Don’t obsess with analytics too much

If you are only an occasional writer, as I surely am, you don’t have to look at the analytics screen all the time. It’s a really nice thing to look at the real time data when you publish a new post, and advertise it on Twitter and other social networks.

But that one is a waste of time. Real time data doesn’t mean anything real. The main reason is that aside from satisfying your own weird obsession, you are not accomplishing anything that will help you with your goals in life.

The way I fight with it (when I eventually write and publish something), is scheduling it to be published in the future. When I set and forget, the urge to look at real time analytics data vanishes, because if I’m not personally involved in pressing the Publish button, then I’ll most probably forget that it’s being published at the moment, and work on something else.

As the best time to publish depends on many other factors, I tend to publish when I’m even not sitting in front of the computer. I’m trying to set a dedicated time to write each day, and it will take me some time to accomplish that. But your publishing time should always be the same.

I’m not advocating on complete analytics denial, because analytics are one of the best investigation tools you have in your work. You can see what posts people are most interested in, and focus on those topics, instead of those not being read much.

In a business setting analytics and lead tracking is really crucial, but real time data won’t help you with anything. Once someone is visiting the site, then it’s too late to change anything, so relax, don’t fuss about it and have fun.

Spring is coming, go outside and catch some sun, it’s good for you. And it’s much better than constantly looking who is on your website right now.