I'm always a little intimidated when I see tweets saying "just scheduled blog posts for the next 3 months. Yay!!"
My initial reaction is always "woah, REALLY??", accompanied by a mixture of being massively impressed yet slightly sickened by their organisation. Mostly I'm gobsmacked these super-efficient bloggers have the time to write that many posts at once. Do they write super fast? Write really short posts? Already have a massive stock of beautifully edited photos?
Not that I've ever sat down and timed myself but I reckon a blog post can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to 4+ hours, depending on interruptions/how helpful or awkward technology is being/how many photos need editing etc. I'm better and faster when I get into the swing of things. Like with any creative project, I find that as soon as I've started on one thing it sparks off all sorts of ideas. This is where a good notebook is essential, or all those fantastic ideas swiftly disappear into the mist. Where I tend to fall down is finding the time to get things written up and having the equipment available to do it on.
My problem at the moment is that my blogging is restricted by available technology. I'm the happy owner of an iPad and much as I love that for internet browsing, social media and games, it's not ideally set up for blogging.
Neither is my netbook which is getting a bit old and knackered now. It's so hard to edit photos properly on such a small screen, plus it really needs a serious sort out as it's painfully slow at the moment. I mostly use my work pc to blog on (again not the speediest machine in the world but at least it's a proper size) and that means blogging time is restricted to my lunch breaks, or after work. There's only so much you can squeeze into that time period!
This is me when Blogger and PicMonkey both decide not to play ball. It happens often.
I'm plugging along nicely at the moment and have forced myself to be a bit more productive and get things written up and scheduled. It's definitely helped. That feeling that blogging is a chore and that I'm way behind on things hasn't hit me for a while. Weekends start to get quieter for me at this time of year and it seems a shame not to curl on the sofa and get some blogging done. It's going to require a new machine though! I've been looking at Acer laptops and Acer tablets as they seem reliable and reasonably priced (a winning combo, especially so close to Christmas!) but then an ex-colleague popped into work the other day and she had a fab Microsoft Surface tablet
with a keyboard/cover thingy
and it was so nifty I want one of those too! Decisions, decisions...
How much technology does one girl need?
My initial reaction is always "woah, REALLY??", accompanied by a mixture of being massively impressed yet slightly sickened by their organisation. Mostly I'm gobsmacked these super-efficient bloggers have the time to write that many posts at once. Do they write super fast? Write really short posts? Already have a massive stock of beautifully edited photos?
Not that I've ever sat down and timed myself but I reckon a blog post can take me anywhere from 30 minutes to 4+ hours, depending on interruptions/how helpful or awkward technology is being/how many photos need editing etc. I'm better and faster when I get into the swing of things. Like with any creative project, I find that as soon as I've started on one thing it sparks off all sorts of ideas. This is where a good notebook is essential, or all those fantastic ideas swiftly disappear into the mist. Where I tend to fall down is finding the time to get things written up and having the equipment available to do it on.
My problem at the moment is that my blogging is restricted by available technology. I'm the happy owner of an iPad and much as I love that for internet browsing, social media and games, it's not ideally set up for blogging.
Neither is my netbook which is getting a bit old and knackered now. It's so hard to edit photos properly on such a small screen, plus it really needs a serious sort out as it's painfully slow at the moment. I mostly use my work pc to blog on (again not the speediest machine in the world but at least it's a proper size) and that means blogging time is restricted to my lunch breaks, or after work. There's only so much you can squeeze into that time period!
I'm plugging along nicely at the moment and have forced myself to be a bit more productive and get things written up and scheduled. It's definitely helped. That feeling that blogging is a chore and that I'm way behind on things hasn't hit me for a while. Weekends start to get quieter for me at this time of year and it seems a shame not to curl on the sofa and get some blogging done. It's going to require a new machine though! I've been looking at Acer laptops and Acer tablets as they seem reliable and reasonably priced (a winning combo, especially so close to Christmas!) but then an ex-colleague popped into work the other day and she had a fab Microsoft Surface tablet
with a keyboard/cover thingy and it was so nifty I want one of those too! Decisions, decisions...How much technology does one girl need?
I know what you mean, I find the idea of scheduling posts for three months away is a bit weird. I do schedule stuff on tumblr, but that's because both tumblrs are heavily curated and one is subject specific so I prefer to just do a stack of posts at once and then forget about it for a week or so...
ReplyDeleteI read on one blog recently that she was scheduling tweets as well as posts, which I guess I get if you're really busy, but it seems contrary to the spontaneous conversational aspect of Twitter, and, well, sort of spammy.
Love the GIF, that's me at work most days presently. Tech is such a bitch in that it seems to wear out so quickly. My parents recently donated me a netbook which their business no longer needs, and it's great because it's barely been used and is high spec, but my laptop, which is still have is only 3 years old and totally fucked. That makes me sad. I'm thinking that when it comes to the next round of tech investments, T & I are going to buy a shared MacBook of decent spec, and then after that, I'd like to have a tablet, ideally an iPad or a mini to supplement that as our needs are changing. But oh so much £££age. SIGH.
ReplyDeleteHow about one of these - very portable, very good battery life, fires up quickly...
ReplyDeleteI just don't really *get* the whole technology thing, if I'm honest. I've never been bothered by having any gadgets, still not fussed about getting a tablet or anything - I'd rather have something which works for a long time and is reliable, whereas laptops seem to have a shorter and shorter shelf life these days.
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem! I waste SOO much time staring at a screen that refuses to load for ages! I have an old school laptop (which is now mine! They don't want it back as it is such a dinosaur!) and we've just been given those windows tablets with keyboards but I don't really like it so far (plus, I'm not supposed to use it for home stuff, so I am obeying that one!)
ReplyDeleteBlogging on my HTC phone is not possible. It refuses to write in the post box, so I can only read and comment!x
x
Oh that gif is so me at the moment! After 5 years of constant usage, trying to open iPhoto, Chrome and Photoshop at the same time on my Macbook brings the spinning wheel of doom for about 10 minutes. Which makes blogging so frustrating. *bangs head*
ReplyDelete