Whilst I think of myself as incredibly disorganised, I’ve often been told that I am, in fact, organised. When it comes to blogging, there are a few things I do in order to make sure I have control over all of the upcoming things on my blog.
Notebooks, notebooks and more notebooks
I have thousands of notebooks where I write down all of my blog post ideas, schedules and plans. I find it much easier to get ideas from my head on to paper than to write them down electronically, and I can arrange things easily too. Even though many of my notebooks are incredibly messy, I love seeing the progression from post to publish. It’s amazing how a tiny scribble can turn into a full-fledged post!
Calendars
Having some form of calendar or diary to write a schedule into is organisation at its best. Without mine, I wouldn’t have any idea when to put posts live and it’s also handy for blog tours, projects and Twitter chats. I know people who use Google Docs as a good calendar; I prefer to write big monthly calendars onto an A3 piece of paper, but I do occasionally use the calendar in my phone.
Bulk taking photos
Whether for the blog or to post on Instagram, I love taking advantage of a sunny morning and taking photos all in one go. Then I can edit them later and they’re ready to upload!
Time management
Spend one day a month focusing entirely on your blog, an afternoon a week commenting on blogs, or a weekend scheduling posts. Time management is key when blogging! Whilst Twitter is fun, it’s not always productive. Allocate yourself a set time, turn off any distractions, and get your blogging done!
Do what’s best for you
Create your own routine and figure out how you work best. Don’t force blogging or it will come across in your posts! Organisation is something all of us lack at times, so making sure you know when your productivity levels will be highest will hugely benefit you.
Wow! My aim this year is to get more organised so I’ll definitely be using these tips. I currently have a blog schedule which means there are certain posts on certain days which seems to be helping…
Charlotte recently posted…Book Review: Opposition by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Thanks for the tips! I’ve just started this whole blogging thing and it’s completely unorganized. I hope to to change that in this new year!
svetlana recently posted…“Cinder” by Marissa Meyer
Twitter: Books_Bandit
Thank you so much for doing this post, Lucy! I have so much trouble trying to keep up with my blog! 🙂 This has helped a lot!
I tried to do the notebook thing, but I kept losing the notebooks, so that didn’t work out. I’m quite organised on my blog though, I tend to schedule ahead at least two weeks, and with reviews I have plenty till March. It’s such a liberating feeling to be organised 😀
Celine recently posted…Urban Fantasy – Long Goodbyes and New Beginnings
Um, honestly I’m organised chaos when it comes to my blog - I kind of have ideas for posts… but they turn into posts normally within a few days. Rather than writing things down I think about them a lot when I’m out and about - sometimes I’ll even start writing them in my head.
But at the same time it does mean I very rarely know what the next week of posts will look like - my blog can go from review after review after review to discussion / newsy post to another discussion / newsy post to another one - oops!
I probably should plan more and get more organised and these are fab tips to help with this 🙂
Jesse Owen recently posted…Review: Time Between Us By Tamara Ireland Stone
I have a word doc and whenever I need to do something but don’t have the time in the moment, I write it all down. This works for me because I check it regularly haha!
I really agree on notebooks but I don’t do it for blog posts; i do it for reviews. A lot of the time, i’ll be reading two books at a time and it gets so confusing if I don’t write a whole bunch of review notes.
Great post, Lucy!
Nova @ Out of Time recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday: The Sin Eater’s Daughter
I used to be so much more organized and now I’m just in lazy mode or something. I really do need to get it together. I used to write things down on paper and in a paper calendar… and then I tried doing it electronically and then I just found myself not doing either. Hopefully in 2015 I can be more organized and use some of your tips you’ve got here 🙂
Michelle @ Pink Polka Dot Books recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday- 2015 Anticipated Debuts
Love your tips for becoming organized. Organization is something I struggle with, but this year I’m hoping to make a point to be better at it. Heck, you should see my room right now! I’ve got books scattered all over the place, and my desk is filled with French homework I’ve got to finish (eeeek). Your post is inspiring me to be better at this, though! Thanks 🙂
- Cambrie xoxo
Cambrie recently posted…Book Review - City of Heavenly Fire, Cassandra Clare
I don’t. I’m not organised in the slightest… in any aspect of my life. I prefer to take blogging as it comes. When inspiration strikes me, or I want to write a post, I will. I had a schedule for a bit but I felt out of touch with my blog and other bloggers in the midst of it all and found that I much rather post in the near and present.
I’m still up for scheduling *some* posts though. 🙂
Rachel @ Booktastic Reviews recently posted…Review: Angelfall
Twitter: flowersinmybook
These are really good tips! I’m trying to be more organised with my blog this year and although I haven’t changed anything (literally anything. The only thing I do is jot down a post idea every now and then) I feel slightly more on top of things. When I have a day to myself or on nights I can’t sleep I love to write up a few posts in advance so that they’re ready to post if I’m lacking inspiration or creativity. For reviews, I write those up as soon as I’ve finished the book so my thoughts are fresh in my mind and I don’t get bogged down under a pile of books labelled ‘to review!’ hahaha.
Thanks for the tips 🙂 Love your blog!
Natalie @ Flowers in my Books recently posted…to love is to destroy, to be loved is to be the one destroyed.
Twitter: Laurablogsbooks
This is such a great post! Most of my ideas start off in draft form in one of several notebooks as well (or on my phone), but I really need to get a calendar to schedule in all my posts!
Laura recently posted…What do you look for in a book blog?
I try to be very organized when it comes to blogging, because gone are the days when I had oodles of time to devote to it. I love your suggestions - especially the one about taking a few photos around the same time that can be used for different blog posts.
These are great tips. Personally, I have about 230948702938 notebooks (nope, that’s not an exaggeration - probably ;)) that I use to take notes for pretty much everything in my life, from blog posts to class notes to writing ideas to musical riffs. People generally consider me a pretty organised person - but without my notebooks it would all go to pieces, I can assure you!
Topaz recently posted…Friday Poetry: “Something like a Miracle”
I always have a notebook handy to write down an idea for a post, but I write the actual post on my computer. My handwriting is pretty bad so I probably wouldn’t be able to write what I wrote.
I use Google Calendar as my calendar. I used a paper calendar before this, but I am pretty happy with an online calendar now. Great post and it;s fun to see how other bloggers stay organised.
Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #108