As a content marketer, do you find yourself wondering why you can’t seem to finish everything you have to do? Try as you might to be productive and efficient, there’s just a lot of things about content marketing that’s tedious and time-consuming. Content marketing is not just about strategizing and creativity, there’s also a lot of mundane little things involved that tends to get put on the backburner; and ignoring them means things will ultimately pile up.

I was a rookie once too. So, I know exactly just how these things can easily get out of hand. That said, here are some time-saving tips that I’ve learned through the years:

1. Always make a plan—don’t simply jump into content creation 

This goes for every stage of the content creation process. Before you publish your articles on your blog, make sure you have a calendar prepared. Before you start drafting an article, you better prepare an outline. Before you start posting on social media, map out a schedule. 

The point is, you want to invest some time and effort at the beginning of the content marketing process to make sure that your efforts are not wasted. Without a plan for these key components of the content marketing process, you might end up having to do many revisions or even re-do your work from scratch.

2. Write it down—use to-do lists

Sometimes the simplest solution is the most effective one. Case in point, to-do lists. Writing everything that you have to do, no matter how little, can help boost your productivity significantly. It gives you a visual rundown of all your tasks and lets you see what you have to work on.

Keep in mind though, set realistic goals for yourself. If you try two week’s worth of backlog in a single day, you’ll end up feeling overwhelmed and won’t get anything done anyway. My advice? Pick two or three main tasks to accomplish and focus on them so you can slowly but surely tick off items on your list.

3. Leverage on your strengths—work when you’re most alert and creative

You’re the best judge of what you can and cannot do. If you’re a morning person for example, then take advantage of that. Tackle major tasks when you start your day and work down to the little things on your list as the day progresses. If you work best with a team, team up with a colleague to keep yourself motivated.

4. Don’t overwhelm yourself—do things one at a time 

Multitasking is usually a celebrated skill. But even science says that trying to do everything at the same time is just distracting and counterintuitive to what you really want to do. It can drain you, leave you feeling swamped and demotivated. With that in mind, focus on accomplishing things one at a time. This allows you to focus more and concentrate on the task at hand, ensuring better accuracy in your work.

Give these tips a try and let me know how well they work for you. If you feel like you still need more help, we might be able to do something about that. Get in touch with me at Leadspanda and we’d be happy to discuss what we can do for you.