Get Your Free Blogging Fundamentals Report...
Just enter your details in the form below and we'll send you the free bonus resource that goes with this article.
Just enter your name and email below to get instant access!
Tips
17 Ways To Create Blog Posts That Get Attention
17 Ways To Create Blog Posts That Get Attention
You can put a lot of content up on your blog, but your blog isn’t going to be successful if no one is reading the content.
That’s why one of the biggest keys to your success is to create engaging content that attracts readers and keeps them coming back to your blog again and again.
Here’s how to do it…
1. Give Your Audience What They Want
The first thing you need to do is understand what your audience wants. In other words, what sort of content are they already consuming? Here’s how to figure this out:
- Find out what sort of infoproducts they’re buying. Check bestsellers on marketplaces such as Amazon.com, Udemy.com. ClickBank.com and JVZoo.com.
- See what topics get a lot of traction on social media.
- Check question and answer sites to see what’s popular, including Quora.com, Yahoo! Answers, and JustAnswer.com.
- Browse niche groups (on Facebook) and forums to see what topics keep popping up again and again.
- Read your competitors’ blogs to see which topics get a lot of discussion and social media shares.
- Ask your audience what they’d like to learn more about.Check your own blog to see what topics you’ve posted about in the past that have generated a lot of interest.
Next…
2. Write For Your Audience
In order to write for your audience, you need to understand exactly who they are. You’ll need to do some research to uncover their demographics, and then spend some time reading niche discussions and talking to your audience to learn more about them.
Here’s what you want to know:
- Age
- Gender
- Where they live.
- Marital status.
- Kids or not.
- Rent or own.
- Income level.
- Education level.
- Biggest niche challenges/obstacles/pain points.
- Solutions they’ve tried.
- Why those solutions haven’t worked.
- What they want.
- What motivates them.
- Where they get their niche information.
- Their niche level (beginner, intermediate, expert).
Next…
3. Catch Attention With Titles
Engagement starts with your blog titles, which is why you need to invest time creating benefit-driven titles with a little razzle dazzle to catch attention.
For example, “How to Lose Weight” shares a benefit. It’s descriptive, but it’s also a little boring.
In order to catch attention, you need to add a little razzle dazzle. E.G., “The Weird Weight Loss Trick That Shook Hollywood (Psst, It Will Work for You Too!)”
By the way, if you are serious and want to take your blogging to the next level, check out the Rapid Blogging Blueprint. This is a premium level training that takes you through each and every step of setting up your own highly profitable blog and profiting from it. You can check it out here.
Next…
4. Open With A Bang
You need to capture attention right away, which is why your opener should work hard to get and keep your audience’s attention. You can do this by:
- Building anticipation by adding a “key points” section in your opener.
- Telling a story right away.
- Providing a startling fact or statistic.
- Busting a myth, or sharing other unexpected information.
- Sharing a really good tip right away to build interest.
- Posting an interesting quote (from a famous person).
- Showing that you understand the reader and their problem, such as by empathizing with the reader.
Next…
5. Create “You”-Centered Content
Your content needs to be all about your readers, specifically with regards to their problems and how to solve them. Unfortunately, some bloggers tend to make their content more about themselves, such as how they discovered a particular tip or trick.
Yes, you do need to talk about yourself from time to time, such as when you share your credentials or you tell an engaging story. However, you want to be sure to pivot immediately back to your readers to keep the focus on them.
Here’s a quick way to check if you’re focused on your readers: see how many times you use words like “you” and “your,” versus words centered on yourself (such as I, me, and mine). Rewrite author-oriented content to make it more about the reader.
For example, “I’ll share my favorite weight-loss trick” is author-oriented. You can rewrite it to change the focus like this: “You’ll discover a proven weight-loss trick.”
6. Avoid Passive Language
Passive language is where you craft sentences so that the subject receives an action, rather than the subject performing an action. Readers tend to find it tedious and boring to read this sort of content.
Here’s an example of a passive sentence: The dog must be walked five times per day.
You’d rewrite it to make it active, like this: You must walk the dog five times per day.
7. Engage Readers With Stories
One really good way to engage readers on an emotional level is to draw them in with a story.
For example, you can write a story about how you or someone else in the niche overcame the same problem as your readers.
Another example: You might share a heartwarming story, or even a story about an embarrassing moment. These stories build rapport.
Still one more example: if you’re trying to share a lesson, share it in the form of a story. It makes it both more engaging and memorable.
8. Ask Questions To Engage Readers
You can ask questions in the beginning, middle or end of your content to engage readers and encourage them to interact. For example:
- Have you ever _______?
- Do you ever feel ________?
- How would you feel?
- What is your favorite tip?
- What is the hardest part of _______?
- What do you think?
- What would you do?
Next…
9. Build Anticipation And Curiosity
Starting in the beginning and sprinkled throughout your content, you’ll want to build anticipation and curiosity for what’s coming.
For example: “In just a moment, you’ll discover the #1 way to get 1000 visitors in the next 24 hours. But first…”
Likewise, if you have a blog series, then be sure to build anticipation for the other articles in the series.
E.G., “Tomorrow you’ll find out which food you should NEVER eat if you want to lose weight – and chances are, you’ve already eaten it this week!”
10. Make Your Audience Smile
If you can make your audience feel something (especially a positive emotion), you’re going to have their full attention. One way to do this is to inject some humor (sparingly) into your content to make your audience smile and chuckle.
Before you start cracking jokes in your content, be sure that you’ve researched your audience, and you understand them.
What people find humorous is subjective, and it also differs across cultures. Indeed, what you find funny may be outright offensive to others, so keep your humor G-related and appropriate.
11. Serve Up Unique Content
One really good way to keep readers engaged is to give them content they’ve never seen before. Elsewhere in these guides, we’ve talked about how to create unique content, such as by sharing unique case studies, stories, and even creating formulas to teach step-by-step content.
Here’s another idea: use fresh comparisons to explain concepts and even step-by-step processes.
In some cases, the actual how-to information you’re sharing isn’t unique. However, the way you position and present the information can be unique – and that’s exactly what will keep readers engaged.
Let’s suppose you’re writing about customer retention. Most of your competitors are going to list and explain all the components of creating satisfied customers. You can make your content unique by comparing customer retention to the Hollywood red-carpet VIP treatment. It’s a simple thing, but it makes your content more interesting, and it stands out from other similar content.
12. Be Concise
If you want to keep readers engaged, then cut out all the fluff and filler. If a page, a paragraph, or even a sentence isn’t necessary to getting your point across, then delete it. You want to keep your content concise and “meaty,” which will keep readers engaged.
One good way to keep your content focused is to create an outline before you write. The key here is to make this outline as detailed as possible.
Not only should you list the major steps and points you want to cover, but you can also list substeps, tips, examples and so on. Then once you start writing, stick to your outline, and delete anything that veers from this outline.
13. Use A Friendly Tone
If you remember reading a few textbooks during your school days, you might also remember some pretty yawn-inducing passages. The problem? These textbook writers shared information, but they didn’t seem all that interested in connecting with readers. While their writing may be technically correct, it’s boring.
Naturally, you’ll want to avoid this sort of stilted, textbook-style writing.
One way to connect with your readers is to write with a friendly, conversational tone.
Think of how you’d write to a friend, and share your content in a similar manner. (This guide is an example of writing with a friendly tone – note how this content isn’t speaking above anyone, it’s not pretentious, and it doesn’t try to impress with big words and complex sentence structure.)
14. Offer Quick Wins
A quick win is a tip or other bit of information that someone can apply fairly quickly, and then get fairly quick results too. Your readers should be able to instantly recognize the value of the information and how quickly they’ll get good results if they apply it.
For example, if you’re sharing information to beginning marketers about how to find a niche, you might teach them to use a keyword tool to find niches they never knew existed (e.g., enter partial searches such as “how to ____” and “get rid of” and “secrets of”).
Your audience can literally apply that information instantly, and in minutes have a list of potential niches to explore.
Quick wins keep your readers engaged on the current blog post they’re reading, as they’ll be eagerly searching for other gold nuggets of information. However, making a habit of providing quick wins in your posts also keeps readers engaged with your blog as a whole and coming back for more.
15. Insert Awesome Visuals
Another way to engage readers is by inserting useful, polished graphics. This includes:
- Infographics.
- Tables.
- Charts.
- Illustrations.
- Screenshots.
- Photos.
- GIFs.
And similar images.
For example, you might include an infographic to make data-heavy information easier to understand.
Another example: you might include a photo or illustration that shows someone how to do something (such as the proper way to stand when doing a weight-lifting exercise such as a squat).
Need a real-life example to view right now? Take a look at the articles on BuzzFeed.com. You’ll see that many of them include memes and GIFs to keep readers interested and hooked until the end.
Point is, a good visual can attract the eye and draw the reader back into the text, and it can also add a lot of value to the content. Either way, good visuals engage readers!
16. Share Tips And Examples
Another way to add value while engaging readers is to generously provide plenty of tips and examples in your content.
As an example, take a look at #15 above. The instruction was to provide visuals in your blog posts.
You then got a list of seven examples of different types of visuals you can create, along with specific examples of some of those seven types.
17. Format For Easy Readability
If people come to your blog and see a wall of text, they’re going to hit the back button without even bothering to begin reading your content. That’s why you need to format your content for easy readability, which is a crucial key to engaging readers.
Check out these tips:
- Break up long list paragraphs by using bulleted lists instead (like this one).
- Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
- Insert graphics to help break up long passages of text.
- Utilize headings and subheadings to provide white space and highlight important information.
You should also ensure your blog uses a responsive theme with a column layout. This ensures that when people read your articles on a mobile device, the article text takes up the entire screen (that’s desirable on small screens).
On the other hand, if someone is reading your article on a large desktop monitor, you do NOT want the article to take up the entire screen, as it’s difficult to read content across a large screen.
The content should cover part of the screen, and the sidebar should cover the remaining part. Again, use a responsive theme, which will resize your columns for easy readability, depending on the device.
Now a few parting thoughts…
Conclusion
The people with the biggest, most popular and most profitable blogs are also the folks who know how to craft engaging content.
If you’re looking to find that sort of success with your blog, then I highly recommend you putting these 17 keys for crafting engaging content to work for you.
If you really want to know more about the power of blogging, you can take a look at the Rapid Blogging Blueprint training course or if you just want a few pointers for now you can grab the featured resource below for a free blogging report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Finding Positive Role Models For A Better You
Finding Positive Role Models For A Better You
Having a positive role model makes a big difference in your general outlook on life. It doesn’t matter who it is, or whether it’s one person or several. The important thing is they motivate and inspire you to do better.
The value of finding positive role models for a better you is much more than having someone to look up to. It helps you live a more rewarding, fulfilling life.
In this article, we’ll talk about the benefits of having role models. We’ll also tell you what makes good role models and how they can help you build a successful life.
The Importance Of Having A Role Model
The novelist, Oliver Goldsmith, once said, “People seldom improve when they have no other role model but themselves to copy.” He’s 100% correct.
You know you have a good role model when they have a strong set of core values. They’re also willing to accept their mistakes and learn from them.
Positive role models influence our decisions for the better. When we’re going through a hard time, we look to them for comfort and encouragement. By emulating how they overcome obstacles, we can overcome them as well.
That guidance and sense of support inspire us to work hard. Then, bit by bit, we can uncover our true potential. We notice we’re doing things we thought were once impossible for us to do. Role models will mentor you to become better.
Below are some reasons why it’s important to find positive role models in your life.
Get An Idea Of What Not To Do
No one is ever 100% correct or successful at everything they do. Not even the most fortunate or richest people.
The difference between them and others is they know how to get back up after a fall. They understand that mistakes are just a bump on the road to success.
Positive role models look at their mistakes as learning experiences. They make their mistakes work to their advantage. They become more aware of what to do next time and what not to do.
When you look at what others have done (or not done), it can be a huge motivator. It also gives you a sense of assurance that you’re not alone. Others have been through similar situations. They’ve come out the other side in one piece, and a whole lot wiser.
Become A Better You
Each one of us is here for a reason. Comparing yourself to others is a waste of time.
Why not focus on the things you’re good at? These strengths are unique to you. Then, if you come across something you’re not good at, you can do one of two things. You can either learn how to do it or just stop dwelling on it. Either way, it’s more important to put your energy into the things that matter more to you as an individual.
That being said, you have to focus on bringing out the best version of yourself. Make a list of your set of core values. Another good idea is to write down both your short-term and long-term goals. Then, when you achieve one, be proud of your accomplishments.
At the end of the day, you don’t need to prove anything to anyone except you. Show confidence in yourself. Even if you don’t feel it in the beginning. You know, fake it until you make it.
Only then will you be able to let your inner light shine. I believe that’s one of the biggest lessons you can learn from a positive role model.
Learn To Persevere
Even past failures don’t guarantee future successes all of the time. Some days will be perfect where everything goes your way. Other days, you’ll feel the anxiety and pressure that life can bring.
Finding a positive role model can help you stay grounded during difficult times. They can help with mentoring which helps you keep your eyes on the prize and strive to work harder to achieve your goals.
When it comes to your pursuits in life, it’s better to be tenacious and resolute. A good role model teaches you the importance of never giving up. They also show you the best ways to deal with any future setbacks you can come across in the future.
How do they do that? Simple! They have a sense of purpose and know where they want to go in life.
A great example of this is Thomas Edison. You may have heard of him; the man who’s known worldwide for his multiple inventions.
Even though his innovations have reshaped life as we know it, he wasn’t always the big success we now know him to be. In fact, his teachers said he wouldn’t amount to much. Then, as an adult, he was even fired a couple of times. The reasons? His bosses said he was a “non-productive” employee.
Not only that, but it took him 1,000 attempts to invent the light bulb. He was even asked how he felt about failing all those times. Edison answered with confidence, “I didn’t fail…The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” That’s the power of perseverance and determination!
Be Inspired
Experts recommend you imitate your role model’s confidence, positivity, and tenacity. Yet, to a certain degree.
The important thing to remember is that a role model is someone to admire and look up to. You should aspire to have a similar outlook on life to achieve success in your own life.
The next step is to brainstorm. Go crazy with your ideas. After all, every invention ever made began as someone’s vision of a better future.
Let your imagination run wild. Use your role models’ successes and failures to come up with new and better ways to do something.
Conclusion
Finding positive role models is like finding a diamond in the rough. These are people who you may or may not know personally. Still, you feel they’re worthy of your attention. You look up to them and feel inspired by their compassion, confidence, and integrity.
Tapping into their experiences can help you manage life’s ups and downs. You can channel their self-assurance and determination anytime you need a little pick-me-up. Then, take everything you’ve learned from them and blaze your own trail in this world.
Success is all about the way you think and roles models will help you to think differently. If you want to know more about developing a success mindset, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
Waste Time To Be More Efficient
Waste Time To Be More Efficient
It seems counterintuitive to state that you could be more efficient by wasting time. But, the truth is, when you allow yourself some flexibility in the process, you have the potential to make efficiency happen.
This is not to say that you can spend six hours out of an eight-hour day wasting your time. You need to keep the ratio skewed to being productive. But, trying to get too much done without having some “you time,” is going to burn you out.
The phrase wasting time is actually a misnomer in this case. What you are doing is setting aside some time to be creative or to get some exercise, etc. It could even be a time that lets you clear your head by taking a walk or sitting in a room by yourself to get away from the grind.
People make proclamations that they are too busy to waste time in the manner specified. But, that could be a huge mistake. When you set aside that time to do something out of the ordinary or spontaneous, you often discover ways to do your main tasks better.
For instance, suppose you went to the gym during your lunch hour, and you took a class. In the class is someone who is involved in the same kind of business you are in but works for a different company.
You both get to talking and become friends. Then, you exchange ideas and in the process discover information that you incorporate into your work.
This exchange may not have happened in your workspace. Sometimes, it takes outside entities to get our creative juices flowing. Therefore it’s always a good idea to look for different ways to accomplish the same tasks or talk to people you wouldn’t normally talk to on a routine basis.
You will need to make sure this time-wasting process if it can be called that, is limited to a small percentage of your day or your to-do list. You still need to get your work done.
But, there is a reason why companies don’t harp onto their employees when they take some time to socialize in the coffee room, etc. Even within different departments, you can expand your knowledge base, and that is good for the company as a whole.
Some people will go overboard with this and end up being late on their deadlines. Avoid this at all costs. Set goals for the day that give you a certain amount of time for yourself after completing a large portion of your daily routine.
Can Being More Efficient Lower Stress?
When you learn how to be more efficient, you get more work done, and you tend to do it better, all things being equal. This makes your boss happy which means you won’t get in trouble for not getting your work complete. You may be given more responsibilities as a result, but as long as you maintain your efficiency, you should be able to add those to your workload.
Efficiency also means getting others to help you out. As you prove your effectiveness and your responsibilities increase, you should be able to get support for having others pitch in.
When you get support from your boss, it will be more difficult for your colleagues to resist your authority. Besides, when you show them how to be more efficient, it will get them on board. They will likely ask others for help when that happens.
This increase in efficiency is going to mean more work gets done, but it will take less time. You will constantly look for ways to do things better, whether it be via automation, or use delegation, etc.
Since you are getting more done with less, your stress levels will decrease, and you will be happier at work.
There will be some managers who don’t see the forest for the trees and the more work you get done, the more they see it as an opportunity to increase your workload.
This can get to the point of adding to your stress levels if they don’t support you. For instance, if they discourage you from delegating these new responsibilities, or they don’t give you the tools you need, this will overwhelm you and add to your stress. If talking it out with your manager won’t help, it may be time to look elsewhere.
The good news is your increased skills in being efficient will help you land a new job quicker.
When you learn how to be more efficient, you have greater control of your workload. Most people find they actually free up time when this happens due to economies of scale.
This free time gives you breathing room, and you won’t be so flustered all the time. You won’t be scrambling to get your work done by the deadlines.
Efficient people tend to have more opportunities available to them, in their current employment situations as well as outside the organization. They will always be in more demand. The great part about this is it won’t add to their stress levels.
How To Make Your Workouts More Efficient
One of the reasons people hate going to the gym is because they have to spend hours there to get any benefits. But, there are ways to make your workouts more efficient, which means you won’t have to spend as much time at the gym.
Do some of your exercises at home. If you have some dumbbells lying around, keep them in your family room or whatever room you spend most of your time. While watching television, stand up and use the dumbbells for one set. Do this on commercial breaks.
You can also do a set of sit-ups while watching television or whatever you do in your spare time. If you can get several sets in while you are home, you will have less to do at the gym. By staggering these exercises, you will be more inclined to do them.
Consider using the services of a personal trainer. These people go through a certification which means they learn the best exercises to do in the shortest time possible.
They will also show you how to do them right and correct you when you are not. The downside to this is they tend to be expensive and require you to work with them on a weekly basis.
You should also consider working out with a friend. It’s much easier to keep after each other than it is to try to motivate yourself. A friend may also help to motivate you into going to the gym when you start losing that drive.
It’s probably a good idea to keep the number of people you work with small. The larger a group is, the more they become distracted with talking too much, etc. This can still happen when you work with one person. If it does, you can try to choose someone else as your workout partner.
Another way to make your workouts more efficient is to come up with an actual plan for your workout. You could choose to hire a personal trainer just to come up with your plan and then do the workouts on your own.
But, there is also plenty of information on the internet that can help you structure your own plan. Try out different plans you may find and write them down. Make sure you are consistent in working your plan and have a way to measure your success.
Make sure that you factor in your diet when you are working out. Many people believe they can eat whatever they want since they are working out. This is false, and you will not get as much out of your workout when you do this.
Want to learn more about increasing efficiency and productivity? Then check out the featured resource below to grab a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
7 Tips To Succeed In Affiliate Marketing
7 Tips To Succeed In Affiliate Marketing
Anyone can find success in affiliate marketing but not every person who joins such a program succeeds.
It’s all about using the available resources to achieve the best possible results.
These are some of the tips that can help beginners become successful affiliates and make some good income from such ventures.
1. Carve Out A Niche
This is a very critical factor in affiliate marketing. It is important that you identify a specific market or segment that you want to work in and then focus on that.
Carving out a niche for yourself means choosing what works best for you and an area that can actually give you good income.
The internet has so many users and the competition for attention is always stiff.
2. Carefully Select Your Merchants
It is important to carry out thorough research before agreeing to work with a specific merchant. This is because those who sell consumers inferior products risk losing future business opportunities.
Even if you played no part in manufacturing the product, as a publisher, customers will still hold you responsible as the person who introduced the product to them.
You should also work with merchants who are reputable and actually pay commissions on time. Can you imagine constantly following up with a company to remit your dues even after you’ve brought it business? It’s utterly frustrating and demoralizes the affiliates.
Work with a brand that holds up its end of the deal without additional pressure.
3. Use Captivating Content
When promoting products on your website, customers first get to interact with other content before being directed to a link and ultimately the merchant’s website.
That means that the content that you create for visitors to your site should be relevant and captivating so that they feel convinced enough to click on the link and eventually buy the product.
First impressions are everything and if you don’t get them right then your marketing attempts will always flop.
4. Keep Track Of Results
Do not just push for sales without analyzing your performance. Tracking your results includes monitoring feedback from consumers and checking the amount of sales made on a monthly basis.
This will help you make a decision on whether you need a new marketing strategy or if it’s time to find another merchant.
You can’t keep on selling a product that people just don’t want to buy.
5. Dedication
Affiliate programs are great avenues for making money but success does not come easy for a publisher.
You must be dedicated and stay focused on building lasting networks and increasing your customer base. Once that is done, the money will start rolling in and realizing success will actually be possible.
The problem with most beginners is that they want to make quick money but are not willing to put in work.
6. Sell Products That You Believe In
It is very easy to sell a product that you’ve actually used yourself or believe in.
You will be making a sales pitch from an informed point of view and that always resonates well with customers.
Don’t be tempted to recommend a product just to get an affiliate commission because if the product is poor, your buyers won’t forget that you recommended it to them.
7. Update Your Site
To increase the visibility of your site by getting high rankings on search engines, you must constantly update the contents using target key words and relevant information. That will then help drive traffic to it.
Content marketing is a continuous process, but you need relevant, up to date content to attract traffic and hopefully buyers.
You can create content yourself, outsource it or curate content from other sources (always attribute the source with a ink to the original).
How Can You Find Affiliate Programs?
I think one of the most fundamental questions that most people interested in becoming affiliates ask is about where to find products to promote.
There are several affiliate programs available but it’s always advisable to choose what would best work for you. That increases the possibility of becoming successful in the venture because it reduces the strain caused by pushing brands that you are not comfortable with.
These are some of the best ways to find a suitable affiliate program for beginners and even for those who are already considered veterans in the sector.
Well Established Affiliate Networks
This would be the most ideal place to start because such networks are usually well organized and trusted.
Well established networks are typically large and have existing relationships with some of the biggest brands. Chances are that if you are searching for an affiliate program to drive the sales of a common brand, you’ll most likely find it being run through established affiliate networks.
Some of these networks include but not limited to:
- Linkshare
- Commission Junction
- Shareasale
- Pepperjam Network
- Google affiliate networks
- JVzoo
- Warriorplus
Such networks are great because they have a well-established working relationship with the big companies that pay good money. It’s a safe place for a beginner to start his or her affiliate marketing career.
They charge the merchants commissions for linking them up with affiliates which means that your pay as a publisher will be relatively reduced to carter for their commission payment.
Familiar Product
You can always start by promoting a brand that you use yourself or are well aware of. It’s always easy to sell what you already believe in as opposed to just trying to convince customers to buy a product that you’ve never even used before.
You can check the sites of your favorite brands and see if they have affiliate programs.
It’s a safe bet and somehow a familiar ground even for beginners.
Independent Affiliate Programs
These are programs that are run by the merchants themselves using affiliate software to take care of the technical aspects of the system.
In some cases, they may outsource program managers to manage the affiliate program as they concentrate on core business functions.
The advantage of independent affiliate networks is that the pay is much better since they don’t use middlemen. However if the program is not properly managed it can be a disaster due to lack of creativity and delayed payments.
They are still the best though especially if you find one that is well managed and pays attention to the needs of the publishers. They are not easy to find but you can use keywords on search engines to find them.
E-Product Networks
These promote products that are downloaded rather than shipped like e-books and other programs.
Some of these networks include Clickbank, e-junkie and Avangate.
Just make sure that the product you are promoting will give customers value for money and it’s not just some way to mint cash out of them through false advertising. Most e-products have this issue.
These are some of the ways in which you can find and join an affiliate program. They are not exhaustive, but they are among some of the best options.
I hope these affiliate marketing tips have helped, and if you want to know more about affiliate marketing check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
Are You Drawing A Line Between Work And Home Life?
Are You Drawing A Line Between Work And Home Life?
These days, it’s almost impossible to separate your working life from your personal life and maintain a healthy work life balance. Work consumes so much of our life that many of us don’t even realize how insidious the far-reaching effects of this situation can be.
It’s common to hang out with colleagues at the bar after work. What do we do there? We talk about work. When we get home, we think about what’s left behind at work.
If the spouse asks how the day went, again we regale them with the gossip and unfairness at the workplace. It just never ends.
It’s no wonder so many people are stressed out and can’t find any respite from the daily work concerns. Let’s look at a few ways you can mitigate this problem and bring about work and life balance in your life.
Try Not To Bring Your Work Home
This applies to 2 areas: your workload and your stress.
If you can’t complete your work while you’re at work, there may be productivity issues that you need to address. Or maybe your workload is just too much to handle.
You’re not being paid to work at home. So, it’s best to leave your work at work, and rest when you’re away from work.
If you’re an entrepreneur who works from home, it’s even more important that you set fixed working hours and rest hours or the two will merge and you’ll find that you just can’t switch off.
When it comes to work stresses, try not to bring back work problems and tell your spouse about them. You’ll just be worked up all over again and might even end up having an argument.
Block off all work commitments, stories, stresses, etc. once you leave work.
Don’t Procrastinate
Procrastination will only stress you out later on when the work starts piling up. It’s the enemy of success and you’ll have thoughts at the back of your mind about your workload piling up.
This will mentally fatigue you and your thoughts will still be about your work even when you’re at home. Do whatever needs to be done in a timely fashion and keep your physical and mental inbox as free as possible.
You do not want to be in a situation where you need to bring work home to complete just because you were putting them till a later date.
Absolutely No Work In The Bedroom
The bedroom is only for sleeping and/or sex. That’s it. Doing paperwork, reading statistics, etc. on the bed is poor sleep hygiene.
Your sleep patterns may be interrupted because your mind can’t tell if your bedroom is a place of rest or for work.
It’s these little things that make a world of difference when it comes to drawing a line between your work and home life.
Say No
If you work a day job, learn to say no when colleagues try to pass off some of their workload on to you. If you’re free, you may help out.
But if you’re already tearing your hair out because of your own impending deadlines, now is not the time to do favors.
You’ll have to set boundaries with colleagues too, if you wish to preserve your sanity.
Maintain A Routine
Routines are great whether you have a day job or work at home. Waking up at a fixed time, starting work at the same time and leaving work at the same time will lend structure to your day.
You don’t want to spend late nights at the office catching up, or frittering away hours on your laptop at home with no real purpose.
Watch your time and energy closely. By demarcating your working life and personal life, you’ll be able to get the best of both worlds without being off-balance.
Are You Running Your Day Or Letting It Run You?
Trying to maintain balance in your life can be an arduous task if you’re not employing the right strategies.
It’s almost impossible to find personal satisfaction in life if you’re constantly playing catch-up with never-ending deadlines, chores, etc.
This situation of being behind the 8-ball daily can take an emotional and mental toll on you, if you let it. The good news is that you can run your day effectively by adopting a few tips and applying them daily.
Plan Your Day The Night Before
You absolutely MUST have a plan. It doesn’t matter if you have a day job or you’re working from home. A plan is crucial… and it’s even more important if you’re self-employed.
Not having a plan is akin to sitting down at a restaurant and discovering there’s no menu. What will you do? What will you order? It’s just confusion.
Like Dale Carnegie said, “An hour of planning will save you 10 hours of doing.”
If you have a day job, there’s usually some structure to it. But entrepreneurs or freelancers who call their own shots will need to create their own schedule and structure in their lives.
And it all starts by planning tomorrow today. Decide what tasks need to be done. Usually, it’s best to list 3 tasks that MUST be focused on FIRST. These are usually the most urgent/important tasks and need your full attention.
Get them done ASAP. Everything else can come after that.
Write down your plan on paper or you could have it on your computer… and stick to the plan.
Will You Work Intermittently Or At One Go?
If you have a day job, then it’s understood that you’re stuck at your desk from the time you start work till you clock off. However, if you work from home, you have more freedom to structure your workday.
There’s no right or wrong answer here because we’re all different. What you need to do is decide if you’ll work for 2 hours or so and take a 2-hour break to do your household chores… and return later to work again for another 2-hour stretch.
While the duration you choose to work doesn’t matter, the way you choose to do it matters. If you’re working in intermittent blocks, you’ll need to plan your schedule carefully. When will your working hours be and when will you take breaks?
Write it all down so that you can stick to the plan. Do NOT approach this haphazardly or else time will slip through your fingers and you won’t know where the day went.
Are You Doing Too Much?
When planning your day, try not to take on more than you can handle. List the 3 of the most important tasks, 3 less important tasks and 3 maintenance tasks.
So, you only have about 9 tasks for the day. Once you complete the most important tasks, you can spend the remaining working hours on the less important tasks which could be clearing emails and so on.
The maintenance tasks could be household chores such as cooking or laundry. The truth of the matter is that you’ll never have enough time to do ALL that you want to do.
So, it’s best to focus on what truly matters.
Are You Making Time For Yourself?
Do make time for yourself to relax and have fun. Don’t spend 14 hours a day working just to reach a lofty goal in future. You just may end up sacrificing your happiness, social life, marriage, etc. only to discover that once you reach your goal, all you’ll have is your goal and nothing else.
Life is about balance and living in the now. So, take time to enjoy it and don’t be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
Apply these tips and take control of your day. It can be done if you plan it well and plan it in advance.
“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”
– Alexander Graham Bell
Whatever you want in life will require discipline to achieve and maintaining a healthy work life balance is a small part of that. And if you want to know more about harnessing the power of self-discipline, then check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 🙂
