How to Be a More Productive Blogger

At heart you're a writer. So, why do you find it so difficult to sit down and get things done? You don't need David Allen hovering over your shoulder. You just need a few hacks to help you stay organized. Being productive shouldn't be this hard. Good news: it's not. You just need to learn how to focus.

 

Stop Multitasking

There is no greater myth in the world of business than multitasking. Most entrepreneurs and bloggers suffer from a terrible habit - they try to do multiple things at once. You've probably been there. You have your chat app open, Gmail is fired up, you've got soothing music in the background, your favorite cup of tea gathering condensation on your desk.

Meanwhile, there's a growing stack of paperwork on your desk. The phone rings. It's your spouse, girlfriend, whatever. Just another distraction, but you can handle it, right? Wrong. Most people worry about not getting anything done during the workday. They read about the latest time-management system, and they try to implement it.

They fail. There's a good reason for that. There's no such thing as multitasking. You're either giving a project or task the full attention it deserves or you're not. That's it. Close the chat window. Log off of all of your other social networking services. Close Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and whatever else you've got opened. Set your phone to "do not disturb" or airplane mode. Better yet, shut it completely off.

Even the time for research is over. You shouldn't be surfing the web for statistics, graphs, and citations. You should have done that already. Focus on one thing: writing.

Get A Timer

Set your timer for 90 minutes. If you don't have a timer, get one. This is your 90 minutes to write. That's all you do. When you use a timer, and shut off all outside distractions, you have nothing else to do. You can focus on being productive and, ultimately, turn out an epic blog post.

Write An Outline

Don't just rush in and start writing. You need an outline. An outline doesn't need to be super-complicated. It just needs to delineate the subject matter and what you'll be talking about. Most outlines will be comprised of an introduction, several subheads, and a closing paragraph.

Sometimes, you'll just have an introduction and many bullet-points or subheads. The important thing is to make sure you get some kind of skeleton down on your word processor before you start. Then, all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

For example, your outline might look something like this:

Intro

Subhead - main point 1

Subhead - main point 2

Subhead - main point 3

Closing

It's simple, but it's effective. Your writing will flow, be super-organized, and you won't lose your readers, which is important.

Take Breaks

If 90 minutes is good for focused writing, more must be better, right? Wrong. It's important to take regular breaks. Why? Because your brain gets tired. If you sit there and write endlessly for 8 hours straight, you'll find your writing falls off, becomes less focused, and less interesting. You'll suddenly develop "writer's block." Not good. Fifteen to twenty minute breaks are adequate. Sit outside, listen to some music - just get away from your computer. You'll be surprised at how much you can accomplish by following these simple rules.

Laura Spicer is a productivity expert. She frequently writes about how to get more out of the limited hours in the day on websites for bloggers. For fast internet, visit the CenturyLinkDeals.com and learn more.