How I've Become More Productive This Year

Those of you that have been long time readers may have noticed that last year I was very much on and off with my blogging. There were various reasons for that throughout the year, but one of the main ones was that I just wasn't giving myself enough time to get any blog related work done. I wasn't very organised at all, and as a result my productivity suffered. Fast forward to this year, and I feel like I'm in a much better blogging mindset. I've really worked to make sure I'm the most productive blogger I possibly can, whilst also growing a child inside me and continuing my full time job, and as a result I've been able to keep up a regular upload schedule so far. Here's just a few changes I've made to achieve that.

Invested in a good blog planner If you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen me sing my Kikki K planner's praises on numerous occasions. It's not specifically designed for blog planning, but I think it fits my needs perfectly. It has a calendar in the front, with a month per page & little boxes to write in for each day, which is where I keep a record of my blogging schedule once I have finalised it for each month, and then a week to view style diary section, which is where I make notes on the blogging tasks I need to do for each day. There's also plenty of space to write extra notes within the diary section, and also at the back of the planner, which I've found really handy.

Having a draft schedule available at a glance There are plenty of printable monthly calendars available for free on the internet, like these. I like to have one of these tucked away in my planner for each month, and as an idea comes to me for a blog post, I'll add it into my schedule in pencil. Writing in pencil means that I'm able to move posts around, or get rid of them completely, as I see fit. Then, once I've decided on my final post schedule for the following month, I'll add it into my planner. I like doing it this way so that my planner doesn't end up in a chaotic mess!

Setting realistic to do lists Beforehand, I used to set myself a mammoth amount of tasks and try and get all of the blogging tasks done in one day during the week. I found that when it got to that particular day of the week that I was completely overwhelmed by how much I had set myself to do, that I just didn't want to do it, and at times blogging felt like a bit of a chore. I now break up my weekly tasks into manageable chunks, usually spread across four days a week, and obviously giving myself a little extra to do over the weekend, as this is when I have more free time. I've found that doing it this way has made my blogging experience more enjoyable. If I find that I can't quite get all of my tasks done on one day, or I've double booked with social commitments, I have the flexibility to move something to one of my "free" days.

Actually using my pretty notebooks I'm a bit of a stationery addict, and love to buy gorgeous new notebooks, but am I the only one that sometimes thinks that they are just too pretty to use? I've held on to so many over the years, but I've realised it's time to stop collecting them and start actually putting them to good use. For every blog post I write, I actually have a plan put together before I come to sitting at the computer and writing it now - that way I'm not wasting time staring blankly at a screen and can get more done in the time I give myself at the PC each day.

Making sure every post I write is something I would personally want to read During some periods of last year, I found myself churning out content for the sake of getting something out there. It made my blogging experience much less enjoyable, and I was less productive as a result. Having the time out of blogging that I did allowed me to think about what it was I actually did want to write about. I feel like my blog content has changed quite a bit this year. Of course there's still regular beauty posts, as this is still something I love, but I feel like I've opened up to a few other areas of my life recently too, and I plan to do that more as the year goes on. Blogging about things I'm passionate about means that the words and ideas flow much more freely.

Tidying my blogging space Whilst I still don't have the blogging space of dreams yet, I have had a good old tidy of what is currently there. Our computer desk & surrounding are was a bit of a mess for a long time. Not being able to find what I wanted when it come to writing up my blog posts was a bit of a nightmare and, as well as being time costing, it was very uninspiring to sit in that kind of environment. It's amazing what a little bit of a tidy up can do, but I guess it's true what they say - a tidy space equals a tidy mind!

Do you have any more tips for becoming a more productive blogger?