If you are like me – a somewhat lazy person who pays for a “gym membership” and “will do that chore tomorrow!” – then you know how hard it can be to sit down and write content for your blog.
After the initial surge of enthusiastic and inspirational writing on your blog posts, you have withered a bit and now struggle to find that zeal you once had. Finding new topics to write about is becoming a chore and now feels more like homework than a joyous personal blog. Your blog has not taken off the way you had hoped, and you are feeling frustrated because you are no longer working on the website as much as you should.
Is this normal? ABSOLUTELY!
At this point, I would like to point out that this article is not about outsourcing or some lazy way of having content written. I have other posts for guides to outsourcing your writing. This post is more of a personal nudge to help you get back to your keyboard.
Set A Time Period
One of the problems I found was that I “burnt myself out” – when I first started with Wealthy Affiliate I was so excited that I literally spent every waking minute of spare time working on my blog and the Wealthy Affiliate training courses.
I would put in about 30 hours a week – on top of my 40/50 hour regular job – and after about a month or two I simply was too tired and my attention faded.
This meant it was incredibly hard to get back on my keyboard because my motivation had completely gone.
Here is what I learned: TAKE YOUR TIME!
I now have a countdown timer –
Go to Google, and type in – “two-hour countdown timer” and it will come up with an automatic timer which counts down to zero and then sound an alarm.
I set this every single day when I start working on my blog content, and during this period I do nothing else.
I do NOT:
- Get distracted by Facebook.
- Text and call friends.
- Check my e-mail – unless it’s blog related.
- Start reading random websites and get distracted.
This really, really, REALLY works guys and I highly recommend you try it. Once the timer hits zero and the alarm goes off, close your WordPress browser and stop for the day!
Why Is This Method More Effective For Me?
This method works great for me because I find that I get distracted very quickly – especially when doing keyword research or content research because I start reading other people blogs and watching videos on other websites.
So, I would find myself – after an 8 hour day in front of the computer – spending about 6 of these getting sidetracked and only two hours actually writing anything. This, in turn, meant that I did get work completed, but it was super inefficient, and this is what caused me to lose track of what I was trying to achieve.
PSYCHOLOGICALLY – having a set time frame means I know that during this period I ONLY focus on my work.
So, when I come across an interesting article or video I say to myself “I will watch that after my 2 hours period is up”. I have to say that this really does work!
I put ALL distractions aside for those two hours.
I am now more productive than I have ever been!
Think Long-Term
This method may seem counter-productive – to spend “less” time writing and researching, but let me explain this point.
If you manage your time better and therefore are able to produce the same, if not more content, in 1/4 of the time than you usually would then you will;
- Have more “me” time.
- Be less stressed about not producing enough blog posts.
- Rest peacefully knowing that you have more time tomorrow
- Be encouraged and happy by the fact that your blog is getting slow, but steady, flow of content.
- Your head will be free and happy because you are not spending all day on the keyboard with under-rated results.
The End Result
Over a period when you write 100 blog posts, for example. You can write them in a long and drawn out way which is inefficient and tedious, or you can write the same amount of articles in a fraction of the time – allowing you more time to do other things in your life!
What are your methods? Do you have a personal technique you use to stop procrastination and increase productivity? Leave your thoughts and comments below!