In March, I identified that I needed a plan to help me manage my blog content. I needed the plan to be simple, quick and accessible so I could use it wherever I was and I had time.
Google spreadsheet
I decided to create a calendar in Google spreadsheets.
I coloured the cells to indicate the content type:
- Orange: featured post
- Blue: writing post
- Green: beauty post
- Yellow: personal post
- Pink: NaPoWriMo (a special feature/event)
I wrote my content idea on the colour coded cell. I made the text:
- Bold: unwritten
- Italic: started/in draft
- Plain: done (scheduled)
This made it superveasy to see what posts I needed to write and when so I could prioritise.
Being easy to access on my mobile or any PC/Laptop meant it didn’t restricting my blogging.
Amending plans
Sometimes, I found I wasn’t inspired to write what I planned. So, I copied the cell to my ideas list for future reference and moved another idea into the vacant space that I did feel like writing.
I often have more ideas than time to write and this helps me stay focussed on the tasks I have chosen rather than trying to write them all. Being more focussed helps me get the article written in the limited time I have (usually an hour or two on a Sunday).
I can gather the pics I need for my blog and Instagram in plenty of time. I take these throughout the week and save to a folder on my phone.
Verdict
I’m really pleased with my simple plan as it work for me. Being more organised makes me feel more in control.
My future schedule
I do need to relook at my schedule and reduce the frequency ready for when my newborn arrives. In addition, I vowed to return to novel writing once my CIPD course is complete (end of June).
As a result, I think I’ll struggle to post every other day but I still want to achieve a fairly regular flow. Currently, my content plan is filled up until end of August and 50% full from there until December… Maybe, I can do it all…
I would love to know what you think and the methods you use to plan your content. I’m constantly learning.
