doubt, your are one of the best blogger which have Google writing skills and specially your blog so much help me to blogging :D thanks
Thanks Darren for sharing your story on how you get your first e-book writen.
I have been worring over getting my e-book written for some moths and never have the time to do it.
Thanks.
While posts will tend to vary for me, there’s a certain formula for many of my blog posts: introduction, 3-5 points, and a conclusion. If I can think in terms of “What are the 3-5 things I want to say about this topic?” I find it much easier to sit down and write and will be far more efficient.
#7. The video is fascinating! The chalk artist really brings in the creative element, and I appreciate the reminder to create margin with time to prepare and time to rest.
Glad I happened along this post. Love the video. I try setting a flexible schedule. If I have free time I may set up a few posts in a row & polish them up at a later time, inserting edited photos…
This is nice reading. Aside from the issue of time, mental block is also my concern as a blogger. There are lots of ideas but how to put those ideas in writing is my concern. It does not help that when I surf online, there are also already a lot of topics about the idea that I have in mind. Writing a blog post becomes a lot more difficult when you see that there are already bloggers who have written on the same idea.
This is true even if one can write copyscape original posts. There is just too much competition even for long tail keywords and it seems online writers have already exhausted all keyword variations for any niche. lol. But this is how it goes so blogging must still continue and hope to build online followers.
I use mind maps even when deciding topics as part of a team. Take is from a skeptic at first, visualizing topics works. :)
Great Tips! I especially love the idea of breaking down a big job into small chunks. The thought of sitting down to write an EBook is overwhelming to say the least but after reading this I am not afraid to approach it from a “15 minute block” position. Thank you!
My biggest tip is to write down all ideas for posts as you have them. This way there is always a list to pick from when it comes time to write.
Thanks again for the great tips!
Great article
Thankfully, I have someone helping me with our blog now. However, I still create & manage content for our site, which I like to do. I must focus on multiple aspects of sales as well.
So what do I do? First, I make time, because if it must be done, you must make time for it.
2nd: That time is around sales time, which is primarily during week days.
3rd: I found that even blogging and writing content for business requires creativity, as mentioned above. So I read plenty of fiction and watch films, etc – and funnel some of that leisure time into creative thinking for my copy-writing..
Editorial calender was what I was Looking for