Category: 
March 15, 2008
As I mentioned on Choclat Covered Imperfections’ recent post, I keep a little notepad beside my mousepad and a pen to write down ideas for blog posts as they come to me. And I’m running out of paper. Between working a full time job, trying to get 6-7 hours sleep, a few hours here and there for meals and vegging out watching CSI, dropping cards on entrecard, searching for good blogs to advertise on (also on entrecard), and browsing ‘my people’ (my favourite blogs)… it’s really tough to find time to write some quality posts. Not that I’m complaining but I have the opposite problem to what most people complain about: I have too many topics that I want to write about.
I’ve contemplated doing themed days, but I feel that it would just limit me more. In fact, when I first started seeing an increase in readership I found I wanted to post twice a day. But this last week, I decided to try and post less frequently… I don’t like it. My list of ‘topics to blog about’ has gotten all backed up and now I have to scramble to get them all out. I have to scramble because I’m planning on living it up this weekend which means I won’t be able to keep a close eye on when my schedule posts actually come out.
The problem I have with scheduled posting is that I don’t want the po sts to come out at the exact same time everyday, but when you’re trying to schedule two, maybe three weeks in advance you have to remember to put some buffer time in. What’s the buffer time for? It’s just in case a topic comes out that’s a right-here-right-now topic and you can’t wait two weeks for the post to go live. But I think my main issue is that I need to find the delicate balance between dropping cards, browsing my favourite blogs, and updating my own blog.
How do you find balance?
Photo courtesy of Green Onions
Horaayy..there are 11 comment(s) for me so far ;)
Geez, I don’t think I do find balance. I just started upping my Entrecard dropping for the past few days. And that takes work. And sometimes the “drop” on the Entrecard won’t even load so I waste even more time refreshing my browser.
I tend to pre-write quite a few posts so I always have something “in the works”. The scary part is when I run out of those or the ones I spent so much times writing, I decide I hate them and they just sit there.
I guess the best thing to do is try and prioritize. I’m usually on at night so first I check my email, respond to comments on the blog, then drop entrecards, then open my reader and read whatever is new one by one. THEN I visit the new blogs I haven’t added to my reader yet and read those. Then sometimes if I feel I haven’t had enough, I’ll look for more blogs to read. I’m trying to scale down the amount of time I spend online though… so I’ve increased my reading speed a wee bit. I’m sure there’s a method for this, because it was really slow going for me.
Was this even helpful? I’ve rambled enough so I’ll end here.
Jillian’s last blog post..A Short Story In Link Form… Because I Can
You’d just write when you want to or whenever you can. After all, this is your personal blog. You shouldn’t feel obligated to post anything.
Michael’s last blog post..Alien Invasion?
I stop dropping when my wife starts getting pissed that I’ve been on the computer too long (and the other things that need to get done aren’t). I read blogs between patients, and I post whenever I can make some free time.
Because of this though, my stack of professional journals that I need to read has been reaching higher and higher towards the ceiling.
Periapex’s last blog post..Aren’t We Supposed to Be Working?
Jillian, that’s excellent! I do try and prioritize but I think for the most part my biggest downfall is watching TV while I surf. I end up getting so distracted that I don’t read or write as fast as I should! lol Increasing my reading speed is definitely something that would help me!
Michael, on that’s not what I mean at all. I don’t feel obliged to write for anyone but myself - I just mean that I have so much I want to write about and I feel like the list just keeps getting bigger and bigger before I even get half of it done. It’s like my to-do list! lol
Peri, that’s dangerous! lol I hope you’re at least a speed reader so that when you finally get around to reading your journals you can finish them quickly!
I have themed posts, like the whole “You Think You Know”, “Link Love” and “10 Things” and they work for me because well… Link Love is relatively easy and the other 2 are just endless ramblings about myself so they make for easy fillers when I am feeling a little braindead.
I also pre-write posts when I know I am going to have a crazy week. I have noticed that with Entrecard it helps a lot to have my content already taken care of so I can do drops. Plus, looking at stats, a lot of my traffic hits at around 12-2 am so I have my posts scheduled for 12:01 am.
I feel like I am rambling on and on and on so I will stop now
Monique’s last blog post..You Think You Know #13
I wanted to keep a notebook too, but more often or not, I don’t blog about the ideas I write down. They sound fantastic on paper but becomes a pain writing. So most of my posts are spur of the moments with no planning. That, unfortunately, leads to my blog dying when school gets busy.
Crystal’s last blog post..Blogging Money & Traffic - My Experience Part 2
I have a short attention span, so my blogging reflects what is on my mind right now. I keep a blog idea folder where I bookmark interesting things and if I don’t feel inspired, I look through it. Some ideas never come to be because I don’t have time. Ideas have a way of circling back around and finding their spot on my blog when the time is right. My blog is a mixture of links and thoughts because I wanted a blog that fits with my lifestyle. I don’t have time to write thought provoking entries each day, so somedays you will find a YouTube video that I found funny or interesting. I do put up one new entry a day. As to Entrecard, I drop on my inbox, and then I have about 25 blogs that I try to read daily. If I have time, I browse and drop on new blogs. My life away from the computer has first priority, so if I don’t get to something, oh well. Life is what inspires me to blog.
beeker’s last blog post..Sunday Reading
Hey, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to add you to my blogroll.
Jillian’s last blog post..A Short Story In Link Form… Because I Can
Put them in que in your drafts. Publish them maybe once every couple of days. I keeps the blog active when you are too busy to write new stuff. I have about 4 or 5 in que all the time.
trench’s last blog post..Noooo! Kaba Modern in the bottom TWO!
Monique, you can ramble on my blog anytime you like! I love reading what other people have to say
I’ve been trying to figure out what kind of themed days I want to do - I’d prefer to start something new rather than do ones that are out there already so it’s taking a little longer. Watching what time everyone visits your site is a good idea, I haven’t been really keeping an eye on traffic but it’s a good idea to have your posts come out around that time!
Crystal, I feel ya… I’m just glad I’m out of school that I don’t have to worry about it any more!! hehe
Beeker, have a little ADD do you? Having a folder is a good idea. It wouldn’t work for me though because whenever I’m bored or can’t think of something to write I always end up surfing the internet and I never end up going through my bookmarks!
Jillian, I would absolutely love to be added to your blogroll
Chris, I can try starting that… the problem is I hate seeing things in my drafts because it feels like an incomplete item on my to-do list. So the obsessive compulsive in me just nags at me to finish it and put it in as a scheduled post. lol It’s horrible!
[...] I know I just was complaining about never having time to write any quality posts? Well this is my temporary solution: forget it [...]