When starting a new blog, it’s normal to have questions about what you should be working on and how you should be doing it.
One of the main questions people have is “how many hours should I be working on my blog?”
I’m sure you’ve heard stories from successful bloggers saying they worked hours upon hours day and night to get to where they are today.
In all honesty, those stories can be a little discouraging and intimidating. We all want to succeed, but what if we don’t have multiple hours a day to blog? Do you really have to work crazy long hours to become a successful blogger?
The answer is NO!
So, how long should you work on your blog per week? It’s recommend to work on your blog for a minimum of 5 hours per week. 5 Hours should be enough time to publish at least one new blog post per week from start to finish. Those 5 hours should include the research you need to do to write your post, the actual writing, formatting and proofreading.
Work smart when you don’t have much time
If you really want to be a blogger, don’t let having a small amount of time to work stop you from pursuing your goals.
You just have to work smart.
The #1 thing you should be working on is getting good quality blog posts up on your blog, so avoid working on things that won’t help you with publishing blog posts.
This includes editing your theme, posting on your blog’s social media accounts or any other tasks that have nothing to do with writing blog posts.
Of course, you will need to work on things other than writing blog posts eventually. But the key point here is that it doesn’t matter how pretty your theme is or how many people visit your blog if you don’t have any blog posts published!
Be efficient with your work time
How you organize your work time will depend on how much time you can spend on your blog.
As an example, let’s say you have 1 hour a day, 5 days a week. Here’s how you might spend these 5 hours:
- Hour 1: Plan and research your blog post idea
- Hour 2: Create your blog post outline
- Hour 3 + 4: Write your blog post
- Hour 5: Proofread, final edits and publish
Keep in mind that this plan may not always work. Depending on the type of blog post you’re writing, you may finish it in less than 5 hours. Or you may need a couple more hours if you’re writing something very in-depth.
But you get the idea. Figure out how much time you can set aside to work on your blog and plan the work you’ll be doing accordingly.
When you’re first starting out, I would recommend trying to publish 30-60 blog posts. If you already have enough blog posts, you can start splitting your time between other tasks such as promoting your blog or working on your social media accounts.
You can create a successful blog with limited hours
It may take longer to start getting traffic to your blog and making money if you only have so many hours a week to work, but you WILL get there as long as you’re determined. Stay focused and work smart!
Try to work blogging into your daily schedule. Sometimes, waking up an hour earlier or giving up some free time on the weekends to blog is what you need to do.
Just don’t get discouraged if you’re a little tight on time. I know of many bloggers who have turned their blogs into lucrative side gigs or even full time jobs by blogging just a few hours a week. It’s entirely possible!
If you need help getting your blog posts published faster, check out my post on how to write blog posts quickly.