Today I’m sharing my top three tips for staying organized as a blogger! Most everything I do in my life has a system and blogging is no exception. Because I work away from home 4-5 days a week, I typically write three posts on the weekend for the following week (my sister writes a style post for Thursdays and I write Friday’s weekly recap post the night before). I rarely ever write a post and put it up live in the same sitting. I like being able to come back to a post with fresh eyes to check for typos and to make sure I’m communicating my information clearly.
No matter how or when you write your posts, I think these three tips will be helpful for anyone!
1. Use A Planner For Scheduling Posts
I use an inexpensive week-at-a-glance calendar to plan out the posts for each week. I usually write just the titles or basic concept for the post and then check the box once it’s complete and scheduled. This also helps me to make sure my titles and content are diverse from day to day. I try not to write two posts back to back that are titled “How To…” or that cover the same basic topic like organization or cooking, and seeing the titles for the week in a list helps me with that.
During the week I’ll jot down things I want to include in my High Five For Friday post. I list those on Friday’s section so they are right there when I sit down to write that post on Thursday night. Using a planner also helps me to remember important days that I want to dedicate to a certain post, like holidays or blogging milestones.
2. Have A Central Dumping Spot For Your Brainstorms
If I think of something I want to write about, I jot it down in a notebook that lives on my desk. I keep a running list of post ideas for those weeks I’m feeling uninspired. Sometimes I like to sketch out a post on paper, and that happens in my brainstorming book as well. It is so much better than having notes on my phone, sticky notes and scrap pieces of paper all over the house.
3. Set Up A System For Organizing Photos
Here’s the process I follow for getting pictures onto the blog:
- Take picture with my phone
- Upload picture to Google Drive
- Download picture to my “downloads” folder on my blogging computer
- Upload picture to PicMonkey for editing
- Save picture with a descriptive title in folder designated for that month (April 2015)
- Periodically, I clean out the “downloads” folder so it is easy to find what I’m looking to edit
I love having all my pictures saved by month. It’s so much easier to find what I need. My system might not work for you, but it’s a good idea to have some kind of organization for your pictures. They multiply so quickly!
How do you stay organized with blogging? Are you a “fly by the seat of your pants” blogger (if that works for you, I want to know about it!)?
Come Home For Comfort 
Very helpful! I wrote my first ever blog this week and am looking for ways to stay organized. I too work outside of the house, so it’s reassuring to see your completely put together blog and knowing you work outside of the home too 🙂
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I’m so glad it was helpful! Keeping up with the blog, work and my housewife duties does keep me busy for sure, but I really love blogging so I make time for it. 🙂 Good luck with your blog!
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I need to be better about writing several posts for the week at once. I always aspire to do that every weekend, but life gets in the way (or laziness…). And those at-a-glance planners have always been my favorite, since high school! Classics.
Katie @ Cup of Tea
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It’s not easy, that’s for sure! I’m always glad I did it, though. 🙂
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Great tips, Whitney! 😉
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I love these tips! Is the planner used for other things or specifically for blogging? Great idea sorting the pics by month! Thanks so much for sharing at Tues Talk!
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I only use that planner for my blog. I have separate systems for our family schedule and my household management.
Thanks for hosting the linkup, Keri!
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I love that you said, “Most everything I do in my life has a system” Music to my ears!! I couldn’t function without my blog calendar 🙂 I print off a monthly calendar template for all 12 months and keep it on a clipboard. It’s a good free option that’s worked for me for the last few years. I am impressed with your photo system. I upload my phone pictures every few days and name the folder with the date and do the same for my real camera. I take a ton of pictures so I’m sure this area could use some fine tuning. Maybe I’ll tackle that this summer 🙂
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We are truly kindred spirits when it comes to planning and list making! 🙂
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I’m a very organized person in certain parts of my life (family schedules, meals, being on time), but I’m more laid back with my blog. I post 3-4 times a week and usually follow a pattern of previewing a book, reviewing it, and sticking some book related posts in between. But for those, I wait until I’m inspired by something relevant in the news and then I tie it in. Happy blogging!
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It sounds like you have a pretty good system! Thanks for sharing!
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