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Blogging is time-consuming. One of the most important lessons I learned from managing this blog is that everything takes way more time than you expect it would, but I also learned that there are ways to save time and increase efficiency, most notably by taking any free time you do have to do two things: create templates and schedule posts.
Create Templates Ahead of Time
If you look through blogs and other social media, you will notice that everything follows a template or a set style. This is because templates make it possible for you to focus just on writing when it comes time to write, and this is also something that survived traditional media's transition to digital media; think house style books.
Websites like templafy.com provide the kind of software that can help you run a blog, especially once it gathers momentum. Alternatively, if you have a Microsoft Suite subscription, explore the programs available to you through that.
Schedule Your Social Media Posts
You can also start scheduling your social media posts to ensure that you maximize the use of your online platform. I used to just publish posts whenever I got done writing, and I would write and send out social media posts the same way, but once I started looking into my analytics and focusing on information like days and times y'all interacted with my content, I was able to tailor my posting times to your schedules without compromising my own schedule.
Of course, the best times to post vary by your niche, the kind of content you provide, your location, and even the platform you're publishing to, so you'll need to check the stats for your own platforms to get the best, most useful information.
Once you have that information, you can easily tailor your timings. For example, if you notice that you have most of your blog views coming in at 8 PM on Thursdays, you know to publish new posts at around that time.
While I'm more of a casual blogger now than I used to be, these two tips have helped me make the most of what little time I can devote to blogging, and they give me the chance to still enjoy blogging as a pastime instead of just giving it up.
How do you save time when you blog?
