Balancing Blog + Work + School + Life

I’ve talked a bit about this summer about how much I have going on. Most of you know that I’m currently enrolled in graduate school, studying to be a librarian. I also work full-time as a teacher. In addition I have two young children. It’s a lot.

This summer a lot of people have said to me, “Wow, you are amazing, I don’t know how you do it all!” or “How do you still time find to blog?”

Well, first of all, guys, I’m not a super hero. I don’t stay up all night working, I can’t do three things at once, and I don’t work light-speed fast. (In fact, I work rather slowly, which certainly makes finding time for everything harder!) I am just a regular person making it work.

Second, I will admit that handling all of this has been exponentially easier since I’ve been on summer vacation. Turns out eliminating one of my responsibilities entirely gives me a lot more free time! But during the school year I am definitely not as involved in the blogging community. I don’t read and comment on y’all’s posts as much because I just don’t have time! So, not a super hero.

But since so many people asked, I thought I would share some of the insights I’ve learned in the past year for balancing a busy life with blogging.

Set Your Priorities

This is important. As soon as I started school I sat down with my husband and we discussed my priorities. Kids first, school/work second, blogging last.

Now, this is the important part, once you set your priorities STICK TO THEM. When I decided to prioritize my kids, that meant I had to leave work by 4:00 every single day, unless there was an emergency or after school event at school. I couldn’t say, “Well, I have work to do, it’ll be okay if I don’t leave on time this once.” Because this once turns into every day. If I have to choose between writing a blog post and finishing my homework, I choose the priority every time. Don’t try to do both!

Intentionally Plan Your Time

I recently did a post about planners and bullet journals, so it’s no surprise how much I love my planner! I carve out time in my day for all of my things.

• 5:00-6:00 – Get ready, drink my tea, read a blog post or two, social media (yeah, this happens every day…)
• 6:00-7:00 – Commute
• 7:00-4:00 – Work
• 4:00-5:00 – Commute
• 5:00-7:00 – Family Time (non-negotiable)
• 7:00-9:00 – Homework (MW class 1, TTh class 2) (Sunday blog)

I do all of my blogging on Sunday night. I write all the posts for the whole week in an hour or two. Sometimes I don’t finish them all, but unless I can find some free time somewhere, I just have to deal.

Sleep

Do not try to ignore what I just said about prioritizing and try to do it all at the expense of sleep. You WILL burn out.

Be Okay With Missing a Post

I currently have a schedule of four posts a week, but once school starts it’ll drop down to three. Sometimes I just don’t have time to get all the posts written, or I don’t have any ideas. Maybe I don’t have any back-logged reviews, and I’m not going to finish my book in time. There have been weeks where I’ve posted only once. Y’all, IT’S OKAY. Everyone is not going to unfollow you if you miss a post or two. Blogging is not life-or-death, and nobody expects you to be perfect.

Keep Post-Ideas Somewhere Handy

That being said, it’s a whole lot easier to not miss posts if you’ve got some ideas. When I have an idea for a post I write it in my planner. Then the next time I log on to check comments I start a new post and jot my idea down in the title. My drafts are full of empty posts! But I have those ideas handy in a pinch.

Enjoy Blogging!

This is supposed to be fun. If it starts to feel like work, what are you even doing here? I’ve got enough work on my plate without giving myself another chore. If it’s not fun anymore, take a break. Read some posts instead of writing them. Even better, GO READ A BOOK. Life is too short to not enjoy yourself.