Today on my blog I have a guest post by Romila, who is impressive with her amazing skills of planning and scheduling. I came to know about this special quality when we were doing the A to Z challenge last year. Thats why I requested Romila to share her secrets. Read her tips to manage your Blog like a pro.
Hello! I’m Romila, and I’m the founder of Novemberschild. I’m a writer-author-editor-columnist from Hyderabad who loves reading, traveling and tweeting. I’ve been blogging for 14 years. I can be contacted on Twitter and on my blog.
Blog: Novemberschild
Twitter https://twitter.com/romspeaks
My writing or the blogging calendar has taken plentiful forms over the decades, starting as a simple list in an old notebook to spreadsheet on my computer and Google Calendar not very often. I’ve figured out what system works unsurpassed for me, and there’s absolutely one that fits all solution, but my editorial calendar works marvelously when it comes to planning and producing posts for my blog and promotion my social channels.
Before creating an efficient editorial calendar sit down and figure out how you work best. Do you prefer a handwritten list? Do you like a digital calendar? Will a bullet journal be beneficial to you or a spreadsheet?
You can mix and match, just like I do, but there’s no point in trying to work in a way that is disadvantageous to your productivity and comfort level. At the moment I have a bit of an amalgam system, where I use Google Calendar to check for dates I want to post and what I want to post about, alongside my work commitments, and events in my journal which includes a list of my posts, the categories and what needs to be done for each piece of content and the drafts to be completed. I write a daily to-do list in my diary which I update every evening. I did consider a bullet journal, but I find that having a calendar that I can sync my devices for easy entrée fits in better.
It is appealing to create a fancy spreadsheet with colors and designs, but can you really commit to investing these hours on a regular basis? The system you wish needs to go well with the time you have on hand to spend on your content planning, so think about this when you start working on your calendar. In another revere, you have to think about your blogging schedule.
There’s no point in creating a calendar of daily content for your blog when you only post once or twice a week. Make a calendar if you post daily. I post every single day without fail. I use my journal as a tool to figure out what I can post and when. This is particularly handy when I have to balance my other work commitments and I can easily see what else is happening in my blog at a peek. If I have a lot of deadlines in one week, I’ll post daily but in advance, but if I have a relatively free schedule I squeeze a couple more posts in a week to make the most of it.
My Google calendar hosts different calendars, each with its own dedicated shade and my spreadsheet is color coded based on the post category too. I find this really helps in keeping my content unmarked, as I can quickly see what topics I’ve been talking about and can add something new, a bit dissimilar to mix things.
Interestingly my editorial calendar helps me with is planning new posts. By having a clear general idea of what I’m writing about, and when I’m writing about it, I can spot spaces to pack and outline out what would work there. This is where my Google calendar comes in predominantly functional, as I can see what instances and times are coming up that may control my content. I try to be as lithe as likely with my content and often have a bank of post ideas ready to publish into empty spaces as and when they’re necessary.
It’s important to remember that change can be good and it will help you look at your blog with a fresh set of eyes! If something isn’t effective for me, I’ll take a look at how I can alter it to work better, or just remove it from my calendar on the whole. Some simple things like shifting a couple of posts around or publishing on new days can help everything fall into place.
For example, during blogging challenges period, I tend to add a new section in my editorial calendar to help me deal with content according to the challenge prompts. Having a more in-depth organizational system helps me keep up with the new category and additional posts.
It is just about what works for you- pick the best. I am a born organizational genius, but some will have to work hard to balance things.
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This seems like a very useful thing for someone as unorganized as me. Thanks for sharing.
useful informative post thanks to sharing
What a great guest post, Romila! Thank you for inviting her, Amrita! Thank you for your advice. I believe I do need an editorial calendar and am using this blog challenge to help get myself on the ball as to my daily to building my readership again. Thank you again!!
Amy
Some great tips! Thank you for the great article. I love the idea of syncing your devices.
Great post! When blogging regularly, I do find it easier to keep on task when using a calendar. I prefer good ol’ paper and pen so I use a handwritten planner. I use stickers for certain tasks, too. I schedule out posts, as well as social media schedules.