What’s up Y’all! I’ve been in quite the writing mood lately. I’ve noticed you all have been positively responding to my advice on content planning/blogging. These are some of things I’ve learned along my blogging journey that continue to help me to this day. I hope these tips encourage and inspire you to be smarter about content planning.

Tip 1: Manage Your Time Effectively

This tip is so crucial, especially for my content creators who still work a FT 9-5PM. Time management will become your best friend. You will eventually get it right if you haven’t already. I struggled with this as my schedule was and still is very difficult during the week. I work 10:30-7PM Mon-Friday and my commute is an hour and a half sometimes. By the time I get home, I am dog tired! The only thing I am even thinking about is my head hitting the pillow. I manage this by scheduling my content a week out in advance and timing myself on each task so I’m not spending too much time or too little of time on a specific task. Focus on smaller tasks that take less time and do those small tasks during the week. When you’re schedule is strange like mine, weekends and early mornings need to be your time to knock out some valuable blog posts. I focus on completing tasks that require a lot time during the weekend. I typically can knock out 2 Blog post during the weekend. This could’ve been a blog post in itself. Let me know if you all would want a blog post on how to manage your time effectively as a content creator.

Tip 2: Prioritize Projects

Prioritize what is urgent versus what can be wait to get done at a later date/time. This is a universal tip, not just for content creators but as an overall professional. This could even help you in your 9-5PM.

Tip 3: Put your phone on Silent While you Work

This will be different for everyone, but I know I work best when I silence notifications on my phone. I can be easily distracted. I like to be in solitude for a good 3 hours to allow my creative juices to flow freely.

Tip 4: Blog During your Lunch Break or At Work

Before I divulge into this further. Please do not work on content at work if you feel it might interfere with your performance. At the end of the day, we wear a hat of many sleeves and our 9-5’s are funding our dreams. Be mindful how and when you work on blogging during the work day. If time permits, work on planning content and writing blog posts during your lunch break. I do this a few times during the week. It helps save time during the week and allows me to focus on my beauty rest when I get home. When work is slow I work pull up a word Document and begin jotting down ideas for content. Just make sure all of your actual work is done before you do this 🙂 Don’t want you all getting yelled at by your bosses.

Tip 5: Find your Quite Place

I recommend all bloggers figure out where there quite space is that will allow there creative juices to run. I know how easily writers block can creep up on you. I tend to write my best content in the late morning between 9-10AM. My mind is more clear and its not cluttered by that point. It allows me to focus on getting out of my ideas and be more effective with creating valuable content. My quite place is starbucks! I love going to starbucks on a weekend, plugging in my headphones as I listen to NEO Soul and just zone out. I’m in a completely different world. I would like to consider this my happy writing place. It’s so serene in calming being alone with your thoughts.

Tip 6: Develop a System that Works For You

Working a 9-5 and working as a blogger on the side is rewarding but at times can be overwhelming if you don’t have a content planning system in place and are consistent with it. What I mean by this, if you are waiting until a few days before hand to release a blog post and you have not started writing down ideas or developing a concept, then you won’t see the fruits of your labor truly sparkle and reach people. If you can confidently say you create articles on a whim and procrastinate writing for posts, here’s some advice I have for you. Utilize your notes to write jot down random ideas you get for blog posts. Ensure you are creating blog posts centered around posts that are doing well on your instagram . As new ideas come into your head for blog posts, WRITE THEM DOWN in your handy dandy notes. At the end of the week, compile a list of definite title’s you want to write about and expand upon. Write out blog posts 1-2 weeks in advance from when you would like to release them. I would not recommend doing it a few nights before you’re about to release, just because you don’t want to deal with writing valuable content during the work week. It’s annoying and stressful and it will probably feel rushed. I also feel like you shouldn’t write content too far in advance either, because you want to stay current in your writing.

Tip 8 : Stay Consistent & Set Realistic Expectations

Last but not least, commit to doing a certain number of blog posts a month so your readers know what to expect. I can certainly guarantee 2 blog posts a month centered around style tips, mental health and blogging tips. Pushing for three because I want to bring more value to you all. Consistency is so key with blogging. Set realistic expectations for yourself knowing the type of schedule you have. Consistency is key with everything that you do. You need that to see the results you want.

Tip 9 :Utilize Google Calendars

I enjoy using google calendars to plan my content by a monthly basis for my blog and Instagram. I haven’t gotten to the point where I am paying for a content calendar like a lot of these major companies. Google calendars is free and they send you reminders of what post is due and what’s going on for the day.

Tip 10 :Work on something Small Each Day

This depends on what your schedule looks like. What I’ve found works for me is to work on something small each day that will contribute to the success of my content. For some that might look like working 10-15 min on a huge long informative blog post, or spending a few minutes editing a video. Don’t overwhelm yourself, you want to produce quality work. Break some of your work off into sections and do something small each to that will contribute to the bigger picture.

What do you all think of these content planning tips? Would you like for me to expand upon this and create an e-book? I’d love to hear your thoughts and to know if this was helpful. I’m here to help.