Like It Is

This is very simple. My biggest blogging challenge is time. Finding time to blog.

O.K. What’s my next biggest? Time.

That may sound a little strange seeing that I post fairly frequently. However, blogging when you have a full time job is far from easy. Particularly when you’re an early starter, like I am.

I’m usually at work by 7.30 am and generally leave around 5pm. Yes, it’s a long day, and I’m busy from the time I get in to the time I leave. Complaints about my job – none.

I don’t blog at work and don’t read blogs at work, even my own. Even if I had the time to do so, I personally consider it isn’t a very good use of my employers time since it’s not what they’re paying me to do. Plus, we all know the systems people monitor web traffic. Posting regularly is important however, (as is having a life) so I am selective about what I do with the time I do have available.

As I mentioned earlier, many “how to” blogs say you should post every day. This obviously is fine for some (and if you do post every day we’d love to hear from you). When I read that I thought “no way.” But oddly enough, recently I have been posting almost every day. And it has done wonders for my Google traffic because Google crawls with the frequency you post. In fact I aim to post new content at least three times a week, and more if I can. This year I’ve been doing 4–5 posts a week.

I generally do my writing in the evening and at the weekend. I had toyed with the idea of doing early morning posting, but I already get up early and I find that hard enough as it is. I’ve also flirted with the idea of writing during my lunch break…so far that is still just an idea.

So how else do I get around the time crunch?

I draft articles in advance whenever I can, which helps a lot. I also draft my posts off-line. It means that I hardly ever sit down at my computer thinking the dreaded “hmm, what shall I write about?” And because I blog about a variety of different topics that widens the scope of what I can write about… but it still takes time to craft the post, edit, review, check, re-check… you know what I mean. I should also say that one of the most time saving things I do is future date posting, where not only can you draft in advance, but publish in advance… a life saver. Without that it would be impossible to post regularly without being tied to the computer. And I remind myself that if I post three times I week I’ve met my goal as far as the frequency is concerned, and posting more than that is great.

One thing I won’t do though is to put up a post that’s not quite “there” just to get something out. I’d rather not post than do that; if I’m not in a writing mood I just don’t force it.

I find that one of the most rewarding and important aspects of blogging is reading and commenting on other blogs. Not just blogs of Like It Is readers (although those are usually my first port of call because they are easily accessible from the comments or my Blogroll or my stat logs – hint) but completely new ones as well. This also requires time, so while I try to ensure that I do this… (and I believe every blogger should do this not to get comments but to find out what else is out there) I don’t do it as frequently as I’d like to. I’m always on the lookout for time-saving tools to help with this by the way, so any suggestions are welcome.

Add to that the time needed to tinker with and try out new blog tools and improvements…being hosted means you spend more time doing this. I actually enjoy this particular aspect of blog management – some awesome creative stuff out there for Wordpress – however it does require a time investment. I do have a bit of a “techie” background having worked in the on-line world for a few years, but really I prefer things just to work, I’m not interested in the how. I leave that for people who love, leave and breathe code! I’ll say that the extra necessary learning is worth it for the blog freedom and independence I get. Time constraints mean I also don’t do this as much as I’d like to either. I am slowly changing that.

All things considered, I think given the time I have to blog I’ve not done too badly at all!. It helps that I’m a very organised person. And my plan is for Like It Is to be the best it can be and an interesting place to visit and read. Lastly, although I don’t write every evening, I can’t imagine how I could do this if we had children as well.

Being childfree is a big huge plus.

OK. Now it’s your turn. What’s your biggest blogging challenge?

Next: What Blogging Tools Do I Use?