Is Your Online Life Hurting Your Offline Life? A Call To End Blogger Butt and Other Offline Blogger Tragedies

Taking My Offline Life Back

You’re a blogger. Specifically a WAHM blogger.  You have made the decision to go for it and make a living online.  And you rock at it! Why? Because you have put in countless hours of very hard work to build your business online.  And your butt shows for it.  Yes, your butt and so does your personal life.

I am talking about blogger butt and offline social loneliness.

-You make good money online but your husband comes home to “my shoulders hurt” and “I forgot about dinner, oops, sorry.” (Don’t get feminist on me, he works hard and makes dinner at times too.)

-Your hand muscles are probably in top shape.  But you leg muscles are a lump.

-You’re popular on Facebook and Twitter.  But your friends think this online crap is for the birds.

-The last thing you remember eating, a bowl of cereal, is still stacked on your desk with yesterday’s lunch plate as the sandwich crusts still hardening in the breeze.

-The last book you read was The 4-Hour Workweek and only because it pertains to work.  “I read all day, why would I read for pleasure?”

Get Out!

Now! Not the WAHM blogger part, the rut you get in when the clock ticks away and you lose track of the world around you.  Sure you can make your own hours but make them wisely.

Since last September I have been trying to devise schedules or daily plans of action.  I have lost hours online and find that everyone and everything has moved on without me.  It is VERY easy to lose yourself in blogging and social networking. This lose of online time bleeds into your personal life as you try to catch up everyday.

So I propose to me and you, we take our offline lives back. Work a regular work day, like a normal person and then welcome the hubby home at the door, ride bikes with your kids tonight after dinner and call a friend to make a lunch date. (Just let her know it is just for an hour, then you must get back to work.) Oh, and before typing one word on the Internet, go take a walk or hit the gym.

But most importantly take some time for yourself. No, this is not selfish.  I found that some time for myself every so often improves all other aspect in my life.  Get back to scrap-booking, photography or reading a piece of fiction.  Did you enjoy volunteering, set aside a couple of hours each week.  Paint, walk a 5K, visit an art gallery, head to the beach or whatever you enjoy.  Do it.

“But I don’t have time.” Nonsense.  You do, just make it.  The trick is to use your time wisely.

What We Need To Do

Here’s the plan, I got it from The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris (awesome read).  Starting today we will create balance thus happiness.  WE will make it.  It is possible.

Tim suggests to work smarter not harder or longer.  Yes, we have all heard this.  We just didn’t know how to do it.

“Focus on being productive instead of busy.” What does this mean?  We all catch ourselves surfing the Internet in the name of “work.” But, really, is it?  Do you really need to spend hours on Facebook, Twitter or other blogs? NO.  To me, the most important part of blogging is…blogging. Duh!  If I have no posts, I have no readers, and I have nobody to come to my site.  Blogging IS writing with peripheral activities involved like social media and SEO.  Writing, for my blog, is first.

My mornings will consist of writing, period.  Writing posts.  When that is done I move on to the next most important tasks for a healthy blog- social media, SEO, reading and research.

How about you? What is your first priority?  Concentrate on that.  Do it first, best and most efficiently.

Steps to Efficiency and a Better Offline Life

First, choose 1-2 large tasks to do each day (I write), do them first and exclusively. No surfing the Internet, no distractions. Close all other tabs like Facebook, Twitter or other blogs.  Do not multitask when performing these tasks, or any others, for that matter.  This will streamline your work, I promise.  The clock will tick but now you get first priority work done.

Second, set aside time slots for the rest of your smaller tasks. One hour for email, 30 minutes for commenting, etc.  If you don’t you will find yourself wasting time.  And set aside certain times of the day for these tasks.  Like always check and reply to email at 11 AM.  Or comment on blogs at 2 PM.

Last, stop work at a normal time. Unless there is a business emergency, you should be able to stop some time between 4-6 everyday.  This is hard, I know.  But your brain needs that down time.  Because you stopped, rested, and lived your personal life you will be more than eager to get up in the morning, bursting with ideas, to work.

If you have young children with more needs during the day, adjust you work hours.  Actually, I have learned, moms with little ones already have the scheduling down.  It’s us moms with preteens or teens that have all day at their disposal and find that prioritizing, scheduling and focus can be hard to come by.  Nobody is waking us from our Internet daze to need a bottle, diaper change or a cut up sandwich. (I miss those days.)  Our interruptions come later in the afternoon, after my 12 year old wakes up at 1 PM, then hides in his room or leaves with friends, to come to me at 7 PM hungry.  I’m done with business by then. LOL.

The bottom line I am trying to relay to you (and me) is FOCUS.  Focus on your goals and the tasks at hand.  Getting work done.  And at the end of the day you can cuddle up with your honey or a good book and know your business is stable because you did an efficiently well job.

Now you know your work was done out of efficiency and focus, go enjoy the rest of the day improving yourself and your personal life. (No more Blogger Butt.)

More to read:

The Life of a WAHM by Lisa Thompson

One Tip That Will Help You Blog Better by Kiesha Easley

The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris

What do you think?

Do you prioritize tasks?

Do you schedule?

Any more to add?  My readers and I always love new tips.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Allie

Allie owns and write Ramblings of a WAHM. She has blogged and been online working her way up since 2010. She loves to help new WAHMs find their passions and then thrive online through blogging, email marketing and social media. Check out WAHM Posts or New Blogger Posts. And my WAHM newsletter. Thanks for coming by!

Latest posts by Allie (see all)

• Protecting Your WAHM Blog and Business Follow Up - May 23, 2013
• Getting Closer to Your Readers and Customers with an Email List - May 21, 2013
• Getting More Fans by Linking Your Facebook Page to Your Profile - May 16, 2013