Why planning is essential to a successful life and blog

One of my goals this year is to use my time wisely. As a working-stay-at-home mom my time is incredibly precious and constantly divided. In order to work full-time, blog, exercise, take care of my house and be a good wife and mother I've really had to start planning my days out in advance.

Running your own business, or blog, can be really stressful and planning is the best way to help you take control of your to-do list instead of letting it run you. Here's how I'm planning my life so that I can fit everything I want in.

Personal

I try to keep my family at the top of my to-do list. I want to have a happy son and husband before I want a successful blog. 

Because so much of my day is taken up by my full-time job I have to have a scheduled afternoon. 

I have to get my son up from his nap and feed him, make dinner and do some house work in the afternoons. I like to workout and blog or work on other projects as well. 

Prioritizing is key in my personal life. I put Benson first, since he's had to be second to work for the rest of the day. He gets a snack and plays and if he seems like he needs some extra attention, I'll put down whatever I'm doing and play with him or read a book. I want him to know that he's more important than my phone or computer.

Next I take some me time. I love working on my blog and so I use that as my de-stresser from work. After about an hour of blog time I workout. I have to get my workouts done before my husband gets home otherwise I come up with too many excuses as to why I don't need to do it. Luckily, Benson loves running around and playing while I workout, so he's always a good sport about it. 

One of my other personal goals is to read my scriptures each day. It's something that I want to get better at and coming closer to God is definitely on my priority list. In order to have time for that I've set aside some time before bed where I read my scriptures. It means less Facebook and Instagram time, but that was something I was willing to cut out of my schedule to make time for the more important things. 

Blog

When I'm planning for my blog, I like to start off by looking at the month ahead of me. Getting my editorial calendar together first helps me prep my month so that I don't have to worry what I'm going to be posting about each time I sit down at my computer.

Blogging is a lot more than just writing posts, there are so many other things I have to do each month including creating content upgrades, organizing advertising, scheduling social media post and so much more. It helps me to set goals each moth so that I can focus on the most important things and create a plan of action to get those things done.

Once I know what needs to be worked on and what it the most important it's really easy to determine what I want to work on each day. It also helps keep me focused because when I'm not sure what needs to be done first I tend to bounce around from task to task without finishing any one thing.

This month I've wanted to incorporate new subjects into my blog as well as contact some companies to collaborate with. I've set deadlines for each task so that I can accomplish it in a timely manner.

Home

I'll be the first to admit that my house is the last thing on my to-do list. I end every day with dishes in the sink and crumbs on the floor. #JustKeepingItReal I hate that my house is always in a state of disarray so I'm trying to make more plans of how to tackle the mess.

When the house hits that terribly messy level I get overwhelmed and don't know where to start. In an attempt to combat that feeling I've started to add a house to-do list to my monthly goals. 

We've done a lot of home renovations lately that haven't been finished, so those are on the top of my to-do list! Once my house is back in order it will be so much simpler to tackle the day-to-day messes. 

Jason and I are trying to be a more united front on the house cleaning. We're giving up some TV time in the evenings to straighten up, so that it doesn't fall into such a state of disrepair. I totally recommend tackling the chores as a team because I used to feel like it was all on me and it was just too stressful!

Because I wanted to start planning my life out more I created my own calendar this year to help me hit all of my goals. So far it's been a life saver! I want to share this calendar with you so that you can start making goals and seeing visually where you want your life and blog to go. I firmly believe that setting goals with end dates is key to reaching those goals.  

This free download will help you set monthly goals and plan out your month for your personal or blogging plans. 

Let me know how you like it! I'll be sending out a new monthly printable each month this year so that you can stay on top of your goals! Happy planning!

What planning methods work for you? How do you structure your time so that you can have it all?