How to Balance Blogging with Being a Mom

We all struggle to find balance every now and then, but as moms–especially as moms of young kids–who are also trying to blog, it can be particularly tough!

There’s always someone begging for snacks or saying “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,” on repeat. We can barely fit in time for all the stuff that WE need to do, let alone  the things that we need to do for our kids.

But what if we told you there’s a way to fit in time for yourself and your blog, or that you don’t actually have to choose between being a mom or being an entrepreneur. What if we told you that you can absolutely rock the socks off of both roles?

Sound like a pipe dream?

The thing is, it can be hard to follow anyone’s advice when you’re tired and barely have a minute to yourself, and when you are so thick in the weeds of life that it is all you can do to hang on. Even so, if you follow the five steps we list out below, you will learn how to make time to build a blog and business that you love, even while you are momming.

DEFINE YOUR GOALS

The first step of success is to dream up what success looks like to you? Do you want to be stopped on the streets for your autograph type of famous? Do you want to coach people on healthy eating and become best friends with your clients? Whatever your goals may be, it’s important to define them clearly.

Start with big yearly goals and then break those down into monthly goals and then weekly goals. Click to Tweet

The secret to success lies in your weekly goals. Start off each week by writing down the absolute most important things that need to happen during that week to hit your monthly goal.

If you are trying to build your email list by creating a course, then your weekly goal would be to write 1 lesson. By the end of the month, you would already have 4 lessons complete!

Don’t forget to write down your goals for your family life as well. Whether it is spending more time with your kids or catching up on laundry. You get to decide what goals are important and what success means to you.

Whatever needs to happen during the week to feel productive and successful, just make sure that those things are on your list.

Don’t forget to write down your goals for your family life as well. Click to Tweet

PRIORITIZE THOSE GOALS BY LEVEL OF IMPORTANCE AND DEADLINE

Take into account specific deadlines: submission dates, appointments, meetings, etc and fill in those tops spots.

If you’re focusing on hitting your big monthly goal, then you need to get clear about what you can and can’t fit in each week. Let’s say that you are writing a book and you have a goal of 8 chapters a month. That’s 2 chapters per week. But if you have a week full of sport’s games and doctor’s appointments, you will have to prioritize what you can achieve. I’m not talking about missing your son’s basketball game or your daughter’s swim meet, I’m just talking about priorities.

If both your professional and personal goals are of absolute importance, then make sure you have time to get to them both. This will mean ordering take-out for dinner or saying no to watching the Bachelor so that you can fit everything in.

IDENTIFY THE TIME OF DAY YOU ARE THE MOST FOCUSED AND PRODUCTIVE

Let’s face it–it’s a whole lot easier to get work done while the house is quiet and the kids are still asleep in the very early hours of the morning. To take advantage of it, it might mean forcing yourself to be a morning person. But it doesn’t have to mean that either.

The thing is, we all have that time of day where we’re most productive. Not everyone has to stick to early mornings. Many of our team members have their best focus time at night.

Your mission is to Identify that time of day where you find yourself the most focused and productive. That time where you can get into the zone and crank out a lot of work.

That being said, we do very much believe in “eating the frog first.” By that I mean, doing my most important task (and often the least desirable) first, during your productive time. That way there’s no room for procrastination or excuses.

UTILIZE TIME BLOCKING

Time blocking can seem very limiting but when used appropriately is actually liberating. And with a busy schedule is the most important tool you have!

You start time blocking by planning your week. Separating out what your tasks are for that week. Take your priorities or your two top-tier tasks and block out time during each day to complete those tasks. Make sure to block out time during your most productive hours.

As you get more used to the idea, continue using time blocking throughout the day for any other important tasks. Even block time for exercise and family time! Time-blocking will absolutely help you make the most of your day.

The thing is, it’s SO easy to lose track of your time. We’ve all been guilty of throwing away our time…wasting hours on social media and reading the news. But when you time block, you take back your time! Not only does time blocking help you to become deliberate about important tasks, it also helps you develop a routine. And while our “routine” may not always be identical day to day, adopting processes are an important part of entrepreneurship and momming on a busy schedule.

GIVE YOURSELF GRACE

This may seem like a silly final step, but we can’t stress enough how important it is. As much as we would like to do everything 100% of the time, the truth is it isn’t possible. Mistakes will be made and life will get in the way. But, each challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow. We might realize that next time, it’s OKAY to ask for help. And, it is OKAY to leave the dishes in the sink for a few days. It’s even OKAY to ask a friend to pick your child up from practice. We all need a little help here and there and we all could benefit from giving ourselves more grace each day.

And yes, we also realize that may sound like some serious sugar coating, but it is not. If there is one thing I have learned- the only mistake you can make is to simply not try.

Time blocking can seem very limiting but when used appropriately is actually liberating. Click to Tweet

So even though you are a mom first, just remember, you can make time to be an entrepreneur as well! Embrace all of it. And just go out there and TRY!