Improve your blogging
If you blog about your life, there is one piece of very important advice that I would like to share with you: like most things in life, DO NOT get behind. It seems like I have to learn this lesson the hard way over and over again. But seriously, don’t allow yourself to slack off and get behind. You will regret it later.
I’m currently on my couch on a Sunday night with a room that needs to be cleaned, bags that need to be packed, hair that needs to be washed, and a to-do list longer than a 20-inch Brazilian weave *flips hair*.
I really am trying my best to give you all a recap of my remaining weeks in Chile but ya girl is strugglin’. (If you haven't already, check out my last post here.)
Do you know how hard it is to write about something that happened two months ago and pretend that you’re just as excited as you were when it first happened? It’s a pain. Clearly it’s not painful enough because I still haven’t learned my lesson.
In other news, here’s a list of some tips I put together to help you get organized with your blog, project, or whatever it is that you’re doing in life that you don’t want to get behind on. Enjoy!
Plan, plan, plan. I cannot put enough stress on the importance of planning. Planning plays an essential role in your success from the moment you are given your first big responsibility (think - your first pet) until the day you die. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. One thing that I do in efforts to keep myself on track is making a weekly and daily schedule. Sitting down at the beginning of the week and making a list about the posts I want to publish helps me keep my blog in order. Use your phone, get an agenda, whatever you do - just make sure you have your plan available to you 24/7 because life happens, things pop up, and sometimes you need to prepare ahead to be successful.
Stick to that plan. Self explanatory...or at least should be, right? Sticking to a plan is not easy for everyone, especially people like me who need to be in a structured environment to get anything done. I’m on summer break from school. I’m glad to be home after being away for 5 months. However, somehow I associate being at home with my family as a time to relax, kickback, and forget about all of my goals. This is a problem that I am currently trying to fix. Starting this week, I’m waking up everyday and applying the lifestyle guideline that I learned about in The Miracle Morning. I’m dedicated, I’ve got to give you all my best. Think - what is something you can do to motivate you to stick to your plan?
Prioritize. Am I gonna watch that new episode of Power or am I going to finish editing this blog post? Am I going to spend hours scrolling through “dream DIY rooms” on Pinterest or am I going to get up and start decorating my room so I can blog about it? Priorities. Don’t waste time doing things that are only going to half-way help you with your goals. And if it doesn’t help you at all, you can forget about it. Don’t be like me and allow yourself to regret wasted time. Just don’t do it. Don’t waste your time.
[TIP: Download this Chrome extension that plugs your to-do list into your browser.]
Get someone to hold you accountable. This person can be your parent, sibling, best friend, whoever - just make sure they’re someone who wants you to reach your goals as much as you want to. If not, that person is holding you back and they will not be effective in helping you reach your goals. When you find someone you can trust for support, give them your week’s to-do list and arrange a time to check-in with that person everyday until you can get it done on your own. [Side note: If you’re going to do this - make sure you actually have things done when they call.]
Get rid of your distractions. What distracts you from getting things done? Do your constant notifications distract you from remembering why you picked up your phone in the first place? Turn off your notifications, delete your Twitter app, download a Google chrome extension that prevents you from logging on Facebook when you have things to do - these are all things that we might do to study for final exams - why not use them for getting work done on the blog as well? It works.
Reward yourself. This is something that I just started doing and I didn’t realize how much it has an effect on your desire to get more done. At first I was doing it the wrong way by rewarding myself with food. But thanks to this list here, I’ve learned that one of my favorite ways to reward myself is by checking out new music or maybe binge-watching YouTube tutorials. Whatever works for you, do it after you’ve had a successful week and you’ll definitely be glad you did.
Sincerely, Takira
