4 Time Saving Content Hacks for Bloggers

When I first started blogging I got caught up in this idea that I had to continue to put in more and more time in order to be successful.

I began working 40+ hours per week and was exhausting myself. I would wake up before my kids, work during nap-time and then stay up until I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Even though it didn’t feel right, everyone online was saying that I had to hustle and do more or I would never make it with blogging.

I got tired of being overworked and began looking for ways to save myself time. I didn’t want to be putting in 40+ hours per week. 

It became a game for me to find out how I could cut down on time or find small changes I could make that would maximize my productivity and help me to get results faster.

One of the reasons why I had my blog was so that I could have more freedom with my kids so I needed to find ways to save time and be more productive.

I became obsessed with it and started to challenge myself to figure out what I could do to ensure that I wasn’t wasting time. 

Before this point, I always felt like I got caught up in a lot of busywork. My days consisted of reacting to things that happened in my business which didn’t leave me a lot of time to focus on what was actually important.

I couldn’t afford to be taking that time away from my kids to be sitting at a computer on a blog that was just staying stagnant because I wasn’t being intentional with my time and effort. 

This is when the planner in me kicked in. 

I needed to have a plan for my blog so that I didn’t get distracted when it came time to actually sit down and work.

I personally plan my business 90 days at a time. It helps me to stay focused while getting results faster. You can check out my 90 Day Blog Plan to Achieve Your Goals here.

Let’s get into some of my favorite time-saving hacks for bloggers so you can stop wasting time and get more productive.

#1 - Using templates

I know this one seems super easy, but it is often overlooked. Using templates for all of your blogging graphics will help you to save a ton of time in your creation process. 

Having branded graphics and promotional images are a part of blogging, so using a template where you can just change out the titles and information will help you to cut back on the time it takes to design these images.

I like to use Canva for all of my graphics. They have a free version, but I am currently using the paid version.

When I am making a new graphic, I just go into Canva and find my template and then just hit ‘copy’ on the image. This allows me to then edit the image with my new post title and information and I am done with it in minutes. 

To do this, you can head over to Canva and create 1-3 different types of graphics to use for your own templates.

This is an example of one of my Pinterest templates that I use when I am creating new images for my blog.

Here are a few ideas for templates you can make:

• Pinnable images

• Lead magnets

• In-post graphics

• Social media promo images

You can also create templates for other materials you use frequently for your blog. 

For example, if you are creating a new content upgrade for a post, you can create a Canva template and just copy it so that it has all of your branding and information is already included when you go to create the new one. 

Using templates is a great way to cut down on time. 

Related: How o Create a Blog Post Template

#2 - Batching

Not only does batching save time, but it increases your productivity. What does ‘batching’ mean?

Batching is when you focus on similar tasks in one batch of time instead of trying to do multiple tasks and projects all at once. It is quicker for you to complete similar tasks that need to be done for your blog together rather than doing them individually.

Benefits of batching:

• Reduces multitasking and getting distracted

• Helps you to stay focused on one type of task instead of having to constantly switch gears

• Boosts productivity 

• Streamlines your workflow

If you need to write new blog content, you don’t want to just work on one post from start to finish because you would be jumping from task to task and could easily get distracted.

You want to break up the tasks and do several pieces of the process together. 

For example, you could spend time creating a list of 10 new blog post ideas. Instead of picking one and going through the blog creation process you could pick a few and do each task for all of the posts together.

This means you would spend time writing all of the content before you moved onto editing the posts. You would create the graphics for each of the three posts at the same time. And then another day could be for uploading and scheduling the content.

An example of how I apply batching in my business is scheduling Pinterest. I sit down one day a week (sometimes every other week) and schedule all of the images that I want to be pinned to my boards on Pinterest.

I do this for both of my accounts at the same time.

This helps me to stay focused on Pinterest and get the task done. I am able to get in the groove for pinning and not get distracted by other items on my to-do list. Then, I don’t even have to think about it again for a week or two.

You can apply batching to so many different parts of your blog:

• Content creation process

• Scheduling social media

• Blog graphics

• Taking pictures for Instagram

• Recording podcast episodes

You can even dedicate a particular day each week to certain tasks to help you complete the task and then not have to worry about it again until the next week. 

For example, maybe Wednesday’s will be dedicated to content creation. You will not work on anything else on Wednesdays except creating new content. 

Think of any tasks that you do with your blog on a consistent basis. Can you batch it? 

Related: How to Batch Content

#3 - Repurposing content

This is something that I wish I would have done sooner. Creating content can be very time consuming so you want to be able to use that piece of content on several different platforms.

What I used to do was create a new blog post and then promote the link on my social media platforms. Then, I would move onto the next blog post and do the same thing. That was all I would do with that piece of content.

I always thought that if I put it out in my blog post that I couldn’t use that content anywhere else. 

There is an old marketing rule that states someone needs to hear your message 7 times before they will take action on it. 

Obviously, me putting it out in one place just wasn’t cutting it. 

Plus, I spent so much time creating the content that I needed to be able to use it in several different places. Doing this saved me so much time because I no longer how to create as much content as I had been doing.

Repurposing your content allows you to not just save time, but also market your content so much better because you are using it on several different platforms. 

For example, let’s say you wrote a new blog post that you publish every Monday morning. You could then take that blog post and... 

1. Pull several excerpts from the content and create individual Facebook or Instagram posts from it to schedule for your social media platforms

2. Design quote images from the content to post on Instagram

3. Take the blog post and summarize it in an email for your subscribers

4. Use the blog content as a script for a video

5. Turn the blog content into a lead magnet to grow your email list

6. Use the post to create a podcast episode

7. Design an infographic from the content

There are so many different ways that you can repurpose one piece of content to save yourself time. 

If you have been blogging for a while and have an archive of content, dive into that archive and start repurposing your old content before creating new content. 

Or, maybe you have an amazing YouTube channel and you can turn those videos into posts to drive more traffic to your website. There are endless possibilities. 

#4 - Systems

I never realized how many tasks I do regularly in my business until I took the time to sit down and figure out how and where I could create a system to start saving time. 

When you don’t have a system in place YOU are your business.

A system is just a set of processes, tasks, or actions that can run without you. 

It is in place for when you are doing the same tasks over and over again the same way each time to get the desired result.

Having a system in place will save you a ton of time.

We often get so caught up in our day to day blogging tasks that we don’t realize what we can improve or even automate. 

When I started to implement systems in my own business I was shocked by how much of my daily tasks were eliminated from my to-do list, which saved me hours each week.

You don’t have to make a system for every single task, but think about the things that you repeat often. Read more about how to create an effective system in your biz.

One of the biggest tasks that reoccurred often for me was creating new content. I needed a system in order to streamline the process to help save time and ensure that I was doing it the same way each time. 

To do this, I made a template in Asana so that each time I create new content I could follow the template so I didn’t waste time trying to figure out what my next step should be.

Now, each time I am creating new blog content, I head over to Asana and copy the template. 

Then, I can assign a due date for each task to be completed. This allows me to quickly follow the same system each time I am ready to create a new blog post.

This simple content process cut hours off of my work week.

This also works really well if you are batching (like we talked about above) because you can create a separate template for each blog post and then schedule similar tasks to be completed on the same day.

You can’t afford to waste time when it comes to your blog or online business.

I am always striving to find new ways to do less but get better results.

Be sure to download a copy of my Consistent Content Creator Roadmap!

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I’d love to hear some of your time-saving hacks for your blog. Comment below and let us know your tried and true time for saving time with your blog.