We live in times which demand the creation of a continuous flow of content, finding ourselves trying to fit more into a day with an ever increasing workload. One of the ways to cope with the demands of content creation, especially when it comes to blog writing, is to find efficient systems which help to expedite the process, creating systems which enable us to increase both the quality of our work and our productivity.
Here are our 7 ways to help maximise your time and boost efficiency when it comes to writing your blog as follows:
#1 Give yourself a deadline
Create a feeling of urgency by imagining that you have a once in a lifetime opportunity to prepare your story for the front page of a major newspaper such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Times of India or The Australian.
#2 Remember: Content is king
In order to have a continuous flow of content – keep a running list of interesting tops which you find in your everyday dealings. There are also many avenues which assist in curating information by saving the URL of an interesting topic that you have found – avenues such as Pocket or extensions such as Share Link via Email which help save your content which you can access when needed at a later stage.
#3: Set a time each day
Scheduling is necessary in order to get something done. And this applies to your writing too. Decide on a time each day that you can dedicate to writing your blog. Even (or especially) if you are not in the ‘writing mood’. This is a good discipline to cultivate, so that you develop the habit of bringing your attention to the task of creating content irrespective of whether you feel like it or not.
#4: Focus
De-clutter your workspace – both the actual physical space on your desk as well as other distractions like email. Put your cell phone in flight mode, so you avoid the interruption of a call, enabling you to get all your writing done in one go.
#5: Give your blog a goal
Before putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard, decide on the goal of your blog. In other words, what action would you like your reader to take while reading your blog or after having read it? This can be implemented through a call to action such as to sign up for a newsletter or to click on a further link which goes through to additional information on the site.
#6: Remove your inner critic
Rather than aiming for perfection in your first writing attempt, just start by just putting down words, without second guessing, assessing or criticising your content. It is a strange phenomenon but when you force yourself to just write without looking at your words through a filter of evaluation, you somehow manage to develop content which can be used.
Once you come to the end of the blog, then you can go through it again, refining it and editing where necessary.
#7: Continuity
Maintain a sense of continuity by keeping tasks in batches. This means writing without getting up to make coffee, answer the phone or even looking up additional facts or information for your blog.
If you are not sure of something or you require additional facts, either insert a place mark such as ‘xxxx’ or highlight the area, leaving it until your writing is complete, so that you do all your research together at the end. This streamlines the process and allows you to complete your writing, instead of jumping from one idea to the next, creating a stop-start effect without getting anything completed.
In this way you get to create a completed blog, providing information which is interesting and valuable, giving the reader with interesting insights which they can apply to their own lives.
