Get Back to the Basics and Refuel Your Purpose

If you’ve been around long enough, you’re probably just like many of us who found out that the problems you’re having is like everyone else. That’s because while you’re figuring out how to overcome a barrier to get to the next, your time can mean the difference between accomplish and undone.

That brings to mind purpose now doesn’t it? Do you remember when you were asked what you like to blog about in the beginning? During the brainstorming process you’re not told to solve problems instead you’re told to find your passion.

You see being passionate about something is great but being passionate about problem solving is bringing in another element to purpose. I know you’re thinking ugh! Me too! This is something that is rarely disclosed and while the majority of us find being stuck a common place to be in, the ongoing journey towards documenting what works online is mandatory.

Yes, you’ve read that right. It is mandatory to track your progress if you’re going to step into anything you do on the internet. From testing out how this particular spot converts on your site to how a post is received and so on. After all, if working online is something you’re not doing professionally, you might find that there’s no reason to keep at it very soon.

While that may be a joy kill to your efforts, I’ll set aside the self-developmental speech and tell you bluntly, it’s not going to be that easy. I totally feel you. However I want you to hold up! Don’t give up just yet. When I get stuck I return to the basics and here’s how I do it.

Organize Your Online Attacks

You’ll be surprise to find out how much information falls into your blog, e-mail, hard drive and even real life. All of these attacks alone have to be filtered somehow to productively flourish.  One way which you can go about doing that is to sit down, take a moment to go over what it is you actually have to do, prioritize it and then act on them.

That 5 minutes or even 10 minutes makes all the difference in the world. Besides, with so much things to do, you’ll be amazed to see how far your workload falls behind on the backburner but surprisingly are simplified through the small time you put into organizing them.

To make it personal, I normally take notes by hand so I have stacks of paper which are piled behind one after another and how I organize it is through creating a blog chart. Then when I write I’ll normally ask myself, ‘What’s a good topic to blog about today?’ I would then look at this chart and gather the necessary relevant information to bang away at the keyboard.

I would also hand draw the chart myself and put in the data manually. So there’s no need to whip up Excel if paper and pen is effective. However if I have time, I’ll put it in the database later but I normally don’t so it stays on paper and I continue to come back to it every couple of days to see how I progress. That’s essential.

You see your tasks are not meant to look pretty. They’re there to help you assimilate. So take it in and if you can’t, take it out and put it back in again until you can get to it.

Here’s a sample of how I usually outline my blog chart on paper. I’ll use Excel in this case because you don’t want to see how I write. With you, when you’re charting yours, find out what works for you and continue generating the most productive workflow you can abide by playing around with the titles to your relevant categories.

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As you can see above, charting your tasks are only a glimpse at a general to-do list. One thing that’s helpful with this method is it provides you a visual to effectively cross out and prioritize your efforts instead of the long, enduring line. So if one task isn’t done one day, it will be pushed to the next day’s chart and continues so forth until you have covered all that you’ve got. Kind of like a block game but all you’re really doing is rinse and repeat.

Overtime when you find yourself loaded with a large table, you’ll have to simplify it some way. To do this, list only the most important tasks through a numbering system.

That’s it! While this method is really easy, the point I want to make is it’s a great way to happily engage you with your blog work day in and day out. Just see how charting can help and learn how much organizing your attacks can provide you growth. All you have to do is gather together what’s worthy of battling and attack back.

Find Yourself A Corner

I don’t know about you but I have found corners to be a great place to work in. You take into perspective everything in front of you and behind, well it’s the walls. This view here is also complimentary of putting you into a zone which will help with production. Believe me, I love it when I’m in an intense project and there’s not a feeling of overwhelming thoughts or anything behind me.

Psychologically, this corner perspective is one way of telling myself to let go and there’s nothing better than that. No I’m not saying you should be a dunce, we’re not in school anymore folks. When you have some tasks to tackle, the corner feeling allows you to work in a mode unlike any other to accomplish all that you would think was not possible. Think cubicle reversed!

Try it and see how that works for you. I know, it’s kind of funny to see it that way but you want to position yourself and take a hold of your mindset. This perspective allows you to do that.

Another advantage to this perspective is corners are quiet too. You can actually hear your own voice which comes out through your writing board. This is absolutely necessary when you’re looking for the tone in the articles you’re creating. It makes it so much more interesting.

Read Up on Feedback

When someone critiques, criticizes or even shares their thoughts with you on anything you put out online, that is some valuable piece of information for you. In fact, it’s letting you know who your readers are and what type of elements they’re looking for in your posts.

On my blog, the content is 99% of the time enamored with long articles and I have tried to explain this in the past why I write them but I find my RSS readers answered that already. Not only do I know that they visit the site but that they’re satisfied getting it in their aggregator everyday too. The proof is in the numbers and that’s enough for me to keep on writing.

Overall, I’ve only begun to skim the surface with guest blogging but I know that I’m ready to see what readers want more of in terms of what I’m providing. I hope you share with me below in the comments your basic ingredients for refueling your purpose and if you liked this article and why. Don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and any feedback you may have. Any at all is appreciated.

Image:  Francesco Marino

Tagged as: Blogging Tips, organization, purpose