Who else wants to cut their blogging time in half?

Blogging, when you commit to doing it steadily, can feel like a blessing or a burden. You can look forward to blog writing as a time to play in a creative space and find new ways to connect with your audience. Or you can anticipate it with the kind of dread you experience when you're about to undergo invasive medical testing.

What if blogging didn't have to be a chore? What if you could create posts in less time and get more enjoyment from the process?

Over the past six months or so, I've been paying close attention to my own blogging process, and I've now cut in half the amount of time it once took me to craft a post.

And guess what? When blogging takes up less space in my calendar, it also adds less weight to the list of daily pressures. In fact, it moves from the List of Stress-Inducing Tasks to the List of Stress-Relievers.

Your blog shouldn’t be your stress space. It should be your maker space. It should be a creative zone where you:

• Explore the ideas that drive you
• Examine familiar issues with fresh eyes
• Delve into research that intrigues you
• Reflect on and share lessons you’ve learned
• Reconnect with the passions that fuel you and your business
• Find new ways to experience and express empathy for your customers

Think of each blog article as a postcard you’re sending from the new place where you have arrived in your thinking and in your business. Blogging gives you the opportunity to share your journey with your audience so you build a dynamic, ever-evolving relationship with them.

Business, we know, is all about growth. If your business isn’t developing, it’s stagnating and headed for decline. A simple but powerful way to keep yourself in growth mode is to intentionally use your blog as a stretch zone. With discipline, you can use blogging to improve your ability to focus and to generate new ideas, which are truly the lifeblood of any business.

In the infographic below, you’ll find a few tips to help you cut down the amount of time you spend blogging and turn it into an energizing activity, something you can look forward to with enthusiasm and curiosity.