About a week ago, I did a "productivity analysis." Essentially, I looked at the number of "awake" hours that I have available in my day (7 a.m. to 11 p.m. - that's 16 hours per day, 112 hours per week) and then proceeded to outline all of the things that I do within those hours.My time fell into the following 13 categories:
1. Spending time with my husband
2. Playing with my daughter
3. Reflection/Prayer/Personal Growth
4. Exercise
5. Work
6. Writing
7. Grocery Shopping & Meals
8. Kindness/Gratitude/Service
9. Cleaning
10. E-mails
11. Blogging
12. News articles
13. "Me" Time
I then broke down my day in hour-by-hour segments to create a "Master Schedule" (thanks to Melissa Garrett, a fellow blogger and writer, for giving me this idea).
This exercise allowed me to look into my life from an outsider's perspective. I decided that I spend too much time on blogging - and that I need to increase my productivity in this area.
Blogging has been beneficial for me - I've received job offers, free products to review, and, more importantly, I've made valuable connections and relationships. Those things said, I think other things in my life yield greater return for my time so I need to be careful how much of my time is spent blogging and reading other people's blogs.
So I cut down my blogroll drastically and now have 8 blogs* that I read every day:
1. Brazen Careerist
2. 5 Minutes for Mom
3. Ode to Umbrella Moments
4. Growing a Life
5. Baby Cheapskate
6. Melissa Garrett
7. Absurdly Cool Freebie Finder
8. Writer Mama
*Note: My list of blog favorites seems to be constantly changing so I really should say these are my top picks of the month.
I also have another list of blogs that I read weekly - every Wednesday, but I'll save that list for another day.
What blogs do you read every day? How do you ensure that you don't spend too much time in the blogosphere? Write a post on your blog and leave a link in the comments. Or just post your thoughts here.
(Photo by: paulworthington)
2 comments:
First of all, I am so honored to be on your list! This is a constant struggle for me and ever since writing my "skim" post from the other day, I've taken a LONG look at my blogroll and will be drastically reducing how often I read most. The trouble is, I've got an overproductive loyal gland and am in serious need of intervention! I've been noting which blogs I go to first. I also note who makes an effort to comment continuously on my site, because I think it's important to establish some sort of relationship with my readers. As I've gotten more busy with work, something has got to give. And that something has to be reading 100+ blogs.
Wow! Thanks for reading my blog. I'm glad you like it. As you know, I also wrote about the time I spend on blogging every day, too. For me, it's just a hobby -- yet it's something I love and I clearly need some refreshing downtime -- so productivity and how I spend my time are what I'm struggling with lately. I hope your schedule really works for you.
Post a Comment