The one thing I’m learning on this blogging experiment is that time management is crucial. In fact, it’s probably the most powerful tool a blogger has in their arsenal.

I’ve found that when I blog is just as important as what I blog about. I’m not talking about timing the release of my blog articles, I’m talking about when I sit down to do my writing.

Content and timing are very important, especially if you’re not generating any “evergreen content” but writing when your brain is firing on all cylinders is crucial to staying motivated and writing great articles.

When I first started this little adventure I thought I’d sit down in the evenings and write articles for 30-45 minutes every day. Well, that hasn’t worked out. Why? I’m a morning person. I like getting up early because my brain seems to be more creative in the wee hours of the morning. Some of my best ideas come to me before 8 am. If you’re a night owl you’re probably thinking that I’m crazy and I think people who stay up till 2 a.m. are crazy.

Here’s my problem: I also like to stay up late and those two things don’t go together well. When I stay up late I’m generally doing thoughtless activities like watching t.v. or playing video games. I’m not doing anything creative. My brain just doesn’t work that way. Morning comes and I’m punching the snooze button like my life depends on it. I get up late (for me) rush out the door to work and my brain catches up with me.

Now I have a dilemma. Do I start writing down ideas with the hope of getting to it later or write a blog post while at work?

“I can do it on my break,” I often say to myself. 15 minutes turns to 30 and the next thing I know I’ve been blogging instead of working. I can’t expect my writing to succeed if I’m stealing from my employer.

So what’s the solution? Early to bed and early to rise, at least for me. I need to make sure I’m giving my employer 100% even if I feel like there are more important things I could be doing with my time. I’ll say it another way: Stop stealing from your employer. Ooh! That hurts. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work.

What about you? Do you struggle with using your employers time for personal endeavors. If so, do you take that as a sign you need to find a new job or do you justify it. Leave your comments below.