Time Management and Productivity for People Who Can’t Get Organized

Time management and productivity are the focus of Get Organized Month, Week 2 – although, any time is a good time to streamline and create systems to make life easier.

When it comes to blogging, there are so many pulls on your time:

• creating content,
• promoting that content,
• networking with other bloggers and brands,
• social media,
• email newsletters and email marketing,
• taking blogging courses,
• and on and on.

So, how do we get it all done?

The right answer is that – we can’t! But that doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel and just give up.

What it does mean is that we need to put systems in place that we can rely on to help us get things done.

This is how I like to do things at a very general level. You can adapt this system to deal with whatever you have on your plate.

Compartmentalize Your Life

Most bloggers work from home. I do.

And that presents many challenges – especially if you have a busy household.

It is easy for the boundaries between work and home life to become blurred.

Honestly, I love blogging and my business – and I try to squeeze work in whenever I can. This means that my laundry, cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, and paperwork often take a backseat. But when those core functions of life don’t get done – my work life starts to spiral out of control.

I feel like I am always playing catch up and my time management and productivity suffers in all aspects.

Blogging Time vs Family Time vs Household Time vs Me Time

I have learned to create three buckets of where I spend my time.

My work requires daily attention, as do my family, my home, and myself.

So, every day, I block out the hours that I will be focusing on these four areas.

The allocation of hours can change from day to day. On days that my kids have evening activities, I can sometimes schedule in some extra work time – when the house is quiet.

Usually, I designate the morning hours – when the kids are getting ready for school to focus on the home. I can fold laundry, unload the dishwasher, make lunches, and allow the normal interruptions that happen with a houseful of people.

Using A Paper Planner

I have found that using a paper planner to visually plan out my day, really works for me.

The vertical layout in the Erin Condren Life Planner is great because each section can represent a bucket. You can read my Erin Condren review here.

Another option is the Planner Pad because you can manage your tasks and your calendar on the same page. Whichever paper planner you go with, make sure the planner layout works for you.

Create an Action Plan for Each Bucket of Time

Knowing when I am going to focus on each bucket of time, is not detailed enough to increase my time management and productivity.

I need to have an action plan in place so that I don’t squander the time that I allow for each bucket on unimportant tasks.

If I allow myself 4 hours in one day to work on my blog, I usually make a plan for how I am going to use this time.

Often this is referred to as prioritizing.

We might want to get 50 things done – but actually only have time for two or three.

The Four D’s of Time Management and Productivity

When it comes to getting things done – there are 4 D’s that you must follow. There really is no other choice.

You either Do It, Delegate It, Delay It, or Delete It.

It’s that simple.

Choosing What To Do And What Not To Do

Time management and productivity are not about being busy.

We can be busy doing a lot of things. But if what we are doing doesn’t further our goals – then we are just wasting time.

For bloggers, our goals are usually measured by money, website traffic, email subscribers, and personal satisfaction.

When you tackle your to-do list, evaluate each item based on the results you will get if you actually do it.

Organizing My Blogging Process

To simplify my blogging process – I signed up for CoSchedule in the new year.

CoSchedule is an editorial calendar, social media scheduling platform, a blog planner all rolled into one.

What do you do to Improve Time Management and Productivity?

What are some of your life hacks when it comes to saving time? Let us know in the comments below.