Finding the Time to Blog
Those of you who have been blogging for at least a few months now probably already know that it is a very time-consuming task, especially for those who try to post every day. For many, daily posting is near impossible- that is, creating something of quality for their readers, not that quick copy-and-paste junk.
I am one of these people- a victim of the clock, living a busy life and often wondering where the time went. I make due with the few hours of spare time I have most days, but it never seems to be enough, especially when writing articles for IGTB. (And it's frustrating!)
However, I have found a few ways to manage time more efficiently, and perhaps my tips will help you as well:
Manage the time you do have.
Most bloggers establish a general blogging routine they carry out each time they write. Now take that a step further and allocate the time you have between the tasks you want to accomplish, top-priority tasks being the first to tackle. Create a schedule this way for each week, and stick to it the best you can.
Set aside 'work time', just for blogging.
Sometimes multitasking isn't so efficient when you're trying to blog. Often people will have their kids right with them, or others will interrupt, etc. Do your best to eliminate distractions- turn off your cell phone if possible, and talk with your family and friends about leaving you to your work during this time. It's not always easy, but the better you can concentrate, the less time you'll waste.
Write in advance.
Most blog platforms today allow you to schedule your posts to publish at a later date. If you know you are going to be away for a while, try writing a few posts before you go, and schedule them to publish while you're gone. Not everyone can spare the time or patience to write several new posts in one sitting, but if you can, give it a try.
Let other bloggers write for you.
I know this has nothing to do with 'you' finding more time to write, but sometimes it's just not humanly possible to keep your blog up when 'real life' gets in the way. A good way to keep your blog alive while you're gone is to let other people do the blogging for you.
Just finish the damn post.
A friend of mine in the music industry gave me a nice bit of advice about songwriting last month- "Stop obsessing over the most minute details and just finish the damn song already," and after thinking about it a bit, realized this works for blogging, too. Sometimes bloggers are so concerned about what they're writing that they spend too much time and attention on the small details in their posts, and later realize that they did very little in the time it would normally take to compose a somewhat lengthy article. Relax and just finish the post already.
How do you find the time to keep up with your blog(s)?
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It's not the posts that consume so much of my time. Those I can bang out pretty quickly. It's responding to the comments and visiting the blogs of those who left them that takes me so long. But I'd agree with most of your tips for sure. Especially the one about not obsessing over minutiae. But I can't stand it when I find a typo or grammar error in one of my posts after it's published. Makes me just slightly nuts.
Maybe that's why I like Wordless Wednesdays so much, eh?
Posted by: Mojo | September 24, 2008 at 07:41 AM
There's no doubt running a blog is a time-consuming activity. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it if I take into account the few pennies that make it into my AdSense or affiliate accounts - I guess what keeps me going is the satisfaction of building something, connecting with people I'll probably never meet, etc.
I manage my time by keeping a prioritised task list and concentrating on completing the hightest priority tasks - I never get to the bottom, but periodically review the list and bump up the priority on anything that's becoming more urgent.
Posted by: Rod | September 30, 2008 at 04:55 PM