How to Blog When You’ve Got A Busy Schedule

Most of us are busy. We have commitments and acitivites in our lives that take up a lot of time: work, school, relationships, personal health responsibilities, children’s extracurricular activities, etc.

If you’ve got a lot going on in your life, you might find it hard to find time to do the things you really enjoy doing like blogging.

So how do you find time to write/blog when you’ve got a heavy load?

Being a full-time college student with loads of homework, papers, and projects to do, I’ve thought a lot about this as I’ve tried to write/blog diligently and consistently in the midst of college, working for two organizations, maintaining strong relationships with family and friend, volunteering at church, and just enjoying life outside of these activities.

I’ve discovered four steps that have helped me be more focused and diligent in my writing and blogging.

And whether your a full-time college student or not, I believe these four steps will help you create time in your schedule for your writing and blogging (or anything else that is important to you in life).

Here are the four steps I’ve used to create time for blogging while being a busy full-time college student:

1. Clarify priorities
2. Schedule time each day, each week
3. Execute excuses
4. Do a little (or a lot) each day

Let’s look at each step in a bit more detail.

1. Clarify priorities

Josh Kaufman, author of the brilliant book The Personal MBA, says,

” Prioritization is actually the process of deciding what’s not important: what you’re not going to focus on right now. If you delete, delegate, or defer your less important wants, you free up time and energy for the remainder, which are more important by definition.”

Figuring out what’s not important will clarify what is important. Yes, there are A LOT of things going on in your life that are important. But what is most important, at this present stage in life, and in the long-term? Figure out what’s not important, and then you will realize what is most important. Then, focus on the important things, not the unimportant things.

2. Schedule time each day, each week

Since my schedule is different each day, with classes and work fluctuating each day, I was forced to schedule time to blog at different points during each day of the week. I didn’t like this (I’d much prefer a consistent time of writing each day), but it was either schedule different times to blog each day of the week, or don’t blog at all. So I chose to schedule different times each day to blog.

Schedule time to blog in your calender, your to-do list, and/or your iPhone. By scheduling time to blog, you make blogging a priority, something that is important. This is going to take some proactivity and initiative on your part. But don’t worry, you can do this. Schedule a time of the day to right each day, and then do it.

3. Execute excuses

Even after you’ve done the first two steps above, there is still one more vital step to take: You need to execute your excuses. You need to eliminate, kill, strangle, destroy, and crush any thought/excuse/fear that tries to keep you from writing. Fear wants to sabotage you and keep you from blogging. You’ll have thoughts that will try to make excuses for why you shouldn’t blog. Be aware of the excuses that try to creep in, and slam the door on them! Get rid of them. Eliminate them. Execute them. They’re not welcome in your house!

4. Do a little (or a lot) each day

The point here is to blog, to write, to actually do it each day, everyday, whether it’s a little bit or a lot. Some days, you may only have 10 minutes to write, and other days you may have an hour or two. Writing for 10 minutes is better than writing for zero minutes. I think Jeff Goins advice on over-committing and over-delivering is good advice here. Push yourself to do more than you think you can. Regardless of how much time you have each day, write each and every day, whether it’s for a few minutes or a few hours.

Keep optimizing your priorities and schedule, destroy your excuses, and you will find time for blogging.  Do a little bit (or a lot) each day, and you will gain momentum that will make you want to make even more time for writing. (I speak from experience.)

The reality is that we find time for the things that matter most to us in life. (If you’ve ever had a girlfriend or boyfriend, you know exactly what I’m talking about. We make time for that special someone in our life, even if we have to cancel other commitments to do so.)

Ask yourself, “how important is blogging to me?” “Do I want to get really, really good at this blogging thing and create something special?”

You can do this, you just have to want it badly enough, learn the art and science of blogging, and work diligently to make it happen. It won’t be an overnight achievement, but it will happen if you stick with it.

If you don’t blog, have you considered blogging? Your life, story, experiences, and voice are unique. You have something to contribute to the world around you, and a blog is a great way to do just that.

Don’t be intimidated by other bloggers, rather, let them inspire you. Check out (and subscribe to) blogs like Tentblogger, Copyblogger, Problogger, Michael Hyatt, and Jeff Goins to learn the art and science of blogging. The more you learn and blog, the more confident and excited you will be in your blogging.

Go for it. You’ve got nothing to lose, and you’ve got a lot to contribute.

(NOTE: If you are unsure of which blogging platform to use, I HIGHLY recommend WordPress. You can start off for free on a WordPress.com blog, and then move to a self-hosted WordPress.org blog in the future if you want to take your blog to the next level.)

Question: What helps you stay focused and productive in your writing/blogging? Share any tips and/or advice with us in the comments below! 

Image courtesy of mzacha (via morgueFile)