Have I mentioned how much I love Friend Friday? I really, really do.
Joining this group was one of the best moves that I have made since I began blogging last July. Katy Rose of Modly Chic created something very special when she began this group. Not only is the Friend Friday group a supportive community, it is also an invaluable resource.
- The topics cover a wide array of subjects that can be fun, educational, inspirational, thought-provoking and even controversial.
- The participants are some of the brightest, nicest and most talented bloggers out there today.
- I learn something new every. single. week.
This week was no exception to the above. The topic selected is one that will impact just about every single blogger out there unless they are purely a hobby blogger: striking a balance between your blogging and the rest of your life.
Image via Beautiful Existence
This is something that I have admittedly struggled with, especially in recent months. More than a few times I have thought of throwing in the towel. More than a few times I have thought “this is it – I can’t handle this anymore.”
When this first happened it was simply due to blogger burnout caused by lack of time. There weren’t enough hours in the day to fit blogging into my busy life. So what did I do? I took a step back and re-evaluated. I made some changes and realized it was OK not to post everyday and it was OK to step away completely when I needed to. I still realize that.
So, why did thoughts of quitting begin swimming in my head again more recently? It wasn’t until I began writing this post that I figured it out. It wasn’t due to burnout. No. Not burnout. It was because I was disappointed.
I was disappointed in myself and the time (or lack of) that I was dedicating to this blog. There are so many things that I want to do with the blog this year (see question 5 below)… and as the weeks pass by I feel like I am not accomplishing any of it. Being the ambitious perfectionist that I am, that just isn’t acceptable.
Image via John Crowther Blog
In this case stepping back isn’t what I need to do. What I need to do now is get organized… and this week’s Friend Friday questions helped spur me into action!
1. When it comes to prioritizing your life, in what place does blogging fall? Blogging clocks in right after my career on the priority list, but it is a very close race between those two. I think it goes without saying that there are more important things in each of our lives than blogging or our careers or our hobbies. Things like the people we care about and their – and our own – well-being.
Image via Google Images
That being said, my career ranks pretty high on my list of priorities and blogging is within passing distance. When I am passionate about something I give it 110%. When I lose that fire, I also begin to lose interest, and that is the precipice I am standing on right now. On one side is my career, which I still care deeply about, but after 9 years I have started to yearn for something new. Something different. Something more challenging.
Enter blogging. It may not always seem this way to my readers, but I put my heart and soul into this blog and into building relationships with my readers and fellow bloggers. Blogging, and everything related to it, excites me. Challenges me. Inspires me. That is why it is quickly climbing up my priority ladder.
2. We all wish we had more free time to dedicate to blogging and all it entails. What are your tricks for taking advantage of the time you do have to be as productive as possible? I wish I had some words of wisdom to share here. The truth is I don’t have any tricks because I am still trying to sort out the best way to manage my time and still dedicate 110% to this blog.
Image via Life Without Baby
Lately my typical day has gone something like this:
- 6:15AM – wake up
- 7:45AM – drive to work
- 8:30 – 7:00PM – work
- 7:45PM – arrive home and eat dinner
- 8:00PM – work out
- 8:45PM – relax
- 10:00PM – 12:00 (or 1:00)AM – blog activities
- SLEEP
- WEEKENDS: Friend and Family Time
I try to sneak in more blogging in time when I can – lulls at work, while I am relaxing, if I skip a workout, but I haven’t figured out a magical formula that works for me. What I do know is that I need to do something because I do have ambitions for this blog. Big ambitions. But before I start burning the proverbial candle at both ends, I need to get organized or that candle will burn out faster than you can say “publish.”
Katy’s recent post “How to Blog More Often without More Time” gave me a few ideas that I am going to try to implement to see if that helps. The one thing I am good at is keeping track of potential blog topics that pop in my head – the notes feature on my iPhone has been invaluable where that is concerned.
3. Have you discovered any short-cuts that makes blogging easier or more time efficient? As I mentioned above, my iPhone is a big help where keeping track of ideas is concerned. It is also a life saver when it comes to emails and social media. I do not, however, use it to read other blogs or reply to comments because I really prefer a larger screen for that. I plan to purchase the iPad2 and hope that will make it easier to read and comment “on the run” so to speak.
Image via Google Images
Another thing I recently decided I need to try is an editorial calendar. Joanne Faith’s post “How to Tame Your Blog With an Editorial Calendar” really made an impression on me and I think a calendar might be just the tool I need to finally get organized in a way I would like. I plan to install the WordPress Editorial Calendar plugin this weekend, so we’ll see how that goes.
4. Do you have an editorial calendar or something similar that helps you plan ahead? As stated above, I do not have one at the moment. My blog posts have been fairly spontaneous. I write about what catches my interest at the time. I have a very loose schedule that I adhere to for now:
- Monday: LINK LOVE with a TWIST Roundup
- Friday: Friend Friday
I used to do scheduled “Me Wants It” and “Whatever Wednesday” posts but I have come to realize that I like to be a bit more spontaneous than that. In addition, certain topics I post about can’t really be scheduled (i.e. controversial subjects that suddenly arise). That being said, I do have ideas that can be scheduled and researched, like this piece on corsets, and I could use an editorial calendar to keep me on track with those types of posts.
5. If time wasn’t an issue what you would be doing on your blog/for your blog that you aren’t doing now? Oh lordy, is this a trick question? What wouldn’t I be doing might be a better question. If I could put the time and energy I wanted into the blog I would be:
- Re-designing the site and header
- Tweaking the SEO details on all of my past posts
- Re-evaluating my tags and categories
- Researching and eventually adding an “advertise with me” page
- Building relationships with PR companies
- Building and/or strengthening relationships with fellow bloggers
- Building and/or strengthening relationships with blogging communitis like Independent Fashion Bloggers
- Publishing more tutorials and/or blog improvement tips
- Network, network, network!
What about you – how do you balance blogging and the rest of your life? Is it an easy task for you?
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To see what other bloggers are saying about this topic, click here.
For more info on ModlyChic’s Friend Friday series, click here.
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