So I have been blogging for about a month now and I love it. I have gotten more involved on Twitter and I love it. I created a Facebook page and I am getting better about updating it. I am active on Pinterest and have been finding lots of great healthy recipes.
I am having trouble with my time management.
I could spend all day looking at Twitter, Facebook and other blogs. I know from reading about blogging that the way to grow your blog is to comment on other blogs, join the blogging websites, be active on Twitter and on your blog’s Facebook page. I honestly could get lost for hours reading all the great posts that are out there and commenting on them. Not to mention Pinterest, don’t even get me started on the amount of time I can spend there.
It’s great and it is fun but I am wondering how other bloggers balance all of this as well as their everyday lives. I want to be active in all these areas but I have a house, a family, an occasional substitute teaching and volunteering at the boys school.
As you can see my OCD (Day One) is beginning to take over. I felt the need to get myself on track this week and schedule myself to get it all in and not feel stressed about it.
So here is what I am trying this week. I am working on my time management. I know I cannot sit at the computer all day. Blogging is not my full time job. If it starts earning me an income well then I will sit all day but until then I have to work on creating a good balance (Creating Balance) of everything.
I have decided to break down my day this way:
- I am going to plan each day the night before.
- I am going to start with looking at what is already on the schedule, then in the open areas I will work in the following things.
- First, I am going to give myself chunks of time to get my household responsibilities done.
- Second, I am going to give myself a chunk of time each day to work on upcoming blogs. I want to start prepping blogs a few days in advance so that I can edit them instead of trying to write it all on the day I post.
- Last, I am going to give myself time blocks throughout the day to spend on the computer checking my accounts, reading blogs and commenting. Some days I will allow myself more time and other days (for instance days I am subbing all day) there will be less time spent on the computer.
Will everyday workout as I had planned, absolutely not. Why? Because life happens.
Take Monday for instance, it was going to be day one of my schedule. I sat down on Sunday and planned it out and I was ready to go! But life happened and I had to attend a funeral and the schedule and daily goals I had for myself disappeared. Family is family and to do list’s, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and blog reading well they just don’t enter in when family or friends are in need. I didn’t freak out or stress out, I just postponed the things I wanted to get done.
As much as I call myself OCD, I am working on letting go when needed. I used to (and still do sometimes) get stressed if my day took an unexpected turn. But 2013 is a year of change for me so I am going to let things go if needed and not stress or work my tail off later in the day, the house will still be there to clean another day, errands can be run another day, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and my blog will still be there but being there for family or dropping everything to have lunch with a friend, those are the moments in life that count.
How do you manage your time? How do other bloggers manage their time on social media sites as well as work, family, etc?
Question of the day:
I get kind of bossy…
I get kind of bossy when it comes to the cleaning and organizing of my house. Again, my OCD tendencies rear their ugly head. I like things to be done a certain way and as much as I appreciate when someone wants to help, I am not always the best at letting them do it their way. When the house starts to get cluttered with toys, clothes, etc. I go into Drill Sergeant mode and start getting everyone up and moving and cleaning up their stuff. Some weeks are worse than others depending on how busy we have been.
Again I am working on it….but it is a marathon not a sprint:)
I totally have OCD and had to get a handle on my blogging, social media, and writing times as well and household chores and family. I keep a notebook with all my blogging responsibilities in it. I have ideas ahead of time. When I’ve completed the post in draft mode, I highlight it, so i know it’s done. Then, when writing time comes, I flip through my notebook to the next post that’s not highlighted and write it and save it as draft. That way, I’m usually a week or so ahead of schedule. I do all my social media in the morning and before lunch. Lunch time is switch time. Then I write. I try to write on the book I’m working on or write a blog, or work on a short story. Or write a guest blog for someone. Family and household chores? Oh yeah, I forgot about those. I fill in when I get distracted or bored or hit writer’s block. Then, I pay bills, do laundry, straighten up. It’s just hubby and me, but things still need to get done. Especially with a large fluffy white dog and black tile. Argh! It’s like he’s always shedding! But, life is going to get easier. Hubby agreed I could hire a housekeeper. YAY! More writing time for me! Didn’t mean to write a dissertation. Followed you from SITS. Have a blessed day!
Great ideas! Thanks. I white dog and black tile….my OCD would be on overdrive, LOL
Good news! I would like to personally hand you the “BEST MOMENT AWARD” for this post. Congratulations and enjoy the rest of the day! [Jae]
Welcome to the blogging world where you end up doing nothing but chasing social media like a man woman. I too am trying to find a balance of doing what I love and doing what I NEED to be doing. To be writing/blogging is a need, but spending sufficient time with my family without them watching me on the computer is also a need. I’m trying to block out times for myself where I can fulfill my need to write. Andrea @ be-quoted.com visiting from SITS.
Too true, I could get lost for too long reading/blogging/tweeting…going to work on it. Thanks for visiting
I totally understand this. When I decided I would start blogging 4-5 times a week from only once a week, at first I felt overwhelmed. Then I felt pressured by myself to get it all done. Now if I know what I’m going to post the next day, I will write it the night before and schedule it to post. If I have no clue what I’m going to post then I just wait and see if it comes to me. I try to read all the blogs I follow in the evenings after the kids go to bed, right now I’m behind though because I had a bad headache for 2 nights. I’m just now catching up. During the summer when the kids are out of school it’s going to be much harder. I need to come up with a plan now.
I agree, summer will be tricky!
If you figure it out, let me know!
All kidding aside, I tend to write my blogs late at night during down time, and catch up on my blog reading in the morning. But if I am driving to sports practice etc, then I try to get some of my social media stuff there as well. I definitely need to work out a better system and set up a blogging notebook so I can plan my posts better!
LOL, I will let you know. That is a good idea with sports and practice, good time to work