I think about this blog frequently. Post titles pop into my head while I'm showering. Entire lines of text write themselves in my mind while I'm examining patients. I am the type of person who is constantly trying to understand life, to fit it to a logical narrative, and this blog feels like an integral part of that process of understanding. And yet, I don't make enough time for it. Days or weeks go by without a post until I return, overwhelmed with things I want to write about, only to write a list of bullet points.
I've been working a lot lately on habits - finishing up my work efficiently, getting to the gym, staying connected with friends - and I think that blogging is going to be the next one I try to work one. I'm finding that if I just leave things to chance that I never seem to get to them, but if I make a regular commitment of time, then I tend to get things done. So hopefully if I make a plan for blogging I will start logging more than one or two posts per month.
Any suggestions on how frequently I should post? If you're a blogger, how do you keep up a regular posting schedule?
I may not be the best example right now, because I've been falling way behind on posting during my mostly off-service PGY3 year, which has included a lot of call and commuting, but here's what I have done:
ReplyDelete1. In talking to Michelle Lin of ALiEM (academic life in emergency medicine), I was given the advice of sticking to a regular posting schedule if I wanted to maintain an audience of repeat readers. She mentioned that if people don't know when you are going to post, they'll sort of come back once in a while and then just stop visiting if they don't see anything for a while, suspecting that the blog has died/been abandoned. I figured that once per week was a good start, and I advertised the posting day (Thursday) on facebook, twitter, and my blog sidebar. I added a second day each week (Sunday) when I felt I had more time and more things to say. I feel obligated to post when I have a pre-set posting day. I can't just put it off until tomorrow.
2. I try to stock up on posts so that I have a nice backlog for the busy times. This has really failed recently, as the busy times have been both longer and busier than I had expected. I usually pre-schedule my posts, and then just let them auto-post on Thursdays.
3. I try to make a scheduled post if my usual post is moved to a different day. I'm not always successful at this, but the point is that people know the blog hasn't died and know to come back on, say, Friday or Saturday if the Thursday post hasn't come out.
4. I used to make it a goal to write for twenty minutes every day. Now that I am off-service again, I'll be returning to this habit, since it makes it much easier to get weekly blog posts done.
So, in sum, I think once a week is a good goal for blogging, and I motivate myself by advertising a regular posting day, writing for a set amount of time each day, and maintaining my commitment to my audience of readers. I want to be clear that my audience is pretty modest, but I do get between 200 and 2000 views each day, so that's not terrible. My views per day has gone up as high as about 8000. I think a lot of that is due to having a really regular blogging schedule so that people keep coming back.
Nice bloog you have
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