Blogging - Organisation

When your blogging organisation is kind of important, at least that’s what I think. We all organise our blog, posts, ideas etc. in a different way. I thought I share my methods with you guys today.

Blog Planner 2015

Last year and also this year I used a blog planner I found on the Internet. It looks like a calendar page with the whole month on one page. It gives you a great overview and it’s also easy to move things around. When the month comes closer, the page looked like a mess sometimes, with arrows and notes on the side.  I was still able to have the overview, so that’s great. Per day I just write down what book I review or what kind of post it is. When scheduling reviews I always look at the pub dates, when it not an ARC, I just put it to the next free spot. I usually review Wednesdays and Sundays, so these are given days, other days are added with blog tours, pub dates or other exceptions. On the pages for a month there was always some extra space, I used this extra space for pub dates. I wrote down the authors name and the name of the book, with the exact date. Sometimes it was to remind myself to post something about it on the blog or to remind myself to buy the book. I was never happy with this though, because I never wrote down all the pub dates and I felt that I missed out one some. Especially the pub dates of e-books got left out, because I just have them on my kindle and that's it. So for my new planner, I added an extra page, where I will write down all pub dates that are important for me. I also added a To-Read list, where I write down what books to read next. I try to find a good mixture between ARCs and books I really want to read, most of the time that works.

Monthly Overview 2015

Blog Planner 2014

Monthly Overview 2014

I kept my blog planner in a binder, which was a bit complicated when it came to carrying it around. i don't have one spot in the house, where I blog. So this year I started taking the monthly pages out and put them in my notebook. Now I store my notebook with my iPad in the iPad bag. 

In the binder I also collected all the press releases of the book post I got. As every book blogger I love getting book post and the press releases are not only an info on the book, but also a great souvenir. I put them in the right order, I have the pub date highlighted and it makes scheduling reviews easier. 

Press Releases

I once used a page, where I wrote down all my ideas. I collected them all there. This year I just started writing them down in my notebook, I have a lot of lists in that notebook. Writing down my ideas has become really important to me, because they all give my inspiration for blog posts. Every idea is important, alone or also combined with others. Every day life can give you so much inspiration, you just have to be courageous enough to use them and be creative with them. I really learned that this year and I’ve been really happy with trying different blog posts. It opens up the blog and gives you a wider audience. Sometimes I think you have to take risks and try new things! My notebook is full of lists now. Lists of ideas, but also lists of book couples, book covers or book boyfriends I like. These are all the basis of a blog post. I have yet to find a better way to distinguish these lists and I’m planning to do that with my new planner for next year. I have written down different categories and will put the lists somewhere there. It gives me a better overview.

I started out as a book blogger only, but I have a lot of other hobbies and it all grew into me being a lifestyle blogger as well. I enjoy both parts of blogging very much and I need them both. For the organisation it’s important to me to have a clear overview for them both and to keep them separate. I have certain days in the week for bookish stuff and then days for the lifestyle posts, so that I have a good mixture and that I don’t mix everything up.

Current notebook 

Inside of the notebook

As a book blogger or probably a blogger in general, the email address is significant. Bloggers work with companies and book bloggers work with publishers and authors. I get review requests almost daily and there are also authors who send requests. I’m also collaborating with other bloggers and the easiest way to do that is emailing. Most of the time, I set a timeframe during the day or on the weekend to answer all blog related emails, otherwise it’s difficult to keep the overview.

I have a blog to do list to keep me organised. I know what needs to be done first and I have an order. It makes my work more efficient and also faster. I know that I have to write certain reviews before writing a creative blog posts or the other way round,  depending on my blog schedule.

Notebook/Blog Planner 2016

The Inside

I’ve learned that scheduling posts makes a lot of things easier. At the beginning I just prepared the post and then published it almost immediately. Now, I prepare the posts whenever they are ready, look at my blog planner, add them there and then schedule the blog post on blogger. Like this I have all the finished posts ready  and when I’m working I don’t have to worry about posting, it’s given.

Wherever I am and whatever I do, I always have my little notepad with me. Like that I can always write down ideas. I get inspired everywhere and it’s always best to write that down immediately, otherwise you forget again.

As a book blogger Goodreads is very important to me. I have the overview of what books I read (Reading Challenge) and I can put books into different categories: To-Read, Read, Author/Publisher Request, Booktour, NetGalley, Wishlist, Bought-not-read, Re-reading etc. 

To keep your blog growing, you must determine where you want it to go. Set a goal and when you reach it celebrate and set a new goal. At the beginning I wanted to have a lot of followers, now I’m just happy with the followers I have and it means more to me when I get great comments. Setting goals is also a way to keep you motivated with your blog.

I’m a very organized person in general, so this is really important to me. I need this structure and I actually like all the organizational tasks and things. I’m always the one ending up organizing everything for trips and events ;)

I hope you liked this post and it give you a little idea about how I organise my blog.