When most netizens set out to create a blog, they have a ton of enthusiasm but not much of a plan. After a few months they might start to feel burned out because they underestimated how much work writing regular blog posts can be.
Carefully keeping track of your time and budgeting a certain amount to each task is an excellent way to maintain a consistent output without feeling exhausted.
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Mastering Task Management Chores
Good work habits can be difficult to develop, but those who are just starting to track their time usage can help things along by batching tasks together. For instance, say you need to moderate comments left on multiple posts on your blog.
Doing this all at once can save time. Switching between tasks may seem like it helps you get more done, but it can actually slow you down by dividing your attention too much. Put your chores into imaginary buckets and focus on getting through one of these before you start to move on to the next one.
Break your blogging tasks down into smaller pieces that you can manage better. This will also help you to avoid losing focus, since you’ll always know exactly what you’re trying to achieve.
Setting Solid Time-Based Goals
Give yourself realistic goals and practical time limits in which to get them done. It’s easy to get carried away when you first start making a schedule. If you don’t budget enough time to write blog posts or manage the technical side of things, then you could end up getting discouraged. Use a day-planner or a piece of employee tracker software to keep track of deadlines. After a few weeks, you’ll probably have a good idea of how long it should actually take to accomplish certain tasks.
Once you do, you can start to block off periods of time with a greater level of precision. Some people find that there’s a certain point in the day where their productivity level peaks. You may want to schedule all of your most difficult chores during this time so you can always be certain they’ll get done on time. Never forget to give yourself a little extra schedule room to research topics or check over your existing work.
Working With Focused Writing Sprints
If you find yourself getting distracted while you’re writing, then try working for a set period of time before taking a well-deserved break. You may already be familiar with the Pomodoro technique, which divvies up the workday into 25-minute segments followed by rest periods.
Depending on the type of blog you’re managing and how long your posts are, you might want to work for 30-40 minutes followed by a 10-15 minute break. Use your break time to handle essential self-care activities or even just grab a fresh cup of coffee. You’ll feel rejuvenated and be more likely to stick to your schedule since it comes with a little reward baked in.
Gaining New Insights on Efficiency
Users of dedicated time tracking software will eventually build up quite a collection of detailed analytics. Looking through these will help to draw attention to which types of writing and research tasks tend to take the longest. You might notice that there are times when outside distractions get worse or you find it hard to concentrate.
By making data-driven time management decisions based around these metrics, you can fine-tune your blogging efforts. There’s a good chance you’ll find some gaps that are unaccounted for. Shuffling your schedule to make better use of this time can help you get more done without having to work any harder. Always focus on optimizing your work habits and finding areas where you could potentially improve on them.
Building Consistency & Balance
Burnout is a serious problem, but a good application of time tracking techniques can stop it in its tracks. Think of content creation as more of a marathon than a race. Writers will often try to fire off a huge number of articles all at once and then take a few days off before restarting this cycle.
A better idea might be to break up the writing and research process so that you’re consistently working the same amount every day and giving yourself plenty of opportunities for breaks.
The SuN Takeaway
By integrating time tracking techniques into your blogging workflows, you should find that you can actually meet your goals with less stress. Don’t look at this as a way to add additional pressure to your schedule.
Rather, it’s best to consider it an opportunity to work smarter and save time. Most writers will quickly come to realize that a good schedule is a time-saving device that can cut out some of the most burdensome aspects of running a blog.
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