In the nearly 6 years I’ve been blogging, I’ve found it relatively easy to stay focused as a SAHM (stay at home mum) blogger. When your blog is about homemaking, creating recipes, cooking, baking and living a frugal life, it’s easy for me to come up with content. My blog is about what I do every day. But sometimes it’s hard to find time to actually blog about what you do so here are 7 ways I keep focused and up to date with my blogging schedule.

Create a productive work space

I’d like to think my work space is ‘productive’. It’s continuously a work in progress but it’s a designated work space nonetheless. My office is space is right at the front entry to our downstairs rumpus room. The spot where we all walk in from the car. Notes from school, dance class fliers, mail, kid’s art work and who knows what else, gets dumped on my desk. It’s about having spaces for all those things so as not to get overloaded with the mess. I have an in tray for all the incoming and outgoing mail. 

Ikea KVISSLE Letter Tray

There are spaces for all those things that usually get dumped. It means I can come to my desk at any time without having to start to reorganise it before I want to blog. There are exceptions to the rule though. Sometimes you just get so busy dealing with an argument that might’ve broken out in the car on the way home and I do dump everything on the desk. These moments can’t be helped but having convenient spots for all your incomings and outgoings is one step to creating that productive space.

Have your tools of the trade handy

You don’t need to me to tell you hard it is to keep a pair of scissors or your nice set of pens away from your husband children. It’s a daily struggle with me but my kids know that what’s on my desk is out of bounds. They have an endless supply of pens, pencils, erasers, scissors in their own supply. I know it’s easy for them to just grab stuff as they walk past but this is a rule that’s been in place for a while. 

When you’re blogging, you really only need the computer but sometimes it’s good to have the following on hand:

• a notebook to jot down ideas
• your phone/camera for downloading photos or uploading photos to Instagram
• pens, pencils, highlighters, eraser, pencil sharpener, Sharpies in various colours, ruler, scissors etc.

Stay well fed and hydrated

I blog in fits and bursts throughout the week but there’s at least one day of the week when I plan on a full day at the computer, just like a job. I make sure I have on my desk a bottle of water, my coffee cup (we have a coffee station set up downstairs), a piece of fruit, snacks like dried fruit or nuts. 

Have regular breaks

Even if you are planning a long session on the computer, you should have regular breaks. I like to go for no longer than 45 minutes before I get up to stretch my legs and take a walk around the house.

If I’m blogging during my regular housework days, I blog around the housework. For example, my washing machine cycle goes for 54 minutes. I know that’s a great stretch of time to get a fair bit of blogging and other social media business completed before I have to hang the washing out. In the evening, I wait until the kids are tucked in bed (even though I can still hear footsteps and taps running for the last drink of water or trip to the bathroom) and I plan on doing a couple of hours blogging work until then, remembering to still factor in regular breaks.

Maintain Momentum

Having access to Facebook, Pinterest and all those other bright, sparkly things at your fingertips on your desktop/laptop computer is so tempting. I’ve installed an app called Momentum on my desktop. As I think I need to check Facebook, I open a new tab and a beautiful scene photo is displayed with all the things on my ‘to do’ list plus Momentum allows you to set your focus for the day. I love it. You know that saying “do the hardest job first”? Well, Momentum stops me from going off track until I’ve completed all the harder to do tasks.

Stick to your plan

I don’t have planners or schedulers of any kind when it comes to blogging. I do, however, have a weekly blogging schedule that I try to stick to. I’ve got plenty of content to post about. I’m usually weeks behind. Because I blog about what we do here at Domesblissity central as a family, what I cook, what I clean and things I make, I never struggle for content. Sometimes there just aren’t enough days in the week to blog about everything I want but I stick to this basic weekly schedule.

I also have a monthly schedule for creating newsletters to send out to subscribers. This is usually done on the first of every month so I never can forget that date. I use ConvertKit (affiliate link) to schedule all my newsletters and subscriber lists. I’ve found ConvertKit to be the best email/newsletter scheduler on the market for ease of use. I do have a month to a page calendar that I can also use to remind myself if I have say a giveaway finishing on a particular day or some other event I’d like to blog about like Valentine’s Day, Easter or Christmas for example.

Allow extra time for other jobs

If you’re a blogger you know that’s it’s just not about writing a blog post. It also involves sharing and scheduling information on social media. You have to have your ‘finger on the pulse’ when it comes to these things to keep on top of your game. Always try and factor in time at the end of your ‘work time’ for scheduling, pinning or sharing posts or other information. 

It’s also a great time to organise your photos, files, programs and give your desktop space a tidy up. I’ve got a lot of fiddly little jobs like checking links in my blog, updating photos on old blog posts and other things since I moved to WordPress. I allow at least 15 minutes at the end of my allotted work time to do these things. If I’m up to date with my blogging schedule I might spend a bit more time on this.

It’s also a great time to catch a webinar or course you might’ve downloaded during the week. I know I sign up for all these different webinars and things I’d like to read. I reckon I could spend the whole week catching up on them. If I did, I’d never have any time for blogging. Having that 15 to 30 minutes at the end of your blogging schedule will help you remain focused on your ultimate goal of blogging and keep up to date with the other information.

Summary

Just remember to always have fun with it. I’ve always loved blogging so it’s never been a chore for me. I have had periods of months at a time when I’ve not been near the computer but when I was ready, I was straight back into it. If I miss a day on my schedule, no big deal. I make up for it the next week or I don’t. Don’t be hard on yourself if you don’t stick to your schedule. It’s your life, your space. Good luck!