The Big Question About Blogging

“How do you find the time to blog and run your business?”

I’ve answered this question before with all the academic time-saving rules of efficiency.  Today I want to let you in on the real secrets of getting more time out of your day.

Clothing

I rarely use shirts with buttons.   T-shirts and sweatshirts speed up the “getting dressed and heading to the computer” part of my mornings.  It’s 2009, the button is an ancient form of fastener that has seen it’s time come and go.

Shoes

Slippers, clogs, sandals, and shoes without laces are common place in this household.  Another morning time-suck is having to use an outdated form of fastening device:  shoe laces.  We’ve had velcro technology for decades, yet people still don their lacies as if we’re all living in the 16th century.

I’ve already saved 5 minutes and I still have crust in my eyes.  (Which you shouldn’t bother with.  It falls out naturally after about 30 minutes.)

Pants

Sweats that are pre-knotted to the proper belt size are the way to go.  You work at home.  Who cares if you’re wearing a black Def Leppard t-shirt, yellow sweats, and crocs?   You’re saving time!

Breakfast

People think I’m trying to lose weight because I always have a shake for breakfast.  Not true.  I am saving time.  No cooking and all the vitamins and protein I need to thumb my nose at hunger till noon (which is in about an hour).

Lunch

Anything that takes under 2 minutes to prepare.  This will usually be a sandwich.  Making cold food saves time and lowers your utility bills.

Snacks

Those dieters save the day again.  Protein bars are not only a good replacement waffles and candy corn, they fill you up and take however long it takes to tear plastic off of them.

Always prepare food that can be consumed while blogging.

Throne Blogging

Nothing makes a better lap to support your laptop than the lap created while sitting on the toilet.  (Let’s be mature here.  You bought your kid the book “Everybody Poops.”  Take another read through it if you find yourself giggling like a third grader about this important tip.)

You can get another 5-20 minutes of blogging out of your day with throne blogging alone!  Stopping the presses just to take a load off is a silly waste of time.  It’s not like you’re being Knighted by the Queen or anything.

(From now on it will be safe to wonder which of my posts were written in the bathroom.  It’s safe to say that any post that looks a bit rushed was probably done in my second office.  What?  I wash my hands!)

Go Bald

People worry about hair way too much.  Being able to cut what’s left of my hair with a dog clipper frees up massive amounts of time in the long run.  I never get “hat head” and I never have to slip into the bathroom to check if my flowing locks are properly placed.

Save Water

Showering every day is bad for the environment and blog productivity.  How dirty can you be if all you do is type?  Leave the daily showering for the poor schmucks who have to go out in public everyday to make a living.

Live In Warm Places

Being able to simply get out of your hammock in the morning, push the howler monkey aside so you can make your breakfast shake, and simply work in what you slept in without having to put on extra clothes is a winner.  I’m still working on this one, but Costa Rica is in the lead for best places to be a blogger.

Stunt Doubles

Put other people on tasks like taxes, web design, customer support, and answering your Facebook mail.  (You thought that was ME?  HA!)  Nothing screams success like having a bunch of people all over the web filling in for you.  It is far easier to have stunt doubles on the web than it is in real life.

Oral Hi Jean

Failing to brush your teeth just for the sake of gaining more time for your business is just gross.  I draw the line there.  But use an electric brush.  You get 100 times the brush strokes over ancient manual brush technology.

Staying Informed

Get your news from people who spend all their time watching and reading the news.  You need Cliffs Notes.

Something like this: “The economy is in the tank, you have a 50/50 chance of going to jail if you become the Governor of Illinois, conservatives hate socialism except when their companies are tanking, and Britney Spears is making a comeback.”

Bam!  You just saved at least 30 minutes today on news alone!

Combined with the sage advice above, I think I just netted you another 2 hours in your day.

Thank me below and share your time-saving tips.  (They can’t be the usual boring “make a list and cross crap off when you are done with each item”)

Tagged as: blogging tips, efficient work space, saving time, time saving