You may not think that time management tips are important for you, but if you are serious about having a successful blog, then you need to give some thought as to how best to use your time.
Regardless of the area of work you are in, you will often hear the same old cry “There are just not enough hours in the day”. Does it sound familiar?
I know that I am certainly guilty of this!
Managing your time has become so important in achieving tasks and blogging is no different. It is therefore crucial that you have some form of time management tips for your blogging career before you get in too deep.
Before we get too far into this, let’s look at a definition of what time management is.
“Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.” (Wikipedia)
Now, answer these two questions:
- Does it feel that some people just always seem to get more done in a day than you?
- Do you wonder how some bloggers seem to establish more with their blog than you do?
At the end of the day we all have the same amount of hours in our day, would you agree?
Granted, some people have to undertake a day job as well as their blogging, some have to care for children, some care for elderly parents, etc. There are thousands of excuses as to why WE are busier than the next person.
However, what separates those from having the ‘time to complete tasks and those that don’t is simple….it’s time management!
Time management can be easy to some and for others, it can seem like a huge uphill battle.
Today, we shall look at some time management tips that will help improve your blog’s productivity.
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Time Management Tips #1: Plan!
If you are serious about getting the most out of your day, then you need to plan it!
What are you hoping to achieve today, tonight, this week, this month? If you have no clue how to answer this question, then how on earth do you expect to be productive?
The number 1 thing that will encompass all the other time management tips is having a PLAN!
Once you know what it is you want to achieve, you can set your tasks accordingly.
Be realistic with this though. If you know it takes you around 2 hours to write one post, don’t say you will produce 10 posts in one day. Are you going to function on 4 hours of sleep with no breaks? I don’t think so!
Take note of what kind of person you are when setting your plan.
Are you someone who is more productive in the mornings or the evenings?
Allocate the tasks that you find more difficult to the times of the day that you function better. This may sound like common sense, but it is amazing how common sense can disappear when you are trying to do 101 things!
Time Management Tips #2 Monitor your time
If you are really unsure about how long tasks take you, or how often you become consumed in social media, it may be a good idea to track your time for a week.
In that week make a record of how long it is taking you to undertake certain activities. This may highlight where areas of time can be gained and where you may be wasting time.
A lot of workplaces require employees to keep statistics of how they manage their day. My ‘part-time job’ is as a social worker, and we have to account for every 5 minutes of the working day! It may sound crazy, but it’s true!
I’m certainly not saying to break it down that far, but you get the idea.
- Are you spending 1 hour in the morning on social media, or is it turning into 3?
- Are you intending on spending 4 hours a day writing content for your blog, but it is actually ending up to be 2?
Take a good look at what you are doing NOW so you know where you want to make changes.
Don’t beat yourself up about having breaks either. You are far more productive if you take short breaks than if you plow through for hours on end. Time management tips are designed to help you, not make you feel like a workhorse!
Take the time to refresh yourself, refresh your mind, and also your motivation!
Stick to a schedule that is comfortable for you and your lifestyle, but also keeping to the commitments you have set for yourself.
Time Management Tips #3: Avoid Interruptions
Are you someone that can easily become distracted by email and social media notifications? If yes, then you really need to turn these off and focus!
If you are sitting down to write a blog post, then write that blog post!
Each and every time you flick screens to just check on that one notification or another you are wasting time. It may not feel like wasting time as that interaction was also ‘part of your business, but it is the distraction that is holding you back.
You will be surprised at just how much you can get done when you avoid those interruptions for an hour!
Time Management Tips #4: Work on your business, not IN your business
Perhaps at the end of the day, you need to look at outsourcing some of your tasks. Have you heard the saying “work on your business and not in your business”?
To be in control of your business means that you need to take a step back sometimes. Would you be more effective outsourcing some keyword research, logo design, or even content creation?
What causes you the most stress on your blog? These are usually the things that eat up the most time! If you could outsource those tasks, what kind of time would this free up for you to be able to be more productive in other areas?
Fiverr is a great site for outsourcing small tasks, and it only costs….$5! You can literally pay people to do anything for you, make a YouTube video, write an Ezine article, comment on blogs for you.
All you need to do is think about those tasks that you would like help with, and find someone suitable to do them for you.
Outsourcing is a great way of keeping up your motivation because all of a sudden you are getting two or three times as much done. That surely has to be good for keeping on top of your blog and keeping those smiling faces!
Of course, you may feel that you don’t have the funds to outsource and this is something that you personally need to weigh up. It may be a good idea to spend your first blog earnings on outsourcing and plow your investment straight back into your business. This is however only something that you can decide on.
At the end of the day, all successful bloggers will have conquered their time management.
There is no way you can run a successful business if you can not manage your day-to-day tasks.
Whether you do that yourself or you outsource someone to help with the load, you MUST have a plan of not only what you want to achieve, but how you are going to achieve it and it what timeframe.
Is time management something that you struggle with, or something you have under control?
Do you have any time management tips that you find useful?
Please share your thoughts with us below.
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