The perfect work/life balance
Is there such a thing as the perfect work/life balance?
Before I had children I had a full time job working in a call centre.
I would work Monday to Friday and also the occasional weekend and late shift.
Weekends were spent with my husband either going out somewhere nice for the day or usually lazing on the sofa on a Sunday watching TV.
Since becoming a mum I reduced my hours from 38 hours a week to 16. This means I work two days a week and spend the rest of the week with my girls.
Not long after the birth of our twins, I started this blog as a way to record our lives and share our experiences of the IVF journey.
It’s been almost two years now since I started and I have found myself ever increasingly addicted to social media.
I love my blog. I am passionate about it!
I love writing and I love social media. I also enjoy reading other people’s blogs.
I blog daily which also means I use social media daily to promote my posts.
I doubt I will ever stop blogging!
I’ll probably be 95 years old, sitting in a wheelchair in a retirement flat or home and I’ll still be blogging!
But…
The time has come for me to sort out some working hours!
I find myself all too often having late nights because I want to write a post!
The first thing I do in the morning before I’ve even got out of bed is check my email, Facebook, Twitter and blog stats.
When I’m with my twins I try to resist the urge to have a sneaky peak at my emails or Facebook, but I can’t help myself sometimes!
I don’t know why. I mean what’s the worst that can happen if I don’t reply to that email straight away?
I think I need to start setting myself some working hours so that my work life doesn’t run into my family life.
The morning is an important time to me work wise. It’s when I check all my emails and social media pages to get up to date and it’s also when I share my post that day.
This will be staying the same because at most all it takes me is around 10 minutes.
The rest of the morning then will be focused on entertaining the little ones!
Come 12.30 when our twins have their hour nap I will allow myself one hour to catch up on writing or anything else that needs to be done.
From 1.30pm until 7pm this will be again for spending time with my twins.
I hate to work in the evenings because to me it’s a time when my husband and I should be doing something together, but most nights I find myself doing something on the blog.
With this in mind I’ve decided to allow myself at most one hour at night time!
You may wonder why I am imposing these working hours on myself. It’s because I find myself doing things in dribs and drabs throughout the day which means spending a lot of time on my phone.
I’ve said this before, probably a million times throughout this blog, but I don’t want my twins to look back when they’re older and remember me as always having a phone in my hand!
Are you a blogger? How do you find time to blog? How do you manage your time and ensure you have a good work/life balance?
13 Comments
yummyblogger.com
July 30, 2014 at 10:06 pm
This was so good to read Em – I thought you were superwoman as you seem to post every day, plus manage Binkylinky and the Facebook page etc! I hope you get on ok with your new schedule!
I only blog on weekdays when baby is napping but I'm guilty of checking my phone a lot when he's awake which I want to stop – I might have to set times that I can check Facebook and Twitter as I'm getting into such a bad habit! Evenings and weekends when my OH is home I use my phone much less so it must be something to do when I'm bored!
I'd love to have more time to blog, read blogs and join linky's but at the mo I'm trying to enjoy every minute of him being so cute and small! x x
Beth Twinderelmo
August 1, 2014 at 6:37 am
I'm a SAHM and am lucky that come 7pm my kids will (usually!) be in bed. I'm not one much for TV so catch up a lot and blog then. I do go on social media during the day but that's often as with twins – they aren't really interested in me! x #binkylink
You Baby Me Mummy
August 1, 2014 at 7:05 am
I struggle with this quite a lot, I blog every spare second and I feel bad that I am not always 100% attentive to Baby if she is happy playing alone for example, I just never have enough time. I do some in the morning, then when she naps and then I work every evening from 7pm ish until usualy midnight. Needless to say my husband is VERY easy going x
Catriona Stephen
August 1, 2014 at 7:17 am
I used to find myself on my phone a lot throughout the day, but I've forced myself to stop. I thought to myself 'What's the point in blogging about my life with Osian if I'm spending half the time on my phone?' So instead I catch up on social medias while he naps or in the evening.
I hope your new schedule works well 🙂
Emily Vaughan
August 1, 2014 at 8:11 am
I wish I had the drive to post every day, you do such a fab job, especially with having the twins too! I agree with you about being on your phone a lot though, I think it just becomes habit. I try and limit myself to only nap times and occasional evenings as blogging can wait most of the time, but Indiana can't xx #binkylinky
Rachel @ Parenthood Highs and Lows
August 1, 2014 at 8:26 am
I think we all have the same sort of problems. My two play nicely together and I think some independent playing is good for them. As I type this, they are playing cars together so I don't feel guilty. I don't (usually) get my laptop out until the evening or naptime and do the rest on my tablet, whilst waiting for the kettle to boil and things like that. It is hard getting that balance.
Karen
August 1, 2014 at 12:06 pm
It will get easier as they get older won't it? (That's what I am hoping for with my little ones any way).
I am a part-time teacher, which is a profession which eats into your life at the best of times. Throw in being a mother, a wife and then my new found love of blogging….
Lianne H
August 1, 2014 at 1:17 pm
Fab post hun, I'm also wondering when I'm going to squeeze in time to work on my blog once this baby arrives. My son is 10 so I manage just fine at the mo, and since Ive been on maternity leave I've managed to get into a good routine. But I do wonder how things will be with a newborn, and will I loose followers or interest if I don't post as regularly? Time will tell I guess!!
Lianne | TheBrunetteSays…
Dave H
August 1, 2014 at 5:06 pm
Can totally relate – I write about being a to be dad on my blog and write about football / betting for various other sites as my job, so my world revolves around writing and interacting on social media to gain exposure. Particularly with topics such as parenthood and football, there is no start or end – it is 24/7 and can be all encompassing. That means I never really switch off, particularly when I have an idea to write about. I don't really have any tips on how to manage the work / life balance, I'm still trying to figure that out myself – let me know when you figure it out 🙂 Someone did once say to me that it should be life work balance, not work life balance though as life should have more emphasis than work. Good luck! I can relate to all of those points! Me and my missus got together when we were at uni (her 1st year, me 3rd), but I was on my placement in London whilst she was at in Birmingham. We had my final year together (her second) in Birmingham, but then I graduated and moved to London and she went on placement to Bath. She had her final year in Birmingham whilst I stayed in London. Finally, she graduated and moved in with me. Been together nearly 9 years in total, have a house together, a sausage dog puppy and our first baby is due later this month. So, long distance can be difficult and stressful, but if you can survive being apart and being together, you've gone through pretty much every test imaginable! 🙂 #binkylinky
Lorna mai ltd
August 1, 2014 at 8:33 pm
Interesting. I tend to think of life as a pie chart with the segments representing the parts of life – career, relationships, family, holiday, social life….. As we go through each season the segments change in size or proportion. As far as something like blogging is concerned, I think setting boundaries is key. So turning off my computer at midnight and no later. Putting pressure on myself adds to stress which is just so unnecessary. I'm not sure if there is a work life balance. You could finish work at 5pm but 'take work home' in your mind. You could be spending time with your children but thinking about a work project. I guess some jobs lend themselves to this more than others. We could discuss this for hours as it is something that affects all of us. Great post! #binkylinky
Claire Jacobs
August 1, 2014 at 9:59 pm
been thinking same thing recently, so my blog has taken quite a back burner- its about life but if you are always on it you are not living the life to write about lol, – i will have plenty of time to write it when he is a teenager who doesnt want to spend time with me lol #binkylinky
Nicola Fraser
August 2, 2014 at 9:56 pm
I tend to do most of my blogging when my kids are in bed and my hubby is at work. See my hubby works shift and most of time he works nights and if he isn't working he plays on his Xbox while I blog. From 8pm onwards is my time but I will try throughout the day to have sneak and a quick blog if the kids have a nap or I have a 5mins peace. Make me think though #binkylinky
Zena Goldman
August 4, 2014 at 3:59 pm
I am so addicted to it! I need to set myself some hours, and do no more. Great post Emily, I know where your coming from #binkylinky