Jun 8, 2011
Stop Procrastinating! Start Blogging Like a Pro! Posted by Jamie Harrop - 2 Comments
Photo by Rishibando
This is a guest post Pamelia Brown of AssociatesDegree.com.
Thomas Edison once said, “Genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” What was he talking about?
You have this great idea for your blog, but you’re unable to get it up and running. The little voice inside your head tells you this idea is going to make you the big bucks. You can finally pay off those daunting college loans. Edison implies in his quote: there are tons of smart people in this world, most of them with some pretty great ideas. You may or may not be one of them, but that doesn’t matter. In the end, your work ethic and consistency is what will get you ahead.
So, are you having trouble focusing? First, you need to figure out what the root of the problem is. You could be apprehensive about getting down to business, you could naturally be a bit lazy, or you could just be procrastinating because you CAN. If you are working from home, that could be a huge part of the problem. I have provided some easy tips to help you stay on task while at home!
Cut the Communication Chord
I am a full-time blogger working primarily from home, and I used to have trouble concentrating on my assignments. I would get a text or a phone call from a friend, and I would be able to talk or discuss irrelevant issues for hours. Once I would finally hang up, I had the intention of doing hours of work. Next thing I knew (two minutes later), it would be 5 pm. I would tell myself, “There’s always tomorrow.” Wrong. It became an unhealthy pattern, and procrastination doesn’t pay the bills.
I started turning my personal cell phone off at 9 am. I made my husband block my Facebook account and my personal email account. It’s amazing how much work you can get done if you prevent yourself from accessing those social media sites. Try limiting your time, and block out phone calls or text messages. If you must communicate with your friends, make your phone calls during your lunch break. Make sure that lunch break is EARNED.
Procrastinate in a Meaningful Way
If you must procrastinate, spend a few minutes doing something meaningful. Clean up your work desk, or organize your files and folders on your computer. Set a few minutes a day to do this. It is much easier to do your work in a clean environment! You can also organize your emails. Which ones should be prioritized?
Keep in Touch with Your Co-Workers
While working from home, it is easy to feel isolated and out of touch with your actual assignments. If you work for a remote internet company or have staff working from home as well, keep discussions going on a daily basis. What work needs to get done? How are your coworkers progressing on assignments? You may even be able to get some ideas on how to stay on task!
Your Time is Valuable: Time Your Work
You may want to set a schedule, which details how long you will spend on each task for the day. Use Google calendars or an actual alarm clock on your computer or work desk. If you allot a certain amount of time for tasks, you are more likely to feel the necessary pressure to actually get them done.
How do you keep yourself focused when blogging? Do you write from home, the office or a public space like a coffee shop? Do you often find yourself procrastinating? Let us know in the comments!
This guest contribution was submitted by Pamelia Brown, who specializes in writing about associates degree. Questions and comments can be sent to: pamelia.brown @ gmail.com.
Subscribe now with RSS or daily emails to receive more blogging tips, community discussion and a FREE ebook containing 10 interviews with 10 of the worlds most highly regarded bloggers, including Darren Rowse of ProBlogger and Shoemoney!
Category: Blogging Tips
Tagged:
Twitter: Tweet This
Social Media: Del.icio.us - Technorati - Digg This! - StumbleUpon
I'm a 25 year old blogger, community and customer service specialist with 11 years experience running and managing blogs and online communities.
too hard… from my head come out an idea i just have fun for a day and continues to other day without sacriface my daily activities like chat, phone calls and facebook.
blogging is something hard to understanding, manage and made me confused when i saw different tutorial from other blogger…
Procrastination is my number one enemy. I’ve always had a hard to getting things done when there are snacks to munch on, doodles to draw, and a whole internet to surf.
The best tip in there – I think – is the one about timing your tasks. You can really put things in perspective when you have a regular day and simply write down what you’re doing every five minutes (kind of like a food diary) to “guilt” yourself into making progress.
I’ve heard that there’s productivity software online that you can use to monitor these things pretty easily, but I haven’t found much through basic Google searches. Any ideas?