I know, I know…. It’s been several weeks since my last installment of The New Blogger Series.
Bad blogger, bad blogger!
Okay, so maybe not so bad, but these last few weeks have taught me that I need better time management so I don’t neglect my blog. It has just been soooooooo crazy around here!
As you know, the little man has become EXTREMELY jealous of the computer which limits my time on here to just during naps. But, during nap time I like to get some housework done since he doesn’t like me doing that either. Then we’ve been trying to clean out and get rid of a BUNCH of stuff that has somehow accumulated, reproduced, cloned, had babies, whatever! We have a lot of crap to get rid of. This has happened all of a sudden because we started discussing the possibility of moving out of state. If that happens the hubby will go ahead and move (since he’s the one who has to go for work) and the little man and I will stay behind to pack up the house (something I’m not really looking forward to tackling by myself). So, time management is a TOP priority right now!
For starters I suggest getting ORGANIZED! Julie from White Lights on Wednesday shares her fantastically organized Blog Notebook! I’m totally stealing this because it really does help having everything in one spot and so well organized!
I’ve always scheduled blog posts to publish at specific times but I never really considered writing them so far in advance before. This is a great concept for when I get especially busy. I’ve made up a calendar and have decided what theme I would like each day to be- that way I can plan ahead and see where I need filler posts. For example, every Sunday the Manic Monday Linky Party begins- so I went ahead and scheduled a whole month of parties late one night.
I’ve also found that it’s EXTREMELY useful to make a template for certain reoccurring posts (like my Manic Monday Linky Party or the Features Post). That way I can just tweak it and change it as needed but the bulk of the work is already complete.
Alas, I have come to realize that as my blog grows I’m just unable to do everything I used to and that’s okay. When I first started Manic Monday I was able to comment on every person’s links but now with the stipulations of word captcha and the fact that 150+ links are shared every week it’s just not possible to comment on everyone. It took 2 days to comment on every link up a few weeks ago. So now, I visit everyone but I just don’t always leave a comment- especially if word captcha is on. We go to my in-laws every Sunday- it’s about an hour drive- so every Sunday on the way home I visit all of the links through my phone- but have you tried leaving comments by phone?! And if there’s word captcha- forget it! Auto correct and word captcha are apparently mortal enemies! 🙂 I also realized it’s impossible to join in on every party every week. Obviously there are a couple of parties that send me HIGH volumes of traffic (Thank you Tatertots & Jello, New Nostalgia, and Sugar Bee Crafts!) so I make sure I get linked up to those every week. But all the rest I visit and link up when I have time and if I miss a party this week that’s okay- I can always join in next week.
So, I’ve had to take prioritization into high consideration:
What is important?
What are my readers going to benefit most from?
How do I keep my blog fun, updated, and interesting without falling behind????
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