When I first started blogging, I had daily to do lists and a monthly calendar. I had to make sure that everything I wrote down on that to do list was accomplished for that day. I made sure that I posted at least once a day, if not more, depending the Cassie Clare news that's going on at the time. I still have a daily to do list, and a crazy full calendar. But over the past year I've learned that sometimes my to do list won't have everything crossed off of it. I've learned I may not post every day, though I still try to get something up every day. This last year has been a year of a lot of happenings. Blog wise, it was one heck of an exciting year on Mundie Moms. In 2013 I was so grateful to experience all the things I did, and travel to all the places I did. From flying out to CA for Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Princess bus tour, Comic Con, BEA, and then the TMI movie premiere. In the mix of all that were a ton of exciting author events and book conventions here in TX. Don't be surprised when you see me posting about some of the author events I was apart of last year.
Family wise there was a lot going on too. Aside from the exciting family vacation/two week road trip I took with my kids, my daughter had a major surgery at the beginning, and at the end of the year I was out of commission for a while due to a total hysterectomy I had to have. That recovery went into the beginning of this year. Needless to say for the first three months of this year I was still copying with recovery and problems I was having from my surgery. Surgeries aside, I wear many hats, the most proud ones are mom and wife.
I am mom two fabulous, elementary school aged kids. Both are extremely active, which I love. On top of taking caring care of my family, and my house, I am very active in my kids's school. I am up at the school often and volunteer weekly to do reading groups in my kids's classrooms. I'm also PTA President, Book Fair Chair, and a blogger with three review blogs. Sometimes I think the busier I am the easier it is to focus. Recently I've come to realize that trying to juggle all these things sometimes gets extremely crazy. With all that's been going on I've completely fallen behind on reviews, posting author interviews, and replying to emails. If you know me, you know how much I hate being behind. I've recently learned that I can't always control what life is going to throw at me, and to just roll with it. Okay, I'm still learning to roll with it. Especially when it comes to blogging. When all is said and done, sure blogging is important, but on the scale of most important, my family is at the top, and then everything else falls into place.
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There have been times over the past few months that I have wondered if it was time for me to walk away from blogging. I've been blogging for 9+ years now, 5 1/2 of those years have been here on Mundie Moms. I have felt that sometimes I just can't keep up with everything with life and with blogging. When the two collide, life wins. But then there are times I have sat back and thought about why I started Mundie Moms. To me, what I do is exciting! I love supporting Cassandra Clare, and the authors I have on Mundie Moms. I love working with publishers and authors to promote their books. I enjoy talking to others about books that I just love. When I sit and think about that, that alone renews my dedication to become a better blogger. To realize that while I'm far from perfect in my blogger, it's something I'm passionate about.
I've been doing this since Feb of 2009, and I'm constantly in awe over those who have these amazing blogs, can juggle mommy hood, being a student, a professional or whatever it is that they, and have these incredible blogs. I admire those in the blogger community that do what they do. They make blogging look effortlessly. I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who put so much time into your blogs. I want to know, HOW DO YOU DO IT!? I know, I get it. It sounds silly to ask, because I'm doing the same thing, but I feel like what I'm doing is being stuck in a rut when I want to post more personal posts, make my posts more exciting, and spruce up my blog. I want to know, how do you schedule your blogging time. How do you decide when and what you're going to post. Have you cut back on your content? How much time do you spend blogging and reviewing books each week?
Here is how I do it. I still have my daily lists, and my calendar. I could not blog without my calendar. I often times get little sleep, because I'm up reading. Which I'll be honest, is a sacrifice that's totally worth it. I get up early to get posts done. I rarely post ahead of time, because I've had one too many problems with scheduled posts not going up when they should. I know from experience how time consuming blogging is, especially when it's done for free. I often times wish I could figure out a way to turn my love of promoting books into a source of income. Maybe one day when I have time, I will. haha
I'm so appreciative to those who continue to visit the blog, and who have been long standing readers of the blog. You have no idea how much your support has helped me keep my head above water when I've often times felt like I was drowning in all acceptations I put upon myself. There have been some days I just wanted to take a break from everything. Not like a permanent one, but one where I could just go off with a book in hand and hide from the rest of the world. haha You are the reason I continue to do what I do. I love talking about books with you guys! I love reading your comments, though I am so behind on replying back to them. I love visiting your blogs, and finding new books to add to my TBR lists. THANK YOU for all you do!
I'd love to know your thoughts on how you juggle blogging and the demands of every day life. How do you do it? What have you learned over the course of your blogging career?
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I doubt anyone looks over at RhiReading and wonders how I do it because I tend to have a fairly low gage of how I'm doing. With that in mind I think anyone who single-handedly runs a large successful blog has to be lying if they say they aren't sacrificing for it in another area of their life.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I sacrifice sleep and having a clean house. lol At least 2 nights a week my husband looks over at me at 12:30am and says, "why don't you just go to sleep?" and when I retort that I need to read responds with something about how I should read during the day. But I have a preschooler who is VERY active and needs a lot of attention so being interrupted every five minutes (and I do mean that literally) while reading makes day-time reading mostly wasted time.
The best tip I can offer is to not be afraid to over-commit with your blog but know which area will suffer and be willing to face the consequences if you do have a problem. My area of letting it slide is usually having a review up on retail sites on launch day. Sometimes I need ten minutes post-read to be ready to review, other books I might need ten days to mull on it. Unless I'm getting an ARC 3 months in advance there is no way I'm going to be on time all the time with reviews. But I try to do my best and if my Amazon ranking is any indication, they are worth waiting for. lol
To sum it up in the going on 6 years I've been blogging I've learned to be selective, know when to say no to a good opportunity and yes to a less-than-exciting one, and to be willing to make apologies and face any consequences if I can't meet a commitment. It happens. Life gets in the way and until I'm getting paid full-time-job-with-benefits kind of pay to blog... I'm not going to devalue myself.