Trying to come up with a new blog post idea every day is tough. Â Sometimes you just aren’t in that creative mode. Â Wordpress let’s you leave posts in draft most and that’s something really amazing.
You can start a post without actually working on it until you are ready. Â Rather than make a big list of blog post ideas, you can start each post within your site.
Whenever I have an idea or come across something interesting that I want to share, I create a blog post.
I pick the title, put the post into a category and add the featured image. Â And then I save the post as a draft. Â That’s it.
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Research Mode
Finding ideas for blog posts is something that you want to do in a big session. Â Spend a few hours combing forums, other blogs and news sites looking for ideas. Â If you just try to find one good idea, you will often run into other ones that seem pretty great. Â That’s how I came up with the idea for this post.
This very post has been in draft mode for three months or so. Â I saw someone talking about this on their blog. Â Since I have tons of my own posts in draft mode, I thought I should talk about it too.
When you are in research mode, you are just scouring the Internet looking for ideas. Â I like to load up a ton of ideas during this phase. Â I am also super perfectionist about the images I use in my posts. I spend ages looking for the right stock photo. Â I consider that part of my research. Â If I try to pick the main photo when I’m in writing mode, the project can get derailed.
Writing Mode
When I’m writing a blog post, I want to stay on the post page as much as possible. Â If I have to go research some stats or find a picture, it can be distracted and slow down the entire process.
With the prep work complete, I can just dig into the idea and focus on the writing. Â This allows me to write blog posts very quickly. Â In writing mode, I’m activating the creative part of my brain and I want to stay in that mode.
Getting distracted or trying to change gears will slow you down and waste time. Â Time is far too precious to waste. Â It’s better to write your posts fast and spend more time with your family.
Use Drafts to Plan The Future
You can put posts in draft mode and also schedule them. Â At the start of the week, you know the five posts you are going to write. Â Setting up a schedule like this will smooth out your process.
Why make a list or schedule somewhere else? Â If you make a list in a Google Doc or a notebook, you still have to copy everything to your blog. Â So you might as well do it all at the same time.
The most posts ideas you have stored up, the better. Â I have several months worth of posts already lined up and every time I have a new idea, I add it to my draft collection.