Blog Tips

Something I’m always interested in learning from other bloggers or small business owners is how they stay organized. Running your own business comes with a handful of responsibilities that make organization a must, and I rely on certain techniques to make it easier on myself. I definitely notice that when I have things together, life just runs more smoothly in general. My mood is better, I have more time for the boys, and I’m definitely less stressed. Since some of these techniques have been so helpful for me, I wanted to share them with you. I hope they work for you!

The 2-minute rule

I can’t remember where I learned this, but basically the rule suggests taking 2 minutes at the end of each work day/session to clean up. Pick up your desk, take the coffee mugs back to the kitchen, put your computer away, whatever. Then, when I start working the next day, I can get right into work rather than clean.

Editorial calendar

When I’m really prioritizing organization with work, I’m sticking to an editorial calendar. I hate the feeling of not knowing what I’m posting the following week and just throwing together a post, so instead I’ll take the time to plan out the next couple weeks. Also, if I get to a day where I either don’t feel like writing about that planned subject, I have a list of others to choose from. Having a short- and long-term idea of what’s coming next is incredibly beneficial for my brand.

Daily to-do list

On top of an editorial cal, I’ll make a list of what I need to do—for work and life in general—each morning. I put a star by the 3 most important things that I have to get done, and if the boys’ schedule works out, I do those first. If not, I plan out the day to make sure those 3 things will be done for sure. Having an idea of what I need to do each day helps significantly, plus it feels good to get it all out of my brain. Whatever I don’t get done, I move to a list for the next day.

Pre-schedule posts

Planning posts—for Twitter, Facebook, etc.—in advance is great. This way I don’t have to post randomly throughout the day while I’m taking care of other things, and I can assure that I have social posts to match a blog post when one goes live. Spending an extra 5 minutes or so after I write up a blog post seems to be the best way to do this.

All of these are pretty simple, but they are definitely effective! Do you have any organization tips?