As part of my Mother’s Day gift, Jett made me a book. I love homemade books where kids pour out their true feelings toward their moms. Jett did just that, he’s all about honesty, even if it hurts. Here’s the page that got my attention.
Yes, it says, “All day my mom is on the computer.” I’m getting the feeling that I have some boundary issues. So, I’m seeking advice. I’ve been at this blog thing now for……almost two weeks, I’m still a rookie. I’ve enjoyed it more than I ever imagined possible and have already met some really interesting people, like Tam for instance. She’s all the way up in Oregon (I don’t know another soul in Oregon) and a real hoot!
When I signed up my expectation was to sit down and write one entry per weekday and take weekends off. Five short, simple, little posts. I didn’t count on comments, responses, tags, blog stats, emails, links, and widgets!! It has become all consuming.
Blog Masters, feel free to speak truth into my life (except for you 5th street). What are some of your best tips to manage this life of blogging?
First off, you should never talk down to someone whose technorati score is larger than yours.
By: Brian Alexander on May 14, 2008
at 6:14 am
“manage” blogging? Good luck with that!
I already have two kids and since I started blogging it feels like my blog is my third child! I have to feed it (blog posts), check up on it (site & feedburner stats) and change it’s diaper (ok, I don’t have an analogy for that one…replying to comments?).
Brad Ruggles
http://www.bradruggles.com
By: bradruggles on May 14, 2008
at 6:37 am
Typing in ridiculous searches in google in hopes of it linking to a person’s blog. For instance, “Brian Alexander is jealous of Brandi Wilson” you can have hours of fun doing thi…oh wait you want to manage your time better. Disregard then.
By: Giant Idiot on May 14, 2008
at 6:40 am
That will take you to the WaxyOne’s site. Also “Brandi Wilson is jealous of Brian Alexander” works better.
By: Brian Alexander on May 14, 2008
at 6:49 am
Set a timer…sounds crazy I know. I just set a certain amount of time each day…and it varies each day too. I write first, check everything else next. If I am in the middle of a post and my time is up, I just save it as a draft.
Just don’t keep writing! I love it!
By: fullofboys on May 14, 2008
at 6:49 am
I’m not one to talk…I have the same issue, plus you’ve only been at it two weeks and you already get way more comments/traffic than I do.
By: juliepersinger on May 14, 2008
at 6:55 am
I have no advice… it consumes me!
By: Jenni Catron on May 14, 2008
at 7:04 am
Well Julie, as I was so eloquently told yesterday… “I’m a rich bloggy wife living off her rich bloggy husband’s inheritance.” Whatever works, right?
Full of boys..love your idea! Thanks.
By: brandiandboys on May 14, 2008
at 7:25 am
Great insight by whoever talked to you brandi…
By: Brian Alexander on May 14, 2008
at 7:33 am
get your kids into bogging.
that’s what we did.
helped our guilty conscience.
By: tam on May 14, 2008
at 7:36 am
“interesting’ people, like Tam”
awesome!!!
By: tam on May 14, 2008
at 7:38 am
The truth hurts sometimes, and Kids tend to speak the truth. Wait until one of the boys says “mom, you don’t love me anymore” Now that stings. Just convince Jett that you are working on the computer and it is a necessary part of your day. Even though us grown-ups know the real truth.
By: B.J. on May 14, 2008
at 7:41 am
i try and schedule mine out on the weekend. so i write a few in one day…and schedule them to land on monday, tues, wed…then all i have to do, if i have time, is roll through the comments during the weekday.
wordpress lets you schedule out posts…so i think you should be good on that if you wanted to. sometimes it’s a whole week at a time. other times it’s three days or even just a couple. but that way i don’t feel the creative/mental pressure to write every day.
there are certainly seasons…i’ve been at this for three years and there are weeks when i have a total writer’s block. like this week. i mean really. search keywords, a brain tattoo and links. and there are seasons when i can post 5 things a day (i don’t…that is when i schedule them out!)
hope this helps!
By: anne jackson on May 14, 2008
at 7:57 am
when i started my site it was all about being able to connect w/ family and friends. but, in all reality 95% of my family is amish and don’t even know what a blog is. too late-i’m really enjoying it and yes, according to my kids, (especially in the beginning) i enjoy it a little to much also. =)
very true anne jackson about seasons. love the timer idea also. i find my peace in blogging and blog surfing at very specific times of the day. and that time is based on everyone else’s schedules. =) i used to get thrilled about ‘that chance’ when i could sit down and catch more on the book of the day, now it’s all about connecting w/ a blog etc.
straight up: your blog is only two wks old and my best advice is don’t be to hard on yourself-we were all rookies at one time!
By: wanita on May 14, 2008
at 8:35 am
funny you blog on the same topic my husband and I had last night. Never in a million years did i think i would be a blogger! Now, only 2 months into even starting it, I LOVE it. I think for me its great way to connect and express which i think comes natural to many of us. This journey has been exciting for me as its a chance to catch up on friends daily when i can’t always pick up a phone, etc. Its fun to journey life with them via blogging!
For me, I find certain times of the day that seem to work with the girls. First thing in the morning, nap times, or evenings after bedtime.
I just find it so adventurous to talk to people I’ve never met-like you. I too do not know anyone else in Nasville yet alone Tennessee! Hope this encourages or at leasts gives some insights to this blogging addiction that is in us.
Kara
By: Kara Prater on May 14, 2008
at 8:48 am
I almost said “HEY! I’m in Oregon” but I’m not anymore.
boo.
I have the same problem….Dylan is always saying to me “mommy can you get OFF of the computer please?”
Serious issues here. And it is SO ADDICTING. In a very bad way. Very bad. 
I have been trying to set the boundaries for this, but it is next to impossible. Seriously. The comments ALONE suck you in. And then you make friends with people, like really make friends with them…. it almost sucks, if it wasn’t so awesome!
Good luck girl, I have no advice at all. HA!!
By: brandy on May 14, 2008
at 9:45 am
Well that’s true…you do have the interest of your husband’s readership.
Heck, my own husband doesn’t even read my blog!!
By: juliepersinger on May 14, 2008
at 1:07 pm
oh, brandi, just close your eyes and jump!
blogging is the next best thing to therapy…so either write a post or go postal…you choose!
By: cathi stegall on May 14, 2008
at 1:08 pm
There are some blogs I love to read….and posting is therapy for me…..but as with all things, the blog shouldn’t be given more attention than it truly deserves. I think Jenni C posted something recently about treating her blog like she is in highschool….seeking popularity, etc….. and that post helped me. Write what you want to write, and just blow off caring who reads it and what they think. I try to limit my blog time to reading a few in the morning while I drink my coffee and the kids are watching Sprout Tv….and then I usually post at night….and I make it quick. In the end…..I don’t want my 3 boys to have more memories of me on the computer than reading them books and playing outside. Setting a timer is a good idea (can’t remember who said that). But blogging is good for the soul, I believe, and you should definitely keep doing it.
By: Melissa Irwin on May 14, 2008
at 1:24 pm
Since I’m not a blogger, I can’t address that issue. But I am a mom of three boys, and a church planting wife and I know they desire and require much attention. Just do what you feel the Lord has called you to with both. There may be days when it all works out seamlessly, and you accomplish all you had hoped and more. Others days, not so much….
When I find myself in this situation no matter what the area, I just have to ask the Lord to make His desire clear to me (this is hard because I have to put my agenda to the side), and I also ask him to multiply my minutes whenever possible. Just a couple of thoughts. Hang in there.
By: Kim Edmondson on May 14, 2008
at 2:51 pm
Wow, I wish I could help, but to be honest, I wrote my first blog entry (it took over an hour to get my thoughts together) and decided that maybe I have too much going on to be writing a blog. I love it, though! It’s so interesting to find out about other people’s lives, loves and faith.
I think Jenn has a great idea about the timer. Am I “rigid” enough to actually abide by it? I doubt it, but it’s definitely worth a try!
By: Lori K on May 14, 2008
at 7:20 pm
Yep… I know how you’re feeling.
My page was my mom works too much..
It’s a little bittersweet huh?
With blogging I agree with Anne and schedule some posts. But I am a mom things sometimes happen that you must blog about.
Just pray and let God set your schedule.
I have to tell you this is one my favorite blogs right now. As a rookie, you ROCK.
By: Heidi on May 14, 2008
at 8:04 pm
I think spending time on the computer is simply our only means of adult conversation somedays. That is how I have been justifying my little obsession!
By: Julie bell on May 15, 2008
at 4:53 am
I always blog first thing in the morning, so it doesn’t interrupt the rest of my day.
By: Jessca Turner on May 15, 2008
at 5:35 am
ouch…that really hit too close to home. Thanks for your transparency in sharing.
I have an addictive type of personality and an inability to multi-task, so I find myself stressed out most days, debating with myself about what is best to do for the two I have at home and what I really want to be doing, which is currently blogging. I think for me it boils down to selfishness, and unfortantely my selfishness usually wins out. But I have to let go of the guilt…that is most certainly not from Abba!
I do like being able to get some of the clutter out of head, and that’s what blogging has done for me…I like the post or go postal…nice.
like the timer idea…maybe that will help.
By: Kim Darnell on May 15, 2008
at 3:12 pm
I think you have to find something for you to do for you during the day and blogging may be that for you. Just set a scheduled time to blog. I usually do a lot of my on-line reading while Kailey naps. I know I am supposed to be doing “other” things (cleaning) at that time but I want to do something I actually like. I think the timer idea was genius.
By: Stephanie Nichols on May 15, 2008
at 7:28 pm
Brandi – As a blogger of a couple of years, my best advice to you would be to just let it be what it needs to be for you. When I first started I was “addicted” to having a new post every day and I felt guilty when I didn’t. Then I went through a phase where I would go weeks without a new post. For me now, I use it as a journal of sorts to keep track of how things are progressing in my life and my family’s life. I can look back at old posts and see where things were a year ago or a month ago, etc.
I think “budgeting” your computer time is a good thing for all of us to do…I like the timer suggestion as time does seem to get away from us easily when we are blogging….
And I also, as many of your other
“posters” do , try to do most of my blogging while my kids are either at school, away from home, or are asleep at night.
Have fun…that’s the most important part
By: Jill on May 15, 2008
at 7:36 pm
brandi-
how funny, my 8 year-old, Jackson did a very similar thing for mother’s day. he made a keychain for me at school w/ different colored beads and wrote a poem about the meaning of the colors. “Blue maks me feel lik your calm when you are on the computer.” hmmm… makes me wonder what i’m like at other times. I too try to set boundaries for times that work best for my 3 boys – like Kara said – in the morning, during (increasingly illusive) naptime and after bedtime, but obviously that doesn’t always work since it’s now 9:30am and we still haven’t eaten breakfast. OK – I’m going to fix it now.
By: jen on May 17, 2008
at 9:29 am
I’m winging it from day-to-day between being mommy, career woman and blogging. That last one usually happens only when he is napping, or the Hubby has “child duty.”
By: RC on May 17, 2008
at 3:01 pm