How to Create a Blogging Schedule that Works

Blogging can be overwhelming especially if you’re new to blogging. The good news is… you’re not alone. Every blogger I know is overwhelmed with all the tasks that need to be done on their blogs.

And your main weapon against unproductivity and getting overwhelmed is – a blogging schedule that works for you.

Most people think that blogging is just writing a post and publishing it and you’re done for the day. That’s ok if you don’t have any intention to grow your blog nor monetize it.

However, most bloggers that I know who want to achieve something from their blogs, they know that posting an article is not enough.

Although my blog, Thrifty Hustler, has been online for more than a year now (1 Year and 10 days to be exact), I have only been actively blogging for 4 months (read the story here if you’re curious why).

In that short amount of time, I have learned to balance the things I need to do for my blog and my other deliverables in life.

If you’re reading this now, then chances are, you’re also looking for a way to manage your blog without stressing too much.

I’d like to share with you how I was able to create a blogging schedule that works for me and I hope that this guides you in creating a blogging schedule that works for you too.

Table of Contents

Why Do You Need to Create a Blogging Schedule?

A blogging schedule can benefit you in a lot of ways. Some of the benefits of having a blogging schedule to follow include:

Avoid Getting Overwhelmed

If you have a schedule to follow then you will minimize the risk of getting overwhelmed at an early stage in blogging. A blogging schedule will put a structure to your tasks and deliverables and it will be trimmed down to a less intimidating goal to achieve.

Example:

If your goal is to have at least 50 blog posts by December 2020 (six months from now) then it will seem too overwhelming. But if you break it down into smaller bits, then it becomes more manageable and less intimidating.

50 Blog posts in 6 months mean approximately 8 (8.33 to be exact) per month
8(8.33) Blog posts per month mean 2-3 blog posts per week

Higher Chance of Hitting Your Goal

If your tasks are broken down into manageable bits spread logically in a weekly schedule then you have a higher chance of accomplishing those tasks.

And if you accomplished your weekly tasks then it will increase your chance of hitting your blogging goal in the long run.

Consistency is the foundation of the blogging game. If you could consistently produce valuable content that readers are looking for and if you also consistently promote your work then you will see your efforts will definitely pay off.

Live a Balanced Life

If you have a blogging schedule to follow then you will not accidentally neglect your other responsibilities in life. Most bloggers that I know including myself do not have the whole day to allocate for our blog.

We all have other responsibilities to attend to such as our employment, full-time hustle or side-hustle, family, our social life, and of course, ourselves.

Related Posts:

How to Create a Blogging Schedule that Works for You?

Start with Identifying the Time You Can Set Aside for Blogging

One of the reasons why people create a schedule that does not work for them is because they don’t know how to budget their time. We sometimes tend to over-forecast things which often cause us to under-deliver and under-achieve our goals.

Bloggers come from all walks of life and for most bloggers, their blog is not the only thing that they take care of in their day.

Personally, I have a full-time hustle that I also attend to which takes a lot of time and energy. Some bloggers are full-time employees and some are full-time moms.

Identifying the realistic amount of time that you can set aside for blogging is the foundation of an effective blogging schedule.

Do you have an hour or two per day that you can allot for blogging? Or perhaps you have a bit more time than that?

Write down the number of hours that you can spare for blogging per day. It may vary from day to day, and don’t worry, it’s ok.

Identify the Realistic Goals that You Want to Achieve

After identifying the amount of time that you can spend in a day to blog. You now have an idea of how many hours per week you can set aside to grow your blog. Given that information, identify the goals that you want to achieve for your blog.

Be realistic in goal setting because sometimes, the reason why we can’t achieve something is not that we did not work hard for it.

Sometimes, it’s because the goal is just too impossible to achieve given the other variables that need to be considered.

For example, if you have two hours per day to spare on your blogging activities, that will total to 10 hours per week (excluding weekends).

If your goal is to write 10 articles per week then it will be almost impossible not to mention exhausting even if you achieve it. And will you have time left to promote your blog after writing 10 articles in 10 hours?

My personal blogging goal is to just write two blogs per week. And use the remaining time I have left to promote my article.

Identify the Tasks that Need to Be Done

On a weekly basis, I write two articles (minimum) and I also do the following promotional activities:

Pin my new articles on Pinterest Boards
Tweet my new articles
Share my new article on other social media platform (Instagram, FB, Tumblr, etc)

Aside from sharing my newly written articles on Social Media I also do the following on a weekly basis:

Engage in Twitter with fellow PF Bloggers
Comment on Blogs
Email/Join New Pinterest Boards
Do Keyword Research for future articles
Check Google Analytics and Google Search Console to review results
Do an SEO Site Audit to see what I can Improve on

You don’t have to do a weekly SEO Site Audit if everything has been fixed already on your last visit. However, in my case, I still have a lot to improve which is why it’s taking me some time.

Related Posts:

Structure Your Schedule

Since you’re done with:

Identifying the time you can spare for blogging
Identifying your realistic goals
Identifying your tasks

Now, it’s time to create a draft of your weekly blogging schedule. You don’t need an app to do this, you can use a simple spreadsheet to draft your schedule.

List down all the days of the week when you intend to do blogging and then write down the tasks and the amount of time you’d like to spend on each task.

After drafting your schedule, check if you exceeded your time budget which is, in this example – 10 hours/week.

Do the necessary adjustments. For example, if you have allotted 2 hours to comment on blogs then maybe you can trim it down to 1 hour. Blog commenting sounds easy but to be honest, in real life, it really takes a lot of time because you have to read the whole article before you comment on a blog.

Some people are just skimming the article and just leave spammy comments which I do not recommend. Blog commenting is one of the building blocks of your relationship with other bloggers, don’t ruin it just to be able to check this task off your list of to-dos.

Writing an article also takes a lot of time. So if you think two articles per week on a 10-hour time budget is not enough then trim it down to 1 article per week so you can allocate some of your time to promoting your blog.

Create the Final Draft

Once you feel that the schedule that you created is realistic, doable, and time-bounded, then create the final draft and print a copy and post it on your work table. You can also save a copy on your desktop so you can check it from time to time.

Revise Every Quarter

You become good at something that you do consistently. This is one reason why I try to write as much as I can so I can get used to writing. Once you do something consistently, you also become more efficient in doing that particular task.

Having said that, the first blogging schedule that you created when you were just starting may not fit you anymore after 3 – 6 months. Well, mainly because you found ways on how to do some tasks faster.

As you go along, you also find new online tools that help you do some tasks more efficiently.

So, I suggest that you periodically review your blogging schedule and do the necessary adjustments.

Related Posts:

What to do when you miss a scheduled task?

Let’s admit it, there will come a day when we can’t follow the blogging schedule that we set due to some more important matter that we have to attend to. In case you miss a scheduled task, I highly suggest that you:

Make Up for It on the Following Week

Let’s say you missed one article for this week due to an important family event that you have to go to. Then I suggest that you just write three articles next week instead of the usual two articles. This will help you stay on track with your overall goal.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

You may have missed a task because of something that is more important and probably something more urgent to attend to. Do not beat yourself up for missing one or two of your blogging task.

One of the main things that I love about blogging is that you set your own goals and you don’t have any bosses or superiors to answer to.

If you may have missed a task or two then just don’t beat yourself up and just move on. It’s counterproductive for bloggers and other self-employed individuals to be too emotional about not achieving our goals.

It’s very difficult to be creative when you’re emotional.

Create a Buffer

There are certain weeks wherein you have more than 10 hours to allot to your blog. Use this time to create more content than your usual target. You can use this buffer to offset the weeks when you can’t meet your target.

Again, as I have mentioned above, do not be afraid to make the necessary adjustments as you go along.

A blogging schedule or any schedule could only work seamlessly if it’s tailor-fitted to your needs and available resources.

How to Create a Blogging Schedule that Works Click To Tweet

Related Posts:

Did you also create your own blogging schedule? Feel free to share your tips and suggestions in the comment section below.