For the past several weeks, I have revived my efforts to be more consistent with my blogging. Recently, I was asked how I find the time to do that. The better question might be how to MAKE time to blog. Finding time, I have discovered, is impossible. Instead, I have learned that with any activity that is important to me, I need to make time.

I need to make time to go to the gym; I need to make time to be with my family; I need to make time to plan for my teaching; I need to make time to write.

With that in mind, here is what has worked for me to be more consistent with my own blogging:

  1. Write every day. This is just good practice whether you put that writing into a blog or not. I do my best to write for 30 minutes every day. I have yet to figure out the perfect time of the day to do that (my life is just too crazy as a husband, father, teacher…), but I do make time in my schedule each day to write.
  2. Make a plan. Once a month, I sit down and plan out blog posts for the the next few weeks. I use a bullet journal for my daily to-do/activity/note lists, so I use that to capture blog post ideas as I think of them. From that list, I can easily plan out several weeks worth of blogs. This at least gives me a direction and a plan.
  3. Set deadlines. For me, I do one post on Monday (a mentor text) and at least one other post by Friday (usually What I’m Learning). If I don’t have deadlines, then blog posts won’t get written. Of course, I can always write/post more than that, but these are my deadlines.
  4. Be flexible. I may have a plan and have given myself deadlines, but relevant topics make themselves more important to write about than what I may have had planned.
  5. Use the writing process. You don’t need to draft, polish, and post all in one writing session. I often have several blog post drafts going at once and work on them over time. An established writing routine makes this easier and creates stronger pieces of writing.

I believe that all teachers have something important to share. We can learn from each other as we build a better understanding of our teaching practice.

Join me in the adventure! I’d love to read what you write!