Work, work, work all the time! When your “work” is your passion, your hobby, and something you want to do all the time, something you think about constantly, it is really hard to step back and make sure things really are balanced correctly in your life. This is especially true for work at home moms, like me.
I am a blogger over at What’s up Fagans?. A little over a year ago, I decided to officially make the leap of turning my blog into a business. I’m happy to say it has worked and I’m making a good part-time income now from my blog. However, to get to that point I spent more and more time each month on blogging-related things. I am often found at my desktop computer 40+ hours a week (full-time work and part-time income). I have been completely sucked into this digital world of communication, social media, and making money.
The problem with being a blogger is that I don’t often view my computer time truly as work very often (and it isn’t all, much is just social). This is because it’s fun! I am connecting with people from around the world. I am growing a business. I am connecting with some of my favorite bloggers each day. I love checking my email. I love checking my ad and affiliate accounts to see how much money I’ve made this month. And, oh, those stats! I love checking them to see how hot or not my blog is that day! It’s all fun! Number, letters, business, purpose! Blogging gives me a great sense of purpose, direction, and passion in my life.
Whenever I start something, I really like to go from start to finish. I don’t like stopping in the middle. So, when I start something like “turning my blog into a business,” where the work never really ends, I can easily spend more and more time working at it, learning something new about blogging, websites, photography, SEO, and social networks. There is always some way to improve, learn, and ultimately, grow. The internet is alive and well at all hours of the day. And I hate to miss responding to emails and comments right away.
So, being a work-at-home-mom is rough, especially when you have these work-a-holic tendencies. You can always edit another picture, write another post, and tweet another update.
But, we all need balance, right?
Sometimes my daughter tells me she doesn’t want me to blog anymore. Sometimes my husband is frustrated the house is a mess and that I’d rather spend my evenings with a glowing computer screen than with him. Ouch on all accounts. And then there’s the eye-strain and mental fatigue that hits me from working too hard. All work and no play burns me out before too long too.
While I’ll probably always been driven to work, and to work hard, giving things my all, I am grateful that I am also driven to be a fantastic mom, who plays hard, laughs hard, and never gives up on my kids, or my husband. And that is why I know there’s gotta be some changes. But, boy are changes hard. However, I have found the following things to help me better balance and prioritize time for blogging, my family, myself, and my home.
Find my 8 Tips to Overcoming Your Work-a-holic Tendencies over at BedtimeScoops.com where I am guest posting today!
I am contributing to BedtimeScoops.com’s series about finding and making time for you as a person, as a mother, and I’m her first post in the series. It will be a great series, especially for those who like to work a lot, and those you have a lot of work to do. Come get some inspiration from her site!
[…] as a great mother, who really enjoyed playing and being present with her children, rather than a work-a-holic, who never left her computer desk or put down her […]