One of the most common questions I get when people find out that I blog (or when readers find out I have four young kids) is, “How do you find time to blog?”
That is a totally valid question! One of my biggest hesitations in starting a blog was that I wouldn’t have the time to be consistent with it and it would fall by the wayside (like my first blog, which failed).
Maybe if you’re considering blogging (or have already started), you’re wondering that too. In fact, if you’re planning to start any business on the side of what you’ve currently got going on, you might be wondering how you’re going to find the time to add yet another activity to your already busy schedule.
As a stay-at-home mom of four littles (currently ages 8, 6, 4 and 1) and wife to a super busy husband, life is very full! I won’t give you my laundry list of other projects and involvement, but suffice it to say I’m busy. You probably are too!
Blogging is a lot of work. It’s even more work than I initially thought. Starting any business is going to take time.
The key is that you can’t wait until you find the time. You have to make the time.
The number of hours in the day isn’t going to change. You just have to change what you do during those hours. For example, I watch exactly zero hours of television any given day. Could you make more time in the day by cutting out TV?
Here are 6 things that help me make time for blogging. Think about how they apply to you and the things you want to accomplish.
Get up early
Having a good chunk of time in the morning really helps me to be productive, even though I am anything but a morning person. I used to get up extra early on Thursday mornings to participate in a really great link party that opened up super early in my time zone . I would get the most traffic to my site and have the best chance to be featured if I got to the party as soon as it opened, so I never hit snooze. Once I was out of bed, I convinced myself to stay up. Find a reason to get up early and make yourself accountable to do so.
Or stay up late
Now, you won’t want to try this one in conjunction with getting up early. Burning the candle at both ends will not make you more productive. However, if you are a night owl rather than a morning person, the time when the others in your family (particularly the little people) have gone to bed can be really useful. I work best when I have a list of the things I plan to accomplish because at the end of a long day it an be easy to get side-tracked.
Make it my hobby
Yes, my blog is also a business, but it takes up time that I would spend on a hobby. There are lots of activities that I enjoy doing, but had to put on the side while growing my blog. I used to stay up late at night sewing or doing other fun craft projects. I still sew and do other creative projects for special occasions, but for the most-part, blogging (and all that involves) filled my hobby time. Since I enjoy it, that’s fine with me.
Set a reasonable schedule
I have always been amazed by bloggers who can post daily. There is no way I could do that. Even if I had the time, I don’t think I could turn out quality content that regularly. And that’s okay. I started with three days a week. In my busy seasons of life (I’m having one of those now), I go down to two posts (or even one) a week. Consistency is more important than frequency (to a point). Don’t put more on your plate than you can handle. I’m being more lax with my schedule this summer, but when school starts back, I plan to go back to being more consistent with my posting schedule.
Don’t do it all
With a blog (and really any business you’re starting), there really are so many different opportunities pulling you in so many different directions. You can’t excel at all of them. Don’t try to grow an enormous following on every social media starting on day one. Choose wisely where you’ll focus your time and do your best to ignore everything else. Being more focused lets you get more done in less time.
Break it up
I rarely sit down and write an entire blog post in one sitting. Most of my posts develop over time. I brainstorm as I’m doing laundry, taking a shower, washing dishes, or driving (in the boonies everything requires a significant drive). Then I dump all my thoughts in outline form on paper or if the computer is handy into a draft in WordPress. Usually in the evening (when the house is finally quiet), I will actually write the post. I squeeze social media and other blogging tasks in between regular life stuff or schedule it out in batches in the evening.
If your life is anything like mine, the time to do something like start (or grow) a blog or business isn’t just going to appear. We’re probably not going to stop being busy all of the sudden. If it’s really something you want to do, you will find a way to make time for it. If it’s not, then that’s okay!
If you do want to start a blog, I have a step-by-step tutorial for starting a blog (you’ll definitely want to go the self-hosted route), as well as a post about how to start a blog in a budget. If you’re thinking about starting an Etsy shop, I’ve got a whole series on that, too!
Vaulable (but FREE!) Blogging Resources
11 Ways to Boost Your Blog Reach Overnight
Goal Setting Workbook for Bloggers
8 Bad Blogging Habits and How to Break Them
How about you?
- Do you have a blog or business on the side?
- How do you make time for it?
- What’s your best advice for managing your time between all your demands?
The metrics you measure will depend on the goals you set at the beginning. Measuring them on a regular basis, I do it once a week, will help you understand the effect your blogging is having. You ll also be able to identify what s not working and adjust your strategy. Start working on your to-do list now, write down the amount of time you think each task will take and keep notes on how long it actually took and what stops you getting it done in time.
Great to hear someone recognise the staying up late option 🙂 I do the bulk of my work once the kids are in bed.
I have a to-do-list by my desk and highlight the priority items. Having it all out of my head makes it easier not to feel overwhelmed and means I can knock off smaller items if I have a moment during the day.
Thanks for the ideas Stephanie.
Amanda
Some great insights! Thanks Stephanie, I’d love to hear a bit more about the link party though? Never heard of such a thing?
Link parties are popular in the lifestyle niche (at least they were in the past, I haven’t had time to do them for a while). They are a great way to get new eyes and readers. Here is a directory: http://www.myjoyfilledlife.com/the-ultimate-link-up-party-list/ that might help. I know some of the ones I participate in (and got really great traffic from) have been discontinued.
I definitely don’t have time to write a well thought and well researched post every day, especially with 3 kids and part-time work/part-time school. I try to write my posts ahead on Sundays and schedule them ahead of time.
I hear you Jen! I definitely don’t have time for that either! When I started blogging, I didn’t realize how much more is involved in blogging besides just writing posts!
This is so helpful for a beginning blogger, thanks!!
I’m glad it was helpful! You’re doing a great job Sjoukje!
As a single person with no other commitments, I find myself to be on the fortunate side to have time after work to blog and write posts and network. I’m curious, how many hours a week do you spend on your blog? I usually spend between 10-12 hours a week and I think I’m going to bump it up to 15-20 hours a week because I’ll have the time for it. The best advice that I have is to keep a schedule and follow it! Every time I come home, I’m exhausted and my first instinct is to go online and watch Youtube videos but I switched that to looking at what my planned schedule was for that day which reminds myself to stick to it and continue cranking out posts!
Good for you! Discipline has so much to do with it! It’s easy to be busy, but not intentional about how you’re spending your time. Sounds like you have a good schedule!