Blogging takes time. There’s no getting away from that. I think you can still have a fab blog, even if you don’t have a lot of time.
It’s all about putting your time to good use.
The first thing is to work out how much time you have to use on your blog, and work with it. It’s no good attempting to post three times a day if you only have two hours a week spare.
Here’s my guide to successfully posting three times a week in only 45 minutes a day! Just amend to cover the time you have and the posts you want to get done.
Saturday
10 Minutes – Read and respond to emails
10 Minutes – Respond to social media messages, mentions etc
25 Minutes – Take and edit photos for the next week’s posts.
Sunday
10 Minutes – Read and respond to emails
10 Minutes – Respond to social media messages, mentions etc
25 Minutes – Write Monday’s post, add images and be ready to just hit publish
Monday
10 Minutes – Read and respond to emails
10 Minutes – Respond to social media messages, mentions etc
2 Minutes – Publish your post
23 Minutes – Schedule week’s tweets, Instagram posts, and Facebook updates
Tuesday
10 Minutes – Read and respond to emails
10 Minutes – Respond to social media messages, mentions etc
5 Minutes – Respond to blog post comments
20 Minutes – Get Wednesday’s post ready to publish
Wednesday
10 Minutes – Read and respond to emails
10 Minutes – Respond to social media messages, mentions etc
2 Minutes – Publish your post
23 Minutes – Read and comment on some blogs you follow
Thursday
10 Minutes – Read and respond to emails
10 Minutes – Respond to social media messages, mentions etc
25 Minutes – Get Friday’s post ready to publish
Friday
10 Minutes – Read and respond to emails
10 Minutes – Respond to social media messages, mentions etc
25 Minutes – Join weekly linkys
Also, think about spare time you might not have considered. How about reading and commenting on some posts on your work commute? Respond to messages on your coffee break. Use your time wisely and it really is possible!
This is the bare minimum I think you would need to do in a week, but obviously, the more time you put into your blog, the more you will get back.
Do you think this is do-able? Let me know in the comments!
I may try allotting time for specific tasks like this to see if it makes it more manageable. Good advice. #MMWBH
It does work if you stick to it. I posted my personal schedule a couple of days ago, but I openly admit to often spending longer than I should on certain tasks! Thank you 🙂
I'm rubbish at making time for everything, I'm a champion procrastinator. I may try using a schedule like this, see if it helps xx
#MMWBH
Worth a try! I'm a procrastinator too! "Oh I'll just pop on Twitter for 5 minutes" – 2 hours later I'm still there lol 🙂 x
I like how you allot time, that's a good idea. Although I spend most of my time commenting especially if I have joined in with linkies that day.
Becky xx
#Bestandworst
Thank you 🙂 This is just a rough guide to show how it's possible, you can add extra time for things if you have it spare 🙂
Oh Man! It takes me hours to write my posts and do the stuf you mentioned! But i think i'm so slow due to being unwell so maybe when i one day get well i can do it a lot faster although i am going to try this out!
great tips.
angela x
It usually takes me longer because I procrastinate, and pop off to twitter when I should be writing etc, but if I just sit and focus, I can do it in those times if I'm pushed for time. Thank you, let me know how you get on 🙂 x
Wow this looks so simple and do-able when you write it out like that. I'm so going to try follow this schedule and see where it gets me. Thank you.
Thanks, let me know how you get on 🙂
This looks so simple and easy Debbie! I tend to do most of my blog stuff in the evenings as I work 3 days a week but I love social media so that takes all my time! I could chat for HOURS! Perhaps more of a schedule would work! Thanks for sharing with #bestandworst and see u soon x
This looks so simple and easy Debbie! I tend to do most of my blog stuff in the evenings as I work 3 days a week but I love social media so that takes all my time! I could chat for HOURS! Perhaps more of a schedule would work! Thanks for sharing with #bestandworst and see u soon x
I do a lot of mine after midnight because I'm weird like that lol, but I think this would be good for anyone struggling with their time. Thanks for hosting, chat soon 🙂 x
Wow, I am so impressed that you manage to write your blog posts so quickly and efficiently. I reckon I spend at least a couple of hours on each one, and then there comes tweeting to promote it and responding to comments and I end up spending the whole evening in front of my laptop. Well done for being so efficient. #bestandworst
It usually takes me a lot longer because I tend to flit about on Twitter etc when I'm meant to be writing, but if you are pushed for time and just want to do the bare minimum for a week or two, this works 🙂
This is very useful. I have been thinking about how to organise my time lately. Blogging everyday is do-able for me but it's the social media part of it that takes pretty much all my time. #BrilliantBlogPosts
Thank you, I'm glad you found it useful. I find daily blogging do-able too, but I can understand people can't always fit it in, especially if they have children etc. 🙂
These are great tips – you're right that working in small bursts of time you can really get a lot done.
Thank you Julie 🙂
Fab schedule, I blog full time but am strict about switching off and since turning my laptop off by 8pm I'm sleeping so much better too. Thanks for linking up to #brilliantblogposts
Having a switch off time is a fab idea, I wish I was that disciplined! Thanks for hosting 🙂
I am currently trying to work out a blog/life balance!
It can be hard, I swing between feeling I'm neglecting my blog, or feeling like I don't do anything but blog!
I'm a terrible with my time. I should be more organised like you but I spend too much time on social media. I'm supposed to be there for a short amount of time and ended up being there hours!! LOL I also take much more time preparing my posts specially because I do tend to put a lot of photos plus some of them also have videos that need editing!! I should definitely try to have a better schedule. Thanks for sharing your tips Debby, xx
#TheList
http://www.amomentwithfranca.com/
To be honest, I'm the same. I spend way longer on social media than I plan to. I was disciplined for a while to time myself and see if this was possible before publishing the post, but it is easy to spend hours and hours in the blogging world! x
Damn I wish I was this organised. 30 mins a day seems so easy to eek out of everyday.
I seemed to have more time when I worked but since becoming a SAHD I feel I have less! lol
#BigFatLinky
Me too! I always end up spending way longer than I should on social media!
I can well imagine – being a sahd, you don't get to clock off and forget about it at 5pm everyday lol 🙂
Wow this is a strict regime, I should stick to so,etching like this! However I'm terrible at staying up too late to carry on blogging then getting up at 6am for the day job. I love it so much I just want to do as much as I can! But realistically a couple of hours a night is what I can do, unless it's a Friday when I can do some in the day too!
To be honest, I'm the same, I just wanted to see if it was possible to blog to a tight schedule!
I found that getting my blog posts done BEFORE checking emails or going on social media works better for me because it's hard to limit it to 10 minutes.
That's a really good suggestion, you don't have to worry so much about timings if your post is already written.
The piece that always took time was my internet and laptop being slow, so loading pages took ages. Editing photos took forever. Joining in and doing comments took too long. It felt like a back log. Added to everything you have above I’d have to say get decent technology!
Yes, good point, you can only go as fast as your internet allows! I have noticed since moving to WordPress everything takes longer on here as well so maybe for people on here it will take a bit longer.
Thanks for the advice! What a great post! I never plan my time and time always runs away with me! It’s easy to see when you put it in black and white like that, it’s easily achievable.
If I don’t plan my time, I can easily get nothing done all day!