This blog post is a reflection on my blogging journey so far and what I’ve learned from doing it on a daily basis. I have found so many challenges with that and my own way to face them. My starting point is always: What will the blog post be about?
For me, the hardest part is to write the first paragraph. To understand what each post will be about and to make sure I stay on the same topic without taking my mind elsewhere. In addition, as a non-native English speaker, I have insecurities about my writing skills, but I’ve learned that we all must start somewhere in order to get better. This blog has also been an incredible tool to evolve my perception of design and have a better understanding of its professional fields.
There are many benefits that I’ve noticed so far and if I keep listing them, this blog post you are reading right now would be endless. (See, how hard it is to follow the initial script?). Anyway, I came here today to talk about small procedures that I’ve developed that helped me to start a blog post easily.
1. Make a list of topics
I am the queen of to-do lists and organizing skills. It is known that if you know what you will be doing on your day less likely you will be stressed about it. By implementing that same logic, I sat one day with my mind fresh and came up with a list of 20 topics about all courses that would be interesting to write bout. All I have to do is wake up, pick a course, choose a topic, do some research and write my reflection.
I am the queen of to-do lists and organizing skills. It is known that if you know what you will be doing on your day less likely you will be stressed about it. By implementing that same logic, I sat one day with my mind fresh and came up with a list of 20 topics about all courses that would be interesting to write bout. All I have to do is wake up, pick a course, choose a topic, do some research and write my reflection.
2. Time Management
As I am studying full time and have a part-time job in a Creative Agency, I really need to be careful about the time I spend on each task I’ve organized for my day. After blogging for a while, we can easily have an idea of how long it would take to finish a post.
For me it takes on average 1h30, this is the time that I allow myself to write and finalize the post. If I notice that for some reason I am stuck, or out of ideas, I move on to another task and revisit my blog to finish it. I helped me a lot to be on top of everything.
As I am studying full time and have a part-time job in a Creative Agency, I really need to be careful about the time I spend on each task I’ve organized for my day. After blogging for a while, we can easily have an idea of how long it would take to finish a post.
For me it takes on average 1h30, this is the time that I allow myself to write and finalize the post. If I notice that for some reason I am stuck, or out of ideas, I move on to another task and revisit my blog to finish it. I helped me a lot to be on top of everything.
3. Having a system
Now that I know what I am writing about and for how long, the only thing I have to do is start. This is a system that I’ve created to help me be more productive and effective when blogging. However, the presentation of the blog and imagery used to support the post is something huge as well.
I have designed Cover Images based on the course the blog post is about, I don’t need to be sourcing images that have relation to the topic and it also helped me to keep the aesthetic of my website looking nice, at least, I believe it looks nice.
Now that I know what I am writing about and for how long, the only thing I have to do is start. This is a system that I’ve created to help me be more productive and effective when blogging. However, the presentation of the blog and imagery used to support the post is something huge as well.
I have designed Cover Images based on the course the blog post is about, I don’t need to be sourcing images that have relation to the topic and it also helped me to keep the aesthetic of my website looking nice, at least, I believe it looks nice.
4. Organise files and sourcing material
As well as all the other assets I have for work and for school, I have a folder with all my blogging material inside my Master’s Core folder containing my Word File, Imagery, and Sourcing links. This makes it so much easier to find all I need when uploading my blog to this website and saves me time to find what I might need.
All these solutions and procedures, take a lot of pressure and mental load off when I decide it's time for a new upload. I am sure there might be other solutions out there and some I might not be able to adapt, but I think it worth sharing what has been helping me in my blogging journey (: