Organizing your Blog -

One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of a new year is organize!

My family has a lot planned this year and it aids my planning (and sanity) to stay on track. Also, what better way to start a new month, than by figuring out what is in store for it!

As my family slowly adjusts from being a family of three to a family of four, I am finding myself needing to do things differently than I was before. Organizing our day keeps me and the children happy and focused. Without it, we might end up sitting around doing nothing all day – (which can sometimes happen).

Organizing my blog is another way I can control my time and make sure I am using it most efficiently. It also helps me stay on track with my goals and the plans I have for growing.

This might not help you, but this style is what works for me most. If you like using paper calendars, rather than your phone, this might be for you.

Here are some ways I have organized that help me stay on track:

Post-its (or color coding) can be your best friend

Organizing your Blog: how to plan so you can maximize your creativity and time. http://www.theoxmama.com

I got a few ideas from other bloggers about how to organize a calendar and the one that popped out to me the most was using post-its (or other things) to color code to keep track of your categories. This helps because at the beginning of each month I can plan out my posts. The color coding is useful because then I can see which categories I am posting about too often. Each color is coded with a specific main topic on my blog – such as fitness, family, or how-to posts.

Here are some of the other posts I took my ideas from:

http://www.venustrappedinmars.com/2014/02/saturday-sessions-guide-to-blog.html

http://www.elizabeth-loves.com/2014/05/tips-for-starting-blogging-calendar.html

Checklist Printables

Organizing Your Blog: Using checklists to maximize creativity and time efficiency - http://www.theoxmama.com

I made these on my own because I was so overwhelmed by all of printables out there for blog organization. Plus – I loved being able to put my logo at the top to make it feel official – plus when you feel confident and happy, you are more likely to work more efficiently. The printables I made are a monthly and weekly blog checklist as well as a “fillable” daily to-do list and form for blog post ideas. That is so that I am able to write down ideas as soon as they come. Because I sure know that this mama of two forgets things moments after I think of them unless I write it down.

These blogs make free printables:

http://www.everydayenchanting.com/free-printable-blog-planner/

http://www.lambertslately.com/2014/02/the-ultimate-blog-planning-notebook.html

http://www.mamamiss.com/2014/01/01/2014-blogger-planner-calendar-menu-planner/