January 27th, 2025
Blogging? Here’s Why You Should Focus on One Post at a Time
Got lots of ideas for content and ready to whiz through your list? Hang fire! It’s easy to get carried away when you’re feeling inspired (trust me, I’ve been there!). But you need to take a step back and focus on one post at a time. Or content type at a time.
Why it’s Better to Take Content Creation in Smaller Steps
Because like anything else in business, it’s easy to get distracted, forget where you were and get disheartened when you don’t finish what you started. If you try to do everything, you’ll likely end up doing nothing.
While multi-tasking was once considered the best way to do things, whether that’s in work or at home, today we know that it’s not something we should be striving for.
Indeed, research shows that constant task-switching has a negative impact on our productivity and our ability to complete projects in a timely manner.
We’ve learned that when someone is distracted from the task at hand, it takes around 15 minutes to refocus. And if you’re doing something unfamiliar, like blog writing, it’s going to be even harder to get back into the swing of things.
Focus on One Post at a Time
So, what’s the best way to get started with content creation? Focus on one post at a time and make it great. You’ll enjoy creating it and your audience will enjoy reading it!
First, think about what sort of content you want to create. How frequently will you publish? Have you planned content for the whole year, the next quarter or just the coming month?
Next, think about how long the content creation will take you. People often underestimate this! Even if you’re ‘just’ writing a blog, you’ll need to time to plan, research, write, edit and schedule!
If you want to do any video or audio content, that will take more time again. Unless you’re planning to put things out as they are, you’ll need to edit each piece. You might need to add an intro and outro as well as theme music.
Content Creation Takes More Time Than You Think!
Also be honest about how much time you have available. If you have an hour spare per week, use that to get a blog post started. Even if it takes you two weeks to complete it, you can publish two per month, which will be better than most people!
Don’t overcommit now and give up a week into your content creation schedule! Far better to plan less and do more if you find you have more time. Plus, the more blogs you write, the quicker you’ll get at it. So you’ll be able to increase your output over time.
Finally, what help, if any, do you need? For instance, if you DO decide to have a podcast or video show, you’ll need someone to edit that for you. Not only do you have to factor in their availability, but there’ll be costs involved too.
Or, if you want your VA to upload and schedule the blogs, how much notice do they need? Will they (or someone else) be creating graphics and other assets? Alternatively, you might want to share data from the sales or tech team – how much time do they need to gather it?
A Tip for When You’re Distracted/Inspired
But what if inspiration strikes while you’re in the middle of writing or recording something? Well, the easiest thing to do is to have a notepad or stack of post-it notes beside you on your desk at all times.
When an idea occurs to you, jot it down on a fresh page, then tear it off and pop it out of sight. Why? So you’re not distracted by having it beside you! Be honest – you’ll be tempted to start expanding on it.
And the next thing you know you’ve stopped what you’re doing and you’re writing something else. As we’ve seen, once you task-switch, it’ll take longer to get back to what you were doing first. So resist the urge to do something new!
What if you prefer a digital note-keeping tool? Well, for noting ideas that occur to you when you’re out and about, use Evernote or the notes app on your phone if that’s your preference.
But for making a quick reminder while you’re in the middle of creating content, go analogue. The time it’ll take you to open your phone or navigate to the browser tab will distract you. And you’ll probably spot an email notification while you’re there, which will also be a distraction!