How to Manage Work At Home Life + Mom Life Balance

I’m excited to continue the Blogger Summer Series with Arin and Navy and to share these adorable Farmer’s Market pics. Last week, I shared a little more about my blogging journey and today we’re talking about how to manage my work/life balance as a blogger and SAHM and offer some tips for your own Work at Home Life Balance.  In the beginning, when Hattie was a baby, blogging was a breeze. I’d put her down for a nap and I’d have a solid 2-3 hours to sit and get my work done. Over time, the naps went away and I had to get a little more creative. While I still say my #1 job is being Hattie’s Mom and making sure she is learning and growing on a daily basis, I still make sure I have time in the fringe hours to make my business work. I’ve learned over time, I have to work smarter not harder. 

I confess I am on my phone way too much with this business, but it’s convenient so that I can take Hattie to the park, or an event and still answer an urgent email. I really struggle personally with the need to always “be on” as I like to say. What I need to do is create office hours for myself. When I started treating my blog like a business years ago, I felt the need to always be available and answer questions or respond to comments. I’ve eased up a bit, I’ve turned off the notifications on my phone and I try to make sure I set my phone down on a regular basis as to not be on my phone consistently. You can really get caught up in the endless scroll! 

I put together a few tips that I like to follow to have a little more of a work/life balance. 

Batch Blogging

One of the best things I’ve done for my business is batch blogging. At the beginning of the month I look at what projects I have and content I’d like to write and see what I need for photography. I then try to plan 5-7 looks, recipes, ideas and shoot with my photographer for a few hours and knock out all the projects. It’s nice because then I have a great database of photos to share on Instagram throughout the month. I’ll do this for my writing as well. I’ll plan a day and just write. Sometimes I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and just write too. Sometimes the mood just strikes! But it’s so nice to have ready-to-go content ahead of time and you’re not scrambling to make a deadline. 

Plan Your Day

Every night I like to make a list of to-do items for the next day so that I know what is the most important. I was at a conference recently and learned you have to treat your day like a business, regardless of if you are a business. What are you doing that is going to give you the most bang for your buck and time? I learned a long time ago, you make a plan and work your plan. When you do that, it’s so much easier. I am team paper planner and always have my Erin Condren planner with me and I also have a large Emily Ley Wall Calendar in my office that I color code so I can quickly and easily see what’s coming up. 

Get Up Early

I know my night owls don’t want to hear this, but I get up at 5:30, go to the gym, and I’m home to get the day started. If I have a rest day from the gym, I still get up and get ready for the day before everyone is out of bed. Setting my mind and my intentions for the morning really set the tone for the day. If I’m scrambling around from sleeping in, it really throws me off. 

Set Priorities

I’ve learned in this space if you don’t set your priorities, you’re going to tank. Creating goals that are big and small really help my day, how I run my household and my business. This could easily be a cleaning schedule or a content calendar for yourself. Whatever you can do to set the priorities and keep yourself accountable will help in the long run. 

Say No 

Sometimes we think we can do it all. We can jam-pack our schedules, run all over town, and in the last few years, I’ve learned to say no. If it doesn’t bring me joy or there is no good ROI on the situation, I politely decline and know that bigger and better things are coming my way. 

Rest

There are some days or weeks I am just burnt out from Momming and running my blog. Sometimes, I need a break. I don’t ask for help often with Hattie, but when I do I take full advantage and have a little “Me Time”. I’ll go get my nails done, or just zone out and watch trash TV, or plan a date night. Mentally walking away for a bit is always good to recharge. You are not a bad mom or businesswoman for doing that!  If you worked 9-5, you’d come home and have rest, we have to remind ourselves even as entrepreneurs that we have to rest too. Always a good reminder. I also schedule myself a daily hour of quiet time at 3 pm. I know that sounds a little crazy to some but giving myself that hour really resets me for the evening. 

Those are some of the things I do on a daily basis to make sure I’m setting myself up for success and juggling it all. Do I rock at it every day? Heck no. We all have our days or have a kiddo who is having a funky day, and that’s okay. Give yourself some grace and get back at it the next day.

What do you do to set yourself up for success every day to have that work-life balance?