How Do I Find the Time to Blog So Much?

I am often asked, “Ron. How do you find time to blog so much? When do you ever have time to edit?” That’s a fair question. On the surface, given the numer of blogs posts I write, it may seem like it takes up more time that it actually does. On average I’d say I spend about 5-6 hours per week writing blog posts. When I do it, I do it in one or two sittings. I write them well in advance and schedule them to post in the future (the post you’re reading now was written on September 3 at 8:20 pm EST). I’m constantly keeping track of blog ideas so that when I sit down to write, I have a plethora of topics from which to choose. I’m methodical and have a system in place.

In terms of how I allocate and find those 5-6 hours a week, here are some things I do:

• Block schedules. I feel like I’ve talked about this topic ad nauseum. But it always bears repeating. I schedule blocks of time on the calendar to do similar types of work. I have blocks set aside for blogging, admin and email, production (e.g. shooting, editing, etc.) sales and marketing, personal projects, podcasting, etc. Naturally, on a week-to-week basis I will tweak the schedule as necessary.
• Turning off distractions. This is something I still need to work on, but I am getting better. I will close my Gmail browser tab so as not to be distracted by email when I’m doing something else. Sometimes I’ll use a program like Anti-Social which, when activated, actually prevents you from going to social media sites for a set period of time. You actually have to restart your computer if you wanted to get back onto Twitter or Facebook during a period of time that you’ve activated AntiSocial. Also, I typically won’t answer the phone if I’m in the middle of a specific block schedule that is not conducive to taking on the phone.
• No Video Backlog. There are a number of reasons I switched the focus of my company from weddings to commercial work four years ago. One of the main benefits is shorter projects. A majority of work I do is in the 4-6 minute range. I can get through all of those commercial gigs much faster than when I was editing 30 to 45 minute, cinematic-style weddings (which also include up to an hour or more of special features like full ceremony edit, toasts, etc.) My projects are also primarily for the web, which means all I need to deliver is a web optimized HD file. Rarely do I have to deliver DVDs (which require designing, authoring, printing, packing, mailing, etc.) I just export from Final Cut Pro, Compress in Compressor, then send via YouSendIt. The other beauty is that I can charge as much now for those commercial projects as I was getting for those longer weddings. This all leads to no video backlogs, ergo, more time. (By the way, tomorrow I’ll be doing a FREE live stream video event with In[F]ocus talking about the top 5 things you should know about making the switch from events to corporate work. It will be at 4 pm EST at www.infocusvideoevent.com/live-chat.)

Lastly I should point out that blogging is a key part of my business. It helps establish me as an expert in my field, it helps me network, and it increases SEO (search engine optimization). So, the investment of my time and energy is worth it. If you’ve determined that blogging will be a key part of your business, then you too need to find the time and strategy to make it work.

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