In order to be a productive blogger, you’re going to have to kill that idea that everything needs to be perfect. Too many bloggers are intimidated by the fact that their post won’t be good enough, the design of their blog doesn’t look professional enough, or that someone may be offended by what they have to say.
In order to be productive and ensure you’re focusing on what matters first, you’re going to have to really push back that nagging voice inside your head that tells you that what you’re doing isn’t good enough.
It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect!
That feeling that your post needs to be perfect before you publish it or that you have to change something in order to impress others isn’t going to help you target the right type of audience; you want an audience that follows you and respects you as a person.
It’s also going to mean that you’ll never get anything done if you spend too much time worrying about trying to get everything perfect. No matter what you’re working on – whether it’s a blog post, a marketing campaign or a promotion – it’s never going to be perfect and you could spend the rest of your days trying to get it perfect because it’s something that you’ll never achieve. Therefore, if you want to become a more productive blogger, you need to really forget about trying to make it perfect and just get it out there.
Not Being Perfect Does NOT Equal Mediocre
That’s not to say that a productive blogger is simply a mediocre one, it’s to say that, in order to be productive you’ve also got to lighten up on yourself and allow yourself to be a little more relaxed in your approach to perfectionism. You can spend a week writing a blog post and you may think that it’s the best that you can possible make it – but, if you’re not really making the most of your time and you’re spent that time worrying about how well received a post is going to be instead of getting it out there, you’re not really doing yourself any favors.
You Are Your Own Worst Critic
In many instances, you’re not actually publishing your content to an audience that’s waiting to criticize you. You’re not really just trying to please a whole bunch of people that are just waiting to give you mounds of criticism every time you hit that publish button. Most people, when they come to read your blog are going to read that blog post in a couple of minutes. They’re your audience but they’re not going to spend hours analyzing your every word, waiting to point out grammatical errors and spelling mistakes – they’ve got better things to do with their time and they’re likely to forget about it and move on to read another blog post somewhere else.
People want good content that’s beneficial to them and, if you’re doing your job as a blogger (and not just a productive one) those are the types of posts that you will be creating anyway. There’s no reason why they should go on to criticize or complain about someone that’s taken the time to help them.
The Negatives of Perfectionism
If you’re trying to become a productive blogger, perfectionism isn’t your friend. Perfectionism causes you to:
- Feel unhappy and frustrated because you’re not something you can never be anyway
- Procrastinate because you waste time and put off publishing content that would be valuable to you and your readers
- End up with low self-esteem issues and cause you to criticize your work instead of enjoying it
There are many creative people out there and they have a lot of talent. Many of them are even bloggers. However, they’re not popular and they’re not making a full time income from their blog because they’re a perfectionist and they fail to reach the heights of others because they’re too afraid of falling.
If you really want to be a productive blogger, it’s essential that you create content and push it out. Spread your message and don’t wonder how it will come across to others. Don’t be afraid to share your work and attract an audience just because you don’t think it’s perfect.
Are You A Perfectionist Blogger?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Table of contents for Blogging Productivity Tips
- Blogging Productivity Tips, Part 2: How to Organize Your Computer and Desktop
- Blogging Productivity Tips, Part 3: Create a Schedule
- Blogging Productivity Tips, Part 5: Understand That Productivity Doesn’t Have to Be Writing
- Blogging Productivity Tips, Part 6: Get a Blogging Mindset
- Blogging Productivity Tips, Part 7: Treat Your Blog as a Job
- Blogging Productivity Tips, Part 8: End Perfectionism
I really appreciate the information you provide in your website. It is so useful!
Stephanie@MakeMoneyOnline recently posted..What Is Amazon Mechanical Turk And How Can You Make Money With it?
Thanks for the kind words, Stephanie!
This was a big one for me to get over. I used to write a post and then wait until the next day to proof read it and redo it. Posting was a chore. I’ve gotten much better. Doing a series for Christmas where I posted everyday for 25 days helped me get over that. It still feels weird no doing my ritual, but my blog is better for it.
dawn recently posted..It’s A Dog’s Life- Infographic
Thanks for sharing your experience, Dawn – it’s an inspiration to the rest of us perfectionist bloggers!
Wow what a great information you have shared here and I am sure a lot of people can benefit from this.. Anyway, thank you for the tips!
I’m a perfectionist in the sense that I will repeatedly try to fix problems in how my blog post looks, like extra white space or font that’s the wrong size. I do think looks are important. At the same time, I try not to spend too much time on posts so there comes a time when I sometimes just give up on the problem and leave it alone. I think one of the things that readers like about blogs is the element of reality; we read blogs to connect with other people who make mistakes and have bad days just like we do, so too much perfectionism can be off-putting as a reader then feels no sense of connection.
Bonnie Way recently posted..I’m a Guest at the Young Wife’s Guide!
Being productive and actually working can make the day go by faster. Rather than waste time, consider ways to be more productive on the job..
I used to write a post and then wait until the next day to proof read it and redo it. Posting was a chore. Thanks for letting me join the conversation.
I have really enjoyed this entire 8 part series. I am so excited about taking my blog to the next level and you have provided me with so much info to do so. What a blessing!