\"\"

The SITS Girls

The Secret to Success is Support

Balancing Work and Family: 5 Tips for Moms Who Blog

·

This post may contain affiliate links which may give us a commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Do you struggle with finding time in the day to do it all? I know that most of us Moms who blog would love to find a solution to balance work and family life. There is no magic formula or calendar that can do this for us, but I have found a few tips that have helped me along in my journey to find a little more peace in my day.

balancing work and family

Five Tips to Balance Work and Family for Moms Who Blog

1. Get Yourself Ready for the Day

No dress code is certainly a perk of working from home, but how productive do you feel if it is almost noon and you are still in your pj’s? Getting up and getting completely dressed first thing in the morning will not only prepare you for the day’s battles, but it will also help you to be more productive in your work. You don’t have to wear anything fancy, but I promise you will feel more professional and confident in anything you do with your hair brushed and your shoes on!

2. Set a Schedule and Stick to It

If you are blogging as a part-time job, make sure your schedule is reflecting that. Set your working hours as if you are going into the office. Decide how many hours you will work and mark it on your calendar and commit to only working those hours, if possible. Your family will respect those boundaries a little more if they see you are sticking to them. Decide on one or two times a day to check and respond to emails. This is one that I am trying to work on, but it is so tempting to check my inbox on my smart phone! I do know that when I am doing good in this area, I am much more focused on the present and on my family. They notice, too!

3. Use a Timer

Timers are not only great for cooking, but they are fabulous to help you set limits with your time at work. For me, I enjoy keeping up with everything going on in my world through various social media outlets. If I am not careful, a quick peek at Facebook can soon add up to more time than I’d like to admit. By setting a timer on the microwave or my phone, I can decide how long I can spend on social media. This has helped free up tons of lost minutes a day in the social media vortex that I am now able to spend getting things done around the house and with my kids. As an added bonus, when I allocated a certain amount of minutes to each social media site, I actually saw an increase in numbers on a few that I neglected previously and I was more engaged with my followers. A win for my schedule, my family, and for my business.

moms who blog

photo courtesy Thistlewood Farms

4. Set up an Office Space

Where do you do your blogging? Do you have an office or favorite spot that you set up shop? I am a creative blogger and spend tons of time crafting, photographing, and working on the computer, of course. I set aside space for a desk, work table, and craft supply station in my room over the garage. This helped me in a few ways. I know exactly where my supplies are and am not repurchasing things I already own, I can stop in the middle of a project and not have to reprimand my children for touching my work, and my husband is glad to no longer have glitter in his dinner. It also has been really surprising how much more focused I am when sitting down at my desk for a few hours at a time to work and it feels good to close up shop at the end of the day.

5. Learn to Say “No Thank You”

This is another tip that is beginning to pay off in both my professional and personal life more than I thought possible. I recently attended Bloggy Boot Camp in Charlotte where Tiffany Romero encouraged us all to say “no thank you” and not feel guilty. See, I am a people-pleaser through and through and I struggle with not doing everything that I am asked to do. Once my blog reached a certain level, I found myself doing a lot of things that I really didn’t enjoy, didn’t pay well, and took me away from my family because I was overworked and exhausted. I felt like if I didn’t take this opportunity or participate in this group or post as much as possible, that I wasn’t doing all I could to promote my business. What I didn’t realize is that I don’t have to do things the exact way that everyone else is doing them and that I needed to define what success looked like for me. I started saying no to things that weren’t a good fit for my blog or for me personally that wouldn’t help me achieve that success. You know what? My readership is still growing, I’m spending less time on things that were just no fun, and I have time and energy left over at the end of day to spend on my family and even a little to spend on myself.

I hope that you found these tips helpful and can implement a few to regain a little balance in your life. Do you have any other suggestions on how to manage your time more efficiently as a mom who blogs?

More Articles on Balancing Blogging

What more tips on how to balance blogging? Keep reading!

About the Author:
Trish Flake is a work-at-home mom of two girls who shares her love of all things crafty on her blog, Uncommon Designs. She also is owner of My Virtual Blog Assistant, where she handles business tasks for bloggers so they can get back to doing what they love… writing and creating.

About Tracie Nall

Tracie lives in Arizona with her husband, teen daughter, and more books than her shelves will hold. She spends her days writing and editing. Many of her words end up on her blog, From Tracie. Find Tracie on Twitter @FromTracie and on Instagram where she takes pictures of things that are yellow.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bulldogpupp~ says

    5 yrs old, in the summertime, Ribeye the bulldog resulted
    in with itchy, crusty, scab-like patches on his belly.
    Also called choke chains, chokers or slip chains, this kind of collar is utilized for training purposes only.
    The American Kennel Club (AKC), The Kennel Club (UK) as well as
    the United Kennel Club (UKC) oversee breeding standards. Richard Cussons is a good fan of english bulldogs.
    He burst outside in hives at the end from the first month, that’s a sign which the shot levels were increasing too fast for him.

  2. Babes about Town says

    Really great tips, balance is something we all struggle with, especially as mums are often juggling more tasks than the average circus performer. One of my favourite tips is to just give yourself 3 realistic goals to achieve every day, rather than an endless checklist. I haven’t quite managed it yet (I’m an endless list maker) but I’m trying!

    Thanks for the post 🙂

  6. Nicole Ireland says

    Finding time for one’s family and blogging can be quite challenging, especially when everyone’s schedules are so all over the place and you’re constantly running around. I’m not always the best at creating time for what needs to be done on my site, but I’m trying to get better at it. It certainly helps that my boyfriend is supportive of what I do and tries to help me find time for it.

  8. Sarah says

    Great tips! I don’t seem to have any schedule lately.. I keep looking at articles to get one. 😉 I have 3 kids 4 and under (youngest is only 2 months old), so my time is taken up a lot!
    Learning to say no thank you is a big one for me lately. I’ve decided to get REALLY picky on my blog. I want to promote and work with people whom I enjoy and I believe my readers will enjoy. 🙂

  10. Vanessa says

    Awesome tips!! I definitely need to try the timer thing especially this summer as I’m wanting to make the most of my time with my kiddos. Great post Trish!!
    Vanessa

  11. Yum Yucky says

    I would lurves to set up a mini office space in my bedroom. But how to deter my gremlin children from detroying my space?? GAH!

  12. Denise @ Go Cheap or Go Home says

    Great tips!! I am also working on the smart phone thing with checking email, but I (hope to be) getting a little better. Timing social media is a great idea as well. I try to set small increments but don’t actually use a timer. I can see where that definitely makes a difference!

  13. Kristina Walters @ Kris On Fitness says

    Great tips! I am a newbie blogger trying to grow. With a family and working full time, I do find myself getting a bit overwhelmed if I feel I need to be attached to the computer 24/7. I worry that I will miss something online. Balance is key here I guess. Will try the timer.

  15. Shari Lynne @ Faith Filled Food for Moms says

    Trish…I’m right at number 5! I am starting to say no thank you way more often…because I’m getting exhausted and it’s not worth the time and effort it takes away from my family…and we are sooo busy! 🙂
    Thank you for the confirmation!!

  16. Emily @ Random Recycling says

    I’m going to use the microwave timer idea. I too get lost in the land if Pinterest and would be better served doing it in shorter spurts. Great post!

  22. MomChalant says

    Great tips! Setting up an office space is SO important in my opinion. I don’t have one now and feel lost without it. I’m currently in the process of rearranging my bedroom solely for creating an office space in there.

  23. Leah Elizabeth Locklear says

    Great read! Thanks for sharing. I need to work on sayin “No thank you…” I too am bad about wanting to take advantage of any and every opportunity. There needs to be a happy balance. Again thanks for sharing these tips~ 🙂

  24. KC @ The Real Thing with the Coake Family says

    Thanks, Trish! Great list of tips. I’m pinning it. You seemed to know what I needed to hear today. I actually wrote out a schedule for today and am doing my best to stick to the work hours and be focused when I am working rather than whittling that time away on the dumb stuff. Great post!
    KC

  25. Karen says

    these are great tips, thanks. I find making meals and getting ready the night before always helps me get organized. I also have to realize that I may not get to read or comment on blogs right away and need to put mothering and work first, but focus on blogging and reading blogs when it is my time to do so.

  26. Tracy @ The UnCoordinated Mommy says

    Great tips! I definitely have to get out of the pjs to feel productive. I may just be putting on yoga pants a tshirt but it still makes a huge difference. In hoping once my kids are a little older I can start setting “office hours” until then I jut try to do it when I can!

  27. Darlene with BlogBoldly says

    These are excellent tips.

    I’ve found that if I get sidetracked and don’t get dressed for the day (and office) I’m not as productive.

    One of the main things I stress to my peeps is “this is a business.”.. Yes, your blog may be about your hobby.. but it’s still a business, right?

    If it’s not a business, why not? You’re doing practically the same amount of work whether you make money or not.. so why not make the money.

    Which gets back to your Tip #1. Get up, get ready and get going.

    ~ darlene 🙂

    • Trish @ Uncommon says

      I couldn’t agree more. Blogging is a lot of work and there is nothing wrong with making a little cash from it. I was so proud of myself this morning…. it was the first day of our Summer break and I got up and got dressed. Woo hoo! Thanks for commenting!

  28. Kristen Daukas says

    Great list!! I’ve also found that (for me) making an old-fashioned to-do list helps me stay on track. As much as I love my gadgets, I’m very much a written list person. And YES! on the shutting things down. I get very distracted by the notifications alerting me that I have new mail.. I have to go and clear it out. So shutting it down helps a lot.

  31. Elizabeth A. says

    I love the idea of setting a timer for social media. I waste so much time there and I don’t even realize it until it is too late!

  32. vinma says

    Certainly useful! I can totally relate with some of the pointers and could put to use some of them 🙂 Thanks for sharing 🙂