Mommy Blogger

My two little girls decided to wake me up this morning, at 5am. They have always been early birds, but combine four cases of seasonal sniffles and daylight savings time, and you’ll realize that rest is for the childless people of the world. Definitely not the mommies, anyway.

I always smile when the productivity experts advise that writers get up bright and early each day for quiet, uninterrupted writing time. They certainly must have been blessed with sleepy children. No matter how early I set my alarm, at least one of them is awake an hour before it is set to go off. They toddle in, and start jumping on the bed, jarring me awake.

What a peaceful way to begin the writing day.

Since morning solitude is not an option for me and many bloggers, what do I recommend to carve out precious writing time? Here’s how I get my writing accomplished.

1. Over-schedule your writing time.  My writing day looks like this: I wake up, take care of the kids’ immediate needs, and check my emails, RSS feeds, and social networks. Then the rest of the morning is devoted to writing tasks (administrative if need be, or just writing) until lunchtime. After lunch I have another chunk of writing time, and after dinner. My day rarely works this way, as my kids are full of fun and interruptions. So while I have allotted a high number of hours to writing, I also account for a high number of distractions.
2. Plan what you’re going to work on. I figure out my goals for the day, and start on them first. Some days I may reach them quickly, others it make take me all day to reach the most pressing goals. The key is to know exactly what you’re going to do, and do it.
3. Prepare to be distracted. I go into each writing session knowing that I will be torn from my work by my children. It’s a fact of the mommy life. When my children need my attention, I make sure to mentally note what I was going to do next. When I can return my attention to my work, I won’t spend as much time regaining my focus.

Mommy mornings are always an adventure. Throw blogging into the mix, and you will find so much excitement and mental challenges, that you will wonder why you didn’t try it sooner. It’s a lot of fun, hard work, and full of rewards.

What tips do you have to manage your writing and your parenting responsibilities? Let’s share our knowledge, and find new ways of manging two full-time jobs!

Happy Blogging!

~Kimberlee

Trackback URI | Comments RSS