How I Keep Up with my Blog Schedule

After getting married, my life kind of spun out of control for a little bit. But my blog schedule didn’t take a hit at all! I actually did better than I normally did.

That being said, the rest of my life kind of went off the rails for a few weeks. Connor and I were all over the place for the last month and a bit–honeymoon, various trips back to my hometown to get my driver’s license and get my wisdom teeth out, and we even got to go to BC to visit Connor’s family! It was a really great time, but in all of it I kind of let the other parts of my life slip away.

Although I was getting my 3 posts a week out, I wasn’t prioritizing my time well. Here are the things I need to get done every day:

Blogging
Taking care of the apartment
My various work and research things I’m doing this summer

However, generally I would start the day blogging and then not stop all day, and the other two categories were not getting done at all.

So I decided last week that I needed to prioritize better because honestly, I’m married now, and even though I don’t believe that the woman is supposed to clean up after the man all the time I do believe that a marriage requires selflessness. And me doing my blog all day and not doing any dishes is, quite bluntly, selfish of me. Especially since Connor has been working full time this summer and still helps me clean up the apartment that he comes back to, even if it’s super messy from my stuff all day.

Now, however, I’ve revamped my schedule, and I’m hoping that it will help me keep my priorities in better order! To help you out, too, if you’re trying to find a balance between blogging and keeping the rest of your life in order, I’ve decided to show you all how I’m keeping my life organized with my blog schedule!

Realize that your first priority is what you give your time to

This was a hard truth for me to swallow. When I was looking at what I was investing time into, I really realized that even in just the first month of marriage I was slacking off, and that is most definitely not how I want to start my marriage with Connor.

So to make sure that I prioritize Connor over everything, I have started to begin the day by doing all of the apartment things I need to get done. That means that when I wake up, I make the bed, tidy the apartment, and do the dishes. Even though I know that a marriage isn’t all about housekeeping and work and the like, I do think that it’s important to do the little things to make each other feel at home.

Before, I would wake up, get on my computer, and not stop working and reading blog-tips posts until Connor came home and I had forgotten to think about what to make for dinner. Although my blog is important, it will never be more important than my marriage. And that is something that I’m so glad I realized I was doing wrong now instead of 2 years from now!

Do you feel like blogging is taking over your life? Here are some tips to help!

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Break your blog schedule down into bite-sized bits

Now that I’ve decided spending less time on my blog, I need to know what things to do first and what to do only if I have free time.

Really analyze what you absolutely need to get done every week and what things are the cherry on top. List them in order of priority. When I do that, it looks like this:

Write 3 blog posts a week (can’t be a blogger without blog posts…)
Schedule social media
Read/comment on other blogs
Reply to comments/e-mails/tweets
Instagram
Check stats/take notes on what worked
Read blogging tip posts
Misc. other things that come up

For me, the first 4 are the absolute priority. If I get those done, my blog will continue to grow and I’ll continue to build community with other bloggers. Everything else I do as soon as I have time, but if I don’t have time, I don’t sweat it.

Stay ahead of the game

I like to write more than one blog post at a time. I get into a groove and then don’t want to stop–it works for me! The Freshman’s Guide to College? Wrote it all in two days. So I’ll write my posts for an entire week in one day and then be done with it and it works great! Also, with CoSchedule I can schedule all of my social media posts for the entire week and share great posts that I find!

Staying ahead of things is so important because then if there’s anything important that comes up your blog doesn’t suffer, but you’re also able to dedicate your time to something else without feeling like you are letting blog stuff build up!

Give yourself time to relax

For me, if I don’t take time to relax and just have some “me time” I will go crazy. And I’m an extreme extrovert. Sometimes when we have 26 things going on all at once it can be hard to just relax, but it’s so important. I will never stop harping on this:

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.

It doesn’t matter how much you have going on, or how much you have to get done. If you don’t take care of your body and your mind you’re not going to be happy when it’s over. You’re just going to be exhausted, burnt out, and cranky. Trust me.

Remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing

Prioritizing can be difficult, especially when we live in a culture of “shoulds”. We should be able to get the entire apartment clean and have a gourmet dinner set on the table. We should be able to create the most amazing graphics ever with those gorgeous flowers. We should be able to be the perfect wife/girlfriend/mother/etc.

“Shoulds”, though, have the capacity to destroy us. So instead of letting “shoulds” motivate me, now I’m choosing to be motivated by things that are and that I can do. I am a wife who loves her husband and wants to make sure that he knows that, and I can make our home a beautiful and welcoming place if I put Connor first. Then, after I get what is most important to my family done, I always have time to get my blogging done! (Thus you’re still seeing posts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday!)

Now, before any of you go off about how I’m totally anti-feminist for doing housecleaning and postponing blogging for two hours a day because of it: Connor is actually the most supportive person I’ve ever met when it comes to any of my obsessions, be it blogging, psychology, minimalism, a food craze–anything! He is my best friend, and he would happily forego a clean house with nice food if it meant that I was happy. The truth is, though, now that I’m married, it isn’t just my happiness that matters anymore! I vowed to love him and put his welfare first over mine, and this is just one of the many ways I can do that. :)

I’m so happy that I’ve gotten my priorities straight.

How do you keep blogging from taking over your whole life?