So, this week has been a bit chaotic, but not nearly as bad as normal. I guess I can call that a win. Even though I still have a lot on my plate, it's not as difficult to manage lately. Part of that is how I've shifted how I view everything. Sure, I would love for all my projects to pan out like I want. But it's not worth the sheer amount of stress I've been going through recently.
This doesn't mean I'm totally giving up. It means that I am refocusing my efforts and learning to relax more.
Second Attempt at Writing This Post
This is the second time I've had to write this post. About a half-hour in, Buy Me a Coffee decided to crash, which cause everything I wrote to disappear like a fart in the wind.
I guess that's what happens when you use web-based products. You're at the mercy of a website in the hopes that it doesn't suddenly decide to crash. It's a wonderful world we live in today.
When Older Blog Posts Get a Boost of Traffic
Earlier this week, I had two blogs that had an instant boost of traffic. After doing some research, I found that it was from organic search results. This means the boost of traffic wasn't from various bots for a change.
As a result, I made a bit more money in AdSense alone. Not to mention that I may have attracted a few more followers to the websites.
This is a prime example of why you want to keep older posts updated. Not only does Google relish fresh and updated content during search results, but those older posts can attract a new audience. Especially if you keep the information as current as possible.
I've seen blog posts for clients increase in traffic by more than 8,000% simply because we added about 300 words worth of information and fixed up the headings. It took about 20 minutes in total and resulted in a massive influx of visitors.
Next Episode of Despair Comes Out Tomorrow
I know I keep saying this, but the next episode of Despair comes out tomorrow at around 6 pm Mountain Time. I have a block of time specifically for recording and uploading today after I finish my client work.
The plan is to get it back on a regular schedule, where I write the episode on Mondays, we edit and spruce it up, then I record and upload it on Wednesdays. Of course, this depends on whether I have a lot of client work to do. Sometimes, the recordings might be on a Thursday.
This is one of the reasons why I felt Saturdays were good for releasing each episode of the audiobook. That way, I have the entire week to work on the upload regardless of what's going on.
Is the Dust Starting to Settle a Bit?
Although the last couple of weeks has been a major pain, it looks like things are starting to normalize...somewhat. Perhaps it's the fact that I've been able to streamline quite a bit of the process as of late. That's what happens when clients keep tossing work your way while you're juggling other projects. It's all about creating balance so you can get everything done.
Don't get me wrong, I still have an awful lot on my plate. But it's not making me feel overwhelmed like it did a week ago.
Perseverance is vital when you're working from home as a freelance writer. Not everything is going to line up like you'd hope or as some "experts" will lead you to believe. In my case, it's been a chaotic ride since I started in 2012.
Still, the way you manage your daily activities will greatly influence what you're doing tomorrow. Focus more on the here and now. What can you do today that puts you that much closer to your goals?
Being OK with Not Getting it All Done
One of the biggest things I've learned as of late is to be OK with not getting everything done. Especially when you consider the sheer amount of stuff I try to do throughout any given week.
Before, the stress of not getting everything done was causing me several issues, both physically and mentally.
One of my biggest issues is feeling terrible when I don't get something done. I care deeply for my audience and visitors. So, if I am missing something I wanted to put out to help someone, I feel like I'm letting everyone down.
Keep in mind the reason I built most of my sites and channels is to help others in their various journeys. Well, aside from ColoradoPlays.com. I built that website to help donate to Extra Life and other gaming charities. But for the most part, I focus more on trying to help people more than anything.
So, changing the way I view things has decreased my stress levels by quite a bit.
Goals for Next Week:
OK, so, what are the goals for next week? Well, I still need to work on polishing up my time management skills. Instead of focusing on the number of words I write in a day, I'll focus intently on breaking some personal time records.
As I keep track of everything I do in my spreadsheet, I know exactly how much time I spend on any given project. The goal is to maximize that time, but not to the point of burning myself out.
The end result should be an increase of the number of words I write anyway. Especially considering most of the projects I want to do revolve around either blogging or finishing my book.
What are you planning on doing next week?