And on Tuesday, the ebook launches. Folks! Things are getting hot here!
But that's not what I'm blogging about. I'm blogging about how blogging took over my world and how I recovered from it. I'm also blogging about how many times I can use repetitious words while blogging.
So, here's my secret. I cut my blogging back to 30 minutes a day.
The thing is, there are some awesome awesome blogs on my 200+ blogroll. And I could spend all day reading and commenting. And then all of you would come over to my blog, eager to return the favor, only to find I haven't blogged because after all that reading and commenting, I'm crashed out on the floor snoring. And my kids are still in pajamas, there are no dishes because nobody ate all day, and I certainly didn't do any writing.
Sound familiar?
Some of you manage to do it all, and I admire you far more than I can say. But I knew something had to change for me. So I sacrificed. I devote 30 minutes to blogging every day. That means not all of you are going to get your blog read by me, but I doubt Nathan Bransford goes through and comments on everyone's blogs, yet people still follow and comment on his blog. I just need to make my posts THAT GOOD.
Three days a week, I write a blog post. I'm on a schedule now. You can depend on me (usually). I have 30 minutes to write my post. If it takes less time, I can blog hop. It can't take more time. Not an option. The other days of the week, I can spend all 30 minutes reading and commenting. Way fun.
This is working for me. How do you manage it? What works for you?
And very soon folks, I'll give you all the details on my upcoming blog tour. (In case you're wondering, you can already preorder the book from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and my website.)
12 comments:
I don't keep up either. Every once in a while on a slow Friday, I'll go through the list and read the first one and mark all the rest "read," so that I can clear the climbing number scroll. I have a few that I always read, and a few that I almost never read. You're doing great. Your success proves it!
I hear you. The more you visit others, the more they visit you. I haven't had any comments on my last 2 posts. It's affecting my self esteem! LOL OH well. You do what you gotta do.
videos are what eat my time. THey take forever to choose the right one (and because it takes so long for a video to load, there only IS one)
I wait and wait and waste time while it loads. Killer. I'm behind on posts. I read a book this week during my "play" time instead of blogging.
Posts don't take me long to write at all, and I often write several posts at once, then schedule them on auto post with blogger. Facebook, though. Well that's just a waste of time that I can't decide if I like or hate. If I have to choose how to spend my time, and I only have 10 minutes, I'll read blogs of friends over FB any day.
Hi there! I so agre about blogging eating up your time. I post only twice a week now to give me time to visit others. We need time to write too!! LOL
As I'm a student and don't have a job, I spend a majority of my day reading blogs. The thing is I mainly do it to inspire myself to write, but by the time I've read them all, I don't have the energy to write anything.
I've recently started a blogging schedule for my posts so I know exactly what sort of things I need to write each day and then I write 2 or 3 at a time and schedule them - this has saved me so much time and I don't have to worry about forgetting ideas as I just write them then and there. This also means on the other days I use that time to write fiction - but I still insist on reading all my blogs, guessing I'll have to find a way around that as my uni work hits.
You guys have some great ideas. What sort of themes do you do, Bethany? That's an interesting idea. I can see I'm not the only one who's had to remanage my time!
I've recently put the blogs I follow into folders using Google Reader. I've got folders for days of the week, agent blogs & it's helping me manage better. I'm getting better at feeling less guilty when I don't comment each post!
Tamara, I have the perfect system! In order to save as much time possible, I only blog about once a month. In fact, I think it's been longer than a month now since I posted anything, as you noticed haha!! That way, I hardly get any comments after the first two weeks, which means I have less blogs to visit and loads more time on my hands! :D
The perfect solution. Allow 30 minutes a month, not a day...job done! LOL
Let me start out by saying that I have had NO comments on my last two blogs. It shouldn't bother me, but hey, I'm a writer. I love strokes. Where is everyone? LOL
Anyway, I'm like you. I devote only a bit of time every day to blogging. I blog maybe twice a week right now and I only read a few a day. Plus, keeping up with facebook, twitter and all those other things are so exhausting and I would rather write my OWN book!
Maybe I can tell you soon. I'm cutting my blog posts down to 3 per week (usually) starting this week. I've been spending way too much time with blogging activity and need to open up some time for other things. 30 minutes per day doesn't sound like much. I've been spending about 6 hours per day-- too too much. Hopefully I can get it down to 2 hours or less.
On my post tomorrow, where I announce my new schedule, I've also mentioned my place on your blog tour. I'm getting ready.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Kurt, you're hilarious!Great blog schedule!
Melissa, you've got your priorities straight. Who cares about the rest?
Yeah, Arlee! I'm excited!
You're brilliant with your 30 minute limit. Like anything in the e-world, the blogosphere has definite vortex ptential (as in sucking you in and never letting you out). I'm taking a queue from you. ;) Although Emailman is definitely on to something...
Post a Comment