Seven Ways to Post When Life Takes Over

On Yumventures, I emphasize how little effort it takes to go in the kitchen every night and whip up a homemade, healthy meal. All it takes is a little planning.

But honestly, sometimes life just gets in the way. Whether it’s work, school, boyfriend, or just plain having a social life (or work and school and boyfriend and said social life) it can be really difficult to find the time to whip together dinner instead of going down the block for takeout or scarfing down a PB&J.

And if I have to eat more-al-dente-than-I’d-like rice because I couldn’t finish cooking it before I had to run out the door, how am I supposed to find time to blog about it?

Keeping up with a blog takes a lot of time and effort. Here at Hollaback we’ve already talked about putting in your BTB time and how to blog while you have a full time job. But how do you do it on a day when life just…takes over?

1. Make sure you’ve stuck to your schedule. First, take a look at your schedule. Having a blogging schedule is helpful so you can be sure to write posts and also get in some work behind the blog. Put those scheduled times on your calendar IN PEN.  If you take these times seriously, you will get your blog work accomplished and your free time can be what it’s meant to be: free. If your busy days have added up and these times have been pushed aside, it might be time to re-evaluate when you have scheduled them or think about how many times a week you post.
2. Skip a post. Your readers know that you have a life, which is why they love reading your blog! If things get just too overwhelming, skip a day of posting – and don’t feel guilty about it. The reason you have a blog is to share your life, and sometimes you’ve just got to live it. Readers understand! Don’t come back with apologies; it’s OK. Trust us!
3. Share what you’re doing. We’ve talked about writing more mindcasting rather than lifecasting posts, but if time is of the essence and you don’t have a moment to put your deep thoughts on paper, then tell your readers why by letting them know what you’re up to! Having the occasional “this was my awesome day” post not only changes things up for your readers, but the posts pretty much write themselves. You don’t have to put a ton of thought into recapping your day, but you can still make it interesting and fun with a good anecdote or restaurant recommendation.
4. Share your pictures. A picture says a thousand words, which is more than you have time to write some days. Share some classy pics you took with your DSLR (or, if you’re like me, your Sony point and shoot), something funny you saw downtown, or the food at the restaurant you ate at that night. Sometimes you don’t need any words, and that can save you a good chunk of time.
5. Share a video. So your pictures from the day didn’t turn out to great? Putting up a post with a link to your favorite video, whether it’s a segment that’s all over the news or YouTube’s most outrageous clips from Jersey Shore, is a quick fix that can showcase your interests and keep your readers entertained. Write a quick blurb about why you picked that video and then head on out the door.
6. Invite guests. If it’s finals week or you are away on vacation, see if you can get some of your blog friends (or real life friends who wish they had a blog) to send in some guest posts. That way, you can cover yourself when you seriously don’t have time to blink, plus you can keep your content new and fresh and possibly even generate some more traffic.
7. Start a conversation. Some really great blog posts aren’t just great because of what’s written in them, but because of the discussions that happen in the comments. A great way to keep interest going and save yourself some in-depth written analysis is to ask your readers about a question or topic you’ve been thinking about. You will get people to interact and your readers may give you some great ideas for a longer post when you have more blogging time.

Everyone has those days/weeks/months when they feel like there’s hardly any time to breathe, but by mixing in some of these tips you can alleviate some blogging stress while still keeping your posts fresh, interesting, and real.

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Tagged as: Sophie