If you run a website or blog and need to update it regularly with interesting and engaging content, then you will find that writing becomes a big part of your life. As such you will most likely make provisions to ensure you have time to write, and look into ways you can write more quickly and efficiently when you have to.

However coming up with fresh articles is only partly accomplished by writing. Of course before you even get to that point, you will first need to come up with the topics and research the information that goes into them. This is often what makes the difference between a top class blog and one that no one really visits that often – if you’re just writing ‘off the top of your head’ then no doubt your articles are going to offer a lot less value to your readers than they would on a site where they had been fully researched and were based on breaking news and events. What is your job if not to find out information and then condense it and serve it up in a more palatable and convenient manner for your visitors?

So that means that research is a very important part of your job, and it’s also important to think about how you are doing that efficiently and whether or not you could be doing it more efficiently somehow. Here we will look at some tips to help you optimize your information intake so as to waste less time trawling the web and to create more engaging and informative output.

Use the Right Software
First of all a top tip is to use software that can help you to get all the information you need in one place. There are countless apps and websites that provide you with multiple feeds, but the one I’m using currently is Google Currents which has a nice glossy look and downloads over night.

Find a Good Time to Catch Up
If you try to fit your research in awkwardly around your other work then this will only result in less productivity as it forces us to divide and constantly shit our attention between tasks. Instead, find a good part of the day that will lend itself naturally to the writing process. Personally I tend to designate the early morning for reading – while I’m coming round and am still to groggy to write it’s great to do some reading and see what’s going on in the world over a mug of tea.

Fit it In Elsewhere

Meanwhile you can also look for other opportunities to squeeze in some reading around your day. This might mean reading up on some topics while you’re queuing in the bank, or it might mean reading a book in your niche while you commute. Something I find useful I to audible which provides audiobooks that I can listen to while I’m walking places or tiding up – anything that requires the use of my hands really. I’m looking forward to the release of the Vuzix M1000 or Google Glass so that I can read websites too while I walk.

Featured images:

•  License: Creative Commons image source
•  License: Creative Commons image source

Mike is an Internet Marketing Consultant and has been writing for wisdek since a long time now. He has contributed well to the company’s growth so far, in the process facilitating his career.