For the last year I’ve been doing something really easy and basic that has made a huge difference in my business and blog.

And for a long time, I put it under the heading of “so obvious I don’t want to tell anybody about it because surely they’re already doing it.”  But you know what?  I’m going to err on the side of telling you something you already know.

So here’s what I do:

Every day I set my trusty Pomodoro timer for 20 minutes and engage in some ‘professional development.’

Maybe I clean up old sales pages or I read smart, helpful things (I love Copyblogger, Problogger, and Small Business Bonfire).  I listen to Blogcast FM.  I might read An Actual Book (!) or research the submission guidelines for a website I want to pitch.  Regardless, I don’t really have a chance to get bored because it’s just 20 minutes.

Then, I set my timer for another 20 minutes and spend that time talking to my readers and with people I think are awesome (those are frequently one and the same.)
I respond to comments on my blog, Twitter, and Facebook.  I leave comments on blogs and find content I want to promote.  I email people I admire and find companies I want to pitch.  And juuuuuust as I’m about to lose interest and search for the newest yelling goat video, the timer rings.

It seems sort of ridiculous but those 40 minutes a day?  They really, really add up.
And even if you just do 20 minutes, a few times a week?  I promise you’ll see difference.

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photo credit eflon, cc