Many bloggers are overwhelmed and seem to think that it takes a ton of time, effort, energy, blood, sweat & tears to be a successful blogger.

Nope.

The hustle is a lie. Why constantly hustle in your blog & biz when there IS a better way? You can be successful without the stress, I’m proof of that, and my clients & students are as well. Today, I’m going to teach you the five pillars of blogging strategically and how to blog in less time & effort.

1. Schedule

Yes! Schedule your time! When you have a few hours to dedicate to blogging-related activities, aka a blogging block, don’t just wing it! Schedule out exactly how you’re going to use your time and stick to the plan.

Even if you’re working on your blog or biz, full-time it’s essential to schedule out your days. Without at least a wireframe of what you need to get done for the day, it’s very easy to slip into a lack of productivity or get caught in your SOS (Shiny Object Syndrome).

Here’s a little gem from my corporate days that’s stuck with me through the years:

“When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

Now, personally, I find that I’m most productive when I schedule out my day down to the half hour. Yes, that’s probably due to my background, but it really forces me to stay on task. If I waste a half hour mindlessly on social media (Facebook, I’m lookin at you!) I know that I’m going to have to cut that half hour out of something else that I really wanted to accomplish today… and that’s going to hurt just a little bit.

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail! 5 Ways to Blog in Less Time & Effort Click To Tweet

I’ve started using a paper planner about six months ago and it has completely revolutionized my productivity and made my life so much easier. I’m a HUGE fan of the Happy Planner for so many reasons that I may just write a whole separate post on that, but the disc system allows me to make of it exactly what I want. Plus, they are freaking gorgeous:

I’ve also heard great things about the Tools4Wisdom planners that I may have to try one out. I love how they offer an interesting way of setting targets based on where you are now, where you want to go, and how to get there.

So, while the detailed method of block scheduling works really well for me, other people work best by scheduling in a more general fashion. They put down their main target or focus for the day or even one for the morning and one for the afternoon.

Figure out what works for you and do that. Try both methods, even if you think you know already, because you may just be surprised!

2. Batch

Group related activities together, so your brain has to switch tasks less often. Each time you have to switch gears, you lose time, you lose focus, and you lose productivity… so avoid it whenever possible.

Hopping between tasks also prevents your brain from really getting into what I like to call “flow mode,” especially when working on a creative endeavor such as writing, designing or brainstorming.

Flow mode is when the words, designs or even concepts are coming to you easily and with little effort. It’s when you’re most productive and you feel in the zone. That’s where a lot of the best work comes from.

This is why batching your blog posts is so effective for most bloggers. Setting aside a block of time to write several rough drafts or edit several pieces at once can save a ton of time & effort.

If you haven’t tried batching your blog posts before, I’d highly recommend it. Getting into flow mode will skyrocket your efficiency and creativity in a way that few other things will.

3. Automate

There are soo many fabulous automation tools out there right now, it’s ridiculous! Now, when I talk about automation, that doesn’t mean that you can set it once and forget it. Nope. You need to work a few minutes of scheduling your automation tools weekly for best results.

Find the tools that work with your overall blogging strategy and USE them to free up your time, especially if you aren’t at the level of having a VA yet to do the tedious things for you.

Automate your pinning with Tailwind or BoardBooster. Automate your social network posting and sharing with CoSchedule, Post Planner, Buffer or Hootsuite. Automate your social curation with Quuu or Post Planner. Automate your Instagram with Grum. Automate your Twitter with Statusbrew.

My top 3 automation tools are CoSchedule, Tailwind & Grum. Give them a try!  RELATED: Join my Tailwind Tribe for bloggers- Bloggers Killin it on Pinterest

Make your life easier, free up your time, blog smarter, not harder.

4. Focus on ROI

Do the things that are really going to give you the highest ROI (Return On Investment) first. Make those your priority.

If you know, for example, that scheduling your Pinterest through Tailwind keeps your traffic high (and climbing) with just minimal effort half an hour a week, make that a priority!

If you’re trying to monetize, put your effort into writing a fantastic email newsletter each week because you know that’s where your customers will come from.

Stay out of the SOS cycle and focus on what really matters and what is going to yield results.

Is spending an hour tweaking ridiculously small details on your site’s design going to have a massive impact? Probably not. Use that time more wisely and really set yourself up for success.

5. Do less better

You can’t do everything. Well, you can, but you can’t do it all well. So, do less, better.

Get over your FOMO and drop the social networks that you don’t enjoy and that don’t yield results.

If you’re stressing out trying to post to your blog 4X a week, STOP, and pull it down to 2X. Your posts will be much better and you’ll be happier with more time to dedicate to promotion.

You don’t have to do *all the things.*  Do what gets you results, do what lights you up inside, and run with that.

Comment below & let me know: which of these 5 strategies have had the biggest impact for you?