Friend Friday: Get the Balance Right

This week’s Friend Friday asks the question “How do you find balance between life and blogging?” My friends are always asking me this same question, especially since I’m very busy at work full-time as an Operations Supervisor, then I come home to be a wife and mother. How important is it that I make time for blogging? Maybe the answers to these questions can shed some light. How do you all find the balance in your lives, whether or not blogging is involved?

When it comes to prioritizing your life, in what place does blogging fall?

I make time for it, but it I make sure I take care of my family and household first. This means that I’m usually blogging after my son and husband are asleep. There are times when I come home from work where I can get in some time on the computer early. But if my little boy comes tugging on my leg while I’m on the computer, wanting to dance with mommy…I will stop everything to dance.

We all wish we had more free time to dedicate to blogging and all it entails. What are your tricks for taking advantage of the time you do have to be as productive as possible?

I really try to get the whole week done ahead of time. My outfits are not necessarily what I wore the day they are posted, so I’m able to post things well in advance. I type out lots of ideas and titles of posts with just a paragraph or two of what I intend to write about, and flesh it out later if I still like the topic. My draft list is crazy right now, but it’s chock full of ideas that are ready to be turned into posts at anytime.

Have you discovered any short-cuts that makes blogging easier or more time efficient?

Yes! Scheduling entries to post at midnight everyday. I know it’s common knowledge that posts can be scheduled, but I didn’t know that until a friend and fellow blogger turned me onto it. It has made my life infinitely easier. Plus, as I mentioned above, coming up with a weeks worth of posts ahead of time and typing lots of draft ideas really is a time saver.

Do you have an editorial calendar or something similar that helps you plan ahead?

I actually started to do that just recently. Mondays are usually dedicated to what I did over the weekend. Tuesday and Wednesdays are outfit days. Fridays were my “Randomness” entries, but that has moved to Thursdays now that I am a part of FBFF. It makes it SO much easier to plan out my posts. If there is something that I want to post in a more timely manner, I will push an outfit post to another day.

If time wasn’t an issue what you would be doing on your blog/for your blog that you aren’t doing now?

If I had more time, I would devote it to learning more about the fashion industry. I’m only really reporting on what affects me and what I buy and wear, rather than the latest trends, the seasons and what designers are doing. To jump-start this part of my blogging experience, I’m shooting for going back to New York City in the fall for Fashion Week because I think it’s important to be right there “in it” as a fashion blogger. I know I can’t do that every year, but I think this year will be an important year for me to do so.

Fashion Beauty Friend Friday is a Google group for bloggers to converse on a given topic each week. Katy from ModlyChic sends the questions, bloggers post their responses and then add their post to the list of people sharing their thoughts on the subject matter. To get started, check out this great tutorial on Grit & Glamour here.

(The fantastic image was used with kind permission from artist Valentina Ramos. Click on the picture above to view her blog and shop!)