There is no denying it; my best ideas come to me when I’m not sitting in front of a computer. In fact, the idea for this post came to me while I was making a bagel this morning. I wasn’t sitting there racking my brain for an idea, but rather it naturally came to me. This is quite possibly the most stress-free way to blog. Forget scrambling for posts. Content will be delivered to you naturally. We’re all capable naturally letting our mind’s wander and we all do this constantly throughout the day. Now you just need to utilize this time and focus on content creation.
- Go take a walk. We’re slowly transitioning into Fall and the days are getting cooler. A nice brisk walk each morning can do wonders for both your blog and your health.
- Shower time = idea time. We all (well most of us anyway) shower at least once per day. If you aren’t in any sort of a rush, go take a nice long 30 minute shower and reflect on the status of your blog. There will be no distractions as it is just you, water, and soap. Plus, you’ll be clean, refreshed, and ready to blog.
- Try anything that gets you away from the computer. Just don’t do something else that will steal the focus of your attention. You want to be able to think freely.
- DON’T stare at a blank post. I find staring at a blank post never helps me come up with content. If I don’t go into a post with at least some background knowledge of what I want to write about, I sit there and stare in frustration. Close the window!
Save your ideas!
This is the most challenging aspect of natural content creation. Once your mind starts wandering, it’s hard to focus and bring it back to reality. It’s even harder to keep track of your thoughts. This is why you always need something available to you in case you need to write something down. This works to save your ideas, as well as, give you the tools to elaborate on them later.
Embrace scheduled content.
As I was developing this post, John Chow posted a piece on easier blog posts and I think it ties in nicely here. The post talks about scheduling content each week so you have guaranteed content. A prime example of this would be my Sunday posts featuring new blogs, themes, and plug-ins. (Okay, it would be a good example, but I haven’t done it yet. This Sunday I promise I’ll have the first featured post.) The point I want to make is if you have a schedule of posts that contain constantly updating content, you’ll be set for your blogging life. Take for example ShoeMoney’s ‘Free Shirt Friday.’ Each Friday, Shoe posts a picture of him wearing a t-shirt that was given to him. He constantly has a backlog of t-shirts and thus has free content available to him for the life of his blog.
I like the sound of ‘Natural Content Creation.’
I think I’ll try and elaborate more on this later on.
I couldn’t agree more, some of my best ideas are written down while I’m not even looking at what I’m writing because I’m driving,lol. I’ve written on napkins from my glove box, envelopes, I’ve even written ideas on receipts before. But true enough, my best ideas come when I’m nowhere near a pc.
Thanks for the great ideas! I’m always looking for new ways to come up with good content.
Steve
Great information! I am always writing down ideas. Some really great ones for me come from times I am relaxed and quiet. Other than that there are billions of ideas in cyber space just waiting for us to incorporate. We don’t have to copy what others do but we can add our own twist to ideas that currently exist.
Rob West
Steve,
Thanx so much for the point
of utilizing time to “focus” on content creation. I really needed
to hear that buddy.