Nothing feels more frustrating than feeling like you achieved nothing at the end of your blogging day.
Even worse?
Staring at a screen filled with goose eggs when you scan your daily blogging profits.
Today I want to help you dissolve that frustrated, deflated feeling into a fulfilled, happy, productive energy that takes your blog to the next level.
I have seen first hand how being productive can accelerate your blogging success. After living in a self-imposed cage of blogging fear I figured out how to boost my productivity to increase my blog traffic, to expand my blogging profits and to help a ton of folks in the process.
My Deal
The tips I'm going to share below helped me:
- write and self-publish 126 eBooks
- publish over 5,000 blog posts over my blogging career
- publish hundreds of guest posts
during my blogging career.
If you follow these tips religiously you can:
- become mind-numbingly prolific
- appear to be all over the place
- increase your traffic, email list subscriber count and profits
Being productive yields an avalanche of sweet blogging benefits.
You can appear to be all over the place without working yourself to the bone. Meaning you can succeed online and actually enjoy the fruits of your intelligent, effective work.
But you need to know how to go about your day to become productive.
One lead in though; tools will not make you productive in and of themselves. The tool user (aka you) determines their level of productivity by moving into effective actions on a daily basis. Certain tools may augment your productivity nicely but the root of all productivity sprouts from within your mind.
Take it from a guy who wrote and self-published a 6,000 word eBook every day during a 3 month stretch a few years ago. All you ever need to be hyper productive sits in your mind, right now. It's up to you to unleash the productive beast.
Follow these tips to boost your blogging productivity.
Don't Confuse Productivity with Activity
Get clear on the difference between productivity and activity. The number of actions completed mean nothing. The effectiveness behind your production means everything.
Focus on the concept of leveraging. Be productive to reach as many interested people as possible.
Don't be busy for the sake of being busy. Don't aim for certain blogging goals if your work quality suffers.
You win no medals for writing and publishing 5 guest posts daily if the post quality is poor. You're better off writing and publishing 1-2 high quality, targeted, traffic-driving guest posts.
Think effectiveness over pure volume to be a productive blogger.
1- Identify the Right Driver
Productive bloggers choose the right driver.
Purify your intent to become hyper productive.
Blog predominantly to:
- have fun
- free yourself
- express yourself
- help others
Choosing purer drivers inspires you to become highly productive.
I wrote 100 eBooks in 3 months because my mind wasn't distracted with worrying about blitzing each eBook through an aggressive promotional campaign. I wrote for the joy of writing. Being fairly detached from outcomes during this writing period I churned out an eBook daily for 3 months.
It is easier to produce if you aren't obsessed with the fruits of your production.
Practical Tips
- grab a pen and paper
- sit in a quiet room
- ask yourself why you're blogging
- tie the reasons to some form of fun and freedom
Adopting the proper intent makes you incredibly prolific. If you are blogging to have fun and spread love you will become a creative machine.
2- Spend Time Tuning Your Mindset
Spend the first 30 minutes of every day tuning your mindset.
Being productive is the product of how you choose to think and feel.
My “power half hour” on waking sets the tone for the day. As my inner world proceeds my outer world follows.
During lean years I spent little time on personal development. My blogging productivity was non-existent because my mind was mired in fear, lack and limitation. Working on my mindset daily helped me unearth, face, embrace and release the limiting beliefs that held me back.
By purifying my mind I became free to produce prolifically.
I wanted to share a few of my daily habits I engage in to help you become a productive dynamo.
Meditate
Meditating expands your awareness.
Sitting for 5 to 30 minutes daily helps you to face, embrace and release any fear-based limiting beliefs you cling to that lower your productivity.
Find a quiet spot. Relax your body. Relax your mind.
Focus on the breath flowing into and out of your nose. When your attention drifts away from your breathing note the object of your attention – a thought, feeling or something outside of you – and gently move your focus back to your breathing.
Meditate regularly for a strong shot of blogging truth serum. You may swear that you want to be incredibly productive but if a deeply-held subconscious belief says otherwise your subconscious wins every time. At least until you unearth the fear-based, confining limiting belief. Meditating is the ultimate tool for unearthing any limiting belief.
Resource: Journey of Awakening: A Meditator's Guidebook
Visualize
Visualize your day proceeding in productive fashion.
Find a quiet spot. Relax your body and mind. Allow an image of your prolific blogging self to pop up on the screen on your mind.
Seeing yourself as being productive enhances your productivity because your imagination previews your life experiences.
Visualize for at least 5 minutes daily to see positive results.
Take a Cold Shower
Please check with your doctor before following this tip.
Jump into an icy cold shower on waking.
Raise your energy. Become more productive.
Improve you health, raise your energy levels and remain productive amid the stresses of the average work day.
My productivity skyrocketed the moment I began to take an icy cold shower daily.
Turn the dial to cold. Step under the shower stream for 30 to 60 seconds.
Still not convinced on the cold shower bit? Listen to what world-renowned coach and prolific genius Tony Robbins has to say about the power of cold water.
3- Map out Your Day
Mapping out your day makes you productive because you will clearly see what blogging tasks you need to complete for the day. No chaos or disorder will paralyze your mind in unproductive, unfocused fashion.
List your blogging tasks for the day. Keep what yields production and let go unproductive, unfocused actions.
Write your blogging actions list on a piece of paper.
Engaging in this practices makes your blogging tasks more concrete, goading you to move into productive, effective actions.
Practical Tips
- list 5 to 10 income-producing blogging activities
- focus on actions that leverage your presence like guest posting
- prune the list if you find yourself becoming bogged down with tasks and unproductive
4- Batch Your Tasks
Batch your blogging tasks to create more content.
Work in 50 minute blocks. Assign a specific task to the 50 minute time frame.
Break for 10 minutes between work periods.
Practical Batching Schedule
- 1st 50 minute batch – write your next blog post
- 2nd 50 minute bath – continue writing your next blog post
- 3rd 50 minute batch – comment on 5 top blogs from your niche
- 4th 50 minute batch – engage friends and followers on social media
- 5th 50 minute batch – write your next guest post
Be ruthless with your time to maximize your productivity. If time expires and you have not finished your intended task simply move on to the next task and return to your batch work the following day. Set the precedent of producing only within the set time frames to boost your productivity.
5- Streamline over Time
As you gain experience you can streamline your blogging activities to become more productive.
Let go worn out blogging tasks to make room for more productive blogging tasks.
Example
A new blogger may spend a significant amount of time on other blogger's social media sites to share and comment on content.
As their star shines brighter and more guest post opportunities flow in, that time would be better used writing and publishing guest posts on authority blogs from their niche.
Streamline your blogging campaign to increase your productivity. Gauge time-sapping activities. Let go blogging anchors. Devote your time and energy to only the most productive, effective blogging actions to produce content more prolifically.
6- Create in Silence
Create content in silence.
Some bloggers prefer to write with music playing in the background. I like creating in silence because music distracts me and blocks the flow of creativity in my mind.
Writing in silence stokes your prolific nature because without any distractions kicking around in your mind you can create content freely and easily.
Find a quiet room. Or don a pair of noise-cancelling windows.
Get to work.
7- Practice in the Shadows
Write 500 to 1000 words daily just for practice.
Open a Word document. Write. Trash the document after you hit your daily goal.
Stick to this practice to produce content regularly.
All the blogging hacks on earth can't trump good old writing practice.
Tips for Writing Practice
- let the words flow; don't stop to edit
- delete the Word document after hitting your goal to cultivate the habit of detaching from your writing
- practice daily to see the best results
- as you land more guest posting opportunities on a regular basis you can practice less in the shadows and more on a public stage
Recommended Reading: How to Write 10,000 Words in a Single Day
8- Sleep for 8 Hours Nightly
Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. Recharge your blogging battery.
Being productive requires you to energetically attack your blogging day. Coffee only takes you so far.
Take care of your body to better navigate the ups and downs of the average day. If you are nimble and energized you can remain productive despite facing obstacles you need to dissolve or dodge
Tips for Getting Enough Sleep
- go to bed at the same time nightly
- read prior to sleeping to slow down your mind
- reduce caffeine consumption prior to sleeping for a sounder night's sleep
- refrain from exercise before going to sleep
9- Tools
I use TweetDeck and Social Oomph to stay productive.
Each tool helps me reach a large group of followers on social media through the practice of automation.
By automating updates you can devote ample time and energy to creating new, fresh, targeted content.
Use tools to be productive. Tools streamline processes, save your time and help you reach a maximum number of targeted individuals through intuitive mediums.
I can write 3 to 5 guest posts daily for my blogging campaign because the above tools are sharing content for me 24-7, 365.
10- Outsource
Outsource aspects of your blogging campaign to stay productive.
Example
Last week my blog crashed for over 24 hours.
Instead of trying to figure out what went wrong I submitted a ticket to the help desk and alerted my web developer to the situation.
The old me would have wasted 2 to 4 hours trying to figure out how to fix the situation, eating into precious guest posting writing time and killing my productivity.
The new me outsourced the problem in seconds and wrote 3 guest posts that day.
Outsource:
- web design
- web development
- social sharing
or any aspect of your blog best handled by skilled professionals.
Highly productive bloggers create prolifically and outsource every activity they dislike.
Pay people to handle specific blogging jobs so you can give most of your time and energy to producing blog posts, eBooks, courses and service.
11- Exercise
It's amazing how many productive, effective and downright profitable ideas hit my brain box while I exercise.
Exercising:
- boosts your creativity
- maximizes your productivity
- improves your health
- boosts your happiness
In a nutshell, exercising for at least 30 minutes daily improves the flow of circulation through your body. As this flow increases you dissolve blocks to creativity, making you a productive, prolific dynamo.
Spend 30 minutes daily exercising. Walk, jog, run or engage in your favorite sport. Just speak to your doctor if you haven't exercised in a while.
The Wrap Up
Being productive is a choice.
Make that choice today.
Follow these tips diligently to become a productive and prospering blogging dynamo.
