Priorities

The most asked question I get BY FAR about blogging is, “How do you have time to do all that???” (second most asked is, who takes all of your pictures? lol). But seriously, most people are very curious as to how I seem to have a ton of time on my hands to do my write blogs and take all of my pictures.

A few things come to mind when answering this question: I plan and schedule everything that goes up on my blog and instagram at least a week in advance, batch all of my blog tasks, my husband travels a lot and I don’t have any children so it’s true I do have some free time on my hands. However, I sometimes feel like I am defending myself when giving these answers.

But the truth is, we all HAVE THE SAME HOURS IN A DAY. I promise. I can’t do all of this because I have more time than anyone else, I just make the time for what is important to me.Because I also work a full time job that I spend at least 40 hours at plus commute time plus getting ready time. I cook dinner every night (except Friday + Saturday). I clean my own house. I keep our household running administratively. I have a marriage. I workout (almost) daily for 30 minutes. Oh and I have a rule that I must sleep at least 8 hours every night.

My point in all of that isn’t to brag about all the stuff I can do, it’s to show that I have more than just blogging and instagram in my life that I have to focus on and I don’t have all day to work on it. So how do I do it? How do I find the time for it all?

I prioritize. I make the time.

We can’t do it all. But we can do what we make time for. I have my priorities in my life, and I’ve listed them all above for you. Each one of those things I mentioned, my marriage, my job, my house, cooking, working out and sleeping ALL come before my blog. I don’t work on blog stuff until those needs are met first. But my blog is still a priority so I still make the time, just after everything else.

We all have different priorities and my priorities will look different than yours and that’s okay because we all have different lives. But if there are things you “wish you had time for” – I promise you can make the time. But that just means something else may become less of a priority for you. That’s okay if it makes you happy.

Something that helps me prioritize are my yearly and monthly goals. I go over my goals at the beginning of each month and decide what I would like to accomplish and those become my priorities. I usually have to do this for things that aren’t my “natural priorities” and by that I mean I am a natural cooker and cleaner so those things don’t get put into my goals because those are going to get done no matter what. But I am not a natural worker-outer, so that is usually something in my goals.

I stay extremely organized and plan ahead and make lists for just about every aspect of my life (based on my goals). My days all have specific to do lists. But just like everyone else, there are things I don’t get to because they are less of a priority. That’s okay and I will try again next time. But I can’t expect to see any results from something I don’t put time into so that is something to remember. If it’s that important to me, I will try to make it more of a priority in the future.

Another thing I do is multi task. I watch a LOT of Netflix. It’s true. But I never am just sitting on the couch watching Netflix. I only watch when I am getting ready in the morning OR while I am on the treadmill. Because those two tasks allow me to watch something and do them, I can plow through a lot of Netflix in a week.

You will make time for what is the most important and I try to make those things meaningful and worth it in my life. If I don’t think it’s adding value, I should rethink my what I’m doing.

I know my goals and priorities will change with every month and every year and that’s why I like to reevaluate often to see what I want to accomplish and what’s the most important. Again, my priorities are NOT your priorities. I don’t want this to be bragging hour, I want this to be motivation hour, to inspire you to take a look at your life and what your priorities are.

And that’s how I have “have the time” to do blog.