So much of what I do on a daily basis requires a lot of planning and time management. I have always been the girl with not one, but two planners … since middle school. Now that a lot of what I do is online, and requires coordinating with many different people, I use both digital platforms and my good ol’ paper planner. Something about writing things down helps me mentally prepare for the week, and digital reminders are really a lifesaver!

One of the bigger things I plan out are my blog posts. Sometimes it is just fun to write what comes to mind and hit publish, but more often than not, these posts take planning and research. I have experimented with different services like Trello or Asana, but my go-to method is an excel sheet that I created.

The first screenshot here shows how I map out what blog posts I want to write and what to focus on. It really helps me to create my blog title first! This may sound a little backwards to some people, but if you have a clear vision of what your main point is at the beginning of your blog post, then you will be clear throughout the entire post. There is nothing worse than reading an article and having no idea where the author is going.

I also include a column called main items of focus. This is where you can elaborate a little bit more about what you really want to include. The next three columns are pretty self-explanatory and then I include a column for images. This is where I write out what photos I will need for the post and social media sharing images. If I don’t already have them, then I schedule a time to shoot them.

The second screenshot is my monthly overview where I schedule when I want these posts to publish. This helps me see if the content goes together and if I am meeting my larger goals.

I have created this content calendar for you to download! The great thing about excel sheets is that you can customize them to fit your needs. Sometimes I add columns for social media posts, or SEO optimizations etc.

If you want your own content calendar to customize, please fill out the form below.