Bloggiesta Day 2: Official Wrap Up and Unofficial Continuation

The mini-Bloggiesta is rolling to a close. It may officially be ending here in a couple of hours, but I haven't finished everything I want to yet, so I'm planning to continue for the next couple of evenings until I have my projects all finished. I have a good flow going--no sense leaving things half done.

The Twitter chat was great today, but it wound up giving me more things to do. We had quite a lively discussion on Pinterest, and I wound up heading over there and reorganizing my board covers to make them more attractive. That took a bit of time. I also found myself perusing the blogging boards of a few other Bloggiesta participants. It will be helpful, but it took a pretty decent chunk out of my afternoon.

1. Update reading challenge pages.

2. Update bucket list challenge pages.

3. Participate in Sunday's Twitter Chat at 3pm EST.

4. Redesign blog planner.

5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR.

6. Create TBR jar. (in progress)

7. Create project jar. (in progress)

8. Create blog post idea jar. (in progress)

9. Write Top Ten Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).

10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!!

**  Reorganize Pinterest board covers.

I hope everyone else's Bloggiesta was as productive!

Bloggiesta Day 1: In the Thick of It

The first day of Bloggiesta is halfway over and I'm trucking along with the goals I've set for myself. I've been a little slower this afternoon as I managed to get a little distracted by things like my iPad, YouTube, and Facebook. Oops. The good news is, success is still being had - just in smaller quantities.

I made a really dumb mistake earlier today that totally worked out in my favor. I was just sitting here tooling along on a few items when I realized that it was 1:45pm...3:45pm EST. In a quick panic, I pulled up TweetDeck, certain that I was missing the Twitter chat. But...it turns out I just don't know how to read. The chat is tomorrow, not today. I'll get a second attempt at showing up on time. Phew.

The good news is that I have managed to finish one more item on my list and I'm in the midst of four (yes...four) others. Okay, really I guess it's five if you count reading other Bloggiesta posts and commenting, because I've been doing a little of that too.

Here's where I'm at right now...

1. Update reading challenge pages.

2. Update bucket list challenge pages.

3. Participate in Sunday's Twitter Chat at 3pm EST.

4. Redesign blog planner.

5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR. (in progress)

6. Create TBR jar. (in progress)

7. Create project jar. (in progress)

8. Create blog post idea jar. (in progress)

9. Write Top Ten Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).

10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!! (TOTALLY happening!)

I'm quite thrilled that I completed #4. I really did love my blog planner when I put it together a little over a year ago, but it was too big and too bulky and wound up just sitting in a drawer instead of getting properly used. Then I started writing things down in other notebooks and on scraps of paper and it all just turned into a chaotic mess. It was time for a streamlined change.

Here's what I started with:

Excuse the horribly grainy picture. The iPad can't be trusted...

The large original planner binder, the smaller green planner, miscellaneous printer papers, a legal pad, the blue project design notebook, and a steno notebook. Meanwhile, the binder was stuffed with all kinds of weird, loose papers.

And here's what I ended up with:

Ahh. One nice and tidy, portable-sized green planner.

I compiled everything into this cute little planner that I got at Staples. I use one of these for my regular daily planner as well (it's the ARC system in case you're curious...and no, this isn't a sponsored post - I just like my planners). 

I have things divided by tabs to keep track of my "to do" list, the upcoming topics for Top Ten Tuesday, my read-a-thon schedule, plans for the year's pumpkin display, plans for holiday gift projects, and the plan for next year's A to Z Challenge (among other things). I'd show you the individual pages but...blog secrets and all of that. I can't be just showing you everything! (You do have a bit of a sneak peek of a wall collage I have planned. Does that help?)

I'm sooooo much happier. This cutesy little planner measures about 9" high and 6" wide. It's about 1 1/2" thick and has to be held closed by a band since I stuffed it with pages (the system does have the option of larger rings, but I didn't have enough of them left). Still...it's about 1000 times better than the gigantic 3" 3-ring binder (and other assorted accouterments) I was using before. This is much more portable and accessible. It also helps that Bloggiesta projects 6-8 are allowing me to remove some items from the planner that were previously taking up a lot of real estate.

What do you think? Do you use a blog planner? What are the essential pieces of your planner that you can't live without?

Bloggiesta Day 1: The Beginning.

It's Bloggiesta time! I'm hard at work attacking the blog and cleaning up things behind the scenes. I'm working on a lot of organization this time, trying to make it easier for me to write posts and finish projects to share on the blog.

Since this is a mini-Bloggiesta, I'll be doing a few midway posts to keep things updated and share what I'm working on. Right now, we're technically about 3 hours in on Bloggiesta. I've already tackled a couple of items on the list.

1. Update reading challenge pages.

2. Update bucket list challenge pages.

3. Participate in Saturday's Sunday's Twitter Chat. (I really need to read more carefully.)

4. Redesign blog planner.

5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR.

6. Create TBR jar.

7. Create project jar.

8. Create blog post idea jar.

9. Write Top Ten Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).

10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!!

Yup...steps 1 and 2 are complete! The Twitter Chat is at 1pm my time tomorrow, so I'm planning on having at least one more step completed by early afternoon. I'm hoping to share the blog planner redesign tomorrow evening and then the jars for steps 6-8 on Sunday night. Fingers crossed that I can keep on completing tasks successfully!!

How's your Bloggiesta going?

June 2015 Mini Bloggiesta Plan

Bloggiesta is a blog event that focuses on improving your blog and completing items on your bloggy to-do list while being social with other amazing bloggers hard at work with similar tasks. It's a time to clean up the cobwebs, get caught up on planned posts, and find new ways to make your blog the best it can be.

I participated in my first Bloggiesta this March during the week long event and got a lot of work done on the bones of the operations, cleaning up the look and feel of the blog for readers. This time, it's a mini-session, lasting only for the weekend. The plan for me is to work on some of the behind the scenes things including planning, organizing, and maybe some post scheduling.

I've given myself ten tasks for this Bloggiesta. We'll see how many I get done. In no particular order...

1. Update reading challenge pages.
2. Update bucket list challenge pages.
3. Participate in Saturday's Twitter Chat.
4. Redesign blog planner.
5. Sort through Goodreads emails and update TBR.
6. Create TBR jar.
7. Create project jar.
8. Create blog post idea jar.
9. Write Top Tuesday posts for June/July/August (at least some...).
10. Visit other Bloggiesta bloggers and comment. Be social!!

I'll probably get started on things a little early since I have tomorrow off. I'm finding myself drawn to organization so I might as well take advantage while I'm on the kick!

Bloggiesta Wrap Up

Did you Bloggiesta?

It was a crazy week, but I got a LOT accomplished. I somewhat crapped out in the end, but I still feel pretty good about where things ended up.


Here's how I did on my original checklist:

1. Update "About Me" page.  Done!

2. Update reading challenges. Done! (This took a LOT longer than I expected.)

3. Clean up labels/tags. Done!

4. Clean up sidebar. Done!

5. Create drafts for A-to-Z Challenge posts. Done!

6. Edit photos for A-to-Z Challenge posts. Partway done...edited for A-L. Not a bad start.

7. Preschedule week 1 of A-to-Z Challenge posts. Oops...nope. Not one got done.

8. Visit at least 5 other Bloggiesta participants daily. (Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.)

(I actually visited 15 participants each day on Monday-Friday. I'm still doing more visiting today that should cover the remaining participants. Goal became to hit every participating blog.)

9. Participate in at least one Twitter chat. Done! 

(I actually managed to participate in all of the Twitter chats except for Tuesday and Saturday. They were A LOT of fun.)

10. Update progress at least twice during the week. (One... Two...) Done!

Ninish out of ten. I will totally take that.

Things I accomplished that weren't on the original list...

1. Signed up for Trello. (Already implementing some lists!)

2. Signed up for Twubs. (Ultimately went back to TweetDeck since Twubs seemed to be filtering posts.)

3. Updated review policy / added temporary request suspension notice.

4. Cleaned up blog email inbox.

5. Updated Twitter header.

6. Updated Facebook header.

7. Updated follower numbers.

8. Updated read-a-thon page.

9. Backed up blog.

10. Changed comment platform to Disqus. (LOVING it!)

11. Cleaned up Feedly Feed.

12. Cleaned up Chrome bookmarks.
13. Signed up for IFTTT and created eight recipes. (Cross-posting just got easier!)
14. Created Twitter lists to better manage feed.
15. Changed background.
16. Created new header.
17. Created new button.
18. Created new social media buttons.
19. Changed Favicon.
20. Updated text colorscheme.
21. Signed up for Pocket and got Pickpocket extension for Chrome.


Phew! So much done! The next Bloggiesta is a mini-session slated for June 13th and 14th. I'll be joining in again to tidy up a few smaller items, but for right now I'm feeling pretty good about all of the outcomes I achieved.

Now I just need to get my can in gear so I'm ready for the start of the A to Z Challenge on Wednesday!

How did your Bloggiesta go? Did you make some major changes? Are you happy about the results?

Bloggiesta Update

I have to say, I should have done Bloggiesta sooner! I've gotten a lot of things done that I wouldn't have thought to do otherwise.

I've been floating around checking out blogs and lists from other Bloggiesta participants and it has really helped me find some ways to make my blog experience easier. There are some great tools out there and I was not taking advantage of them. 

I wasn't as productive on day 2 as I had been on Monday, but there are still a lot of things getting checked off of the list. That makes me very happy.


Here's where I am on my original checklist as of right now...

1. Update "About Me" page.  Done!

2. Update reading challenges. Done! (This took a LOT longer than I expected.)

3. Clean up labels/tags.

4. Clean up sidebar. (In progress.)

5. Create drafts for A-to-Z Challenge posts. Done!

6. Edit photos for A-to-Z Challenge posts.

7. Preschedule week 1 of A-to-Z Challenge posts.

8. Visit at least 5 other Bloggiesta participants daily. (Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.)

9. Participate in at least one Twitter chat. Done!

10. Update progress at least twice during the week. (One... Two...) Done!

Things I've accomplished that weren't on the original list...

Tuesday

1. Sign up for Trello. (Already implementing some lists!)

2. Sign up for Twubs. (So much better at managing Twitter chats!)

3. Update review policy / add temporary request suspension notice.

4. Clean up blog email inbox.

5. Update Twitter header.

6. Update Facebook header.

7. Update follower numbers.

8. Update read-a-thon page.

Monday:

1. Back up blog.

2. Change comment platform to Disqus.

3. Clean up Feedly Feed.

4. Clean up Chrome bookmarks.
5. Sign up for IFTTT. (Cross-posting just got easier!)

How's your Bloggiesta going? What's on your list that should be on mine? Any social media tools you use that you think I should try out as well? 

Bloggiesta...Ole'!

It's day one of Bloggiesta. It's a intermittent blogging challenge that is aimed at helping us bloggers get our crap together and clean up our blogs. It's kind of like spring cleaning for blogs.

I created my checklist for the week yesterday. So far, I'm doing okay.

Yup...it's a monster.

I'm picking away at things and feeling pretty accomplished today. Just some socializing stuff to do tonight along with a little post writing. That makes me very happy.

We'll also be continuing the Bloggiesta theme this evening as we're having fajitas for dinner. Ole'!

Here's where I am on my original checklist as of right now...

1. Update "About Me" page.  Done!

2. Update reading challenges.

3. Clean up labels/tags.

4. Clean up sidebar. (In progress)

5. Create drafts for A-to-Z Challenge posts. Done!

6. Edit photos for A-to-Z Challenge posts.

7. Preschedule week 1 of A-to-Z Challenge posts.

8. Visit at least 5 other Bloggiesta participants daily. (Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.)

9. Participate in at least one Twitter chat. Done!

10. Update progress at least twice during the week. (One... Two...)

Things that weren't on the original list that I completed today:

1. Back up blog.

2. Change comment platform to Disqus.

3. Clean up Feedly Feed.

4. Clean up Chrome bookmarks.

Not a bad showing thus far. What about you? What's one thing that's on your list that should be on mine?

Spring Break!!!

With the completion of four assignments this morning, I am officially on Spring Break. Yay! Not only do I have time off from school, but I also scheduled some time off work. Other than one emergency visit that I'll need to take care of on Monday morning, I have nearly seven days of freedom. I'm SOOO excited.

But all this freedom doesn't mean I have time to be lazy. I have big plans for this week. There are three primary things that I'll be attacking during my down time.

1. I'll be participating in Bloggiesta and doing some much needed cleaning up around the blog.

Not familiar with Bloggiesta? Bloggiesta is a marathon for bloggers. It occurs a few times a year, sometimes for a few days, sometimes over a weekend. This time it's lasting for the week of spring break (fantastic timing!). The goal of bloggiesta is to work on blogging tasks that are left by the wayside as we work on post after post. Sometimes it's just stuff that we're afraid of trying. Bloggiesta is there to make these scary or otherwise boring things fun through minichallenges and group interactions.

Each participating blogger makes a plan for their Bloggiesta and then checks off items as they go. It's a fun way to improve your blog.

Here's the start of my "to do" list:

1. Update "About Me" page.
2. Update reading challenges.
3. Clean up labels/tags.
4. Clean up sidebar.
5. Create drafts for A-to-Z Challenge posts.
6. Edit photos for A-to-Z Challenge posts.
7. Preschedule week 1 of A-to-Z Challenge posts.
8. Visit at least 5 other Bloggiesta participants daily.
9. Participate in at least one Twitter chat.
10. Update progress at least twice during the week.

I figure ten items should be good and ambitious. Let's see how I do...


2. I'll be getting ready for the 2015 A-to-Z Challenge.

I had so much fun with this last year! I'm ready to get at it all over again. I'll be starting the week with announcing my theme in The Great and Powerful Theme Reveal on Monday. This won't be a huge surprise to those who read over here regularly, but it's still fun.

After the theme reveal, I'll be working on getting all of my posts started. You'll notice that three of my Bloggiesta goals have to do with A to Z. That's because being prepared is going to be extra important this year. With school added to my plate, there's not a lot of free time for me. Editing my photos and writing my posts the night before is not going to be a choice this year. I need to have most things prepared. I'm down to needing about seven projects finished, so I'll be working on getting those done. I'll also be uploading and editing photos for the projects, seeing what holes need to be covered for each post, and then start writing the posts themselves. The ultimate goal is to have at least the first week of posts written and scheduled with photos and rough starts of the other posts waiting in the wings.

I'm really excited for A to Z. I have some really fun posts planned.


3. Participating in Karsyn's Back 2 Books Read-a-Thon.

I have been awful about reading thus far this year. I'm super embarrassed to admit that I have yet to finish one. single. book. Pathetic. Based on my 64 book bracket goal for BOTY, I should already have 13 books finished. GAH!

Luckily, Karsyn is going to be there to give me the kick in the butt I need. Her B2B read-a-thon is a low pressure 3-day read-a-thon designed just to get your nose back in a book. You can participate for only one of the days, but I'm joining in for all three. I won't be reading all day on those three days since I have other things I'm planning, but I will get a good chunk of reading in on each of the days. That's the plan!

The goal here is just to get myself back in a book and maybe finish one or two. I don't expect to get fully caught back up, but I really need to get myself at least on the board for 2015 reading.

Karsyn is planning some a pre-event questionnaire as well as some other challenges during the read-a-thon. Head on over and check her out, sign up, and come read with us for a few days!


Those are the big things. I also have some small tasks I'm planning that I'll probably be updating here on the blog during the week. School has caused me to severely neglect my housework, so there is some clean up needed. I'll be doing two daily 10-minute clean up sessions on specific areas in my house. Depending on how embarrassing they are, I may share my before and afters to show you that a big change is possible in just 10 minutes.

I look forward to hanging out with you guys this week. With any luck, I'll feel accomplished by the time next weekend rolls around.

Happy Spring Break!!