The benefits of blog calendar

This is day 4 of my 30-day blog challenge. Read yesterday’s “Why we don’t even own a microwave”

I thought yesterday about the topics I might choose to blog about today. I considered blogging about my pet peeves when it comes to blogging (some of which include numbers in headlines and poor grammar that comes from typing a blog directly into a post–like I am doing now).

I didn’t plan when I woke up this morning to write a stream-of-consciousness post, but as I checked email and social media from my phone this morning I did read Sara Crawford’s blog of the day from yesterday. Apparently, she nearly forgot to post and wanted to maintain her 30-day blog challenge. Anyone who has been following my challenge may recall that Crawford’s challenge jump-started my action.

Last week I posted my schedule from one day on Facebook. My schedule is far more packed than I’m sure people realize, but when unexpected things come up life gets ridiculous. Today was one of those days. I desperately needed to get my hair trimmed and colored. Because I sincerely don’t have time in my schedule ever I decided to just go ahead and do it today, which meant bringing the kids. You have no idea what it takes to have your hair colored and highlighted while children cry in stereo. Surround sound never felt so torturous.

Long story short, this is obviously not a well-thought-out blog and I am peeved by my own rush to post a blog, but writers write. Losing that sense that everything has to be perfect to publish is important, but today I do want to share one tip for bloggers.

If you don’t know what a blog calendar is you should. And you should use one. Basically, a blog calendar is a calendar on which you write a blog topic for every day you plan to publish. You don’t have to stick with it, but it helps organize and control the inevitable writer’s block. I’ve created many lists of topics, but rarely do I bother with a blog calendar. I should.

Had I maintained a blog calendar instead of just a list of possible topics (and for this challenge the list is in my head), I wouldn’t have found myself home late, rushing to complete the day’s task. Hope it’s a helpful tip because I’ve got to rush off and prepare for an even busier day tomorrow (but my hair looks great)!