Balancing kids and mommy blogging together is a compilation of 15 strategies that I have used to create success in my Blogging Career. The task at hand we have as moms and professional bloggers is not easy, but with intentional handling & undying commitment, it can be achieved.
Balancing motherhood and blogging can be tough; especially, if you are a mom to tiny ones. The competition within you to be the best mom and the best blogger is always at loggerheads, creating new challenges for you every day.
And what makes this competition harder is the fact that it is between two very dear elements of your life. On one hand, it is your kids, and on the other, it is your blog both of which define who you are.
Balancing kids and mommy blogging together
Every Mother would understand the relevance and importance of discussing this topic. Our lives and our minds are super occupied each moment with taking care of our kids and even kids don’t make it easy for us when we are working from home.
If you are a mom, who is looking for starting out on a mom Blogging journey, here is the best resource for you that can help you start right and set you up for success.
With the occurrence of the worldwide Covid pandemic, the work from home arrangement has gathered all the wanted and unwanted attention from different parts of the society. And employee work productivity and efficiency is the center stage of all the discussions.
Here we are talking of Mompreneurs and Mom Bloggers who most often work from home to build their brands. And so finding powerful & impactful ways of balancing kids and mommy blogging together is imperative and necessary. Also recommended reading is How to stay productive as a Mommy Blogger.
15 Powerful Strategies to Balance Mommyhood & Mommy Blogging
Here are 15 ways to help you create the right equilibrium between both Mommyhood & Mommy Blogging.
| 1. Set Clear Goals |
| 2. Prioritize your Goals |
| 3. Identity Your Mommy Hours |
| 4. Identify Your Productive Blogging Hours |
| 5. Prepare a daily, weekly & Monthly Plan |
| 6. Stick to your Schedules |
| 7. Be forgiving to yourself |
| 8. Take frequent breaks from Blogging & Mommying |
| 9. Celebrate your small & big wins |
| 10. Ask for Support when needed |
| 11. Consider Delegating When necessary |
| 12. Communication is your biggest asset |
| 13. Factor in a day each week to grow |
| 14. Keep Work times strictly separate from Kids Time |
| 15. Practice living in the moment |
Be clear on what you want to achieve – Set Clear Goals
This may sound theoretical but this is the most powerful way to start when you are looking at creating a better balance between Mommy time & Blogging Time. Most of the time, we are just doing the things each day without really knowing why exactly we are doing those things and what exactly are the results we are wanting from doing those things.
So the first strategy that I would advise you to try out is to spend time on clearly stating & defining your mommy goals and blogging goals. And no this is not about setting your yearly goals, this is about knowing what you intend to accomplish let’s say in this month.
A fine example of this would be that you may want to achieve a target of no of page views or improve your Global Alexa Rankings while also spending an hour of no distractions time with your kid. Having this clarity makes it easier to achieve what you want to achieve.
Here is also an example for you to work on your personal goals. These are how my December Goals look.
Prioritize your goals and put a timeline to them
There could be several such goals identified for the long-term, short-term, or in between. What is important as the second step is to set timelines against each of them. This is to make the goals practical and achievable.
Let’s be practical and list the goals that are challenging yet achievable. As a blogger and mompreneur, you might want to finish a lot of the tasks but having a workable goals list is imperative to having a fulfilling & productive blogging career. Period.
So the strategy number 2 for balancing Mommy & Blogging together is about having goals sorted as per priority and timelines so you know exactly what you are supposed to do when you enter the blogging space from the mommying space.
Identity Your Mommy Hours
One of the best ways of balancing kids and mommy blogging together is to segregate your day on the basis of what you are needed to be in a particular time block. So, the best way to stay away from guilt pangs is to fix your time and schedule accordingly.
Be it blogging or any other career, the majority of mothers prioritize their kids over their profession – that’s quite natural and instinctive. You could in that case really work out a schedule that allows you to be out of work when your kids need you the most.
For example, I plan my lunch break around the kids. I have that meal with my kids and then close my blogging day around 6 pm when I need to spend time with my kids on their important school projects homework assignments etc.
Identify Your Productive Blogging Hours
Similarly, it is crucial to identify time slots where your blogging productivity is at the peak. Maybe, when the kids are at school, or when they are sleeping, playing, and so on.
What happens is that you can work more proactively to take full advantage of these time slots.
For me, I have recently started waking up at 5 am and 5-8 am is my me time and absolute focussed work time. by the time my kids wake up for the day, I am already close to my halfway mark on my to-do list. So I am completely at ease and have more flexibility in my hands. This is the change I brought in because of all the newness in my kids’ schedules due to the online classes they are now going through. The Covid Pandemic has completely changed our lives in so many aspects, right?
Prepare a daily, weekly & Monthly Plan
This is true for any profession. The best way is to plan and organize your day! Spend some time before the beginning of every month to sketch out a proper time-table for the month.
Similarly, before the start of the day prepare a schedule for the day. This way you can prioritize work. There is a feeling of unique contentment that you experience when you tick-off the work completed on the list.
Another benefit of having a plan in place is you know when and where to stop and set boundaries.
Stick to your Schedules, however hard the temptation to do impromptu things
Just make sure that you do everything in your capacity to adhere to the timelines and schedules set. Always & always prioritize to follow your plan and stick to your to-do list for the day.
In a world full of temptations all around and every other marketer proving their ideas with the help of their income sheets, it is easy to get distracted from your plan and get attracted to follow their ideas and ways. But it is always good to stay away from all the noise and distractions and follow one mentor for at least a period of 6 months.
It is healthy; it is a universally accepted best practice, and it is going to do a lot of good to your life as a mom and as a blogger.
Be forgiving to yourself
Most often, we end up punishing ourselves for things that we aren’t responsible for or have any control over. This creates a lot of stress and dissatisfaction in our lives. Take it easy – practice the art of self-forgiveness.
So, refrain from being hard on yourself. Probably there are hundreds of things you can do and could have done, but let bygones be bygones; take it out of your system once and for all and move on.
The fundamental thing you should always keep in your heart and mind is that you are doing a great job managing your work and your kids well.
Take frequent breaks from Blogging & Mommying
Blogging and Mommying, both can be exhausting, and daunting. While making your calendar, be sure to include breaks.
Breaks could be as simple as a walk to the local store or as elaborate as a holiday with a group of friends. The latter needs planning but the former can be done anytime; make sure you do so regularly for your mental peace and physical health.
Taking frequent breaks is proven to refresh you, help you find a new perspective and ideas, and improve your overall productivity & life quality.
Take time out to Celebrate your small & big wins
Balancing kids and mommy blogging together is no cakewalk. So, kudos to you for doing a great job! At whatever phase you are in, in your blogging and Mommying journey, be happy that you have come so far; and pat yourself from time to time. Celebrate your wins and learnings and have fun mommying & blogging.
Ask for Support when needed
You are lucky to have friends, family, neighbors, and acquaintances in the real-world; and a blogging community in the online world.
If there is help that you need, verbalize it. Ask your near and dear ones around. It could be as simple as babysitting for a few hours or could be helping you with editing content. Ask and you shall receive.
Not far back in time, I used to feel overwhelmed by all I had on my platter. From household chores to kids’ school and extracurricular activities, from my own blogging targets to social media publishing, I was just not feeling up to the mark in any area of my life. And then I realized maybe I am not asking for help when I needed it the most and was expecting everyone around to understand that I have too much work. At times just verbalizing and asking for it. So don’t shy away from asking for help from people who want to see you happy & successful.
Consider Delegating When necessary
Be it your spouse or parents, a friend, or a virtual help, you can decide to delegate work as and when required. You could also hire people to help you – with household chores, babysitting, blogging work, and more. A lot of your online tasks can be delegated to Virtual Assistants who are professional & helpful too.
You could hire the services of freelance content writers to help you with blogging and editing work. Similarly, to complete your book, you could hire a professional illustrator or a graphic designer rather than utilizing your time to do a type of work that is not your forte.
Communicate Communicate Communicate
Balancing kids and mommy blogging together can be made easy and stress-free should you choose to be in constant communication with people around you.
For example, if there is a top priority submission first thing in the morning, communicate the same to your stakeholders – kids and partners. Similarly, if you keep them updated on your schedule for the day, half of your tension gets resolved because they know how you are placed.
If you communicate to them what blogging means to you, you can get buy-in from people who matter the most to you. As is said, if you respect your work, others will follow suit.
Factor in a day each week to grow
While it may be a little difficult to do this every week, it is a great idea to identify one day in a month that you can spend on knowledge enhancement. Read books, listen to some fresh podcasts, watch some new videos, and gather some ideas about what is happening around the world.
Although as a mom blogger you should be keeping in touch with the news and happenings every day, this one day is to dive deeply into content and upgrade yourself.
This could mean reading or learning a new art, working on a new plan, brainstorming, and ideating. The purpose is simple – you need to learn new things to grow. Else, it could all stagnate very soon – which is why people get bored with their work after some time.
Keep Work times strictly separate from Kids Time
One of the practical ways of balancing kids and mommy blogging together is to divide the time between your family and blogging and then ensure that the two do not overlap.
The more you work concertedly towards this aim; the more your work and family life is going to get streamlined with greater effectiveness.
Practice living in the moment
It is good to plan. But, when it comes to living or enjoying your life, you must ensure that you are focused on enjoying each moment. To do so, focus on living for each moment.
What it means is that when you are with kids, pay unparalleled attention to them- do not think of your work at that time. Similarly, when you are blogging, be dedicated to the work-in-hand and leave the worries of your home outside the door.
These are some of the tried-and-tested methods to achieve that enigmatic equilibrium that we spoke of in the beginning. Give a few of these your best try; and let us know how it all went!
This is How I Balance My Kids & Blogging Together
Few additional tips from my side to help you create a fine and synergetic balance between Mommying & blogging.
- I always ensure that I am keeping my kids fulfilled. Their bucket of love attention and importance need to be filled in on daily basis. So spending time doing that for each of your kids is well worth the time energy and effort if you intend to accomplish your tasks effectively.
- Right in the morning, we have our tea time and all of us share our plan and schedule for the day. So the kids know what times I am busy and what times their dad has his meetings and what times we can spare and accessible. this has really helped in managing the expectations and keeping the sulking low as now everybody knows others’ schedule right in the morning.