When I first started blogging my son Benjamin was 9 months old. I was fortunate that he was already on a good sleep schedule and a pretty consistent daily routine. I decided that the best times to focus on the blog were during his naps and in the evenings after dinner. This would allow me a minimum of 3 hours a day , 20+ hours a week. As long as he took 2 good naps, I was good to go!
The most challenging part I found was switching from “baby mode” to “blogging mode”.
In the past as soon as Benny would nap I would take that time just for myself. Make a coffee, put on a good show and relax while going through Instagram. Now I would make my coffee, and get right on wordpress.com and start working.
Here are some tips that I found useful for me when I started blogging, and still made sure I had the time for Benny and taking care of stuff around the house.
- MAKE A SCHEDULE.
I have always been a big believer in routine and good daily habits. I strive on routine and so does Benny. Especially after having a baby, a solid daily routine is what helped me get through the really tough parts. My mornings looked something like this:
5:40am – Wake up and take the first 15 mins for some me time to use the bathroom and check my social media.
6:00am – Make a coffee and log onto www.wordpress.com. Start with some blogging edits and updates, and when I am feeling inspired, start writing.
6:30am – Ben would be up. I would give him his bottle, have some morning cuddles then put him in his activity centre to play while I did some morning Yoga
7:15 – 7:30am – Finish yoga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7xsYgTeM2Q – my morning go to practice!
7:30am – Empty the dishwasher and prep Benny’s food food the day while he plays. Before having Benny I got into a good habit of always loading the dishwasher and doing dishes at night! Love waking up to a nice clean kitchen
7:50am – Quick shower while Benny plays in his activity centre in the bathroom
8:00am – Breakfast for Benny. Around this time I would put the laptop on our kitchen counter and open the site. It was nice to see it first thing in the morning and it also helped to get me pumped for the first blogging session.
8:20am – Play time and cuddles
9:00am – Wind down before nap, and I would decide what task I would be focusing on for the day
9:15am – Nap #1 for Benny & Blogging for me
Having a set schedule was for my family and for me to plan my days, but having the routine made it SO much easier to add blogging into the mix. I felt more organized, motivated and started to learn better time management. It is amazing how much you can get accomplished when you adopt good time management practices. - DON’T BLOG DURING BABY TIME
Sometimes Benny would be in a really easy going mood and play independently without needing too much attention.
Sweet! Ideal time for me to get on the laptop and start working, right? Nope.
All it meant was that I was trying to blog with one eye on the screen and one eye on him. And I would have to still tend to him no matter how happy he was. It would lead to me being super frustrated with him (not fair on the little guy) and having to write.
So, when Ben was having an independent play day, I would take the “free” time and prep food for lunch/dinner, do some clean up, or just simply enjoy the time with him.
- CREATE DIFFERENT BLOGGING TASKS TO CHOOSE FROM
My motivation, focus and energy levels change daily so it was important to have a selection of tasks to choose from (depending on what kind of day I was having).
Somedays I could get on my laptop and write a post so easily. Other days I would get on and just stare at the screen, lost in thought. So I set up some different tasks I could choose from.
Examples:
– Design social media pictures
– Research relevant quotes to share on the blog
– Brainstorm a list of blog ideas
– Edit blogs sitting in drafts
– Write in point form some ideas for a specific post
– Review the site and do quick edits
– Research “how to write a blog”
– Get on Twitter and Instagram to post and connect
– Research news articles based on my niche (real estate investing)
With a variety of tasks to choose from I could work on what seemed to suit me on a particular day, and still be productive. - WRITE DOWN A LIST FOR YOUR DAILY BLOG SCHEDULE
Once I had linked my twitter and instagram to the site, it was important for me to keep that linked information up to date, and changing daily. If I didn’t have a written reminder it was all too easy to forget – and I would have the same tweet or picture showing for days.
I really wanted to be consistent with my content and changes on the site.
From the beginning I treated the blog like my business. I acted as though I had thousands of readers who were waiting on my content.
That mindset is what helped to motivate me each day.
This is what one of my first LISTS looked like:
– go on the website and do a quick review
– post on instagram and share a short story
– get on twitter and do a couple of tweets/retweets and some online networking
– edit pictures for “Debt to Freedom” posts
– update the youtube video link on the site
– decide what task will be accomplished for the day (See Tip #3) - BE CONSISTENT, PATIENT, DEDICATED & EXCITED
Like so many things in life, dedication and consistency are keys to success. I knew starting a blog wouldn’t be easy, but I was (and still am) excited to be doing it. I consistently worked on it daily and made sure to keep the blog a constant focus in my mind. I tried my hardest to be patient with the process.
My first time on wordpress.com was frustrating!
I knew nothing about websites, blogging and themes. But I took each day as a learning experience to challenge myself and accomplish something new. I always told myself, at the very least the blog would be a positive tool for me as I would be always learning the more I posted. And at the most, I would be able to reach out to people in the world who would find the content useful and motivating.
Last tip is to JUST DO IT!
Get online, get a website and get blogging. It doesn’t have to be perfect right away. You can always make things pretty and do edits later. But just get yourself started. I remember the day I put my website live it felt amazing!
I hope these tips are useful to you if you are just starting a blog. Reach out if you have any more questions, I would be more than happy to connect!
Compound Dreams 