In addition to the normal peaks and troughs there have been times when I have relied on blogging, in fact I started blogging because I had severe post-natal depression, I was isolated, lonely and not coping. And then later on, when William became ill I didn’t (couldn’t) leave the house for about six months (except to go to the hospital with him and that doesn’t count!). I was housebound, isolated and bored and dealing with my son being seriously ill. Blogging (and the internet generally) was a lifeline.

And then there are times when the blogging enthusiasm wanes, or life gets busy, or I can’t write. The blog is punctured by glottal stops. At its worst, the blog becomes a vast plain that I cannot cross. It has only happened once and I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

There are of course lots of bloggers who probably achieve a great blog-life balance and I hope to emulate them one of these days! For now though my plan is to:

1) Do nothing else online until I have written a blog post.
No checking emails or social media. No just quickly reading my five favourite blogs. Blog first, everything else can wait. This is the number one habit I want to get into as I have so little time and producing content is my number one goal. And, like all things, doing it regularly until it becomes a habit is the best way to achieve this.

This is the first year I have had time to myself because all my children are in school or preschool so during term-times I have five mornings to myself. Before now I have been able to manage to blog around family commitments or in the evenings so I’m not going to be too hard on myself for not achieving a good blog/life balance. Now though I have no excuse!

2) Reduce my online commitments.
I’ve really reached an online overload point so this is going to be my second priority. Less time on Twitter and Facebook and in particular less time in trying to keep up with the ever-changing social media landscape so out with Google+ and Diaspora and SEO blogs. This will really hurt but it is a massive time-suck.

3) Get organized at home.
I’m pretty organized but there’s always room for improvement! I’ve got systems for paperwork, laundry and daily chores and lists (endless lists!). We’ve decluttered massively over the summer. But I’m going to be keeping my eye out for ways to be more organized and to keep a big family ticking over without the house imploding from mess and stress!

4) Consciously set aside time to spend with my children.
I already do this but on very busy days (and there have been SO many of those lately) I have had to check, did I read everyone a bedtime story, did I hear everyone’s news, did I get down on the floor and play with them without having my mind on other things. I usually have but I find it a bit disheartening that I have to double-check! On weekends I would like to spend more one-on-one time with each of my children and also to make sure we do something interesting each weekend as a family and also that at some point during the week I do something just for myself.

If I know I have done all that, I can blog with less guilt when the opportunity presents itself.

5) Live life, blog well.
The aim of all these things is to organise myself so that I can get out and live life and then come back and blog about it. In an organised, professional way! And that is what will make a good blog/life balance for me.

It sounds simple really but I’ve had trouble managing it so far!

What makes a good blog/life balance for you? If you’re not a blogger, do you find yourself whiling away your time on Facebook and then wishing you had done something more productive?

Welcome to the Friday Club Carnival, a weekly carnival held here. Sorry for the delay in publishing this week which has been due to household illness which I won’t go into here, except to say there has been a great deal of scrubbing involved! This week’s Carnival is all about finding a blog/life balance and here are the other entries in this carnival, please click through and read these great posts:

Bod for Tea posts Wishes.

Multiple Mummy posts A change in mentality – getting the blog/life balance!

Susan K Mann posts Blog/Life Balance – Finding Time to Blog.

Here Come the Girls posts It’s blog-o-clock.

Mymumdom posts The Blog/Life Balancing Act.

I need curtains for the window in my head posts A balancing act.

Live Otherwise (Making it Up) posts Blog/ life balance. Sounds like a good plan, where do I get one?

Seasider in the City posts Blog/life balance.

Kooky Girl Blog posts Finding time to blog.

Photo: hans s