Darren Rowse is one of today’s most renowned full-time bloggers who started out having a regular day job while making time to manage his blog.
If blogging is your passion, the thought of balancing it along with the rest of your responsibilities can seem impossible. But yes, it is possible.
Are you serious about finding time to do the stuff you love, stay sane, and hopefully achieve massive success? I’m here to help you manage your time better by giving you these useful tips. Read on!
1. Just get started.
Are you the type who spends a lot of time planning and not getting everything done at the end of the day? Making a long list of things to do next isn’t wrong.
However, you need to understand that real progress happens when you act. Stop contemplating and talking yourself out. Getting started is everything! The time you wasted on planning too much would have been the time you spent taking action.
2. Eliminate distractions.
Starting today, identify the things that eat up your time – distractions that prevent you from getting your tasks done. These time wasters can be your Facebook notifications, personal emails, and television shows.
Imagine the hours you could spend on your blog if you totally get rid of unproductive activities. If you must, set a specific time frame to attend to social media – and then get done with it. Focus on your most important work. Using a timer also helps!
3. Take some downtime (This is a MUST).
Recall all the things you did today: You worked, did the laundry and some house chores, helped your child do his homework, checked Facebook, and more. Hustling the entire day isn’t good for you. Always being busy about something, no matter how trivial it is, can drain your mental energy.
Take time to enjoy breaks. Build a regular routine of downtime. Remember that you cannot do everything at once. Your brain needs rest. 30 minutes or an hour – it doesn’t matter. Rest is rest. Give yourself a mental break and you’ll feel more refreshed and energized to blog later on.
4. Write down notes.
Inspiration can strike anytime. Sometimes, the best ideas flow in when you’re away from your desk. When you’re going for a jog, randomly reading stuff, or having a conversation with a friend, it’s good to have your phone ready for note-taking.
Write down creative ideas as they occur to you. Have an app such as Evernote which helps you collect ideas anytime, anywhere. You can even clip images and web pages for offline access later on. Keeping a record of your thoughts helps you save time in planning your next blog post.
5. Schedule and automate your posts.
The reason why sticking to a blogging schedule matters is that it helps you build trust and consistency. You may not feel it but your loyal blog readers are looking forward to your next post. A long absence puts you at risk for losing your readership. Moreover, creating fresh content on a regular basis allows your blog to be indexed by search engines, which is good for your SEO.
Decide on how often you’re going to write in a week and the specific days/times those posts will be published and promoted on social media. In order for you to know the best hours to post, take note of the time most your followers are active depending on their location. Remember that timing is everything.
Use a social media management tool like Hootsuite to schedule the posts you need to share on social media. This saves you time and effort and ensures that you stay on top of your audience’s minds even when you’re away.
6. Invite guest bloggers.
Face it – sometimes you just run out of time to write. Not all marketers grasp the real value of guest blogging. You need to open yourself up to the idea of having an outsider write on your behalf to help you avoid feeling too overwhelmed. Make sure to set clear expectations so guest bloggers know exactly what you’re looking for.
Aside from giving you a chance to relax, you’ll have a wider variety of topics which is good. You’ll also build better links, get more traffic, create relationships, and grow your brand authority.
Final Thoughts
Balancing blogging and a full-time job is overwhelming but with the right strategy in place, there’s no reason why you can’t. Make way for what really matters, create a smart schedule, use the right tools, delegate, and get started. Most of all, take a break!
What other tips can you add to this list? Share your ideas by commenting below. I would love to hear from you!
