A podcast where you join me (Bri!) as I chat to fellow slow travelers and digital nomads.
Adventurer by day, blogger by night. I've been slow traveling abroad for the last 8+ years and growing my travel blogs into my full-time biz. Let's chat!!
You did everything right. You made a blog writing schedule. And if I were to guess, it looks something like, “M-W-F: Write from 8 am to 11 am.”
Or something to that degree.
You made the schedule (this isn’t the first time, right), and yet, you can’t seem to show up to your allotted time, open up a new “Add New Post” in WordPress, and sit down and focus.
Why not?
My dear blogger-in-becoming, you are not alone in your blogging stuckness.
As a blogger and blog coach, I have been there myself (more than I can count).
But I’m not here to tell you what you already know—that you will continue to get the same results as long as you continue to show up the same.
How about doing things differently.
Hear me out! ⬇️
Here is how you can quickly and effectively create a blog writing schedule that ACTUALLY works—and works for you!
The first thing to note is that schedules are just illusions.
Think about it!
Schedules exist to let us know that we have pre-determined a time allotment to complete XYZ.
But schedules don’t take into account constantly changing lifestyles.
It cannot forecast your friendly neighbor coming to interrupt your prime writing time.
Nor can it prevent your dog from barking at the Amazon delivery man, which sets off a domino effect of non-writing (you get up from your desk, answer the door, hush the dog, pet the dog, then remember to do… [insert anything literally here]).
The problem is not YOU (oh, thank god), and instead it is the circumstances around you.
Yes, let’s blame everything around us! 👹
No.
Let’s only blame half on everything around us. The other half, well, that’s totally on us.
Okay, I mean you.
Your brain will try to resist doing its work.
In fact, your brain, emotions, and motivation will all rebel against you, all at once, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Okay, there’s ONE thing you can do. Read closely.
You can either:
The second illusion is that you have a choice here. You do not.
It’s either do the work, or don’t.
By default, you are not doing. Therefore, you should decide whether to do.
Do is the only choice.
Otherwise, feel free to remain in your default state (not doing).
The next step is to rethink what “blog writing” means.
Do you mean research, write 1500 words, edit photos, and publish all in one day?
Because my own expectations have often let me down by doing this.
By thinking that I could, somehow magically, stuff a 20-hour project of completing a well-thought, well-written blog post into a 2-hour writing time block.
Lesson: Don’t forget that the “blog writing” is actually just about that: Blog WRITING. Not all the other stuff you must do to “complete” it.
So, what does blog writing mean? And how can you create a better blog writing template that works for you?
What I mean by “blog writing” here is that you can decide how to divvy this enormous, elephant-size task.
I always teach my students to break blog writing down.
Here’s how that works.
A 2-hour time block to “write a post” isn’t going to cut it, for 99.99% of blog posts that are actually worth a dime.
But two hours is a lot for writing an introduction. Oh, hey, there’s an idea.
Heck, I could possibly write five introductions within that time!
I could also structure my post to set myself up for easier writing within smaller time blocks.
So, let’s say I schedule two hours daily for “blog writing” but get lost and overwhelmed when writing an entire post.
Instead, I might try structuring just the outline and then get started on writing the intro AND the first section.
Or maybe I feel more motivated to start from the bottom up and write the conclusion first.
Oh, look!
All of a sudden I’ve got my intro and my conclusion done, now I just have to fill in 4-5 sections.
Suddenly, a blog post is coming together. And it feels fabulous.
Whenever I get jaded, stuck, lethargic, or sometimes wholly PARALYZED, I return to this blog writing hack.
Start small, narrow in, and write the intro or 100 words only.
Next thing you know, you’re 250 words in, the intro is done, and a post is on its way.
I promise, try this blog writing tip the next time you feel like you just can’t show up and knock out two hours of writing per day.
Redefine what blog writing means and just MOVE. FORWARD.
The best way to unstuck yourself (and show up for yourself) is to act first.
After all, action precedes motivation, perfect schedules or not.
What blog writing hacks or tips have helped you show up and get to work?
A podcast where you join me (Bri!) as I chat to fellow slow travelers and digital nomads.
Adventurer by day, blogger by night. I've been slow traveling abroad for the last 8+ years and growing my travel blogs into my full-time biz. Let's chat!!