9 years ago I spent 3 hours daily copying and pasting a squeeze page link to 300 plus Facebook Groups.
Imagine where I would be today if I was still mired in this fear-based, low energy, non helpful, BS, failure-ridden marketing strategy?
I sure would not be guest posting on Blogging Tips. No way in Hades I would be creating blog posts on Blogging From Paradise either. No way I create the blog, the brand, the 126 eBooks, the audio books and paperbacks and courses and consulting services.
To grow, I had to let go. To let go I had to pare down my day. To pare down my day I had to prune online activities regularly, doing blogging house-cleaning, in order to adjust to my level of success.
Time Management
You don’t manage time.
You choose how to spend your time.
Today, I woke at 8:00 PM because I learned how critical it is for me to get 8-9 hours of sleep. You are never seeing this energetic dynamo unless I get my sleepies. Yeah I’m a baby.
Anyway, I woke, followed my 40 minute morning energy routine (meditating, ice shower, stretching), checked my email for 20 minutes, responded to a handful of emails, approved a few comments on my blog then I did 4 live broadcasts on YouTube, Periscope, Facebook and Instagram. I chose to spend my morning in this fashion. Quite a different story from how I chose to spend my time 9 years ago, posting a link to hundreds of groups.
I had to prune the copy-paste madness to make room for the guy who:
- wrote 1000 words daily for practice
- created content on my old blog
- promoted other bloggers
- engaged bloggers on social media
- slowly added income streams
I was that guy, some 7-8 years ago.
The “more evolved” me had to let go old, worn out activities like publishing 30 posts daily to my blog (I am not kidding) to:
- publish 1 post daily on my old blog
- slowly add more income streams
- comment on 50 plus blogs daily
The current day me had to prune some of these activities to:
- publish 2 posts weekly on Blogging From Paradise
- write and self-publish 126 eBooks
- create 3 online courses (and to co-create 1 online course with my wife Kelli)
- publish 2-4 – or more – guest posts daily
…and the beat goes on.
I will continue to prune my blogging day to let go the old and outgrown to make room for the new and exciting.
As the person you are choosing to be changes, so do your activities. This is how you become more successful.
This is the secret to intelligent time management.
Scheduling and Blogging
I read this helpful article at WHSR on managing your time:
How Super Bloggers Work: Getting Efficient With A Blog Schedule
and I noted a heavy emphasis on planning your calendar.
As you grow, and learn, and become more successful, the calendar items will change.
9 years ago my work day is quite unlike my work day today.
Today I have a quick chat with a client, a Twitter chat, guest posts to write and a post for my blog to write detailing the release of my new eBook. Among many things to do today.
As you plan, periodically dive into pruning sessions. Perhaps every 1-2 months, assess what needs to go for you to grow. Intuitively, you know what you have outgrown. Honor your inner pull. Let go the old and worn out to make room for the new, fun and exciting.
I look at someone like my friend Donna Merrill. I have followed her blog for years, observing her growth as she has become more and more successful. As she has grown, she has let go or pruned some of her blogging activities, while remaining true to the core fundamentals of creating helpful content and connecting with bloggers by promoting them generously.
The principles remain constant. Or at least, they should be, if said principles flow from a loving, fun, valuable space. But you need to prune your blogging activities regularly to both streamline your operation and to release the old, fear-based, low energy strategies you have outgrown.
Video
I filmed a video explaining this concept in detail: