How I Organise My Blog

{ B l o g m a s :: day fourteen }

I've been blogging for over two years now and I've finally sussed out exactly how I organise bloggy things the best. The habits all evolved quite naturally, it wasn't like a "Right, I need to sort all of this crap out." kind of thing, more like something that came to me over time. I find it helps me a lot if I'm feeling overwhelmed and it helps to streamline my ideas in a way that makes sense to me. Today, in the spirit of Blogmas, I thought I would share my routine with you!

The Notebook.
I have this notebook which started out as a 'list book' and has turned into a kind of bullet journal-eqsue ... thing. Wow, I'm literate today! I separate everything per month and draw up a little calendar to go alongside my blog post ideas list. In the calendar I basically just keep track of which blog post has gone live when so I can see right away if I've had any long breaks between post and can plan what day a post will go up on rather than just the date. As for my ideas list, I find it easier to create a fresh one each month instead of working off of one main master list. This way I can create a kind of overall vibe for each month's posts which is especially helpful if there's something festive happening like Easter or Halloween.

The Spreadsheet.
Every two months I create a new page in my Blog Microsoft Excel document and write two separate lines of every date in the month. At the top of the document I'll write a Key and list each of the 'genres' of post I usually write, then assign each of them a separate colour. Moving down to the monthly lists I'll type in which post I'll be posting when, as well as post ideas just to see how they all fit together. For reference: lifestyle is pink, books is blue, mental health is purple, 'festive' is green and cruelty-free beauty is orange. Using the colour-coding system means I can also see quickly if I have three cruelty-free beauty posts right after each other, for example, and means I can separate them with a book post, maybe, or a lifestyle post. It's a lot easier to do it like this rather than by hand as I swap and change things around all the time. I also have a little system worked out where I'll write W/P/S by each post title, which signals to me quickly if it's been written, if the photos have been taken and inserted and if it's been scheduled.

The Pinterest Board.
The final bit of organisation I do involves Pinterest. When I first started I used to use it to find blog tips and post ideas but I'm kind of past needing resources like that. Right now I use it to find photo inspiration because blog photography is the only thing I really struggle with! I'm just not a very visually creative person and I find it really tedious to do. I have an entire Pinterest filled with both my own and other's photos for inspiration. Check out the board here.

The Writing Process.
In terms of actually writing posts, I almost always start with the photos. I feel I can never really find inspiration unless all of the other components are already prepared so I'll make a list of post ideas and the photos I'll need to go with them and have a little photography session. I usually get around 4-5 posts worth of pictures done in one go but it really depends on whether or not I have an idea of what I'll be posting that week. I find this the most tedious part of blogging - even more so than scheduling Tweets! Once my photos are taken & edited I'll start writing and will insert the photos once I've finished, making sure to leave exact gaps between paragraphs where they'll be.

Aaaand that's about it! I also keep a list in my phone of ideas if I'm ever out because it's easier to type things into my phone than whip out a notebook and pen. Don't forget to check back tomorrow for another Blogmas post! It'll be up at 8am ~

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