Here are 8 surefire strategies to keep my blogging on track. They also work with other projects, especially when I encounter resistance. uhm…that would be ALL THE TIME. Sigh.
Jot and return.
My best ideas are golden distractions, the sirens of my work world. They never pertain to what I’m currently doing and always pull me off course. To maintain focus, I do the following:
- ALT-TAB (yes, it’s a PC) to an open document window
- Jot the idea. “Jot” means only a few words; no more.
- ALT TAB back to the current project. IMMEDIATELY.
Make no decisions.
Decision-making squanders mental and emotional energy. Never allow yourself to decide if it’s the right time to work. If you’re tired, you’ll opt out. Plan your blogging times so there’s no decision involved. Planning is the key to producing regular content. Are you serious about this? Plan it, and do it.
Promise in public.
If I don’t do what I promise, my massive blog readership — all 20 of them — will be devastated. OTOH, I don’t make promises I can’t keep. If i can’t promise it, I don’t.
Plan a series.
I keep a list of related ideas, thoughts, and suggestions in OneNote. Each idea spawns a second and third related idea. Voila! A series!
Do it online.
Online adventures engender emotional investment, learning and community.
- Tawni Gomes started a weekly email newsletter sharing her ongoing process with weight loss and exercise. 200 lbs later, Tawni’s admirers run in the thousands, she’s written a book, been interviewed by several magazines, been on Oprah, and has a thriving coaching business.
- Stephanie Dea blogged her experiment with cooking a crockpot recipe every day for a year. Talk about followers!
- The Spam Cam, an admittedly stupid experiment chronicling the decay of Spam in comparison to other fast foods, got tons of press and interest. It was a disgusting daily photo.
- A few years ago, we posted a 24/7 puppy cam sharing the development of our new litter of pups. I was amazed at how many people kept track. If a puppy escaped, I’d get scads of concerned messages.
Lower expectations.
Mature content grows through gawky adolescence. I write the gawky stuff a week ahead of time, let it sit for a couple of days, then edit the hell out of it. At that point it should be fine to upload although I’ll continue to edit after it’s posted.
Forget about love.
I don’t expect to love what I write. Much of it springs from resistant, smelly beginnings. When love happens, great — but love and motivation aren’t necessary for good content creation. Knowing your audience, regular work time and perseverance is what counts. So’s compassion.
Shut up.
The mind doesn’t know the difference between talking about something and doing something. Both processes consume creative energy. If you complain about blogging, that’s what you’ll accomplish — complaining. I’m not saying whining isn’t valid; it’s just not a useful energy expenditure.
In my next post, I’ll share 8 more tips that take the next step: Getting it Done. See, I’m following my own advice – I generated a list of ideas but I’m dividing it into two posts. Woo hoo – the gawky rough draft for the next post is already done!
What do you do to get yourself going? How do you generate the self-discipline necessary to maintain a vital blog? I’d love your comments and suggestions. Lord knows, I’m always looking for a magic bullet.
