I have a confession to make:
I like lists.
I like to make lists in my blog posts, I like to give people lists in pdf form, and yes, I make endless lists to myself.
When it comes to my blog, one of the best things I ever did was start a list. Today, I want to share with you in none other than LIST FORM the reasons why making lists for blogging are essential.
1. Time Management
We do much more than write on our blogs all day. We teach school, care for a household, and pursue extracurricular interests. However, we might end up writing on our blogs all day (or doing social media or answering emails) if we don’t have a focus for each time we sit down to the computer. If you only have 15 minutes to blog, you had better have a focus for that 15 minutes or you will end up following every bunny trail out there. The list keeps you on track and using your time wisely.
2. Brainstorming
Blogger brains are different from normal human brains I am convinced. We think and strategize all the time. Everything we do has the potential to become a blog post. Ideas are constantly swirling in our heads. If you don’t capture that on paper (or computer), you could potentially lose some of those great ideas. Don’t let your brainstorming sessions be all for naught. Write them down and then work through those ideas!
3. Maintaining control
If we let every whim or fancy drive our blogging, we will end up out of touch with the original mission of our blog and overwhelmed by it all. Making lists brings in a measure of control as we write things out and either realize we have bitten off more than we can chew or discover we are missing some steps to making our goals a reality. Having a list keeps us grounded and paced. We can choose which things need our immediate attention and which things can wait. We prioritize rather than letting everything be urgent.
4. A sense of accomplishment
It just feels good to check things off! If I manage to work through my list with only a couple of items left over, it feels great to peruse those marked out items before I make a new list with the leftover things moved to the top of the list. And oh, how I love the feel of crumpling a paper full of to-do’s that have become to-DONE’S!
So, while my artsy side cringes at the thought of such a Type-A thing as a list, I also realize my artsy side would get nothing done if it weren’t for my lists. So, yes, I confess…
I make lists.
Lots and lots of lists.
Do you?
