It’s all about time in the blogging world.
Nearly every time I speak with a potential client they tell me they don’t have time to blog. If you talk to bloggers they’ll tell you the number one challenge is not having enough time to blog or finding time to blog.
Part of it starts with expectations. We might be able to sit down on occasion and rip out a post in 20 minutes, but more often than not it will take some time and that’s where the issue comes in.
With this in mind it’s important to avoid the dread time suck.
There are a few I’ve experienced over the years and I have tried to find ways to avoid blogging time sucks. Here are the best ways I’ve found to avoid them. Hopefully you can avoid them as much as possible too.
This post was inspired after reading Time Recovery Hacks by Rand Fishkin.
Avoid People
This makes me sound like a recluse or a hermit, but I can’t write when people are around. Even if there is the chance of a phone call it drives me nuts. I hate having a meeting on the schedule if I need to write. The idea of having a conversation with someone while I’m trying to blog drives me nuts. It’s probably just me, but I need to avoid people when I’m writing. I get into a zone and the words flow out better when there is nothing there to distract me.
When you are blogging there needs to be complete focus for finishing the post otherwise time will be lost. People probably hate me for it, but when I’m in the zone I try to block things out until I finish or at least finish a draft.
Avoid Internet Distractions
It’s incredible how much information is available on the Internet. For bloggers there are two sides to the coin on this topic.
First, all this information allows bloggers to research and create amazing content. There is so much to learn and so much to think about that when you’re online there is no limit to what you can create via a blog.
But on the other side is the issue of distraction. You don’t need to be connected to the Internet when writing a blog post, but most of the time bloggers are because we need to reference articles and look for more information. This can be bad news because it’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy to get off task and find yourself getting back to your post an hour after you started.
This happens to be all the time and I’m still fighting it. The only way I know how to avoid it is to focus and do the best I can to shut things out. I also use a reward system that works pretty well. I’ll find a few articles I want to read and I’ll tell myself I can read them, but only after finishing the post.
Grammar
This is a sticky issue. I don’t think grammar is the most important part of blogging and some come down on me for it. I’ll admit that my grammar is not the best, but I feel I can make up for it with great stories and great content. Of course we all try to create a perfect post with perfect grammar, but if you worry about it nonstop you’ll never finish a post.
Worry about the story and the content of the post first. Avoid falling into the grammar trap and you’ll get things done faster.
These are three of big blogging time sucks and some possible ways to avoid them. Do you have any others?
What slows you down as you blog?
Image Credit: Artnow314