Listen to “MIH055:Mompreneur Balance Hacks for Blogging While Raising Kids” on Spreaker.
I get it-it’s not easy balancing a full-time blogging lifestyle while tending to family full-time as well. But guess what, Mompreneur? If you want this, you can do it!
On this post and podcast episode (yay for another podcast this week!) I want to share with you 5 mompreneur balance hacks that will help you with your blogging while raising kids.
I have two daughters – and although they are now on the older side- both a teen and a preteen, I have been blogging with them in tow since they were both toddlers. I understand the complexities of a stay-at-home and work-at-home lifestyle and what that means for mom bloggers.
Mostly it means, we have to learn how to balance, or juggle our responsibilities, so that we can at least attempt to get it all done.
Rest assured that although you won’t likely get it all done, that you will at least have made some headway in accomplishing your goals.
What are the hacks I used for the past 14 years to help me balance mom life (and mompreneur life) while blogging?
Make a flex schedule.
Mom-life wouldn’t be the same without a flex schedule. We have to give ourselves time to get it all done (or most of it anyway) and that requires a lot of freedom to move things around in a day (or week).
The way I do it is, although I have a set time to work (my block schedule), I give myself the option to move that block of time around wherever and however necessary.
So let’s say I typically work from 1- 4 pm on weekdays, but I have a dentist appointment scheduled on Wednesday at 2 pm out of town. I would simply just take that 1-4 pm I would normally work on Wednesday and move it back to 5-8 am so that I get the same amount of time and work accomplished, all before my kid wakes up.
(Check out my podcast on time management tips for mompreneurs).
Sometimes I have to move my work blocks to the late evening and sometimes to a weekend. I might even have to break up my 3 or 4 hours into 1-hour chunks spread throughout the week.
For the most part, however, I like to keep my amount of time blogging the same per week. Currently, I am working at an almost full-time pace, breaking up my hours throughout the week as needed.
Cut out filler activities.
This is a big one for me because Netflix gets me every time. But if you can cut out extraneous activities while working you’ll be much more productive.
One thing I’ve learned to do is to only focus on my writing and nothing else. If I’m blogging, that is exactly what I’m doing. Crafting my posts- and not checking social media.
Staying completely focused on one task at a time and not going down rabbit trails – like checking email, for example- can help tremendously in productivity.
Pre-plan your posts.
I love to know what I’m going to write about before I fire up my laptop. The way I handle this is to make sure I have already pre-written a few outlines so that when I’m ready to start blogging, all I have to do is begin.
Writing my post ideas out and creating outlines for them speeds up my productivity to double the time than if I were to research a post, then write it up one post at a time.
I like to batch my work, getting all the research and topics out of the way in one setting, then going back to create outlines for them in another sitting.
Eventually, when it’s time to write my posts, I already have a road map before me and I can just plug in and start writing.
It’s so much easier this way! As a busy mompreneur, you need all the shortcuts you can in order to make the blogging life easier and more fulfilling.
Only write, nothing else.
It’s like I mentioned earlier- focus on only the task at hand. If I’m writing, I’m not checking social media, but neither am I creating a podcast. I’m only writing.
Batching out my activities makes things so much easier. For example, if I’m creating a blog post image for one blog, why not for several? I’m already in Canva, so I may as well create several images at once.
If I’m only focused on writing- which is the bulk of my blogging activities- then I can crank out several posts within an hour’s time.
Focusing on one task at a time truly improves speed and productivity.
Factor in fun.
One of the best things you can do as a mompreneur is to make sure you’re getting taken care of.
What does fun mean to you? Factor that into your life on a regular basis and take care of yourself.
I often like to get away for a walk and have coffee. It’s too much fun to live downtown where walking to a coffee shop only takes 2 minutes!
I love an occasional gourmet coffee at a fancy coffee shop (or just my local one), so I might go out with another mompreneur friend some weekends.
I celebrate small achievements by rewarding myself with special treats that mean a lot to me.
I also like to motivate myself with a daily calendar check-off just to keep me motivated, and this is all part of my fun.
Mostly, I just try to remember that the mompreneur life is not all about work, work, work, and no play. We need to pay our bills, but it’s also nice to put aside some money to spend for pleasure– and to do so regularly to keep our spirits up.
What does factoring in fun mean for you?
Going out to celebrate with girlfriends? Saving up for a cruise for your family? Taking your kids to Disney? Taking yourself to a spa?
Figure out what fun is for you, and reach for it!
Did you enjoy this post and podcast? (I hope you didn’t forget to press play- just scroll to the top!)
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