Deadlines can help or hinder your blogging, but your mindset makes the difference. In fact, a supportive attitude will help you meet your goal of publishing posts on a schedule every time and become a more effective blogger in the process.
As a Certified High Performance Coach, I talk about mindset often. I’ve written several posts about mindset here on this blog as well.
The reason is simple: mindset makes a difference. In fact, mindset may be the largest indicator of your ability to reach your blogging goals. As I write this post, thousands of bloggers are trying to blog books or publish posts consistently. To do that, they need a supportive mindset.
The following four positive mindsets will help you meet just about any writing or blogging deadline.
Deadlines are You Friends
I often say, “Deadlines are my friends.” I have a degree in magazine journalism, but I learned early—in high school when I wrote for the local newspaper—that a deadline pushes me to complete a writing project. And it helps me do so more quickly and effectively than I might without a deadline.
Some bloggers find deadlines overwhelming, which is why they publish posts sporadically rather than consistently. Many of my clients tell me deadlines cause them to come down with a bad case of blogger’s block. For others, however, a deadline is just the push they need to excel.
I believe deadlines can be seen as challenges—no different from the Write Nonfiction in November Challenge or National Novel Writing Month, for instance. And challenges can be fun and exciting because they help us step into our best writing and blogging selves. In fact, we have a human drive for challenge.
When you are challenged not only to complete a project but to do it by a specific date, urgency and necessity help you focus. That’s when you write effectively and up your level of blogging productivity. So, change your mindset about deadlines and see them as your friends.
The Rule of 40%
The Navy seals have something they call the “Rule of 40%.” They believe that you’ve actually only given 40% of what is possible for you to give to the task at hand when you are ready to quit. That means that at that moment when you believe you’ve run out of gas, your tank is still 60% full.
Apply that to your blogging activities. When you feel as if you’re too tired to continue writing a post, remind yourself that you’ve got 60% still available to help you get to the point when you can hit “publish.” You’ve got more energy, focus, ideas, and skill left to meet your blogging goal.
Remember the Rule of 40% when you are tempted to quit before meeting your deadline or completing a post and publishing it on schedule. It will help you dig within to find the strength to continue.
Focus on the 20%
When you have a blog deadline looming, it’s easy to focus on what isn’t working or what you have not done. Doing so will only discourage you, though. Instead, focus on what is working and what you have accomplished.
Put the Pareto Principle to use. The Pareto principle states that roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of the causes more often than not. Often called the 80/20 Rule, the basic idea is that if you focus on the 20% that is working, you will have a higher degree of success.
So, when you are trying to meet a blog deadline, hone in on the actions that achieve positive results. If you are getting up four days per week and writing posts for an hour, and you find yourself productive in that time, then do more of that! Increase the amount of time or the number of days you write.
And definitely don’t focus on the fact that you’ve only written 500 words and need at least 300 more to complete your post and meet optimal SEO length. Focus on writing the remaining portion.
What helped you write the first 500 words? That’s the 20% you need to replicate—and increase.
Anything is Possible
The worst thing you can do when trying to meet a blog deadline is to allow yourself to focus on your belief that you cannot achieve your goal. Too often, we start strong and, as the deadline approaches, peter out because our minds say, “You can’t do it.” Or they say, “It’s okay if you don’t finish on time,” “You never meet writing deadlines, so why bother this time?” or “You’ll never meet the challenge, so why continue trying?”
These thoughts cause you to give up. Even if your history has proven some of them right, your future does not need to do so. You can choose your thoughts, so choose the ones that serve you.
Decide that anything is 100% possible 100% of the time. If you believe that, you can do anything you set your mind to doing. That means you can meet a blog deadline.
If your negative chatter gets loud, repeat “anything is possible” repeatedly. Then sit down and write!
Deadlines are an Opportunity to Level Up
Don’t wait to change your mindset. Develop the “write mindset” before taking on a challenge or finding yourself struggling to meet a blog deadline. That way, you’ll be ready.
Give these four mindsets a try:
- Deadlines are my friend
- My tank is still 60% full
- Do more of the 20% that’s working
- Anything is possible
See any blogging deadline as an opportunity to perform at your highest level. Accomplish your goals with a mindset that helps you succeed no matter what the writing or blogging project or the amount of time you have to complete it.
Do you have a mindset strategy that helps you meet your blogging deadlines? Tell me in a comment below. And please share this post on social media with other bloggers.
If you would like to learn more about blogging (or writing) books, blogging, publishing, and mindset for writers and bloggers, click here.
Photo courtesy of Jack Moreh
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