Blogger Organisation: How To Create A Successful Blogging Schedule

In October last year, I mentioned in a blog post that one of the most important aspects when it comes to blogging is planning and being organised. While I had written about this topic before, it never occurred to me of how much there is to plan, handle, and juggle: Instagram schedule, Twitter plugs of your articles, keeping your Facebook feed fresh, taking part in blogger chats, and so much more ... 

Since I am a well organised person, keeping track of these things has become second nature to me. However, an Organisation Rookie may have a lot of trouble in setting up an organised blog that does not stress them. Thus, I set out to share my knowledge as Organisation Guro with the world. Today we start with the basics that every blog needs: a blogging schedule! 

The reason why you should have a schedule is quite simple:

A Good Schedule = Less Stress 

By creating a schedule, you are going to be able to have an over-view of how much work needs to be done and when. This way, you can find a spot in which to write your posts, shoot your instagram photos, and plan Facebook posts without getting stressed out. Furthermore, when you already notice that you are quite full, you can decline a sponsored post - due to lack of time.

Overall, it enables you to keep a good overview of everything that needs to be done and manage your tasks without having to sit in front of your laptop crying because a new post has to be up in an hour but you don't have one.

How To Create A Schedule

Figure out what your main priority is going to be. 

In my case, it is this blog. For an influencer their main priority is going to the Instagram and while having a blog is an added bonus it takes a background character role. The same can be said for a vlogger who also posts written reports.

This is important because it is what your whole blogging schedule is going to be based around.

Take a good hard look at how much time you have available to dedicate towards your blog. 

Most of us do not make a living from blogging and are either students, working, parents, or all of the above.

Fact remains that running a blog is a time consuming hobby that needs to balanced with your "real" life. The reason why you can't just blog while you go along, tends to be that readers like some sort of stability. Personally, I'd rather follow blogs which regularly update instead of the ones that keep a radio silence for months before bulk posting their new travel photos.

In my case, I figured out that having one steady post per month works best for me. Most book themed posts are going live on Tuesdays - when I have them -, and the same counts for beauty post - again when I have them. At the same time, I try to post at least one beauty and book review per month to keep it fresh.

The best way to figure out your perfect posting frequency is try different things. I used to have a much more complicated schedule. From time to time I keep wondering if I could do two regular posts per week but then sit wide eyes in front of my calender muttering "no time, no time, no time," while hugging my own legs and rocking gently.

In fact, it does not even matter if you only post every second and forth week in the month or even only once a month as long as there is some type of regularity in it. However, when you post outside of a weekly schedule, I'd suggest writing this down on the blog.

Just try around for a bit and check what works best for you and doesn't turn your stomach into a knot.

Plan your blog plugs around this schedule

Social media plays an important role in today's blogging world, so it also important to keep a track of when to plug your posts and where.

Especially on Twitter I tend I advertise my posts at least three times - this also counts for reviews on Tuesday and Thursday. In contrast, on Instagram I am a bit more humble with self-promotion because it gives me the least clicks anyway. Yet when an Instagram post is meant to go live, is written down in my schedule.

How to create an Instagram schedule is going to be the topic of a later post

However, all of those things are part of keeping your public persona active and engaging with your audience. This means time you need to invest in each of those platforms, especially when you are starting out it takes a bit more maintenance to attract a new audience.

Consider the time an article takes 

While some articles are easy to write once you sit in front of the laptop, others take longer. For example, reading round ups tend to take a while when you compare them to a regular review. While I sit in front of a review for an hour, two at tops, rounding up a whole season takes at least two weeks. This is due to the different set up of the post but also because there are simply more words needed.

Some posts simply contain more information that needs to be checked, photos that need to be edited, a structure that has to be planned, or in the best case just more words to be put into eloquent sentences. However, all of this takes time!

If you are looking at a post idea that looks lengthier and think "oh dear, I might not manage this until next week" just move it back by a month and replace it with a simpler idea or a "filler post."

Even if you finish the post ahead of schedule, I would leave it in this spot due to the fact that it is going to give you a week in which you can work on further future posts without having to worry about this week.

The importance of working ahead and how to achieve it, is going to be the topic next month!

While bearing in mind to learn what your main priority is going to be and how much time you can dedicate to it without stressing yourself out, you should be able to start planning your butting kicking blogging schedule!