A woman of emails

Maybe the abundance of snow played a little roll, perhaps it was that busy days of the holiday season caught up with me on the health front (which they did – big time!), or it might have been the million and one other things - those various elements that make up life and are often points of worry for many of us - but last week was a bit of "one of those weeks" for me.

Nothing epically bad, thank the universe, but certainly enough to pull my mood down and result in rather little productivity, compared to how I'd (admittedly, very optimistically) imagined the first few days of the year kicking off. There was a strong juxtaposition between the energy and excitement that raced through mind regarding this year and how my body actually felt, and it for each minor step I took forward, I rolled - proverbially, of course - down a mountain.

I have not come even remotely close yet to winning the battle - not just in theory, but in actual practise - of owning my own time, and I know that fact also contributed in part to my mood and mindset as 2015 came barreling through the door.

For years now I've noticed that both the start of the week and the start of each new month bring with their arrival, a higher than usual level of emails for me (which make senses, as folks are back at their desks and/or feeling like they want to start things off on a very productive note). The beginning of this year seemed to magnify that exponentially and in the first few days of 2015 alone, I replied to over 300 emails (the actual number I received and will eventually reply to was/is far higher still), as well as a host of Facebook and Instagram private messages.

Running, humbly, a successful and popular vintage blog, I've been getting scores of emails for years now, most of which are questions from readers or the general public who find my blog (a good many of which are folks seeking information on vintage items they’ve acquired), offers or inquires from companies who want to work together, back and forths between blog sponsors, folks wanting to interview me, and of course those from friends, acquaintances, and family members.

This latter group however makes ups the smallest percentage of my email pie (yet are usually my very favourite). I am not alone in the high volume of emails I receive by any means and I know that there are people out there in countless fields, who receive a hundred times more email than I get in a given week. Still, when one is already blogging and running an Etsy shop full-time, there are only so many hours in the day and it can quickly feel like you've buried under and avalanche of emails.



{Emails, the 21st century version of the telephone call in many ways, arriving by the boatload to inboxes everywhere each day - mine very much included! Image source.}


In centuries past it was common to call men (and women, though the term was traditionally applied more to chaps) who were known for being smart folks that were prolific letter writers, diarists, scholars, and/or authors "men of letters". I've always adored this title which derives from the French term "belletrist" and was historically first used to differentiate between someone who was literate or illiterate, though quickly came to be associated simply more with those who were seen as being quite intellectual.

In the midst of writing some of those many email replies last week, it struck me that no shortage of us have become men and women of letters in our own right as bloggers and, yes, even microbloggers. Our worlds are filled with words of the digital type, but still they are words all the same that spring from our minds and fingertips and fill our waking hours. Thus we have become the men and women of emails and blogs. Twenty-first century intellectuals who love our work, but do readily admit that it can swallow us whole sometimes - if we let it.

I want to clarify that I am not bemoaning my bustling inbox. I am grateful for the opportunities and connections that my blog affords me, but I am also acutely aware of the finite amount of time we all have and how short the days can seem if you need, or opt, to devote several hours a day to replying to emails, be they professional, personal or both (naturally, personal ones are usually lovely and rarely feel like "work" in the slightest).

There I sat, typing and hopping like a bee swirling around from bloom to bloom in a spring garden, and knowing that for each message I sent, at least two more would arrive to take its place. Inbox zero is an impossibility for many of us these days and while steps can be taken to help manage your email workflow and assist to some degree when it comes to the feeling that you never get ahead on that front, for me personally the realization came that the best approach would probably be to devote one or two days (or chunks of days) solely to replying to emails each week.

I will continue to check my inbox multiple times a day as I typically do and address any message that are truly pressing, important or of a highly time sensitive nature right away. However, I can no longer sit down to do just that and unintentionally end up there for, say, seven hours, when I had indented to use that time to write blog posts, take photos for my shop, pen Etsy listings, or any of the myriad other things that fill my work days.

In fact, though it is an approach I've taken to a degree for quite some time now, I've firmly decided that I need to really, really devote whole days to specific tasks (like those just mentioned) and not flit from activity to activity. I find that doing so is a perfect recipe for not actually being anywhere near as productive as I'd ideally like on those fabulous days when my health allows me to even be productive at all.

I have decided - and of course this will always be an area with a great deal of flexibility - that I will break down my week, in an ideal world (aka, this assumes that my health is cooperating and that life isn't throwing more curveballs my way than there are minutes in an hour), as follows:


-1 to 2 days a week, write blog posts (at least one, but ideally two, posts on each of these days). This will also include editing photos for outfit posts, gathering images for posts, doing post related research, etc - basically anything related to posting here on my blog.

-1 to 2 days a week, take photos for my Etsy shop, then sort (select) and do any minor editing needed to those photos.

-1 to 2 days a week, list new items in my Etsy shop.

-1 day a week where I focus primarily on replying to emails, FB private messages and the like. If the amount of time needed for this is less than a full day, it can be combined with one of the activates mentioned above.

-Devote at least one day a week to not working at all. Even lifelong workaholics like me need time off. It's incredibly important to our health (including one's mental health), stress levels, productivity, and happiness that we distance ourselves from our jobs. Working from home, as I do, this can be all the more tricky, but it something I truly must accomplish this year and hopefully for all those that follow, too.



{Being a full-time blogger and Etsy shop owner, just like any job, takes work, stamina, perseverance, and (ideally!) a love of what you're doing. It involves super long hours, no shortage of elbow grease, the ability to change your course of action when needed, and a massive amount of drive. I cherish the career that I have and count it amongst my blessings every day, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a massive amount of work that can wear me down something fierce at times. My hope is that the schedule above will help me be more productive and less tired/stressed/worried/etc when comes to completing all the jobs I want to get done in a given week. 1940s female war worker image source.}


Of course, amongst these things I will do others like reply to blog comments, visit other people's blogs/stay at least quasi on top of the new posts in my feed reader, do outfit shoots with Tony, brainstorm ideas for future posts, be present on social media, source items for my shop, ship out Etsy orders, and plenty of other activities that fall under the header of work for me, but as those things do not generally call for whole days unto themselves, they're easier to fit in around other larger jobs.

Again, and I can't possibly stress this enough, this workflow schedule assumes that the circumstances of my life accommodate such and that everything is running like clockwork. Frequently, it will not, and I fully understand and accept this. However, just having this ideal sort of workweek in place helps me to feel less anxiety, worry and stress about how I spend each day and thus leads to greater productivity levels.

You may have noticed that I haven't assigned specific days of the week (say for example, Wednesdays for replying to emails) to each of these jobs. That is 100% intentional, because I know that they'll vary from week-to-week, what my medical situation is like on a given day (some days for example, I may feel well enough to write posts in bed, but not to stand up and take listing photos), the weather (say for outfit photos), and scores of other circumstance. It matters far less what day of the week such things happen on and more that they do indeed transpire.

Another reason why I didn't partner jobs with dates is that most weeks, I spend several hours on Tuesday and Wednesday doing work that absolutely must be done, no questions about it, for some of the other websites (such as Any New Books) that Tony and I run. Due to the nature of when the new content for such sites is posted, it has to be done on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I only get fragments of those days to work on things pertaining to world of Chronically Vintage.

I share these inner workings of my mind (and schedule) with you all here today in the hopes that taking such an approach, if you're not already doing so, may be of substantial assistance to you and your own productivity as well.

Life and work are a perpetual balance and no one can get it right all the time, but we can certainly take a moment to step back and intentionally see if what we're currently doing is right for us in the here and now and try to adjust things if they're not.

That's my plan and goal. With dedicated task days in place, I feel a renewed since of love for both my blog and shop (not that I didn't adore them both before, I did so dearly, of course!), less anxiety/stress, and like I'm better able to tackle the world - or at least my inbox, blog and Etsy shop one exciting day at time.

I didn't win, blogging in the moment can be a very good thing, and my second anniversary on Instagram

Mixed bag much? :)

To be honest, I didn't think I'd be penning a post towards the end of this very busy week, but I have a plethora of thoughts swirling around in my head like snowflakes lately (which – as a side note - have been rather MIA around these parts this Christmas) and wanted to get them down on virtual paper before the the year wrapped up.

For starters, I hope with all my heart that you each had a truly stellar, joyful start of your holiday season, including Christmas, if you observe it. Ours was thoroughly lovely and is by no means over. My family loves to keep the festivities going strong everyday until early January, still there's still lots of holiday meals, attire, music, get-togethers, and other delightful elements of the season to enjoy for a few days more.

As well, neither Tony or I have had our respective Vintage Secret Santa gifts arrive yet, so we have that to look forward to and as a means to keep the merriment of the season going strong a while longer, too. So many of you already have, and are continuing to, receive(d) your immensely lovely VSS gifts and I've truly adored seeing all the photos and blog posts you've been sharing about them lately. Thank you so much for doing so! (I'll be posting a big wrap up about this exciting VSS experience towards the end of January, once even more folks have received their presents.)





At the beginning of this month, I did something I've never done before and asked you to vote for me in the Unique Topic category of The Blogger's Lounge's 2014 Blogger of the Year Awards. Many of my awesome blog readers, Facebook fans, and Twitter followers did just that, and thanks to your awesome support, I'm delighted to say that while I didn't win in that category, I did come in second place (also known as “Highly Commended”). ‘

Chronically Vintage took the silver medal, so to speak, behind a thoroughly charming blog called Traveling Cats, which as the name implies is all about cats that the author (and I believe others as well) encounters on her (and their) travels around the world. Let's face it, on the internet, it's pretty darn hard to win out over cats and I'm not upset in the slightest that CV didn't take top place with such stiff – and adorable – competition. :D It was a massive honour to be nominated and very touching to receive so many votes from all of you. Thank you again everyone who gave my blog a fighting chance in this fun online award.

Throughout the course of my blog's life, I've often looked at the number of posts that I had prewritten in terms of a feast or famine sort of situation. It seemed I either had the bulk of my entries for a month or two ready to go, or was feverishly penning in the (last) moment.

From nearly the get-go I've utilized a blogging schedule and plan to always do so, but in the midst of this exceedingly busy year, where a substantial amount of my focus has been on my Etsy shop - as I know it will continue to be in 2015 and likely beyond, I began to find that - much like this very post itself - I was writing a lot more in either in the moment or at least "in the week" (that is to say, for example, penning a post on Monday that would go live on the Thursday of that same week).



{Life changes and so too can the the approach to blog writing that one takes. Never be afraid to mix things up, try to methods, use a schedule and/or list of ideas, and keep things fluid. One of the biggest keys to blogging success is to continually adapt and keep bettering your approach to this 21st century digital craft. Image source.}


As this is how many bloggers across the world operate, I'm certainly not hitting upon something novel, unique or perhaps even all that noteworthy here in the slightest, and yet for someone like me who generally feels a great degree of serenity and far less stress that more I have planned out and ready to go in advance, reverting in part to this way of operating could have been a potential midfield of anxiety and problems, and yet...

For the most part, it hasn't been at all. I still have try to write some of my posts in advance and very much continue to operate on a schedule of topics (something that I will likely never stop doing), but for most of 2014, I wrote considerably more in the moment/week/two weeks in advance enjoyed it a great deal. I found it let me talk about recent happenings all the more and to also quickly alter my blogging plans, if needed, to accommodate news, updates, on the fly reviews, and sometimes even to ditch ideas for posts that had seemed good when I conceived them, but which weren't really relevant any more when it came time to actually pen them.

As we head into 2015 in a matter of days, I plan to keep adhering to my blogging schedule, but to write a lot of my posts nearer to when they actually appear here. Much to the contrary of how I might have thought this would make me feel, I find it almost liberating and for the most part, enjoy it a lot. It works well for my current work schedule, lifestyle, and demands on my time, so it's a win-win all around at present. In the future I may revert to pre-writing and scheduling larger volumes of posts or I may write them all "in the moment", but again, for now, this is working so I'm more than content to stick with it.

Wayyyy back in 2012 (I know, that really isn't that long ago, but still :D), Tony gave me my first ever iPhone for Christmas, which I'm still using and am happy to say is holding up wonderfully. I'd wanted, no word of a lie, an iPhone for two primary reasons, both of which go hand-in-hand. Its great camera phone technology and the ability to join Instagram, which I did as soon I got my phone, posting my first ever Instagram photo on Boxing Day 2014 - which means that yesterday was my second anniversary of being on Instagram.



{A selection of some of my favourite Instagram snaps from 2014, brimming - as my photos tend to - with vintage, majestic landscapes, cute critters, and assorted images from our travels around Western Canada.}


Though I haven't had much time or been in good enough health to Instagram (in the case of the latter, to go out and take snaps of things to share there) very often in the past couple of months, I do hope to be more active on that fabulous site again in the new year.

Knowing my life and health as a I do, I won't make any grand plans like trying to post a new photo every day, but I will be aiming to share snaps more frequently and to expand further on the array of things that I cover there. I truly love Instragram (it is topped only by Pinterest as my favourite social media site ever) and adore connecting with so many of you there, my dear friends!

In the past two years, I've shared around 485 images and amassed over 2,500 followers, many of whom I follow back, as I so adore seeing (and liking!) the awesome, inspiring, cute, informative, clever, beautiful, and otherwise flat out cool things that you all share there, too. If we're not following one another, please feel free to leave your Instagram account in the comments before so that we can start doing so pronto!

There is just five short days left in this year and I hope that each one is even more enjoyable and fun filled than the last for each of you. Happiest ongoing holiday season wishes, everyone – and thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for another marvelous year spent together online!

11 questions and answers about my life as a blogger

Back when this year was still in its infancy, I wrote two detailed post on the topic of blogging (30 tips that will help you succeed as a new blogger & 10 harsh truths that will make you a better blogger, respectively), which based on the number of page views they received have proven to not only be some of the most popular of this year, but of all time here on Chronically Vintage.

As 2014 winds down, I thought it would be fun to shine the spotlight on the act of blogging again. However, in this case we’ll be chatting about the history of my blog itself and some of the elements that go into running it via a series of eleven questions that I discovered on my friend Bonita's absolutely lovely blog, Lavender & Twill, also back in January of this year.






1. When did you first start blogging and why? Chronically Vintage sprang to life on April 17, 2009. As I've recounted from time-to-time in various posts and interviews over the years, the main reason behind why I started my blog was because I needed a creative outlet in my life that wasn't focused on my health, which had been going through an especially hellish period at the time.

The name of my blog, Chronically Vintage, stems from the fact that I didn't want to simply be seen/defined as being chronically ill (or thinking of myself as such, for that matter), but rather for the focus in my world to be on something significantly more positive, my lifelong passion for vintage. I'd always loved writing and had already run some other (non-vintage related) websites and blogs before then, so one evening in April when I was feeling rather rough on the health front, I decided to start this site and doing so has turned out to be one of the best and most life changing decisions I've ever made.



{From the very earliest days, I've had a clear vision for my blog and desire to see it flourish. I'm happy to put in the long hours and hard work required to make that happen and couldn't imagine my life without vintage blogging in it at this point. Image source.}



2. Have you had any past online presence? Oh, let me count the ways... :D I have, yes, and each was very important to me unto itself at the time, but I haven't been involved with most of them for a few years now. The most substantial would be that from 2004 to 2014, I ran a peer-to-peer website that I founded for folks who shared one of my chronic illnesses (interstitial cystitis/PBS). I made the difficult choice to shut it down after it was hacked again (by completely random cyber hackers from Eastern Europe), because rebuilding it was not something I could work into my life and work schedule at that point in time. I wrote hundreds of articles and recipes for that site, which was an incredibly important part of my early years battling multiple chronic illnesses and it will always hold a deeply special place in my heart.


3. When did you become serious about your blog? I've never been the type to do things halfway, so I'd honestly say that I was serious about my blog from the very first post onward. Because I was coming from a website and professional freelance/ghost writing background, I hit the ground running, often penning lengthy, informative, highly researched posts and burning the candle at both ends to get my blog off the ground and well established in the vintage community early on.


4. What was your first blog post? It was called First Day of Life and was a simple, heartfelt introductory post (the image from which I would reuse in 2013 to celebrate my blog's 4th birthday).


5. What have been your biggest challenges blogging? From day one, my biggest challenge has been keeping my blog afloat in the face of life with more than a dozen different severe, complex chronic illnesses. Though there have been times (chiefly in 2010 and '11), when I thought I might be forced to throw in the towel, but thankfully, I held on and though that possibility is a constant in my life, I'm immensely happy to say that I've been able to weather each and every storm on that front, stick with it, and create a blog that has become not only a passionate pastime, but also in recent years, a full-time income generating career.




{Though I may have substantially less energy and "good days" (health wise) than most folks, I don't let that stop me from putting my all into my blog, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year. I just grab a nap, take the occasional vacation, try to pace myself and start fresh again the next day, spurred on my an endless passion for what I do and the fantastic support of my online friends and readers. Image source.}



6. What is the most rewarding thing about blogging? This list could go on for miles, but I would that three top entries on it for me are: the friendships I've made with other vintage lovers around the world (an especially important point since I'm the only such person that I know in my own town), the perpetual inspiration and knowledge that I glean from my fellow bloggers (and social media friends), and the amazing feeling that comes from turning a blog on what is arguably a rather niche subject in the scope of society as a whole, and parlaying it into not just my honest to goodness job, as mentioned above, but the also catalyst for for my Etsy vintage shop (which opened its doors in May of this year).


7. What is the most discouraging thing about blogging? I'm not the type to get discouraged easily ("tenacious" might as well be my middle name) and I love to learn and thrive from what different kinds of obstacles and challenges present me with, eking out the silver lining from any situation. That said, I think that one of the most discouraging things about blogging is that when push comes to shove, you'll often quickly learn that you have quite a few fair-weather fans and friends out there. For someone like me, for whom loyalty, honesty and sincerity are exceedingly important, this point will always have the sting of a scorpion's tail.


8. What is your lasting inspiration or motivation (of blogging)? For me it has been showing my chronic illnesses that they don't have complete control of my life (try as they may!), that despite having countless more than legitimate reasons not to blog - to spare myself from the work, stress, and physical demands of running both a popular website and thriving Etsy shop - I can do just that and succeed with it. Each time I post a new entry (or list a new item in my shop), I'm reconfirming to myself that I'm still able to be a productive member of society, despite the endless challenges, crippling chronic pain, and near debilitating fatigue that comes with my medical situation.


9. What is your blogging dirty secret? I honestly don't think I have one. Definitely one of my best (positive) blogging secrets - which isn't actually all that hush-hush, given that I've written posts about it before - is that I am an ardent devotee of using a blogging schedule.


10. What is your current goal as a blogger? To continue to grow my blog's reach. The vintage blogging world has dwindled somewhat in the past two-three years, in part because of the explosion in popularity of various social media sites, such as Pinterest and Instagram, and there are only so many folks in our wonderful community that I can reach. I would like to see Chronically Vintage gain wider traction in the mainstream fashion and lifestyle blogging worlds. I'd also absolutely love to pen a book on vintage fashion (or another vintage related topic) one day, and perhaps either create my own or collaborate with an existing vintage reproduction company to produce line of clothing.




{It's a joy and an honour to be a well known part of the online vintage community. As we head towards 2015 and beyond, I would absolutely love to continue to connect with an even broader array of readers and new friends out there in the larger scope of the web and help spread the vintage lifestyle goodness near and far. Image source.}



11. Have you learned or become passionate about anything through blogging that caught you by surprise? I'd say that through blogging, my passion for earlier and later decades - not just my beloved 1940s and 50s - has deepened significantly. I've learned that you never know what amazing opportunity is coming around the corner (for example, collaborations with fantastic companies, being interviewed by print and online magazines, and getting to meet fellow vintage bloggers in person), that patience does indeed pay off, that you can never be too prepared (but that by the same token, spontaneity has its perks, too), that when you do what you truly love, it rarely feels like work, and that there is always, without a doubt, more to learn - amongst countless other things that have come about and bettered by life thanks to the act and love of blogging.

♥ ♥ ♥

If you're a blogger yourself, why not have a go at these questions? They're a great way to record where you're at in your blogging journey at this point and to reflect on how far you've already come. In little more than four months, Chronically Vintage will turn six years old and I'm very grateful that throughout that time, at various points, I've intentionally written about how things were going with my own site. Looking back on these posts - just as I'm sure I will with this one down the road - I see how far I've come, where I hope to go next, and am reminded of some of the many reasons why blogging is so phenomenally near and dear to me.

Thank you very much, Bonita, for posting about this enjoyable blogging Q&A several months ago now. I knew the moment that I saw it, I wanted to give these questions a spin myself, I just didn't know that this year would prove to be so wildly busy that I wouldn't get a chance to do so until three weeks from the very end of it. No time like the present though, especially since the holiday season itself isn't exactly famous for being the least hectic time of the year. :)

The importance of having a blogging schedule

Welcome to 2013, everyone! I'm buzzing with excitement over the vast stretch of time that is the next dozen months, and am thoroughly ecstatic to kick off another bright, shiny new year with all of you.

{Image source}

As I've touched on in some of my recent posts, last year was one of the best I've had in a very long time, and certainly one of the key factors that helped contribute to that is the fact that I really hit upon a blogging schedule that works well. From the very first days (wayyyy back in April 2009) of this site's life, I've tried to have some kind of blogging schedule in place, but it took a while to hammer out the kinks, so to speak, and really hit on a pace, pattern, and technique that work excellently for me.

Before I go any further on this topic, I feel I should preface it in a sense by mentioning that my current blogging schedule only really works for me if my health stays about (or, unlikely as it may be, improves somewhat) where it is now, and where it was last year.

I know from particularly challenging years (medically speaking), such as 2010 and parts of 2011, that all it takes is an especially rough patch, an unexpected hospital trip, emergency surgery, or other major loophole to throw a substantial wrench into this system. However, for the sake of simplicity - and with only the most optimistic of thoughts in mind - I think it's best if I tackle this subject from the standpoint of how most of last year played out, and how I hope this year - and beyond - will as well.

Over the years I've often seen bloggers, be they from the vintage crowd or otherwise, lament about the fact that they sometimes found blogging to be overwhelming and/or that they were at a loss as to what to write about. Such feeling and thoughts are completely natural, and I think that even the most seasoned blogging pro, probably runs into them every now and then. However, as there are things you can do to keep your blogging mojo going all year long, so too are steps that you can take to help combat not knowing when to post or what to write about.

{Image source}

By and large, I'm a very organized, methodical person. Sure, I can fly by the seat of my pants or let the wind take me where it may sometimes, but when push comes to shove, I usually like to know when, where, and how that pushing and shoving is going to take place! I not only like, but really feel as though I need, a sense of order and structure in almost every area of my life, and have worked diligently to create just that over the years.

My take on blogging is no different, especially since the very unpredictable nature of my health means that I never know for sure just how I'll be feeling from one day to the next. In order to help keep churning out new posts here, I've developed an eight part blogging schedule that I stick to as rigorously as possible.


1.) At least one month in advance of an upcoming month, I sit down with a calendar and create a document with a list of dates that I want to ideally post on. I generally post once every other day, as this is a pace that, over all, works well for me, my health, and my day-to-day schedule. So, for example, in a thirty day month, I might plan to post on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st, 23rd, 25th, 27th, and 29th of that month. Though that may seem like a lot, in reality, we're only talking about (in this example) fifteen posts.

2.) Once I've established the days that I hope to post on, I look to see what important events, holidays and/or anniversaries are coming up in that month. I love blogging with the seasons and holidays, so if there's an celebration that month, I'd likely devote one or more posts to said event or holiday. For example, if (Canadian) Thanksgiving fell on the 9th, I might do a "Happy Thanksgiving" type post that day, with one or two other posts relating to Thanksgiving in the days leading up to it.

3.) Having established the days I want to post on and the noteworthy celebrations in the near future, I assign topics that I plan to write about to all of the days that I've selected. There are a few frequently occurring posts here that I like to include on a regular basis (such as Saturday Snapshots and Flickr Favourites, as well as vintage recipe posts), so I then schedule those in throughout the month. I also aim to post two or more vintage outfit posts per month, so up those go on the schedule next (please note that at this point in time, I'm not writing the actual posts themselves yet, I'm just planning them out). If I have an upcoming giveaway in the works, now may also be the time when I'd pencil that in, too. Once those things are in place, I usually have between eight and eleven posts left in a given month in which to write about anything my heart desires.

4.) Often times I have tons of post ideas swirling around in my head and in my inspiration files, as well as topics that I may have said (in previous posts) that I was going to write about. Some of these get added to the schedule next. Sometimes these things alone will cover the remaining topics for a given month, but other times, I may need to put on my thinking cap and come up with some cool new ideas right then and there. Knock wood, I rarely have a problem in that regard (actually, there's usually far more things I want to write about in a given month than there are days in which to cover them!), but there are certainly times when I turn to outside sources such as the blogging community, history books, my day-to-day life, my family, Flickr, Pinterst, and the web as a whole for inspiration and ideas for my posts.

5.) Plotted and planned as I like life to often be, it is fun to have a little mystery, too, so sometimes I leave one to three dates empty (as in I haven't assigned post topics to them yet), to write posts for in the moment, especially if I suspect that something noteworthy may be happening around those days and I want to record and share about it with all of you asap.

6.) For reasons already touched on in this post (chiefly my health), I find that it's important to have at least a few posts already written and scheduled to go live in advance of their respective posting dates, so the next thing I do (over the course of numerous days) is to write several of the posts for an upcoming month. At the same time, I'll check on my supply of "emergency posts", those posts that every blogger should have in the wings for times when, for whatever reason, life throws you a curve ball and you may not be able to sit down and write anything new for a few days or longer. If it's dropped too low for my liking (having any fewer than five reserve posts at any given time makes me antsy), I'll try to set aside time to write some new reserve posts, too.

7.) Once some of the posts for an upcoming month have been written and scheduled, I'll usually let the rest happen organically throughout the month. I don't always have the photos for two to four wardrobe posts on hand at the start of the month, so in such cases, I'll create some of my vintage outfit posts as the month progresses and new images have been captured for them. As some posts take a lot longer to pen (and/or may require more advance research), I'll often focus on writing those ones first, so that if one (or more) of those pesky curve balls comes my way, I don't have to worry about writing a post that takes six hours on a day when I'm up to my eyeballs in stress or busyness. On those kinds of days, if I'm able to get in any writing, it's often best to have fun, easy posts to cover, such as vintage recipes or perhaps an edition of Flickr Favourites.

8.) At some point, usually after the half way mark, during the month, I start the process all over again for the next month, so that most anytime, I have about four to six weeks (or occasionally more) of planned posts all lined up, with anywhere from one to four weeks of posts (or most of the posts, I should say, for that period) already written and ready to go live. I do enjoy blogging in the moment, as mentioned, so I pretty much never write all of the posts for a given month completely in advance. Most however, will be ready to go - or I'll know what I'm going to write about as the month unfolds - when the first of the month arrives.

{Some months I like to keep my blogging schedule in a Word documents, others I use a good old-fashioned pen and paper, in which case a free printable vintage inspired calendar page like this really comes in handy. Image source.}



That's it, folks. Eight steps or points might seem like a fair amount, but once you've got a month or two of this kind of approach under your belt, it really becomes second nature. I find my mind often works better when I'm able to blog at my own pace, without worrying about not having any future posts lined up. In fact, and this is certainly a helpful boon of this system, I often find that the more posts I have scheduled and written in advance, the easier it is to come up with new ideas for future posts down the line. It's a sort of productivity spawns creativity spawns more productivity circle, that I hope I'm able to keep going for as long as I'm a blogger (and I certainly hope that's for a very long time indeed!).

There are a lot very good reasons why you should implement a blogging schedule, whether it's a carbon copy of this one, or another style that works for you and your life. You may have limited time in which to write, have a busy job or school schedule, need to run a household and manage a family, be planning a wedding or preparing for a new baby's arrival, travel a lot, have chronic health problems, or just find not knowing what to blog about, and when you're going to do, it so off-putting that it discourages you from blogging on a regular basis or at all.

One of the most important aspects, I believe, to successful blogging is for it to not feel like a chore, burden, or full-time job, especially if you blog for fun, not as a means of earning your living (however, if such is the case and blogging is your day job, you'd want to approach it appropriately – and would, more so perhaps than ever, need a good blogging schedule). By implementing a blogging schedule that works for you, you're better able to help alleviate some of the potential risk of this kind of stress cropping up.

{Image source}

You presumably blog because you enjoy writing, what to share one or more of your passions with the world, and enjoy the act of creating new content for your website. The less things there are to detract from this, the better - and more productive - of a blogger you stand to be.

Case in point of coming up with topics to write about well in advance, I first started thinking about this very post last October, but instead of writing it in the moment, I felt that it would be of more benefit to my readers if I held off until the beginning of January, when not only a new month, but an entirely new year was just beginning. (And for those who are curious, I wrote this post last night.)

If you've wanted to, but haven't yet done or, or have tried, but have not stumbled upon a system that really clicked for you yet, now is the time to start following a blogging schedule. You can create whatever plan works well for you - the point is not so much the system you use - but the fact that you have one in place and that you try to maintain it as best as possible.

There will always be things that throw you off course, times when you need a blogcation (a short break from blogging), or when you simply don't feel like writing, but those periods will seem a great deal more manageable when you know that you've ideas to write about when you return, and (hopefully) some posts already lined up (or in your "emergency file") for the days when you're definitely not going to be producing new content.

Blogging can, and most often should be, a joy. It's a creative process, a learning experience, and a way to share your voice, thoughts, and soul with the world, and for me - as for many people - having a posting schedule in place can truly help make the act of blogging, and being a blog, worlds more pleasant, stress free, and fun.

So as we embark on all that the next twelve months hold in store for us, I hope that this year, complete with its blogging schedule, will be every bit as wonderful - if not even better - than the last for me, as well as for all of you and your awesome sites. Here's to the prospects, promises, and potential of 2013!