Yesterday I wrote how we often marry our blogs, by becoming consumed with blogging.

Today, I will share time saving tips I use on a daily basis which streamline my blogging activities..

Today’s Lesson

1) Install a good spam blocker. I use Akismet, however, there are others available which will alleviate wasting time deleting spam comments.

2) With WordPress, use the post timestamp. Write when you are feeling creative, and use the post timestamp to schedule the publishing times.

3) If you have a particular aspect of your blog you want to track, check to see if there is a plugin available to do the job. A good plugin can save tons of time.

4) Check statistics no more than once a day. Less frequently is better. Stat checking can put you on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, thus affecting your creativity.

Photo Credit fdecomite’s photos

5) Set a realistic blogging schedule based on your daily work load/home life. If need be, use a timer.

6) Subscribe to you favorite blogs via an RSS feed. Catch up on them all at once. I use Google Feed Reader and it works well for me.

7) Refrain from Stumbling or Digging posts if you are under a time crunch. Social networking can become very time consuming

8.) With WordPress, take time to watch or read tutorials. There is a great list of them published on Business Blogging 101. Understanding your blogging platform, along with all of the available shortcuts will save you many hours of frustration.

9) Set a specific time to check your comments. Use that time to answer new arrivals.

10) Leaving comments on other blogs is important, however, do not feel obligated to comment on each post. Your favorite bloggers know you have a life too, and don’t expect daily comments.

11) When researching for posts, use your bookmarking feature to save a page you may link to in the future. I often use the RSS feed for this purpose, although that’s not what it’s intended for.

12) If you are signed up for Google AdSense, use the AdSense Notifier, available with Firefox. Your earnings will show on your task bar, thus eliminating the need to check your AdSense account.

13) Use your center click (on your mouse) to open a web page in a new window. I like using the “tab” feature Firefox offers, a center click will open new tabs at the top of your screen.

14) Use a split browser to grab links. I use the one that is available with Firefox. It takes a little practice, but is a real time saver.

15) Use the Firefox split browser when answering comments. Open your blog on both halves, answering comments on one half, and use the other half to view each comment. This saves time from continually scrolling up and down the page

Today’s Assignment

What time saving techniques do you use when blogging?

Care to share?