I’ve been asked several times, how I manage my time with all the writing I do. There’s my own projects I’m blogging for, I’m staff writing for several other blogs and help out friends when they are in need with their blogging. So the question naturally had to come up: How do you do it?

To be honest my first reaction was: I don’t know. But then I started thinking about how I manage my time and I realized a few things that actually helped.

How I stay productive with my blogging

I write in different languages. And yes, this is a major part of why I can stay productive and always come up with something to write. I’m blogging in my mother language German as well as in English. I realize that many of my topics coincide with each other. What I write on my English blogs is not necessarily relevant for a German reader, but the idea that lies behind a particular article can be the same. Once I have the main topic of an article the writing comes easy. I mainly struggle with finding the right topic. So naturally when I have it, I can re-mix it in the other language, which makes my work only 50% as hard as it would be if I was blogging in English only.

I have my notebook with me at all times (and I don’t mean a laptop). Call me old fashion, but I actually like scribbling with a pen on actual paper, scratching things out, linking things and basically messing up any order that my notes initially used to have. I used to get irritated with myself because I was not able to keep a neat and tidy notebook, but I have given up on trying. Once I realized that the chaos in my notebooks is part of my creative process, I started embracing it as the first step to the next great article I’d publish.

Online creative writing can be easy – if you write about something you LOVE. If you just write for the sake of earning money from your blog it can become a drag. So when choosing a topic for your blog, choose a hobby. Go for something that you’ll be willing to sacrifice your free time for to write about it. If your staff blogging, you might not have a choice on what to write, but don’t get desperate. Every topic can be changed around a little to make it interesting for you. To get to the point where you find your topic interesting, you have to shift the angle. Change your point of view and you’ll discover how great it can be to write about something which is boring to you from a completely different angle!

Use your time! I used to spend hours of my day just watching TV or sleeping. Those hours could easily be used to write about an interesting thing that happened to you. Right now I am on my lunch break while writing this. Some might say it kills productivity not to take a break – which is technically correct – but you got to listen to yourself first before you listen to those voices. If you can’t do without a proper lunch break away from your desk, then don’t force yourself to write. However, if you feel the inspiration and it happens to be your lunch break, then why not use the time and put your thoughts on paper?

But don’t forget to take a break, too! Blogging 24/7 is not possible for anyone. Even the most productive blogger needs a break every now and then. If you are worn out, don’t beat yourself up about not being productive. Allow yourself to take the break you need and get back to writing when you’re ready.