Sunday, March 10, 2013

Behind the Blog: When I Find Time To Write

time management for writers and bloggers
Recently, I had an interesting comment made to me about my blog. It was during the period when I was asking for specific feedback, and this individual held nothing back (which I appreciate!) I'm paraphrasing a bit, but generally her comment was something along the lines of, "I would think that you would have better things to do being a quad mom than to sit on the internet and run a blog."

Fair enough. I feel like perhaps this reader is concerned that I'm neglecting my children in order to write some silly little posts and run a few giveaways. For that, I say "thank you." I always value friends who are looking out for my children as much as I do.

So I'd like to explain how I blog. It's not a defense of what I do with my time, as much as a desire for you all to understand how I make it work on my end, keeping in mind that every single day is different over here so it doesn't always go exactly according to plan.
  • The majority of my blogging is done after 8pm. Our kids are in bed by then, and I can sit on the couch and watch movies with my hubby while tapping away on my computer. Generally, I do more writing than watching. I don't do much writing during the day for three reasons.
    1. My kids are awake and I can't concentrate long enough to get anything out. Hey, I'd be happy with just going to the bathroom during the day and knowing no one will get in trouble. I know, I'm a big dreamer, right?
    2. My kids are awake and need me. Yesterday, I was reading some books to a few of them in the living room, and I suddenly heard the sound of food being unwrapped around the corner. We have pantry racks at our house because we don't have the cabinet space to store food. Abby had scaled one of the pantry racks, helped herself to a package of unopened cookies, ripped the packaging open with her teeth, and started shoving them in her mouth as fast as she could. Smashed cookies were all of the floor, chocolate was all over her face and hands, and the other kids had realized that treats were within reach. All that to say, blogging is just about impossible when they are awake!
    3. I do still actually have a household to run with normal things that need to be accomplished! Laundry, meals, cleaning, household paperwork, etc.
  • If anyone has been watching when posts are published, they will notice that I don't post something everyday. In fact, I generally post every other day. I spend the off evening (after 8pm) blogging, and then finish the post and publish it the next night. I would personally love to blog more often, but I just can't do that with the time that I have. Almost all of my posts are published between 8:30pm-10pm in the evenings because that's when I have the chance to write them.
  • I use part of my kids' rest and nap time to do some of the back end work on the blog. I'm honestly surprised how much non-blogging work a blog takes! The writing is actually the easiest and least time consuming part.
So hopefully that explains how I managed to fit blogging into my life. At the same time, I don't do other things. I've had to look at my life and decide what I want to do more. I want to learn to sew, I love reading, I'd like to start a garden, I think it would be great fun to write a book, etc. But more than all of those things, I'd rather document our day-to-day life so that I don't forget anything down the road. When you read my blog, you are actually reading my journal. I've chosen not to do somethings so that I have time to do what I personally consider more important.

What's important is different for everyone, but for me, making time to blog about raising our family makes the cut. And since I enjoy it, that's just an extra bonus!

20 comments:

  1. Love your blog....so glad you put the time in for us to read it

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    1. Thank you for reading along! The comments and encouragement help so much!

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  2. Oh honey, please don't let what others say bother you! Everyone who has ever taken the time to read your blog knows that you're a dedicated & amazing mother! Those that want to shame & critcize others are theose who are typically jealous & unhappy in their lives! Blogging is a wonderful way to allow your children to look back on the parts of life that they don't remember (because they were too young)& see exactly what happened and what they went thru! Please hold your head high & continue to do what you're doing, the rest of us admire you! :)

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    1. Aw, well thanks for the kind words! I don't know the heart behind the original comment, so I hesitate to say that they were being mean-spirited. Instead, I'm going to assume they are wanting me to be the best mother I can possibly be. That's a challenge that I appreciate!

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  3. I understand everyone is entitled to their opinion. But this blog is yours and your opinion. If that person wants to share their opinion, get their own blog. Your family looks well cared for and happy, I see no indications that you should be using your time otherwise.

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    1. Thank you for saying that! I did ask for their opinion though, so they were only doing what I asked. The survey was anonymous, so I imagine that helped people open up about their opinions. :)

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  4. Oh what a silly comment for someone to make, you're a great mom and you deserve to have time to yourself to write your blog or do whatever else you enjoy :)

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    1. Writing definitely helps me relax! And I'm so glad that I'm able to write about our kids childhood. Hopefully they appreciate that someday!

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  5. Rebecca, yeah we understand the fact that when the kids are awake there is no time to blog at all. Most of blogs are written at night also and sometimes scheduled to post live during the day. So don't work about what others say, keep up the good work.

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    1. Isn't the scheduling function awesome? It definitely helps! Nice to know that I'm not the only nighttime mommy blogger!

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    2. Yeah the scheduling function is awesome. But almost got me into trouble one day at work. My work thought I was writing the blog posts at work and sending them out. And I had to prove it, by showing the date stamps and was like its not possible for me to publish at a certain time like 3:00:00 PM. They didn't realize you could auto schedule it to post and also show up on facebook when it posts. lol

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  6. Keep up the good work, Rebecca! From what I've seen, you seem to balance the important things in your life quite nicely. You are an inspiration to us mommies of multiples! :)

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  7. Really, I don't like what they said. You seem to be doing a great job and have things together and it is not as if you are spending hours per week at the spa or beauty parlor like you see celebrity moms doing.

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    1. Hmm...well given the opportunity to hang at the spa...LOL! :) Thanks for the kind words!

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  8. As a mother of triplets, I so understand the demands that your household requires. I blog as well...probably not as often as I should or as I want to but I do so that my family (in a different state) can keep up with what we are up to.
    It seems as if everyone has an opinion how moms should do things vs being supportive. Whether we have one kid or ten, we are all in the same boat.
    Take the advice with a grain of salt, be a duck and let it roll off your back, etc. I'm a recent reader of your blog and love it! Keep it up you're doing a great job mama!

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    1. Thanks, Jill! It's always so nice to connect with another mom of HOM! I'm heading over to your blog to check it out!

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  9. Hmmm, I wonder what SHE is neglecting by READING blogs. We all have something we do for ourselves. You are capturing your children's' life/story. What an amazing gift for them and a great creative outlet for you!

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    1. I'm hoping that she was giving herself a much needed break by stopping to read a few blogs. And I hope she doesn't guilt herself for that. Everyone needs a break sometimes!

      And I'm definitely going to keep writing for my sanity and so my kids know their story. :)

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  10. Personally, I think its sad that so many people in our culture expect mothers to do nothing else except mother all day long. Yes, I'm sure mothering quads is insane (I go insane with just two sometimes), but you deserve to do other things too. Without feeling guilty about it. I know that the comment probably wasn't meant to be critical. I'm just talking about our society's views in general. There has to be a balance. I don't know you personally, but I think you're doing fine!

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