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How To Increase Your Blogging Productivity

written by John Chow on August 20, 2009

How to make $593 in less than one hour

Whaaaat, don’t tell me you didn’t… are you for real?! Well, what happened? Are you sick?…

Did you ever have a similar conversation with your boss? I’m sure you did. We all experience the unproductivity beast at times. In case you don’t recognize it, try this for size. You just spent a whole day procrastinating about your lack of productivity and go to bed a frustrated person, ready to do another day of … doing nothing.

When We Have To Stop Kidding Ourselves

It’s OK to be a master procrastinator from time to time, but not most of the time! Interestingly though, a lot of people who claim they can’t make money online are exactly that! They busy themselves with meaningless tasks such as reading blogs, eBooks, tutorials, email, and the countless other tasks we do each day. Oh, I did forget Twitter, chat and other social media.

If you don’t see growth in your business, look at what you DO each day to help your business grow. Do you actively:

  • Market your business?
  • Work your business to earn money?
  • Brand your business?
  • Network with people who can bring you new business?

If you said no to all of the above, then you need to do some major renovating and restructuring of your working habits. In fact, you NEED to get proper working habits, because you clearly don’t have any.

Admission Is The Key

When we are unproductive, we usually are for good reasons. We could be:

  • Exposed to constant distractions.
  • Unhappy about our working environment.
  • Unclear about directions.
  • Resenting our boss.
  • Unmotivated.
  • Experiencing a lack of passion/drive.

Or we could simply suck at self-management. If you do, then don’t worry. Not everyone is born a productive guru. Most of us have to unlearn bad habits and learn good ones. Whatever the reason for your lack of action, as long you admit to yourself that in fact you do suck at being productive, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Be honest about your lack of productivity and don’t kid yourself about doing the things that don’t matter to your bottom line. Checking email a dozen times a day won’t put money into your pocket. Neither does chatting on instant messenger.

Once, and if you have reached your daily target, you can indulge all you want into the pleasure side of business/a job.

Setting Benchmarks

A great way to beat unproductive habits is by setting benchmarks. I like to work with daily income goals myself. If I haven’t reached a certain income target in a given day, I simply don’t rest. I work when I’m sick, angry, frustrated and happy. To me, all these personal states of being don’t matter as much. What matters is my business and going forward.

Is it easy? Heck no. At times it is the hardest thing I do, especially when I work with the worst cold, or fever. But as long as I can work, I usually do.

There is much satisfaction in finishing a day, knowing I’ve done all I could that day. It is the one reason why I’m successful and not wishing to be!

How you too can become a productive person, in charge of your destiny

The step from major procrastinator to major achiever is often smaller than you think. The secret of the whole concept lies in the step.

It’s the action, or the lack of it that ultimately makes the difference in your day. If your head is filled with things you need to do, then you should try to prioritize your priorities first.

The quickest way to stop procrastinating is to ‘just do it,’ in the true Nike sense.

Reclaim your life by facing the unproductivity beast head-on. It’s not going to be easy while you retrain your habits, but I can almost guarantee you that it is possible to become a very productive person by following the tips below:

  • Work in short productive bursts. The burst is determined by your concentration span. For some this relates to 20 minutes at a time, while others can last a full 45 minutes.
  • After each productivity burst take a short break to refresh your mind and body.
  • Drink lots of water. Try to avoid too much coffee (yeah, I now it’s my vice too.)
  • Opt to work in a no distraction zone whenever you can.
  • Make sure your office is well lit and has fresh air.
  • Start the day with the most complicated task.
  • Work out a system that works for you, forget what the gurus say.
  • Enjoy the ride!

Feel free to add your tips on becoming more productive.

This was a guest post from Deep Arora from How I Did Blog.

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{ 45 comments }

GR Passwater August 20, 2009 at 5:16 pm

Great post. From time to time, I have the unproductive beast visit me. You are correct in that we have to just keep going. The successful people push forward, the rest just sit still and watch the world go by.

King of Commission August 25, 2009 at 6:49 am

Agreed. Only the really determined will be successful.

Steven-Sanders August 20, 2009 at 5:17 pm

I’ve let myself get into “The Suck” on occasion, but my wife is always there to push me back out of it and onto being more productive.

She’s the worlds biggest list person, so I’ll tell her what I need to do each day and she’ll make a list and put a timeframe on it.

It really helps me get things done instead of spending all day on Twitter.

Wizno August 20, 2009 at 5:35 pm

Productivity is probably the biggest problem for a start up blogger such as myself. You may be happy and excited about posting the first few times, but then you see that you’re not getting any traffic or comments and you get upset and discouraged. I’m actually working on a motivational post for such occasions, should be up later tonight.

needmoney.com August 20, 2009 at 6:11 pm

I was on board until “avoid coffee”.

Props Blog Ideas August 20, 2009 at 6:16 pm

Wow, this is just want I needed to read. It’s easy when you are first starting to get caught up reading all about how to make money and not actually taking the steps to make money. Great tips for productivity!

Rebellious Arab Girl August 20, 2009 at 6:22 pm

Those tips are great since I have been so unproductive the past couple of days. I finished working on one re-design for my current personal blog, but I have other projects to work on.

I think the first step to get us into another project is the hardest. Once we are in it, we get sucked in. It is just that gap. I hope I can get into the groove tomorrow. I should start by waking up early. Many of us don’t have jobs or currently unemployed because of this horrible economy, and turning to our blogs as a means of income to help us out.

I really appreciate your tips John as a fellow Canadian. Keep up the great work. And for those haters, they are just jealous because they don’t have the drive that you do!

Another Blogger August 20, 2009 at 7:01 pm

Yes. It’s happened sometimes about social media. But social media is great for a new blogger to get friends and to promote their blog :)
Thanks John!

@EricJohnTan August 20, 2009 at 7:48 pm

Great! I can use this as a checklist.

Amit Mehta August 20, 2009 at 7:56 pm

I would add to this list, “Associate with other productive people who are doing what they want to do in life.”

If you don’t know any–make an effort to meet some!

hospitalera August 20, 2009 at 10:36 pm

That was one of the most useful posts I have read so far, I especially like the idea of putting an income goal to the day / week / month. What does it help if you build 100 web sites a month if they make no income at all??? But I also had to smile at this sentence “Work out a system that works for you, forget what the gurus say.” Too many people just follow another person or group of persons blind, without checking if what those gurus do will actually work well for them, SY

Yard Flamingos August 21, 2009 at 7:56 am

I concur. Setting up systems is key for productivity when working from home. Four years into working from home I still struggle with not being productive — some days are great, some are not. If it weren’t for the systems and routines I currently have set up — well, I don’t even want to go into that. Great post, John!

Money-Era August 20, 2009 at 11:42 pm

John, great job! You made my day.
You got a rare ability to be very precise, to clearly explain your thoughts and inspire people!
Each day I am learning a lot from you.
Thank you.
I hope you will keep on doing the great job. Take care.

Money-Era August 20, 2009 at 11:55 pm

Continuing on your post, I’d like to comment on the following:
Setting benchmarks
- I tend to raise the bar high and sometimes get down when I do not reach the goal. How do you manage to set ambitious but reachable goals each day? And not fool yourself? If the goals weren’t ambitious, you would not feel satisfied by the end of the day, right? But then how do you manage so often complete them?

- Short productive bursts
I like this idea a lot and tried to implement it in my work. I agree that you cannot maintain high productivity for an extended period of time, e.g. in 120th minute of your work.
What are your best refreshing activities? I used to get outside to take some fresh air, listen to music real loud to energize myself. Each time I left the office I had been working in. How about yourself?

indr@ August 20, 2009 at 11:57 pm

well… thanks for your tips, this is the first time I visit your blog, btw congrats for you, because google unlock keyword “john chow”, and you’ll get traffic from SE anymore..

Igor Helps You Succeed August 21, 2009 at 12:00 am

The past week was a disaster for me. Unproductive isn’t the right word…

Thanks for reminder, John.

Igor

Benjamin Cip August 21, 2009 at 12:24 am

Great Checklist! I already follow most of the task.. I read in the end of the post that it was a Guest Post, so It’s not John who is writing this, am I right?

EarningStep August 21, 2009 at 4:46 am

john may forgot to change the author .. lol

Greg Ellison August 21, 2009 at 1:51 am

When you are not being productive then youare right you need to step back and then when done get back to the problem that you were trying to solve. Greg Ellison

Atul August 21, 2009 at 4:04 am

We sud keep on writing.. today or tomorrow definitely we are going to rock

Zeeshan August 21, 2009 at 4:44 am

All said and done it is very difficult to produce quality content each day.

The Blog Is Mine August 21, 2009 at 6:22 am

Wow, this is just want I needed to read. It’s easy when you are first starting to get caught up reading all about how to make money and not actually taking the steps to make money.

Great tips, John!

Sergey Rusak August 21, 2009 at 6:59 am

Productivity? I would say that for me, blogging productivity is a frequency of posting and using social media. Sometimes you just don’t have time for updates but come on… use iPhone, public libruary, Apple Store etc.

fas August 21, 2009 at 7:24 am

Work with ease and no pressure, this way you will feel your enjoying too.

Jerrel Pickens August 21, 2009 at 7:29 am

Awesome post, you just gave me a lot of helpful information that I will definitely take to up my productivity. Thanks!

Erika Marie August 21, 2009 at 7:30 am

Having ADHD doesn’t help! Ahhh!

Fish Tank August 21, 2009 at 10:05 am

Thank you for the advice. Yeah is hard to be productive specially if there are kids in the house running around, asking questions and wanting to use the computer. I think blogging is kind of hard because you have to post fresh content regularly.

Deep Arora August 21, 2009 at 10:29 am

Glad that readers found this post useful. John – guess what, I will write at least one post every week for the readers here. LOL..getting myself busy, busy..busy…

Anthony Kibe August 21, 2009 at 5:27 pm

I feel totally reprimanded. I better get to work.

Melvin August 22, 2009 at 1:45 am

Resting your body and mind can also be a great way to increase productivity…

ZK @ Web Marketing Blog August 23, 2009 at 12:11 am

So depth analysis Deep … I am sure you have also faced such kind of things in your blogging life.

I must say that these kind of things come when you are new and do not know which way to proceed. Once you clear that stage everything will be fine and working.

Technology Slice August 23, 2009 at 5:09 pm

Procrastination is a big problem for many people. Some procrastinate about procrastinating.

Eric Canja August 23, 2009 at 9:56 pm

What perfect timing for me to read this blog – what a minute – if I didn’t read this…

…then I wouldn’t have realized that I spend more time getting ready to get ready

Like Anthony Kibe said, “I feel reprimanded.”

So back to work I go. Great post!

Willie Plasencia August 24, 2009 at 4:32 am

Excellent post!

The self discipline of working from home is the key. Without it you will fail. I am going to print this post and slap it on my wall as a reminder.

Enough said, back to work.

IndianCashMaker August 24, 2009 at 6:47 am

nice post….i needed this…my blog is not performing well when it comes to monetization…i will use the tips

Lisa Morosky August 24, 2009 at 8:08 am

The key to my productivity is routine. I’ve made everything that goes into my blogs routine: social media, writing, site updates, etc. It’s like brushing my teeth now. You just need to do it. When you’re procrastinating you need to recognize it then stop doing it. Bottomline is you’ll feel a lot better once you start accomplishing things and checking them off your list.

hi2azy August 25, 2009 at 4:35 am

There is no jackpot in blogging, so need continue hardworking in right direction with keep growing your social network cycle.

Michael Craig August 25, 2009 at 7:49 am

Hard to admit it but in many respects, this article about me…

Thomas Bartke August 25, 2009 at 12:28 pm

Great post! Planning your time into productive chunks and keep distractions away while allowing for a healthy does of “creative time” is the ticket for me.

But boy creativity can be soo distracting… :)

Gravity August 25, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Im pretty much going through the depressive phase. I have posted around 250 articles in 6 months and am hardly getting traffic, 100 visits a day… =/

Gravity August 25, 2009 at 1:35 pm

I am pretty much going through the despressive phase, been blogging for 8 months now, wid 250 articles and hardly any traffic 150 hits… =/

Essay Writing August 26, 2009 at 3:10 am

Yes, we have to keep going. It is a slow process and success has no shortcuts.

sema August 29, 2009 at 10:42 pm

Great post! Good tips to improve my productivity and get inspired when you are down with low traffic-we have to work at it!

Jan S August 30, 2009 at 2:58 pm

Oh heck I just wasted 15 minutes here reading this post and then all of the comments. I had better get back to work.

TheBlogIsMine Dot Com September 4, 2009 at 5:40 am

All said and done it is very difficult to produce quality content each day.