Me & Hubbie with our lives and hands literally full of 4 children in diapers at the same time, 1998These kids are all teens now, but life has only gotten busier for us all
Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com
Virtually all moms who blog have children. This means not only that we seem to be constantly busy with our families, but also that there is the chronic potential for distractions when we are striving to be successful mommy bloggers who post daily.
Whether you are a newbie mommy blogger or a seasoned one, you will be encouraged to know that if you follow some simple guidelines – and are willing to invest just about an hour per day – you’ll find yourself easily meeting that golden goal of a post a day.
Keep a running list of ideas for posts. Writer’s block caused by the lack of ideas is the single most common reason why moms who blog can’t seem to write a post every day. So, to combat this stumbling block, always carry a notebook with you where you can jot down blog post ideas as they come to you. That way you’ll always have an assortment of topics to choose from waiting for you when you sit down to write instead of staring at a blank screen without any inspiration.
Get in the habit of creating your daily post as early in the day as possible. If you can at least get started writing before the kids get up, that’s great. But if you’re like me, that’s not realistic. My kids are teens and they are up way before I am and we are currently home schooling them all so I spend the first hour and a half of every day making sure that they’re doing everything they are supposed to and that I’m available to help out when needed. The key is to write as soon in the day as is feasibly possible for your unique lifestyle. If it makes sense to you, you might even block out a regular hour each day when you plan to do nothing but write -- baring any family emergencies.
Place writing for your blog at the top of your to do list of work-related tasks. Nothing can be more distracting and time consuming than reading and responding to emails, tweeting on Twitter, or spending time on Facebook or other social media networks when you are also trying to write your daily post. So, I’ve found what works for me is that I discipline myself to write my blogpost of the day first. Otherwise, if I allow myself to fall into the trap of doing any or all these other things before I even start blogging, it will be late in the day when I’m feeling physically and emotionally drained and again have kids who need me that prevents me from writing that day at all.
Set up a system that works for you to manage priority posts that are tied to specific deadlines. For example, I use a dry erase board to track all the due dates for the various social media consulting projects and regular monthly guest posts I write for other blogs. Also, included on this grid are various holiday posts I’ve planned as well as the product reviews and other posts I have lined up that have drop deadlines. Having things right there in front of me on a board posted above my desk I can see at a glance what needs to be done today. A grid that you set up on your computer in Excel might work equally well to keep you organized. The choice is yours. Just be sure the system you decide to use suits your work style.
Reflections in a puddle on a rainy California day, 2011iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com
Stockpile some posts for rainy days. Let’s face it, even with all these honorable intentions, there are going to be days when you’re just not going to be able to blog. But, if you have at least three non-deadline anytime blogposts saved ready to go – as well as at least three more in various stages of drafts -- you’ll never have a day when you don’t post a story. While we’re on the subject, be sure to take advantage of the scheduling functions that both Blogger and Wordpress offer for those days when you know ahead of time that you won’t be working – such as on weekends, vacations, and when traveling on business.
As you can see, cranking out a daily post need not be unrealistic or stressful. Rather, with a little effort, some structure in the way you work, and an hour or less per day that you’ve carved out for writing, you can be posting each and every day of the year.
Now it’s your turn. How often are you posting now? What ways do you use to get new posts up on your own blog while also meeting the demands of raising a family?
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