For bloggers, productivity is a big deal. You can’t generate a paycheck and survive unless you maximize output and are constantly churning out fresh ideas. Unfortunately, bloggers often tend to hit the proverbial brick wall after a few hours, days, or weeks of consecutive writing.
Five Ways to Kick Productivity into High Gear
The majority of professional bloggers work from home. While this may sound incredible to outsiders – and it is in many ways – there are also a number of challenges associated with working from home. Distractions and work-life conflicts are chief among them.
With that being said, here are a handful of practical ways you can become a more productive blogger:
1. Write Early in the Morning
Everyone is different, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find any successful blogger that doesn’t prefer to write in the morning when the coffee is warm and everyone in the house is asleep.
You don’t have to wake up at some strange hour in the middle of the night, but do make it a point to rise a little earlier than most. This helps you feel more productive and can give you the focus needed to be creative.
2. Use a Dedicated Office
The kitchen table is not the place to write. Neither is the bedroom – or any other living space that’s used for something other than work. (Especially if you aren’t the only one at home during work hours.)
“If you can, try to commandeer a room as your dedicated office,” suggests Ciaran Mahoney of Dialpad. “If you don’t happen to have a spare room at home, at least cordon off a work zone that you don’t use for personal activities. Then once your day is done, give yourself a break from your work zone and go somewhere else.”
3. Clean Off Your Desk
There’s a direct correlation between organization and productivity. If your desk is overflowing with stacks of paper, yesterday’s to-go box, and various office supplies, then you probably aren’t maximizing productivity.
At the end of each workday, take a few minutes and tidy up. This means filing papers and documents in the appropriate place, throwing trash away, sticking supplies in the correct desk drawers, and even using a sanitizing wipe to clean surfaces.
4. Turn Off Email and Notifications
Here’s a big one: Turn off all notifications and ringers when you’re writing. This means email notifications, text message tones, phone ringtones, and app push notifications. All of these things serve as distractions and can interfere with your ability to write. Once you finish writing, you can take a break and check your messages. Chances are, you won’t miss out on much.
5. Listen to Peaceful Music
Studies show that listening to peaceful music and ambient tracks can actually increase your focus and productivity. This is especially true for writers, who have long relied on background tunes to get work done. Thanks to the bevy of free music streaming services online, it’s now possible to stay focused all the time. If ambient tracks are more your thing, a tool like Coffivity may be right for you.
Productivity: A Blogger’s Single Biggest Challenge
Productivity is, without a doubt, the biggest challenge work-from-home blogger’s face. There’s always something else vying for your attention and it’s often hard to separate priorities. Do I unload the dishwasher or write another paragraph? Should I see what the kids are doing or brainstorm for the next blog?
Make productivity a priority this year by blocking out unnecessary distractions and focusing on the things that truly matter. It’s easier said than done, but as this article shows, it’s definitely feasible.