14 Tips to Stay Sane, Organized + Inspired as a Blogger

When it comes to blogging, it can feel like you’re being pulled in a million directions. Write more posts, create beautiful imagery, comment on blogs, respond to readers, answer affiliate emails, don’t forget to promote on social media! Learn about SEO, stay on top of current trends. You get the idea. Remember when you thought starting a blog would be easy and fun? Despite being overwhelming at times, it can definitely still be fun. I’ve put together 14 tips that will keep you organized and less stressed when it comes to managing your blog.

4 Health Tips to Keep Your Sanity 

1. Schedule in down time. Disconnecting is the most important (but often hardest) part.

2. Get your blood flowing every day. Set an alarm to break at least every hour. Stretch. Take a walk outside. Go to the gym. Whatever works best for you.

3. Stay hydrated and limit sugar and foods that make you drowsy.

4. Take your lunch break. Get a change of scenery. Turn your phone off. This is important whether you have a day job and blog part time or are focused 100% on your blog or online business.

Remember, when you feel your best, you’ll do your best.

10 Business Tips to Stay Organized + Inspired

1. Keep a notepad (or use an app) with all your ideas so you never run out of things to write about. Inspiration tends to strike at the most inopportune times, like while you’re driving or in the shower. For those times, I rely on Evernote and voice-to-text.

2. Listen to your readers and directly ask them what they want.

3. Remove social media alerts from your phone, or remove the apps completely. Set a reminder to check social media twice a day.

4. Limit multi-tasking. Make a to-do list and focus on doing a few items a day really well, instead of marking off as many as possible without 100% attention.

5. Set hours for your workday. If you have clients, set boundaries for contacting you.

6. Set up a content schedule so you can quickly mark off what you need to do for each post, such as:

   1. Outline post

   2. write post

   3. add photos

   4. add alt text to photos

   5. optimize post for search engines

   6. add internal links to related posts

   7. add a click to tweet

   8. schedule post

   9. create and schedule post for Facebook, three tweets,

   10. add to Pinterest

   11. set up and schedule email newsletter

   12. submit to stumbleupon

   13. respond to comments

7. Overwhelmed just looking at that list? Get help when you can. Offer an internship, ask for guest posts, hire a VA or have a family member help.

8. Keep a list of guest posts you’ve done and guest posts you’d like to do.

9. Keep a list of affiliates/brands you work with and how much you’re making. Every few months reconsider which ones are worth your time and effort.

10. Evaluate your blog every few months in general. What’s working? What’s not working? What’s cluttering up your design and distracting from your content?

What keeps you healthy, organized and inspired when it comes to blogging? Share your tips in the comments!

*This post originally appeared as a guest post here on Cotter Crunch.