Blogging (and Slogging) and in Need of a Roadmap

Developing my own blog is the most challenging thing that I have undertaken since I began my online writing career one and one-half years ago. Bar none. Why? It is because a new blog is a fresh slate, yours to do with whatever you wish. But knowing what you wish is not as simple as it sounds.

Having your own website allows you a platform for every ounce of creativity that you can give it for its design, functionality, usefulness and purpose. But, there is no roadmap. You sink or swim all on your own unless you have collaborators or a webmaster to give you assistance and support. I don't have either - after about three months of on-the-job learning about blogging, I find myself wading out into deeper and deeper water, and that my goggles don't always protect my vision.

Having a blog is not a do or die, life or death matter, and I'm well aware that the world will little note nor long remember what I do with my little venture. If I don't enjoy it, I can quit. But quitting is not in my nature. Instead, it is simply important to me to do well that which I undertake. My motto has long been: "If it is worth doing, it is worth doing well." I have some things to say and share, so to me my blog is worth doing.

And so I'm doing that which I began, as well as I can.

On the plus side for me, the theme that I selected is all that I had hoped it would be. It saves me from having to figure out a multitude of add ons, as so much functionality is already built into the site. But that doesn't mean that all is easy for a non-geek like me. I know nothing about code, so the tweaks that I would like to make are puzzling to me, to say the least. I've learned to ask for help from support, and I've also learned that I need to do more reading about Word Press and also my own theme to see what I can master on my own. Knowledge is power in whatever you undertake.

On the down side for me, time management is rearing its head big time. I do not choose to be at my computer 24/7, so it is now necessary for me to take whatever time I need to define my priorities and pare away the extraneous tasks that are siphoning off the hours of my days. Planning has moved to the forefront for me - I'm hard at work designing my personal roadmap for blogging and laying out my own pathway with an eye to success.

The time is right for me to pinpoint exactly where I want to go, lay out my goals and objectives, calculate my time and energy for this venture, and put all of this into my plan for success. There must be a life outside of writing in order to maintain balance in my life - "all work and no play" is not only non-productive, it gnaws away at one's own health. I need both a healthy blog and a healthy body.

It is simply time for me to work smarter instead of harder. I have some rearranging of priorities to tend to because time, it is a-wasting!

One must learn a different... sense of time, one that depends more on small amounts than big ones. ~Sister Mary Paul

See also:
Time Management: An Overview
Time Management: Taking Control of Your Day

Sources:
My blog: http://rcjohnsonwriter.com/ (R.C.'s Twin Cities Beat)
Personal experience
http://www.quotegarden.com/time.html