Overcoming Blogging Procrastination: 7 Surefire Ways to Do It

One of the main issues with blogging is the high risk of regular procrastination – there is no one but yourself to control you. Throughout our days of education (and perhaps your earlier jobs), we easily got used to the unapparent comfort of someone keeping us in check. When it comes to blogging, no one will hover over your head and ask you about your progress; no one will call you to their office for briefing or critique, and no one will dictate your work time or working hours. Cool as this might sound, if you don’t quickly adjust to taking charge of all of this, you’re going to end up procrastinating – spending time without doing work, but not really having fun either.

1. Prioritize

One of the biggest problems with blogging on a regular basis is thinking you simply don’t have the time to do it. I won’t tell you that this is not true, that there’s always time to squeeze in blogging; it doesn’t have to be so! What I will tell you is that you should either make it a priority, or seriously consider dropping it entirely – it’s okay, no one will blame you; if you have a ton of more important things to do, then blogging might not be for you.

2. Don’t blog for the sake of blogging (ahem… money)

The internet is cluttered with these blogs. Sure, a decade ago people used to blog about literally whatever and earn money, but where there is market saturation, there is little to be made. This is actually a good thing: would you rather specialize in blogging about popular stuff, or write unique posts about the subject that you’re passionate about? All I know is that the latter option is more profitable.

3. Isolate yourself

Blogging is writing, and writing requires isolation. We’re not talking about your workplace here – let’s be serious, it’s probably your home (and a specific room at that); we’re talking about your phone and browser tabs. What I like to do is open a completely new browser window for blogging; all the blog-related tabs go here. Secondly, delete the Facebook, Messenger, Twitter and Instagram bookmarks. In fact, you can even use a different browser for blogging, where you have nothing but blog-related stuff in the bookmarks bar. Finally, take your phone out of your work area.

4. Jot down everything

There is nothing worse for a creative person than losing an idea. You should always keep a notebook by your side to write down everything useful and cool that comes to mind when you aren’t blogging. Of course, you can do this on your phone, as this is much more practical, but for some reason, I always find myself saying “nah, I’ll remember it” instead of opening the “notes” app and jotting everything down – I prefer writing things down in a small notebook for some reason.

5. Find your perfect moment

Creativity is weird; it’s different for everyone. I know a lot of extremely creative individuals who find nighttime perfect for inspiration. Admittedly, though, for every “nocturnal creative”, I know another one who performs best immediately upon getting up from the bed. I, on the other hand, blog whenever it hits me, which makes it extremely difficult. Planning for this is a nightmare and you never really get used to it. If you’re lucky enough to have a preferred time for blogging, be sure to make the most out of it.

6. You’re nothing without a proper environment

The fact that you’re working from home doesn’t mean that working in a disorganized environment is allowed. Now, we aren’t talking about being neat and tidy here, although, for the most part, people work best in tidy environments. If you prefer a mess on the table, make it your mess; the entire point is knowing where your stuff is. Without an organized environment, getting yourself to start working is going to take time (ahem, procrastination…), which is why no matter how messy your “workstation” is, you need to take care of sorting, filing and labeling, using everything from sticky notes and files, to labeling devices like the Dymo LabelWriter 450. Knowing where all of your stuff is is the pillar of efficient blogging.

7. Know when to rest

I’ll keep the last one brief: an exhausted blogger is a bad blogger – always blog rested.

Blogging should be one of your priorities, your passion, your reason for isolation. Never fail to jot an idea down, find your perfect time for blogging, create an organized environment, and always approach it well-rested and inspired.

***This was a Guest Post written by Claire Adams***

Claire is a personal and professional development expert who believes that positive attitude is one of the keys to success.

You can find her online writing and giving tips about lifestyle and development as a regular contributor to High Style Life.

Or you can follow her on Twitter @Adamsnclaire or on Facebook.