Friends Friday: Finding Balance

"I think this [balance] is one of the hardest things for us as bloggers to deal with."

                                                                    Katy Rose of Moldy Chic

Me playing dress up. Dress: DIY plussize skirt/ Hat: Vintage/ Shoes: Cougar/ Necklace: Vintage

Blogging is my one true love. Of course my life a uni is fantastic but it does not compare to the fun dialogue I get to be apart of here. The past two/three weeks have been full of house matters, a sick family member, lengthy school assignments, and  sleep deprivation. While all of that sounds insanely depressing fear not: it isn't at all! Because of the life matters I have I will not be posting consistently til March 21st.You can gather that I have a work hard, play hard mentality but how does that factor into my blogging you may wonder. Katy Rose, the founder of Friends Friday, in all her clairvoyance generated these questions at the right time. 

1. When it comes to prioritizing your life, in what place does blogging fall? School and life come before everything else. When I graduate next fall I will be the first person in my immediate family to graduate from college directly. It is not only a huge achievement but also adds some pressure. Also graduate school is in my future which is scary to just about everyone I talk to that doesn't have a masters. Go figure. Life has been a tad rough and family always comes first. Recently my grandmother had a stroke and while I haven't been trekking up north to visit her I have been taking time out of my weekends to be with her and my other family. She is progressing well! Thank you for all the well wishes on Facebook and Twitter. So the "sad" truth is that blogging does not come first. I don't think it is all that sad though. Blogging does often come before going out to the club, or cleaning (I hate doing it).

2. We all wish we had more free time to dedicate to blogging and all it entails. What are your tricks for taking advantage of the time you do have to be as productive as possible? When life isn't insane like it hasn't been I block out my time on to-do lists. They are my best friend! They help me see everything I have to do and synthesizes it. I also carry a notebook around and use the notepad phone ap to write down ideas and things I see around. By nature I am an "idea man" so writing down all of them is important to me. Sometimes they are blogged about and sometimes they are not. Writing down ideas saves time later when I only have a few hours to write a post.

3. Have you discovered any short-cuts that makes blogging easier or more time efficient? Planning out blog posts ahead of time is a big help. I don't know of too many bloggers that start the night before to work on a blog post anymore. Think of it as a good term paper: Regardless of the grade you get it is a more satisfying experience if you plan out the paper and think about it.

4. Do you have an editorial calendar or something similar that helps you plan ahead? I tried very hard to plan out my posts but it never works so that is when my hand to-do lists come in handy! The editorial calendar, if mastered, is an amazing tool that helps you be a savvy blogger. That being said, I am working on my own and sticking to it.

5. If time wasn’t an issue what you would be doing on your blog (or for your blog) that you aren’t doing now? I would do focus on design. Currently I am working on a brand new blog. YES EXCLUSIVE NEWS! It will have a slightly different focus and so I feel a new blog site and name are required. It is almost at the part of coding and crafting. I am excited and nervous about the decision to design from scratch. It is another reason I have not been on my posting game.Also time would be spent on responding to commenters, I love you guys lots!


To all my blogging friends out there: How do you do it all and still live, work and play as you should?

Life is beautiful, let's share a little. 

Joy D.