With the big thousand post milestone looming, I have been thinking about what I do here at my blog, and the number one question I am asked:

Tom, just how the heck do you write all of these posts?

Hey, I’m just as confused as you!  I had no idea five years ago when I started that this thing was going to take off.

I think it was about six months into my blog that I set my self-imposed publishing schedule. A quick poll every Sunday, two articles on Monday and Wednesday and a link of the week on Friday.  Yes, there are weeks where I sit at my computer and wonder just what the heck I am going to write about, but fortunately, that hasn’t been an issue too often.

So, to give you an idea of what a week is like for me, here’s the schedule:

Sunday:  I wake up and post the Quick Poll I had written 0n Saturday. Have to post that baby on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ – oh, and I have to vote as well. Just to make sure everything works. From there, it’s off to church, the eat some breakfast. After that, I try to get some time in the shop. While there, I ask, “What the heck can I write about tomorrow?” and try to think of a tool, technique, observation or the like to draft a quick 500 words on.   After dinner, sit down at the computer and bang out Monday’s article.

Monday: Wake up, drink a cuppa Joe, post the new article and mention it on the social networks. If I’m doing an article for an advertiser, I make sure to send the draft over for review. Go to work and daydream about woodworking.   Work out, eat dinner, mess around in the shop before turning in for the night, relieved that I don’t have to draft anything for the next morning.

Tuesday: Wake up, down more coffee. Check e-mail and the social networks. Check my readership numbers. Wonder if I have to do a strange woodworking stunt to get more readers. Ponder the thought of jumping the Snake River Canyon on a giant belt sander… Go to work, daydream about woodworking. Come home, eat dinner, suffer small panic attack when I think I have nothing for tomorrow’s post, then realize that – DUH – I already have one. Turn in for the night.

Wednesday: Wake up, attempt to mainline coffee to get the morning jolt. Post the new article and let everyone know what’s going on by pushing it out on the social media outlets. Head off to work, where I will daydream about the stand alone shop I’ll build when I retire.  Come home, eat dinner, futilely  try to disconnect from the online world, but realize that the Modern Woodworkers Association podcast starts taping at 9 p.m.  Bring computer, frosty beverage and Iggy into the shop to record the podcast. Iggy messes with connections, making me sound like a cyborg during the taping. Retire late into the evening.

Thursday: Wake up. Stick tongue directly into outlet to get morning jolt. Check email and social networks. Clean up the mess Iggy left behind after his all-night banana daiquiri bender. Go to work, explore the options for early retirement to begin woodworking full time. Come home, eat dinner, say ‘hey’ to my wife who is now beginning to wonder what I look like in person. Search the web for a new Link of the Week to write about. Discover that half of all woodworking sites are fronts for Ted’s 16 bazillion pirated woodworking plans.  Find obscure woodworking link to a site that might interest folks and bang out the article. Try to retire early after wild Wednesday night.

Friday: Wake up.  Wash up in a basin full of energy shots and Red Bull. Post Link of the Week on the site, and trumpet mightily about it on the social networks. Realize it’s Friday, so I can sleep in a little the next day. Head off to work. Draft resignation letter where I announce I am going to open a woodworking shop and starve for my craft. Tear up draft and get on with the day’s business. Get home. Eat. Attempt date night with my wife, but we usually collapse on the couch with a good movie and fall asleep.

Saturday: Wake up much later than expected. Eat leisurely breakfast than tend to the dreaded “Honey Do” list… After sweating profusely in the yard, attempt some shop time.  Halfway through the shop session, realize, “Oh, crap, I have to come up with a quick poll.” Draft something inane, share link with Marc Spagnuolo and attempt to write something coherent. Attempt some type of social activity… sometimes, we succeed. Get back home, settle in to bed and realize just how lucky I am to be married to an understanding wife, have two great kids and that I sill enjoy woodworking blogging.

Once you add in other things, such as practices for the kids sports activities, helping with homework, cooking and laundry, well, it sure does add up to some exciting times at the Iovino house.