Things to Do on a Slow Day at Work – For New Bloggers

I have been sitting in front of my laptop for an hour or two now trying to write an article. My target is to write just two articles a week.

However, since there’s not much to do since the lockdown was announced, I’m trying to write as many articles as I can. 

I know that I will not be able to write that much once the lockdown is fully lifted. I’ll be focusing my attention on breathing life to my online selling gig (which is slowly dying as the lockdown continues) once we’re all allowed to resume our ‘new normal lives’.

I do have a basic content strategy that I keep on my notepad to guide me in blogging. However, on some days (like today), I have been staring blankly at the list but no idea is coming into my head. I’m experiencing what they call, writer’s block.

I feel bored. I’m trying to control my urge to binge-watch again on Netflix as I just spent the whole night watching Castle Rock Season 1. 

As the temptation to watch Castle Rock Season 2 grows, and before I opened my Netflix app, an idea pops up. It’s an idea that’s not on my list of topics but nevertheless, a very relevant idea to my core topic – blogging. 

I thought, why not write about this dilemma. Why not write about things to do on a slow day at work for bloggers like me. 

Why do we experience a slow day at work?

You are the Boss

Unlike traditional employment, most bloggers are self-managed. If you own your blog, you are your own boss. And if you are your own boss, then your productivity relies on how well can you manage yourself.

Managing oneself is a very difficult feat. That’s why companies hire people that will manage the people managing other people (who are also managing other people). If we don’t have someone managing us, then we have the tendency to stay off track. 

There are exceptions as always, there are people who are very talented in managing other people and in managing themselves. I’m afraid, I’m not one of those people yet. LOL!

Distracted, Tired, and Lack of Sleep

Another reason why we sometimes feel too lazy to do our main job as bloggers (which is to write valuable content) is that we are distracted, tired or we lack sleep.

If we are not in the best condition to write, then chances are, we will feel bored and our mind will wander aimlessly at various distractions.

In my case, I spent the entire night watching the first season of Castle Rock. So, when I woke up today, it felt like dragging myself out of my bed. I was planning to watch just one episode, but I got hooked and ended up finishing the entire first season.

My plan to wake up early to do some errands didn’t happen for obvious reasons.

Uninspired

I believe that writing, aside from being a skill, is also an art. It can be developed through constant practice, positive reinforcement, discipline, and continuous learning. 

And writing a blog post is no exception. Regardless of how simple or complicated a blog post is, you have to weave the words seamlessly and intricately in order to keep the attention of the person reading your article.

And it goes hand in hand with making sure that the information that you’re writing about is helpful and accurate.

There are days when inspiration to write an article is a bit scarce.

However, there are also certain days when I was able to write two long-form articles.

If you are bored to death today and if you’re feeling lazy as f*ck but still want to become productive, check out my list of things to do on a slow day at work. 

 

10 Things to Do on a Slow Day at Work for New Bloggers 

Take a Power-nap

If the reason why you feel bored and lazy is that you’re distracted, tired, or if you lack sleep, then the best thing to do is to take a power nap.

Luckily, most bloggers work from home, and taking a power nap can easily be done in the comfort of our own house.

Taking a power nap can restore your alertness and improve your performance at your tasks.

Do an SEO Site Audit

If writing seems to be an impossible task to achieve then skip writing for the day and do an SEO Site Audit. An SEO Site Audit is basically an evaluation of your blog for its ability to appear in the search engine results pages which in most cases, Google search pages.

It sounds difficult at first but trusts me, there are tasks that you can easily do in a few minutes that could help your blog’s overall SEO. Below are the two free sites that can help you do your site audit (I also use these websites):

• SEO Analyzer by Neil Patel
• Website Review Tool and SEO Checker by WooRank

There are certain limitations since these are free services (there’s also a paid option), but for new bloggers, these will do for the meantime. The audit will show you the things that you can improve on your blog.

Create a Content Strategy

This is way easier than writing an article. Based on your chosen niche, identify the key categories that you want to focus on. Write down keywords or the titles of your article on your notepad and check any free keyword tool of your choice to check the potential traffic. 

Example:

Main Category 1: Earn Money

Sub-category 1: Side-hustles

Article 1:

Article 2:

Sub-category 2: Online-hustles

Article 1:

Article 2:

Main Category 2: Save Money

Sub-category 1: Money-saving Tools

Article 1:

Article 2:

Sub-category 2: Money-saving Hacks

Article 1:

Article 2:

Main Category 3: Blogging

Related Post: How to Make a Successful Blog Strategy

Check your Google Analytics

If you don’t have Google Analytics installed, then sign up for one and install it on your WordPress blog.

If you already have one, use your writing downtime to check your Google Analytics to see your blog’s performance.

You can also use this tool to identify, which articles you may want to spin-off in the future.

Usually, your most popular article is worthy of a spin-off. You can use related keywords in order to drive more traffic to your blog.

Join Pinterest Group Boards

Again, if you have not joined any Pinterest Group Boards yet, then I highly suggest that you do so. Pinterest is a great source of traffic aside from Google.

This is also a great tool to network with other bloggers and to learn new article ideas from your co-bloggers.

Engage with Fellow Bloggers on Twitter

Twitter is a great platform to ‘virtually’ meet fellow bloggers. This is also a great platform to build relationships with them. I also use Twitter to share my recent posts and to share other bloggers’ posts with my followers.

Comment on Other Blogs

This is one of my favorite blogging tasks which, sometimes, I forget to do. This task creates multiple positive effects on your blog. Commenting on other blogs will:

• Help you build a good relationship with other bloggers
• Enable you to learn from other bloggers since you have to read their posts
• Drive traffic to your blog

Blogging Tip:
If you have a limited time to spend on blog commenting, aside from commenting on the posts of your blogger friends or blogs that you like the most, try to comment on blogs that use ‘Comment Luv’. Comment Luv displays the recent posts of the commenter, thus giving you an opportunity to promote your recent post on their blogs.

I have not installed this plugin yet on my blog as I will transition to another host in the next few days. But as soon as I’m done with the transition, I’ll be installing this plugin to help promote my fellow bloggers’ recent posts.

Just make sure to not spam other people’s blogs just to be able to leave a link to your recent post.

Related Post: Save Money with Hosting – Move to Hostinger

Grow your Followers on Other Social Media

If you’re not in the mood to write, use your time to promote your posts on other social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,  Tumblr, Instagram, etc. I’m not an avid user of Facebook but Facebook is one of the biggest websites in the world with billions of users.

If this is your platform of choice, then building a huge following on Facebook can help you drive traffic to your blog.

Instagram is one of the social media that I like the most (mainly because I like looking at pictures). This is also a great platform to build a following on since there are billions of Instagram users just like Facebook.

Watch Youtube Videos about Blogging and Blog Monetization

This is one of my favorite things to do when I’m not in the mood to write an article. I usually spend my time learning about the ins and outs of blogging and most especially SEO and also about blog monetization.

Two of my favorite Youtube channels about SEO are:

• Income School
• Neil Patel

They have a lot of easy-to-understand tutorials that can help new bloggers understand and implement SEO on their blogs. If you have not subscribed to their channels yet, then do that right after you finish reading this post.

 

Subscribe to Other Blogs

Subscribe to other blogs in your niche in order to stay updated with their latest post. I also subscribe to blogging blogs so I can keep myself updated with the latest trends in blogging and SEO.

If you don’t want to subscribe by email, use an app. I use Feedly to keep myself updated with the latest posts from my favorite bloggers.

These are just some of the things to do on a slow day at work if you’re a blogger or if you’re not in the mood to write an article.

There are tons of other activities that you can do to keep yourself productive and to keep yourself on track with your blogging goals.

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Do you know any other things to do on a slow day at work? Feel free to share your comments and suggestions, tips, and recommendations in the comment section below.