Setting Limits

As with anything, blogging can suck up precious time. As a wife and homeschooling mother who stays-at-home, I know all too well the struggles in balancing my blog and life.  If I am not careful, blogging can take up time that should be spent on other things.  Here are a few tips on how to set limits when it comes to your blog:

• Set the timer.  Yes, this really does work.  In the mornings I set a small amount of time to answer email.  This is usually before the children are awake.  This enables me to get important emails read and at the same time lets me know when I've done enough.
• Look at your priorities.  God has called us to be His children first, wives and mothers second, and bloggers last.  If your children have no clean clothes for tomorrow, or your husband needs lunch made, do those things first.  Before you sit down to your computer, look around and see if there is anything pressing that needs to be done.
• Set one day a week to write blog posts.  The Happy Housewife has an excellent post on this.  This goes hand in hand with meeting priorities first.  Note: If you think of post ideas before your writing day, write them down!
• Take a break once in a while.  Yes, it is okay, despite what you have heard.  It is always beneficial to take a step back and think long and hard about what you are doing and why.  Use this time to pray and ask God for wisdom in your blogging.  Ask Him to show you if you are putting blogging before Him.  If you are worried about losing readership, you can ask someone to guest post for you during that time, or you can re-run older blog posts.  Writing posts ahead of time and scheduling them for certain days works too.

I'd love to hear from you what helps you keep the proper balance in life and blogging.

Photo courtesy of spekulator