Last year I set 3 goals every month for myself and I accomplished a lot! This year, I wanted to down play it even more and just set ONE goal for myself. However, with just one goal each month I hope to devote more time to it. You can find an update on August’s Goal below.
In September…
In September I would like to figure out a better Blog Time Management Game Plan. This whole little blog isn’t so little anymore and I could work on it every hour of my day and still not make a dent into what I need to get done. Promoting posts, responding to emails, etc., etc. the hamster wheel spins all day/every day! And, not only is this blog a hobby, it has turned into a part-time job for me as well. With family life being so amped up lately with back to school and our evening packed, I’ve been working on posts the night before. I’m a very structured and organized person, so I really like to have all my i’s dotted and t’s crossed ahead of time… so, it’s been hard on me to feel behind every single day.
SO, this month I wanted to work on maybe finding a little relief for myself. I’m not planning to figure it all out, but there has to be a better way for me to monetize my time and get the stuff done.
Some things I’ll be looking into…
# of Posts a Day? Currently I do 5 posts a week, sometime 6! I am thinking about possibly cutting back to 3 (maybe 4 on busier weeks) to give myself some relief. I figure on the ‘off’ postings days, I can spend time promoting posts and working on the ‘sidelines’ stuff that isn’t hamster wheel crud.
Crafts/Decor – I want to get back into doing my craft/decor posts, perhaps a regular post once a week.
Virtual Assistant (VA) – I’ve talked about getting a virtual assistant for awhile. They can do numerous things… but, it’d be nice to get one that promotes my posts, so I am not spending so much time doing it. Plus, the VA may bring some new things to the table that could help my blog even more!
Link Up Parties – Sometimes I wonder if I need to cut back on some of these parties I visit. I would still like to visit the ones of the bloggers I am friends with, but I’m not sure if it is helping me to visit all of them. Sometimes I think these tend to be an addiction and you don’t really get as many clicks out of them as you’d like, especially if you’re late to the party!
Stepping Outside my Comfort Zone – I have some ideas that I’m a little scared to be proactive on, but would like to try to work towards.
BIGGER Blog Goals – I also have some BIG blog goals, but I just don’t have time to act on them. This is when the hamster wheel makes it hard to accomplish anything REAL and big. SO, I want to try to work more towards these, instead of just thinking I’ll get to them whenever I’ll have time.
Stock Art – I would love to join a stock art (images) site, to get some images to add to my posts to boost their overall look and feel. There are some that are geared towards bloggers. I have proficient in Photoshop, so I could really use these to their full advantage.
Cost – A lot of these goals cost money. I need to figure out how much money I want to put aside for blogging ‘THINGS’. Currently, I am paying for Adobe Cloud, InLinkz and Hootsuite. I recently spent a lot of money towards a new blog design and I migrated over to WordPress. I will be talking more about my blog design on Tuesday, I know some of you have been asking for more information!
Keep Better Track of What I SPEND on the Blog – I need to start keeping better track of all of the receipts I bring home of items I buy for the blog for props for a photo shoot, ingredients for a recipe, gas driving around to do all the blog things, etc. I’m great at organizing what I earn, but not what I spend!
Blog Friendships – I’d like to work on making some blog friendships here in St. Louis and going to some St. Louis events. I have a crazy schedule with my two kids, but I’d like to try to be a little more flexible in getting some blog events penciled into my schedule. I’m also always working on making blog friendships, even if they aren’t local.
Blog Conference – I have yet to go to one of these, but I have my eye on one for next summer.
Other Items That Take A Lot of Time – There are a lot of other items that take a lot of time when it comes to running a blog… such as all the emails I get every day! I just need to figure out if there is a way to cut back on the time I spend on these things.
How do you manage your time with your blog? Any tips or advice? I’d love to hear it!!
Here is my August Goal Recap:
My goal in August was to get organized. This is when I realized I needed to spend a little more time on getting the blog stuff in my life organized (hence, my September goal!). What I mainly worked on was making a long (seriously, it is a long list folks!) where I wrote down EVERYTHING I wanted to organize in my life or work on. Basically a huge to do list! It was so nice to get it all off of my chest. Then I broke it down by categories, mainly To Do Later (long term goals), Now (stuff I can just do NOW and get it done), Blog and Home. I’m setting aside a little time each week to work on the Blog and Home items right now. I feel a lot better and anytime I think of something new, I just add it to the list! I’ve also prioritized each list in order of importance or what I feel I need to work on first.
And, don’t forget to stop by my friend Lauren’s blog at Mom Home Guide is also sharing her September Goal today:
