Yesterday I set some goals for the year, one of them being to be more consistent and more frequent with my blogging. Today I want to flesh that out a little bit more according to the “SMART” principles outlined with my task in the 10 days to a better blog workshop.
John recommends using the “SMART” rubric when setting out our goals for the blog. SMART consists of:
- Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
- Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
- Assignable – specify who will do it.
- Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
- Time-related – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.
Here are my thoughts (and actions) on how to achieve my goal of being more consistent and frequent.
Specifi c
I’ve targeted two specific areas for improvement. I want to blog more. Granted a larger volume is a relatively simple metric, but it’s there. I want to blog more consistently too. This one will take a little more dedication. I had 30 blog posts last year (the most so far) but they were very clumped in nature. I had a few months where there was nothing at all! So to be specific I want to have 2 blog posts each week. This will effectively double my blogging from last year, and have it in a pattern. More posts will be icing on the cake, so I won’t try to pull back from a hot streak.
Measurab le
Oops, I jumped the gun a little bit in the last section, but from a statistics perspective, I’ll be able to see 60 posts by the end of the year and 2 each week in my stats page. Pretty simple.
Assignabl e
I assign this task to me! [haha, very funny], more specifically, the Tuesday and Thursday me _[wait, are you implying some kind of split personality/universe thing… focus now…]. _This will allow for some good pacing and some time to form some initial idea over the weekend. Shameless plug _[and mental note]_, I can start drafting thoughts in Desk and then finish them up on one of those days.
Realisti c
I admire those that can blog daily. That’s just not me, at least right now. I’m quite excited [and a little proud of myself] that I’ve blogged for 8 days straight, even through my largely disconnected weekends, but I recognize that doing so isn’t realistic for me through the rest of this year. With my personal project to finish and other things to focus on, I think twice a week will be a great start, and still take a somewhat big step from my previous habits.
Time-Relate d
_[See! There’s that parallel universe thing] _So 5 minute ago me has already done the time-related tasks for me. I guess we’re all on board with this. Tuesday/Thursday blogging from here until the end of the year it is!
This was good. I’m excited. I have a plan of attack now that makes sense to me and isn’t a huge obstacle. Time to try this out with my other goals.