by Natalia Jones

Created on: January 06, 2010   Last Updated: November 29, 2011

Bloggers work independently and so they must be motivated everyday to work at making their blog the best it can be. This can mean writing quality posts, brushing up on SEO techniques or checking out other similar blogs to drop a few comments in an attempt to let their presence be felt.

These are very varied tasks and they call for time management and prioritizing skills for them to be completed in the right proportion and at the right time. Spending too long on one aspect and neglecting the others can lead to serious dips in productivity that can negatively affect the popularity of the blog and in turn the income of the blogger.

The following are some productivity tips that are especially aimed at bloggers.

Go With the Flow

When your ideas are flowing, go with the flow and write. There is no such thing as too many back up posts, so never try to lock off your flow of ideas because you think you have enough material. Keeping a backlog of pre-written posts actually provides you with a cushy security net for those days when you’re not feeling at your best.

Make a Running List of Topic Ideas

It is smart to keep a running list of your post ideas. This can help to give you a boost when you feel like you are all out of witty quips. Bloggers are generally creative by nature but this doesn’t mean they are immune to writer’s block and this can put a serious snag on productivity.

Set Goals for Your Blog

Goal setting is an integral part of success as a blogger. Goals serve to motivate because they provide specific and achievable milestones. For instance, if you decide that your goal is to increase readership of your blog by 15% within the next 6 months, you then need to figure out what activities need to be undertaken to make this goal a reality. You may need to increase your marketing efforts or write more targeted posts. Goals therefore provide direction for your daily efforts and give work meaning.

Set Auto Responders to Off

Email is one of the most distracting things for people who work on computers all day long. The overwhelming urge to check new messages as they come in can really eat into your productivity so it is best to turn all your auto-responders off. Getting a notification every time someone comments on your Facebook status is not going to do anything for improving the popularity of your blog so block these messages out and focus on the things that are important.

Make Time For Yourself

Because bloggers usually work alone and they spend all of their time on the computer they tend to start neglecting their life outside of the blogosphere. While this means that they are probably working really hard, it can also signal that a burn out is near. To prevent this from happening you should make time to step away from your work and reunite with friends. Take a walk outside and for all you know these things may make you a better blogger.

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