The best time management and productivity tools for bloggers

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There are a lot of tools that allow bloggers to grow their blogs. They can help us build a well-designed blog, grow our social media channels, improve our writing, and so on. But using a lot of tools can also be very time-consuming.

Blogging tasks can easily become overwhelming so having a good system in place is essential for managing things better.

This is why in this section of the course we will focus on productivity tools.

For me, developing an effective way of managing all the things related to my blog has been a game changer.

It was hard at first but once I found a system that works things got a lot easier. The good news is that once you have everything organized and you create a habit of taking care of tasks in a certain way, you’ll get more done. And you’ll have more time to focus on the things that you enjoy most about blogging.

There are 3 types of tools that are very helpful when it comes to productivity.

First, there are tools that help us prevent procrastination. Often we believe that we don’t have enough time for our blog but the truth is that we also waste a lot of time on things that are not productive at all. (like scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed)

Second, there are tools that help us keep everything organized. When you have all the necessary information on hand and are able to find everything quickly, you become a lot more productive and effective.

Third, there are tools that help us create an effective system for managing our blogging tasks. They help us ditch the overwhelm and make sure that we keep everything on track.

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Tools that prevent procrastination (and distractions)

• Facebook Newsfeed Eradicator

If you find yourself spending too much time on Facebook, this browser extension is very useful.

It allows you to see your notification and interact on your pages or in groups but it hides the newsfeed. So you’ll have fewer distractions while checking Facebook.

The downside is that it only works in browsers like Chrome and not on mobile.

• Egg Timer

If you struggle with focusing on only one task, you need to try this tool. Egg Timer allows you to set a timer for a task and this keeps you focused on it.

The fact that you see how fast time goes by it motivates you to focus on what you need to do and ignore other distractions. I use this tool all the time when I have many things on my to-do list and it’s very effective!

This tool is also helpful if you use the Pomodoro technique for increasing your productivity.

• Distraction-free writing

Have you ever sat down in front of the laptop to write a blog post and got distracted by a lot of other things happening online? A new email popping up. A Facebook notification. Or a message that appears on the screen.

This totally happened to me!

What really helps is setting time for distraction-free writing. I usually use the Pages app on my Mac. I turn off the internet connection and I just focus on writing. It’s amazing how productive I get when there are no distractions on my laptop.

I also use this trick when I write on 750words.com. I open the site, switch to online mode, and focus on writing. At the end, I switch back to online mode and save my text.

Bonus tip: If your phone or your tablet is your biggest distraction, you can try the Forest app. You can use it on the phone, tablet, or Safari browser. I started using it recently and it’s great for those moments when self-control doesn’t really work as it should. 🙂

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Tools that help you be more organized

• Evernote

This tool is awesome! It helps you keep all your ideas and projects in one place.

Evernote is a note-taking application and it can be accessed from every device! You can also download a browser extension and save ideas to your account while browsing.

I use Evernote to write down all my ideas and keep track of all my project. You can get a free month of premium features if you use this link.

• Google Drive

This tool is basic but also very helpful. You can use spreadsheets to store important information, docs to write content, folders to keep your files and photos organized.

You can access your Google Drive account from any device and you only need to upgrade from the free version if you need more storage space.

• Trello

Trello is a project management tool that allows you to create boards for each of your projects. Then you can create lists for each board and cards for each list.

This is the perfect tool if you need to manage big projects or if you work with a team to manage one of your projects. Or even if just want to get more organized when it comes to your blogging projects. You can check out Trello using this link (it’s free).

photo credit: karn684 / shutterstock.com

Tools for creating effective systems for managing your tasks

• A great system for reaching your goals

The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Month is a book that offers you a great system for setting goals and keeping track of them. I use it for the most important projects on my blog and it helps me manage all the tasks on time.

This book can really be a game-changer for the way you set goals and reach them!

• Checklists

I never imagined how helpful checklists are until I started using them. 🙂 If you have some tasks that you do on a regular basis (like creating new blog posts, SEO for posts, creating graphics, scheduling social media), having checklists is a great help.

They allow you to keep track of all the activities related to a task and make sure that you don’t forget anything.

You only need to set them up once and you’ll have them on hand you’ll need them. To create them, just take some time and write down all the steps that are included in a particular process. In time, you’ll be able to update and improve it.

You can laminate the checklist to be able to use it over and over again.

• Batching

The best tip that has improved my productivity was to implement batching the blogging tasks. I’ve heard about it over and over again from other bloggers and I am very glad that I have tried it too!

Batching the blogging tasks means to focus on only one task at a specific time without allowing any distractions or adding other tasks to the process.

You can batch activities like writing posts, creating graphics, answering emails, and so on. The fact that you’ll only focus on one thing will make you incredibly more productive!

If you never tried batching before, you can find a great article from ProBlogger about how you can implement it here: How Batch Processing Made Me 10 Times More Productive.

photo credit: Rawpixel.com/ shutterstock.com

Being productive and well-organized matters so much!

Because here is the thing: You can have the best tools for any of your blogging tasks but what matters the most is how you use them.

Growing your blog can easily become overwhelming. Being focused, managing your time better, and increasing your productivity are the key to getting more done and reaching your goals.

Once you get organized and productive, every task will be easier to manage and less overwhelming! And you’ll see more great results from your work!

This article is part of the Smart Blogging Toolkit course. If you want to join the course you can sign up here (it’s free for a limited time).

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