We all hear about making lists to make give direction and focus to our work. For a professional blogger it is critical to have that direction and focus to get the best out of blogging. This is specially important if you are starting out with not much earnings but still need to keep believing in your blog and put in a lot of effort. I had often read about ‘to do lists’ , list of do’s and don’ts and finally checklists.
Sometimes most bloggers confuse one of these lists for the other and often ends up muddling their focus on where you want your blog to go. I find using all three lists written down on pen and paper quite useful. I thought I would like to write about how I feel these three types of lists actually help me.
List of Do’s and Don’ts
Think of your blog as a company and you the CEO of that company. Would you think a CEO can really take a company places if the CEO cannot articulate with clarity what really his company is looking to achieve? A vision statement is easy to write but sitting down and writing up a list of Do’s and Don’ts actually sets down some basic rules your blog will operate on.
This list for me actually ends up defining my blog and its reputation. Most bloggers use their blogs to express their point of view. I think it would be wise for any blog writer to spend some time, once in a while with a list of do’s and don’ts to make sure his blog is going in the direction which he wants it to.
The Checklist
This is a list I find very boring and reminds me of days working in cubicles in a large corporate office. Those days I mocked checklists but after turning into a professional blogger I have realized that there are some lessons to be learnt from the big corporate world.
As I write mainly for a Tech blog I have a couple of checklists while writing a post. Once I finish I glance over that list to see if I missed out on anything. Most things in the checklist are very basic like ‘Did I tweet about my post?’ or ‘Did I check if all links included in the post work fine?’.
In my experience a Checklist is a way to put your self into good habits as a blogger.
The ‘To Do’ list
I started making ‘to do’ lists after I started reading how other bloggers felt it led to improved efficiency and I agree with them. The more often I complete a ‘To Do’ list, the more efficiently and effectively I feel the day has gone work wise.
‘To Do’ lists are more important to actually tackle smaller tasks which take 10-20 minutes most times but we tend to postpone them to the end of the day and then those tasks are usually left unattended. This is where I find ‘To Do’ lists very important.
Do let us know which list do you maintain for your blogging life?
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Great Article Aditya!
In my school days, I used to take a paper and write down the things to complete since I used to forget those things!
But now we have so many desktop and mobile apps for “Checklist” and “To-do” lists..
hey tell me some cool desktop app for checklist, i dont like the default win app.
I agree we have numerous lists and apps on our computer but nothing beats putting things down on paper with a pen.
Surely one should make these three lists to be a successful and professional blogger.
Lists are a super-effective way to get things done on your blog in time.
To-do list is very important,i have started making To-do list.
Keep Sharing
I maintain a to-do in my mobile handset. It’s quite handy as I can maintain it even while travelling.
Good post Aditya. Good to see you finally in Shoutmeloud. Your post really good for bloggers who take blogging seriously.
Thanks TehcGyo. You are right if you make there 3 lists you automatically start taking blogging seriously.
Yeah sure thing! Can you recommend any online tool for making lists or reminders or “to do” list?? It would be very good if you have included any such services.
Nice to see you here in shoutmeloud. Looking forward for your posts.
I maintain copy for keyword analysis and ranking of keyword. Some times things are very interesting. Also, what i will acheive every week. But i am not able to meet my target most of time.
It is necessary to go step by step to gain success in blogging and To-do lists are blue print for that.
The checklist is really important especially if you’re launching something.
You have to be ready on all points; if you forgot someone, it could mean a lot of opportunities missed. Email clients? Check links? Write a post?
All very important.
Yes, In my opinion this is a fantastic thing to maintain a checklist and a list of to-dos as its human nature to forget things. Howver maitaining these lists will definitely prove handy.