Blogging Editorial Calendar

So, this may or may not apply to some of you out there. But, for those of you that it does apply to I would seriously LOVE to hear your opinions.

I found myself a few months into 2013 and realized I needed more of some type of organized system for all of my blogging, other writing, and speaking engagements.

A few years ago a friend of mine suggested purchasing a Franklin Covey- and I really haven’t looked back. I keep my Covey with me most of the time and I also keep a desk calendar at home on our counter that I update as needed for my hubby (I like to give him something he can write in, my planner is a no writing zone for him!).

In the age of digital technology I find myself being tempted to use Google Calendar. For those of you that know me you know how crazy organized I can be. And I really should have jumped at this years ago. But, there is something about the planner with me and not having to rely on technology to see me through that I just can’t commit to yet.

I find my personal calender seemly filled up and before I know it my “work” over takes my empty spaces. Especially when I get this great idea to blog about. I then fill up the space pretty quickly.

This year I also started writing down every meal that I cook and whether or not the guys’ like it. It’s my version of trying to come up with a more solid meal plan before Elliette hits Kindergarten. It is really hard to adjust your eating schedule when you have a little one that can’t skip meals!

One major thing I realized I needed as my blog has grown over the last year is some type of “editorial calendar” so to speak. I just happened to google blogging calendar one day and couldn’t believe how popular it was!

I gave it a few weeks to kind of get an idea of what I wanted to do. I definitely wanted something basic, very basic. I love structure…but when it comes to my blog posts I want to be able to have an “unstructured” freedom.

It only took me about an hour to get a sort of game plan of what I wanted into Microsoft Publisher. I printed it out, took it into town and had it bound, and there you go. I added some tabs so I would know what month was where, and so far I am pretty happy.

 
Next time around I hope to do a little more designing, but since I was already oh, six months behind schedule I decided to keep it simple and color coordinated. A basic cover page, with my mid year blogging header on it. Maybe next year I will get a little bit more fancy, but I really didn’t want to take too much time since I was already mid way through the year, and Elliette takes really short naps these days and I knew I was running on borrowed time!

So, my questions for you

Bloggers out there- What do you use for an editorial calendar? Do you use one at all?

And, who uses Google calendars? And are they in love? Do you continue to use a Covey or other planner system in addition to Google calendars?

I feel confident in my blogging calendar. Confident in my love of my Covey. Now, to just decide to go digital or not? It would be a really, really big step…but I am getting closer I think! And I only have a few short weeks before the start of the new year, so I better make some decisions!