How much time do you spend blogging? As more and more blogging projects spark into life I am having to think very carefully about scheduling my time effectively.

My various blogging activities can be managed better if looked at as blocks, with time being apportioned to each blog separately. As long as other, non blog specific, tasks are taken care of first I find that my blogging can be managed in one hour per day, per blog. It might sound like a tall order but the key is clearing the deck before the blogging starts.

Email is dealt with at the same time each day, at around 8.00 am and then again at 4.00 pm. I then check my RSS reader and visit any sites that I feel are important to me. Any news stories that catch my eye are bookmarked as potential inspiration for blog content. I impose a limit of one hour for Email, RSS and morning browsing. Any commenting on other blogs is also taken care of within this hour.

At 9.00am I am ready to start blogging. Some of my blogs are managed daily, some every other day, and some weekly. The trick is to make sure the blogging load is spread across the working days evenly. This iCal screenshot will give a clearer idea of what I’m aiming for.

My blogs that I contribute to are split into two groups, those that follow a schedule and those that simply follow circumstance. As you can see from the calendar, the scheduled blogs are all taken care of between 9.00 am and 12.00 pm. Between 1.00 pm and 2.00 pm my personal and music blogs are taken care of. These blogs don’t follow a schedule so it’s easy to just take care of anything in that arena in that time-slot across the whole week.

One hour is enough time to write new content, moderate comments and reply to comments. Any time left over within the hour is spent visiting other blogs, leaving comments and generally promoting the blog.

In addition to this there are a handful of blogs that I own but do not contribute to. These need little or no management so time doesn’t need to be scheduled with any regularity.

Email is checked and comments moderated for a second time at 4.00 pm.

This leaves plenty of time during the day for my practise schedule. Any recording engagements or rehearsals usually take place later on during the day so they are easy to fit in. Likewise, gigs are almost always in the evening.

Keeping a schedule makes managing multiple blogs a lot easier. It also makes it very clear that there is a limit to how many blogs one person can manage and contribute to effectively.

What is your blogging schedule? Maybe you don’t have a schedule but instead just take time where you can. Feel free to share your thoughts below.