Do You Drive Your Blog, or Does Your Blog Drive You? On Blogging Schedules and That “Must Publish” Feeling

by Relando Thompkins-Jones · October 9, 2015

I occasionally receive emails from readers who ask about blogging schedules.

“Is it important to set a schedule?” “How often should I publish a post?” “Should I announce my schedule publicly?”

Everyone’s answer might be different, but for me, it comes down to asking yourself whether you drive your blog, or does your blog drive you?

What’s Your Purpose?

Is your blog a personal blog, or is it a magazine with several sections? Are you the sole writer for the blog, or do you have several contributors ?

These and other questions are important to ask yourself because they will help inform your decision on how frequent you might be able to post. Some folks publish everyday, some publish weekly or monthly.

Others may simply post whenever the mood strikes.

I say what you do, is up to you as long as it is aligned with your purpose.

Is It Realistic?

If you do choose to set and publicly post a schedule, it is important to think about whether the posting schedule you’ve set will be realistic for you with whatever other life commitments and interests you might have outside of writing.

When I first started blogging, I set a goal to update this blog at least twice monthly. I haven’t changed that goal because it leaves me some room to account for days that I may be experiencing writer’s block, self-care/un-plugging days, work-life balance, etc.

I continue to post at least twice monthly because that is realistic for me.

So when you’re thinking about how often you should post, make sure it’s realistic for you.

Experiment with different frequencies if you’re new to it and aren’t quite sure what would work.

If you end up doing more than what you’ve set out to do, that is great, unless that excess means interfering with other areas of life that you aren’t comfortable with.

If you find that it’s not working, re-assess and give yourself a timeframe that you feel that you can realistically stick to.

It’s your blog. You can always make changes to fit your style and situation.

Setting a realistic posting schedule can also prevent you from feeling like you should publish something, and feeling a sense of defeat if you don’t.

You could also decide not to post a statement about how often you’d update your blog, or explicitly say that you’ll just post whenever the mood strikes if that is more realistic and appropriate for you.

If you don’t publicly post an update schedule that’s fine, but if you do, it’s best to try to stay consistent with it because visitors may come to expect it.

Do You Drive Your Blog, Or Does Your Blog Drive You?

If your posting frequency is realistic for you, it will feel as if you’re in the driver’s seat. If you overcommit to something that you can’t sustain, blogging can feel like more of a chore than an enjoyable experience, you might find yourself feeling “behind schedule”, and you may even lose your motivation to continue if you don’t change directions.

Schedule or no schedule, blogging is what you make it. You can set the standards, and make changes when necessary.

Ubuntu,

From Aspiring Humanitarian, Relando Thompkins-Jones, MSW, LLMSW

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