Blogging is a writing style that has truly taken the world by storm. There is any number of reasons why you may decide to start a blog, from a change of direction in your career to a way to let off steam. At first, getting your ideas down on paper and sharing them with your audience may seem easy, but over time, things can change.
If you’re struggling to keep your professional and personal life separate, having issues with posting on a regular basis, or stuck for ideas for your next blog post, then taking a step back and re-evaluating where you are as a blogger is a beneficial idea – personally and professionally.
As any writer knows, there’s always room to learn, develop, and enhance what you do. To help you improve your personal and professional life as a blogger, here are 14 effective steps that you can take.
P.S. Don’t forget to sign-up for my free video training, how to become a profitable blogger as a micro influencer here.
Get out and Experience What Makes You Passionate
A large number of people start blogs because they have a passion, they are interested in something, or they want to share their thoughts. When you spend too long on the writing side of things and not enough time exploring why you enjoy something in the first place, then that passion can quickly disappear from the words you’re writing.
Our first step is to take a pause and get out there and do what you’re passionate about, whether you to get your bls certification online so you can be a better first aider, take a few writing classes so you can finally finish that novel you’ve been working on forever or you head off to Thailand for a long yoga retreat, re-ignite that spark and let the passion translate onto the page once more. More importantly, you’ll start having more fun and fulfillment in your life too.
Focus on Improving Your Mindset and Attitude
As passion dwindles and pressure to keep producing high-quality content takes hold, your mindset and attitude will start to suffer for it. A good mindset and a positive attitude will translate into good content and a willingness to develop your blog further.
Take time out for yourself, remember why you wanted to start the blog and why you enjoy writing it so much, and regain some of that positivity about your work.
Go Back to What You Do Best
All too quickly the simplicity of just producing fun or informative blogs can start to become complicated. You might have explored new styles of writing, maybe tested out different topics, or launched into the daunting world of advertising.
All these complications can make you lose sight of what you’re good at. Go back to the start and think about the simple nature of your first posts. For a time, focus on quality content and regular posts, not everything else that comes with blogging.
Develop a Healthy Work/Life Balance
If you’re struggling to maintain a healthy work/life balance, then you’re certainly not alone. Keeping work separate is a struggle than many writers, and indeed virtually any professional, falls victim too.
Improving your personal and professional life as a blogger means finding time to focus on both and not letting them blur into one. If you’re constantly thinking about work, then you’re not finding time to get out there and live!
Organize Your Day with To-Do Lists
A cluttered working environment can reduce productivity, and so can a cluttered mind. If you have a thousand thoughts whizzing around your head at once, then your secret weapon to improve your life as a blogger could be as simple as writing a to-do list.
A to-do list will give clarity to your thoughts, get down on paper the things that are most important to you, and help to provide structure to your day.
Set Yourself a Routine and Stick to It
For many bloggers, ‘routine’ is a word that can send chills running down their spine. Creative blog posts can’t be scheduled, right? Wrong. Sometimes all you need to do is set yourself a routine and make sure that you stick to it, giving you ample time, distraction-free, to focus on writing.
A routine doesn’t have to dictate exactly what you do and when you do it, it just means that you remember to set time aside for the important things in your life – that includes enjoying yourself as well!
Don’t Undervalue the Benefit of a Productivity App
Sometimes you need some high-tech (or close to) assistance to help you stay on top of everything you need to do, personally and professionally. The best tool for the job? A productivity app!
Downloading a productivity app means that you’ll always have access to your schedule and be able to stay on top of the important things. I have listed my favorite productivity apps here, and the absolute bible on time-management and productivity can be found here.
Write Your Ideas Down
A single idea could lead to your next amazing blog post, perhaps your best one yet. Even the most scattered of ideas is a foundation to work from if you remember to write it down that is.
Writing down an idea doesn’t mean that you have to dash straight to your computer to write about it but having a little book of ideas ready when you need it can be invaluable.
Take Regular Breaks During Your Day
Feeling overworked? Taking a break will refocus your mind and help you to increase your productivity, even if it does mean that you stop working for a few minutes, or even an hour.
Use the opportunity to grab a snack, go for a run, or just relax. The time away from your computer could be all that’s needed to spark some new ideas for your blog.
Keep the Flow Going and Work in Bulk
There is nothing wrong with working in bulk, in fact, if you’re feeling creative then why not capitalize on it? When you have free time later to enjoy the personal side of being a blogger, you’ll certainly thank yourself.
Producing multiple blogs at once will save you time, make sure that your flow isn’t interrupted, and help to keep posts regular.
Improve Your Skills with Online Courses
Every opportunity is a learning opportunity, and if there isn’t an opportunity around, go and find one! Online courses are easy to find, fun to complete, and can even provide a chance to get talking with other bloggers.
With an online course, not only are you improving your professional life as a blogger, but they’re also great for your personal life as well!
Speed up Processes with Online Software Tools
When you’re swamped with work a handy shortcut can be your best friend. Online software tools like Evernote, Yoast, and Trello, are there to make things easier, so why not take advantage of them?
You can speed up multiple aspects of your work, and enjoy the more personal time, by making full use of the tools available for everything from scheduling to SEO. At the same time, why not think about speeding up other areas of your daily tasks, like communication; sometimes a dozen emails can be avoided with a single phone call!
Monitor Your Analytics for Optimized Posts
Find yourself constantly worrying about how your blogs are doing? All that time worrying could be spent enjoying yourself! Keeping a close eye on the analytics of your posts will save you time and stop you worrying.
The performance of your blogs, the number of reads, and what time the blogs are being read, can all be tracked to help you optimize your posts.
Outsource What You Don’t Need to Do Yourself
Doing everything yourself is a great concept but often comes at the expense of your personal life. There is nothing wrong with outsourcing some content, and it could even give your blog some additional variety. Research, videos, formatting, and images, as a small example, can all be outsourced to allow you to focus on what you enjoy doing most.
I often use Fiverr because you can find people to outsource work for as low as $5 per task.
Blogging can be a great profession, but it should never feel like a chore. For the betterment of your blogs and to achieve a balance between personal and professional, just a few small changes could be all that’s needed!
