BLOGGING Challenge: Day 28 of 30

The Write Stuff

For today’s 30 Day Blogging Challenge post, I’ve been torn.  I had a topic I want to write about, but it has nothing to do with my experience with learning to blog. It was about my experience as a mom that I needed to get out of my head and writing it was cathartic – it’s yoga for my brain.  But it didn’t fit with the context of this specific challenge. It wasn’t the right stuff.

Even though I’m a planner and have an editorial calendar to reference, sometimes there’s not enough content for a certain topic or it’s just not interesting enough for me to write about and therefore would be a struggle for you to read.  If I don’t enjoy writing it, you won’t enjoy reading it. So why waste both of our time?

My goal with each of my posts is to incorporate the blogging perspective, whether it was about dating vs job searching or suggesting my daughter quit piano, and I feel I’ve been successful.  But not today!  So, I decided to create a new category called Random Rambles – for those moments when I have something that has nothing to do with the current 30 Day Challenge.

Today’s Random Ramble topic: Five Types of Mommy Friends – Part of motherhood I didn’t anticipate was having to make friends as an adult. My mom friends fit into 5 groups

Do you like how I turned my obstacle into an opportunity?

And I’m not going to cheat and count this as two posts. 😜

Want to read all 30 Days of the Blogging Challenge?  View the Overview page HERE

BLOGGING Challenge: Day 15 of 30

Challenges of This Challenge

I’m half way through the 30 Day Blogging Challenge!

I think this a good time to pause and evaluate my experience so far and pinpoint my hurdles so I can focus on overcoming them during the second half. I’m not going to rewrite my biggest challenge, you can read it here.  I’m going to focus more on the logistics.

1. Photos – not ready to pay for “free” images
   • I’ve tried so hard to find a photo that captures my message for each post.  Yesterday, I failed.  My go-to, pexels.com, didn’t have the image I wanted and the other sites required subscription, which I’m not ready to commit to.  Being in advertising I knew about licenses and the requirements for that industry, but it’s still an area I need to understand better. I’m glad that one of Sark eMedia reference emails regarding this topic.
2. Commenting – be a better neighbor
   • I wrote about this in a previous blog, and I’ve tried to comment on at least one new blog a day since. This forces me to check out other bloggers’ site and to find ones with intriging content and style that I can get inspired by too. But I still find myself hesitating. This includes being a better participant on the 30 Day Blogging Facebook Group Page.
3. Post topics – I’m blogging about blogging
   • I have a editorial calendar as my planning and writing process, and I’m constantly editing it in an effort to have the posts flow day-to-day.  But blogging about trying to blog doesn’t change much in my 24hours.  I’ve done a good job making the time to write each night, but I haven’t made the time to learn new things, ie. WordPress, Facebook, SEO writing that will improve the credibility of this blog I’m trying to establish. Then I can start writing about what I’m doing versus what I’ve been scared of doing.

I’ve personally felt like I’ve stumbled over a few hurdles already and at times was ready to stop.  But like Haiti in the 110m semifinals at the recent Olympics (who completely faltered on the first hurdle! video here), I’m going to finish! I’m going to keep taking on my personal blogging hurdles and make myself proud.

Want to read all 30 Days of the Blogging Challenge?  View the Overview page HERE

BLOGGING Challenge: Day 5 of 30

How I Steal Time

“I have so much free time!” said no mom ever. I’ve had the experience of being both a working mom and a stay-at-home mom, and regardless of your mothering status, the last thing you have as an involved mom is “free time”. Minding my active toddlers starts around 7am and ends around 10pm. If I’m home or at the office (and for me, right now its both because I’m working part-time) those 15hour days are filled. So finding time to tackle this 30 Day Blogging Challenge means stealing time from being a mom, wife, and employee to be a blogger.

Here are 5 things I’m doing to make time to blog:

1. Make a Date

Set a time every day, at the same time, with an agenda.  I dedicate at least an hour of my day to this blog (this is just a side project after all). I’ve always been more productive working at night, so every evening after the house and family are settled in, I take my 1hour, and I actually look forward to it! I go into that hour with an agenda so I know exactly what I’m going to accomplish during that time.

2. Find your happy place

Since my time is limited, it’s important to be efficient and for me that means being in a productive workspace. At home, that means leaning back on a stack of pillows, legs out, another pillow on my lap, laptop on my pillow. Doesn’t matter which bed or couch in the house, as long as I’m distraction-free.  No kids, no husband, no TV.

3. Make an editorial calendar

In addition to a daily agenda, I have my own editorial calendar, scheduling out what I plan to write days and weeks ahead. How do I want my story to play out? Sark eMedia provides tools to help as part of participating in the 30 Day Blogging Challenge.  You can customize it to what fits you now, and it will adjust as you’re inspired and as you evolve.

4. Have a Support Team

My husband doesn’t understand what I’m doing, but he understands why and what I need to get that done. Whether that means asking for technical help and using him for his geeky computer knowledge, or giving me my space and leaving me alone for an hour a night, he’s happy to oblige.

5. Have Goals

“Having a plan without a goal is just a wish”, or as I titled yesterdays post… it’s a waste of time. Without a goal, there’s no reason for me to commit. No motivation. No reason to take precious time out of my day. I write down my goals – what am I looking to accomplish with this single post? how does it fit into the blog’s objective? – and assign metric(s) so I know exactly when that goal is met. I celebrate when I’ve reached it, then start reaching for the next rung.

How do you make time to do your best work?

Want to read all 30 Days of the Blogging Challenge?  View the Overview page HERE