A question that I get all the time is how I stay organized as a blogger. From juggling social media promotion, to sponsored post due dates, blogging can be an overwhelming task. Falling behind on one aspect of blogging can really affect your months statistics! Over the years of blogging, I’ve come up with different methods of ways to stay organized, but my absolute favorite (and simplest!) way is by creating a blog task list that I follow throughout the month. This helps me to remember everything I need to get done each day, week, and month…so I don’t fall behind. Today I want to share with you my blog task list in order to help all my blogging besties stay on top of everything we have to do as bloggers!
Creating this simple task list wasn’t actually super easy for me at first. I had to figure out which blogging tasks needed to be done everyday, and which ones were ok to leave for my weekly and monthly tasks. I’m the kind of person that loves to accomplish every single task I have every single day…and when I don’t I get ultra discouraged! By organizing and setting up this simple list, I was able to reduce my work load and my stress.
The way I came up with my schedule was this: First step, write down every task you need to accomplish for your blog. After you’ve brainstormed this list, you should start to be able to group these tasks into ones that need to be done everyday and which ones can wait. Second, label a “D” by every task you need to do for your blog everyday, a “W” for every task that can get done on a weekly schedule, and a “M” for tasks that are monthly. Third, pull out your favorite list organizing methods, whether it be by spread sheet, a simple google doc, or even writing them down on a piece of paper or white board. Start to organize your tasks in groups. Fourth, now that you have a section of weekly and monthly tasks, decide which day of the week you will do each weekly task (I like to do 1-2 weekly tasks a day along with my daily tasks), and schedule which day of the month you will do each monthly task (pick a consistent date and stick with it!). Once you have this all organized, planning your blog editorial calendar is easy because you know which days of the week and month have already made tasks…and you can plan your posts around that!
And just so you get an idea of what my blog task list looks like, I thought I’d write it in this post to give you a head start! Feel free to copy this list for your own personal use…and remember to make it your own! Some of these tasks might not be what you already do for your blog, and just because it’s on my list, doesn’t mean it needs to be on yours!
Lauren from Dressing Dallas’s Blog Task List
Daily
- Pin newest blog post to Pinterest boards
- Schedule newest blog posts to be shared via Coschedule
- Stumble newest post + 20 other posts on Stumbleupon
- Post new blog post to Facebook group share threads/reciprocate
- Post to Instagram 1-2 times a day via Monthly Instagram editorial schedule (should be scheduled already on Crowdfire)
- Review blog posts coming up in the next couple weeks and work on them
- Respond to emails in the evening
Weekly
- Check blog communities for sponsored post opportunities to apply for
- Periscope Podcast
- Schedule post + other’s pins to be pinned via Tailwind
- Send out weekly email to subscribers
- Schedule Facebook posts for the week via Facebook scheduler
- Email list of companies to work with
- Comment on other blogs
- Check for plugin and wordpress updates
- Update blog expense report
Monthly
- Edit blog editorial calendar
- Edit Instagram editorial calendar and schedule to Crowdfire
- Schedule photo shoots/editing time
- Plan Youtube filming days
- Purchase any needed supplies
- Schedule any collaborations with other bloggers
And to further break down my weekly and monthly blog tasks, I usually schedule everything like this:
Weekly Blogging Task Schedule
Monday
- Check for new sponsored post opportunities
- Check to make sure newsletter went out
- Comment on Monday bloggers (I have a list of my favorite bloggers that I like to comment on, and I’ve divided those up so I comment on a few of those bloggers each day of the week)
Tuesday
- Email list of companies with sponsored post pitches
- Comment on Tuesday bloggers
- Check for plugin updates
Wednesday
- Periscope Podcast
- Comment on Wednesday bloggers
- Check for broken links/make sure all social posts have posted without error on Coschedule and Tailwind
Thursday
- Update blog expense report
- Comment on Thursday bloggers
Friday
- Schedule on Tailwind
Saturday
- Schedule Facebook posts for the week
- Prepare weekly newsletter to go out on Monday
Sunday
- Nothing 🙂 It’s a family day!
Monthly Task Breakdown
- Edit blog editorial calendar (1st of every month)
- Edit Instagram editorial calendar and schedule to Crowdfire (5th of every month)
- Schedule photo shoots/editing time (2nd of every month)
- Plan Youtube filming days (10th of every month)
- Purchase any needed supplies (15th of every month)
- Schedule any collaborations with other bloggers (20th of every month)
Keep in mind that life does happen, and sometimes my schedule is pushed aside. When this sort of thing happens, just run with it! Sometimes your kids end up sick (or worse…you end up sick) or you just have those days where it’s impossible to do anything. When I run into these days, I just try to either stay up later than normal after the kids go to bed, or I fit it into the next day. Sometimes things don’t get done either…and that’s ok!
I hope this blog task list helps you out and that it helps you stay organized! It’s no secret that blogging takes A LOT of work…so organization is key to getting everything done! Let me know in the comments how you stay organized when you blog and what you plan to do each day to accomplish all your tasks! I’d love to hear your ideas!
This was so useful! I’ve only just starting organising my blog properly with some serious spreadsheets and buffer. I definitely need to have a more coherent schedule though
Steph – http://www.nourishmeblog.co.uk
You’re so organized! You’ve got some great ideas, I will definitely be adopting a few of them for my blog!
Molly and Stacie
What a great schedule! I need to start figuring out more of my daily tasks so I am not just scrambling around each day trying to do it all.
xoxo, Jenny
This is so helpful! I’ve been trying to figure out how to revamp my blog and do it more regularly. This seems like the perfect way to begin.
Love this! You’re an amazing writer!
Wow that’s impressive! Thanks for sharing. I’ve been needing to do something like this for a while, and now I have something to build on.
This was extremely helpful. I need to sit down and plan some of these tasks for myself. I have yet to use any schedulers but I know I need to look into it.