An amazing post called The Dos and Don’ts for Busy Parents Who Blog appeared in my inbox this morning, and the timing couldn’t have been better as it not only captured exactly how I was feeling yesterday, but sums up how other parents feel when trying to multi-task with writing and other chores. It’s written by a very talented writer and mum called Suzannah, on her popular website Write in Sideways and she inspired me to write this post.
I’m a blogger and a full-time working parent and therefore have many commitments and daily tasks – one of them being this blog. Although I will stay true to my writing challenge to learn a new writing tip every day and blog about it to teach others (and I’ve committed myself until the end of April), it is sometimes very hard to find the time in the day to research, plan, write and post something useful and informative.
Taking yesterday as an example, I found myself at my laptop at 10.30pm (after putting the kids to bed and doing a few chores) trying to complete a post I had started earlier that day. Writing late at night when I’ve been up since 5.30am isn’t my most productive time; however, determined to find a little time to relax, I put pressure on myself to finish the blog post before my bath had finished running! To cut a long story short, I ended up finishing it after my relaxing bath and posted it just before midnight. Not ideal – and I woke up this morning feeling exhausted.
So, what is the answer?
Suzannah’s article The Dos and Don’ts for Busy Parents Who Blog explains how to define your reasons for blogging and how not to “get yourself in over your head” i.e. not to commit yourself to too much. It’s also important to post when you say you are going to post, so that your readers don’t think you’ve stopped blogging and unsubscribe.
A suggestion Suzannah also gives is to prepare some posts in advance. She also writes “one key I’ve found to not giving up is to plan ahead for those times. I always have a long list of article ideas ready and waiting for days I feel uninspired”. She also asks other bloggers to help out with the workload now and again by accepting guest posts.
My thoughts
I’m determined to see my writing challenge through to the end and won’t give up, but I don’t want to wear myself out in the process. So far I haven’t managed to prepare posts in advance (not even for Christmas Day) as I have other blogs that I have committed myself to and also a wonderful family that I love spending time with. I am, however, going to make a conscious effort this weekend to carve out some extra time (maybe early in the morning) to plan blog posts for the week to take the pressure off.
Thank you Suzannah for providing your post at the time I needed it. I would love to hear if anyone else has any useful tips on this subject.
Until tomorrow…
Sandra
Freelance Writer
www.sandramadeira.com
My Writing Notebook 
Great article Sandra. I admire your commitment to writing every day. Being responsible for my company blog http://www.londonmarketbroking.co.uk, I find it hard to write every couple of days. Getting guest contributions is a completely different challenge – a company of 100 + people and only two of us write !
Keep up the good work
Posted by Robert Madeira | January 10, 2012, 10:21 pmThank you Robert for taking the time to comment. I’ve just visited your website and I think you are doing a fantastic job not only by posting frequently, but also the whole layout of your site is so professional and eye-catching. Well done!
Posted by Sandra Madeira | January 11, 2012, 7:04 amThank you. Just can’t get over how much content there is on here……but get some pictures on it ! Catch up Sunday and we can blog together !!!
Posted by Robert Madeira | January 11, 2012, 10:10 pmLate at night I don’t get the time to look for pictures Robert. Maybe we can discuss on Sunday. Thanks for the comment 🙂
Posted by Sandra Madeira | January 12, 2012, 3:10 pmWhat a coincidence…..I was thinking and blogging about time yesterday, and not having enough of it 😦
I do tend to do my blogging in advance. I use the App for the iPad and just add to it every so often throughout the day.
As to committing yourself to too much, hmmmm…..I’ve realised I’m doing that too. Challenging myself to write a short story every day sounded like a good idea at the time lol
xx
Posted by Vikki | January 11, 2012, 9:39 amWe must remember that we are in control of what we do and of our actions. So, if we decide to do something and then it doesn’t work, we have the power to change it. Having said that, we’ll both probably continue to blog every day because we set ourselves that challenge :-).
I’m impressed that you prepare some of yours in advance though, and I must learn to do that too.
Posted by Sandra Madeira | January 11, 2012, 1:22 pm