How to Turn Blogging into a Habit to Succeed #MyBlogU

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Sticking to a blogging schedule to contribute consistently is the most important component of blogging success: Regular high-quality content is what builds your audience up.

But how to stick to a schedule when blogging is actually a hobby for many of us?

The answer is: Turn blogging into a habit!

Today we have put together the crowd-sourced guide into making blogging part of your daily natural routine!

***If you want to get featured in our upcoming Twitter chat, please contribute here!***

Keep a Record of Your Ideas

This section comes from @amabaie

One process that really works for David is to keep a simple file in Microsoft Word, where he copies and pastes all his MyBlogU contributions (such as this one, for instance), and any substantial comments he makes on somebody else’s blog, too.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”~ @amabaie”]Store @MyBlogU ideas you send to get further inspired by them![/tweetthis]

This gives an instant access to a whole lot of his own thinking (that he would otherwise forget, or at least would not occur to him at the moment), and he can often build a blog post around some of these ideas (which is what he did here).

Pocket and Evernote are invaluable tools for storing content ideas and related materials (hat tip to @patantconsult).

@ScottLewis uses Trello to store ideas:

For a blogger it can be hard to produce content week after week. I find that I am much more consistent if I have a system in place.

I keep blogging ideas on Trello.com to “prime the pump.” I use 3 lists there: blogging ideas, post stubs, and unscheduled drafts.

Establish a Realistic and Conservative Schedule

This advice comes from our own @patantconsult

Once you’ve committed to blogging consistently, your first step should be to establish a realistic and conservative schedule. So instead of committing to blogging daily, start by blogging weekly and the gradually scale your efforts.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@patantconsult @myblogu”]your first step should be to establish a realistic and conservative schedule[/tweetthis]

Once you’ve become minimally consistent you can explore tools and techniques for improving your production rate and increase your number of publications weekly.

It’s a good idea to build an inventory of articles before your blog goes live, so that you keep up with your publication schedule despite interruptions to your personal or business life.

One of the things that I’ve found particularly useful in generating more content, faster, is bulk tasking. This basically involves grouping a particular type of task and performing it in a cluster.

So instead of coming up with a blog title when creating each blog post, I brainstorm a series of titles.

Instead of preparing one blog image on each occasion, I prepare them in clusters. A good idea is to draft out several pieces of content over a block of time, which you can later build up on edit for publication.

I’ve found MyBlogU particularly useful in enabling me to brainstorm and generate ideas in relation to multiple content ideas within the same period.

Another good idea is to select specific days of the week to do blogging (based on your usual work load). For example, if you know Tuesday is your blogging day, you’ll stick to that (h/t @ScottLewis)

Work on Your To-Do List

Thank you, @RelationshipCir, for this tip:

Set up a daily schedule with important must-do tasks, and figure out how much time that certain tasks generally take me if you stay focused – but staying focused is the key!

You can stay focused in two ways.

1. Use an audible timer to help you stay aware around how much effort you are putting into something. For instance, hearing that you are 15 minutes into a task that should take me an hour, and knowing that you still haven’t put any effort towards it, helps you get back on track and focus again.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@RelationshipCir @myblogu”]”I find that being timed is the ultimate way to stay focused and get it done!”[/tweetthis]

2. During the day, there are always things that come to mind and seem important to do RIGHT NOW. But usually they can wait. Write down any tasks that pop up in your mind and then consciously leave them for later – after you’ve finished your scheduled tasks.

I learned this trick from Simpleology, which uses a ‘dream catcher’ for this purpose. When you write down those things that suddenly pop into your mind, then you can rest assured knowing you will get to it when you can and let the thought go without getting distracted from your task at hand.

When I’m focused, use my time wisely, and cut out the unimportant stuff, it’s easy to bang out all the things I need to do in the day.

@ShobhaPonnappa manages her to-do list using Excel:

After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing I finally have a system that works for me. Like every other part of my life it’s also an Excel-sheet driven list of things to do everyday that I tick off as I complete.

I start with a blog post to do every day as the first job of the day. On my Excel list I have everything listed out to include on the blog post including topic decision-making, keyword search and title creation, images and their sizing, inclusion of other media, diagrams I have to create on my own, SEO optimization points to watch, external and internal links, rich snippets etc.

Note: I imagine the same spreadsheet template can be re-packaged daily! Handy!

@RelationshipCir The struggle continues daily for me too. Doing better at though the more I try to let go #myblogu

— Robyn-Dale Samuda (@robynsamuda) May 7, 2015

Read further: Here’s How to Create and Promote an Epic Article: Step by Step Cheatsheet #MyBlogU

One thing that helps is that when I see MyBlogU emails of topics it starts the thought process for me #myblogu

— Shobha Ponnappa (@ShobhaPonnappa) May 7, 2015

Two things that really help @ShobhaPonnappa:

• One, a relaxed attitude that does not get overwhelmed: Try not to think of anything else on the list while you are doing one particular job.
• Two, the ability to forgive yourself unconditionally if you have a “day off”

MyBlogU community to the rescue! RT @ShobhaPonnappa: ..the problem is doing a different take #myblogu

— Anna Fox (@manifestcon) May 7, 2015

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@ShobhaPonnappa”]”DON’T think of anything else on the list while you are doing one particular job”[/tweetthis]

@WPressionist suggests using HabitRPG. With this tool you can make three kinds of to do lists: your regular old single-time task to do list, a daily to do list that restarts every night at midnight, and a list of “habits” you are trying to build or break.

I use this tool both for personal goals (“drink a glass of water,” “water plants”) and blogging goals (“blog for 1 hour,” “fill Buffer list,” “set up mailchimp”). It’s seriously addictive!

Make the Most of Your Most Productive Time

This tip comes from @EP_pturner:

Not every hour of the day has equal value. My most useful and creative hours are from 5am – 11am, so this is when I work on my blog posts.

I spend longer on my blog on Saturday and Sunday because I don’t write for other people at the weekend. I have 2 days “off”, still writing, but doing what I want to do instead of what I have to do.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@EP_pturner @startablog123 @myblogu”]Write blog posts during your most productive hours[/tweetthis]

For example Gary @startablog123 writes in the mornings when he has the most energy after a cup of coffee.

Better content beats more content every time! #myblogu

— Don Sturgill (@DonSturgill) May 7, 2015

He writes during the day so he can either publish an article the next morning or at around 3-4PM, when most people are getting off of work and will be looking at social media for stuff to read. That time frame forces some type of a mental deadline and helps him work through obstacles.

Create a weekly series of some sort. This will help you focus on one topic, consistently. #myblogu

— Atomic Reach (@Atomic_Reach) May 7, 2015

Here’s another great tip when it comes to timing (coming from @WPressionist):

Instead of going off a goal of posting a certain number of times per week, I make my goal to work on blogging for a certain amount of time each day, and I don’t beat myself up too much about how I spend it, as long as I’m doing something. I think this has helped blogging stay fun and exciting for me.

Enjoy It

This is a very good reminder coming from @makone007: You can’t force yourself to be consistent unless you look forward to doing that!

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@makone007 @myblogu”]Blogging MUST be enjoyable![/tweetthis]

Blogging is not a job, it is a routine habit. Routine includes all those things that we do daily without getting bored. Blogging is also a routine work, that a blogger should do regularly, consistently, with passion and interest.

What makes blogging part of my routine is my passion for blogging. The very first thing I do when I open my eyes every morning is to go on my blog and check status.

So it’s very important you find the ways to make it interesting. For example, I make sure to include tools into my articles (Playing with tools makes writing more exciting to me and it makes the article more enjoyable and useful for readers too!)

I find that I never run out of blogging ideas when I browse original work of others. #myblogu

— Zen Ameer (@Zen_Ameer) May 7, 2015

Read a lot! Get inspired by the content that is out there. Learn to read fast. #myblogu

— Atomic Reach (@Atomic_Reach) May 7, 2015

Set up Phone Reminders

This idea comes from @trucosviajeros:

Configure an app with my daily, weekly and monthly to-do list. Now I get an alert on my phone (and email) every day and make sure I am keeping up with the good work. Right now I am using Remember The Milk, but anything similar, even a Google Calendar, could work for that.

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@trucosviajeros”]Set up calendar reminders for regular tasks![/tweetthis]

If you are on iPhone and a Macbook (like myself), you’ll get those notifications to your desktop too: Impossible to miss!

Semi-Automate (Schedule and Buffer!)

Another one from @trucosviajeros:

Use as many scheduling options as you can to take care of “little” tasks (like sharing on social media or commenting) daily and spend more quality time on writing posts or editing pictures, just once or twice a week.

Join #MBUstorm!

Our #MBUstorm blogging challenge is proudly one of the most effective ways to develop a regular blogging habit!

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@myblogu”]#MBUstorm is your BEST way to get into a habit of blogging![/tweetthis]

It is held every season. Keep an eye on the hashtag!

Thanks a Lot to Today’s Contributors!

Leticia Perez@trucosviajeros

David Leonhardt@amabaie

Patricia Anthony @patantconsult

Scott D Lewis@scottlewis

Kari@RelationshipCir

Gary Dek@startablog123

Gaurav Kumar@makone007

Shobha Ponnappa@ShobhaPonnappa

Phil Turner@EP_pturner

WordPressionist@WPressionist

***If you want to get featured in our upcoming Twitter chat, please contribute here!***