5 Free Productivity Hacks for Bloggers September 5, 2019
Whether blogging for passion, a side hustle, or a full-time gig, consistent blogging is a big-time commitment. Consistency requires a lot of planning and effective time management. Keep reading for five free productivity hacks for bloggers.
Why is Time Management Essential for Me?
As a blogger who works two jobs and is in graduate school, excellent time management is essential for me to maintain consistency with my blog. Also, staying organized keeps me sane. In fact, it prevents blog stress from bleeding into my personal and professional life.
Please keep reading for my five free productivity hacks for bloggers. These tips will help you improve your time management.
Five Free Productivity Hacks for Bloggers
All-in-all, staying organized is the key that drives all my top productivity hacks for bloggers. For anyone who isn’t naturally organized, these tips may help you.
1. Create an Edit Calendar
Whether you prefer a physical planner, an online system, or a simple Excel Spreadsheet, creating a monthly or seasonal edit calendar is a huge time management aid. In fact, edit calendars aid in planning content ahead of time. Moreover, calendars make it easy to follow a schedule for writing content and shooting photography.
My June Edit Calendar created with Excel
Added benefits to creating and following an Excel Edit calendar include the ability to visualize your content for the month. Moreover, edit calendars help space out content that may be similar. For example, my Excel edit calendar makes it easy to swap out content and color code certain themes as I deem necessary
2. Make the Most of Your Commute
As someone who used to spend a ton of time on public transportation commuting to-and-from work, I used this time to stay up to date with my friends’ posts. By using commute time to stay up-to-date with your friends’ posts, you’ll never fall behind. Moreover, you won’t need to play catch up!
Alternatively, you can use this commute time to write and edit posts. Editing photography or graphics for future posts is another way you can make the most of your commute.
3. Automate Where Possible
I’m a huge fan of saving time wherever possible. By automating tasks, I’m able to save a ton of time. For example, I use automation tools for Twitter Promotion (Buffer), Instagram Posting (Planoly), and for Blog Posting (WordPress Scheduler). Also, I even use an online spell checking tool called Grammarly to assist me with blog editing!
4. Try the Pomodoro Method
The Pomodoro Method is a time-management technique that I discovered in 2018. At its core, this method is supposed to help individuals prioritize their most important tasks of the day and to be more productive with less time.
The Pomodoro Method calls for 25-minute increments of work solely focused on completing one task with zero distractions (no phone calls, no texting, no eating, no bathroom breaks, etc.) until a timer goes off. However, if a Pomodoro is “broken” then the timer must be restarted. After each “Pomodoro” (work session), the worker has the option for a two-minute break or to start the next work session.
The Pomodoro Method sounds simple. However, it can be quite challenging for anyone who is glued to their phone. Also, it may be a struggle for anyone who works a job that requires constant email vigilance.
There are free Pomodoro-timer sites online, as well as physical planners that can be used to help plan a day’s work. My planner helps me to prioritize my tasks each day. Also, it helps me to get a better sense of how long any given task should take me.
5. Set Your Own Pace
What do I mean by this? There are no steadfast rules of how many pieces of content a blogger should be writing each month.
If writing two times a week seems daunting, try aiming for one post a week and sticking to it. After some time, if this cadence proves doable, try increasing your post frequency.
Don’t let anyone else dictate how to run your blog! Find a pace that works for you and stick to it. Also, don’t be afraid to take breaks whenever you need it – I took a month-long blogging break this year!
Final Thoughts on Productivity Hacks for Bloggers
There are countless productivity hacks for bloggers. For example, I enjoy writing posts and shooting photographs in bulk when I have free time on the weekends. I’m more productive when I can get in a groove. Others may be more productive with writing posts and shooting photographs daily.
Ultimately, when it comes to productivity hacks for bloggers there is no secret sauce or magic method that will work for everyone. We all have to find our own groove when it comes to time management for blogging. While the above methods worked for me, they may not be conducive to everyone’s schedule!
P.S. Don’t let anyone pressure you into believing that you have to spend tons of money on planning or automation tools for your blog. While tools can be effective, they are not necessary.
Let’s connect on social media: Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Bloglovin’ | Influenster
Looking for more tips on how to step up your blogging game? Check out Blogger Recognition Award: Why I Write & Tips for New Bloggers, Helpful Tools for Blog Planning & Scheduling, and 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Blogging.
What is your best productivity hack for blogging? Please let me know in the comments below.
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jennifertarheelreader says
September 5, 2019 at 7:40 amSo smart and helpful, LP. I also love your advice to basically just do you with your blog.
I need to finally try Planoly!
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:26 pmThe Preview App also works for IG planning too!
travelwithkarisha says
September 5, 2019 at 8:11 amThank you for sharing. Your tips are very helpful. I think I am going to take a stab at automation first.
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:27 pmIt def makes a huge difference! 🙂
sarahsarsby says
September 5, 2019 at 4:34 pmI’ve never heard of the Pomodoro Method before but I can see why that would be super helpful. Blocking out time is very effective and is something I should focus on more! Also, I deffo agree that everyone has their own groove when it comes to time-management as I personally find it difficult to write lots of blog posts in bulk and then do lots of photography in bulk. I like to complete one blog post entirely and then move onto the next one. I need to get ahead of the game again lol… Thanks for sharing, your blog is awesome and you’re always posting new content so you clearly have your shit sorted! x
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:28 pmlol thanks girl! I’d love to keep up with things daily, but it is so much harder for me to do this when school is in session. Bulk writing & photo shooting/editing really does help me, but I love that you work through one blog post fully before moving onto the next one!!
Teen Beauty Central says
September 6, 2019 at 12:57 amWow I wish I was that organized lol
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:29 pmlol to be fair – it took me a lot of time to get to this point haha
Teen Beauty Central says
September 10, 2019 at 12:47 amTru haha, I could still work on it tho
Laura at Palette of Thoughts says
September 6, 2019 at 7:44 amDamn I needed this!! I need to really get back into my blog and make the time and effort for writing posts!! Such good tips about automating things for Instagram and Twitter, in definitely going to check our your recommendations!! xx
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:30 pmI’ve loved seeing your posts popping up in my feed again!! 😀
ANDY THOMSON says
September 6, 2019 at 1:24 pmReblogged this on LIFE STORIES FROM LINCOLN.
Alex | california pollution says
September 6, 2019 at 9:06 pmThese are such smart tips. My anxiety keeps me bouncing around and won’t let me away from my phone for too long, but that’s also because my day job requires me to be reachable at any time in case something happens with the horses. I totally admire how you’ve been able to implement these tips in your life!
Simone says
September 7, 2019 at 10:54 amI really have a hard time with working full time and blogging, but these tips can really help me out to fix this. I already try to schedule blog posts and social media promotion but it can definitely better. I just have to figure out what works for me but I’ll make sure to implement your tips!
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:42 pmYess – it is all about what works for you!! Sometimes I still fall behind with things, but at a minimum, scheduling helps me to keep my blog post schedule consistent!
gabbyabigailll says
September 7, 2019 at 5:18 pmThese tips are so helpful! I would be so lost if I wouldn’t schedule blog posts, lol. I also use hootsuite to schedule tweets and pins. IG I do manually. I really want to try out the Pomodoro method. It would help me get more done in less time! Thanks for sharing, LP.
Much love always,
GABBY | http://www.gabbyabigaill.com
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:38 pmooo how do you like Hootsuite?? Do you use a paid version or free version??
gabbyabigailll says
September 10, 2019 at 11:07 amI have been using the free version and it has helped me immensely to schedule pins and tweets.
The Newbury Girl says
September 10, 2019 at 11:10 amOmg I had no clue they even had a free version!!! I need to check this out
gabbyabigailll says
September 10, 2019 at 11:15 amYES. you can schedule up to 30 posts at once. I am working on creating a post explaining how I use hootsuite and other free resources.
The Newbury Girl says
September 10, 2019 at 11:31 amOMG I CANNOT WAIT!!!
PoojaG says
September 7, 2019 at 10:02 pmThese are all really great tips I usually tend to do the bulk of my writing/photography over the weekend and schedule it for the week it really helps save time.
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:38 pmI agree – school can sometimes make it difficult to write on a daily basis, but writing and shooting photos in bulk helps me to stay a little bit ahead of my schedule!
PoojaG says
September 11, 2019 at 3:55 pmFor sure it definitely helps!
Nancy says
September 7, 2019 at 10:59 pmI love these productivity hacks! Scheduling is so important and that helps you be organized. I totally agree about automation. I try to do it whenever I can to save time. Oooh, I’ve tried the Pomodoro Method before. This is great when I need to do a lot of things in different sprints. Thanks for sharing these tricks!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:37 pmI def wouldn’t be able to manage blogging with school and work without sticking to my schedule!!
sports, food,actives,life says
September 8, 2019 at 12:35 pmI love thesse hacks!!! Scheduling is key!
Btw small blogger here anyone who follows I follow back!
The Newbury Girl says
September 9, 2019 at 10:35 pmGoodluck with your blog!! Regularly posting def helped me to grow my blog more consistently this past year!! 🙂
thepretendgrownup says
September 15, 2019 at 2:21 pmThanks for sharing! I think I need to do a spreadsheet to plan ahead, thanks for inspiring me! x
The Newbury Girl says
September 19, 2019 at 10:02 pmI’m so glad that you found this helpful!! I’m a huge fan of spreadsheets or other planning tools to stay organized!
thepretendgrownup says
September 21, 2019 at 2:58 amI’ve just started a habit tracker too… it’s helping me stay on track with things like taking my vitamins and meditating x
katyayanishukla says
November 17, 2019 at 8:19 amThank you for the “final thoughts…” I struggle to be consistent and I am still looking for my magic mix… it gives me hope… loved the post…
The Newbury Girl says
November 23, 2019 at 1:20 pmI’m so glad that you found this helpful and I wish you the best for your blog. Building consistency can be a challenge, but what consistency means will vary from person to person.
aurelyandreaanrys says
March 22, 2020 at 7:34 amThanks for the tips!
The Newbury Girl says
March 22, 2020 at 9:59 pmGlad you found these helpful!