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I have a question for my fellow bloggers. 

Lacey

My workload at my job has picked up. We have had my daughter’s birthday, and my son started school. I have for sure entered a busy season! For about 3 weeks I’ve sprinted through my days, and there doesn’t seem to be a sign of things slowing down. 

I have seen lots of blogging time management advice. I do try to draft posts when I have down time to schedule them for later when I’m busier. So far I haven’t fallen behind on my 2 posts per week goal. I have fallen behind on reading blogs though.

How do you all keep up with the blogs you follow when the world outside our blogsphere keeps you away? Do you read what you can when you can? Go back to the sites of your favorites? Is there some sort of way to organize the reader I don’t know about? 

45 thoughts on “I have a question for my fellow bloggers. ”

  1. Oh man, if somebody tells you how to organize the reader, loop me in.

    I post and schedule in advance on my weekly features. I don’t know if you know, but if you click on the little calendar next to publish, you can go ahead and pick the date/time you want your post to show up on. (if you know this already, you’d be surprised how long it took me to figure that one out. “)

    As for keeping up, I have favorite posts/frequent commenters blogs saved in a dedicated folder, because otherwise I miss too much when I’m busy.

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  2. I can definitely relate to this kind of issue. I find it difficult to keep up with reading too and it’s getting more & more everyday… what I did the last time, I’ve deleted all notification in my inbox and started fresh! I know it wasn’t the ideal solution but I thought I’d let go and start anew.
    I can’t wait to see the other suggestions… ☺

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  3. Que Sera, Sera❕ Don’t worry about it. We all got lives, sometimes we’re on the net sometimes we’re not. It can be overwhelming to catch up on everything. Some day down the road in the future folks say ‘WOW” “BigAndPinkyToes” is here today. 😉 🙂 🙂 🙂

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      1. FYI ~ ‘Reader is kinda like twitter, it only shows a certain amount of info, good to keep this in mind when publishing. √ clicking on visit & opening takes forever.
        The ‘List’ function has been broke since I started, for 2 years & WP wont fix it. You can make lists for what ever and rename them. But You can not ‘DELETE’ any while organizing. Like me I now have 10 and only using 3. The other 7 are cluttering up the ‘List’ menu, whilst they are empty & do not exist they are in limbo & can not be renamed or added to. And to think I almost made 30 lists before organizing, would have been a ‘BIG’ mistake.

        PS: I will not cry if you don’t catch all of mine, and since I am a spider & snake & puppy dog tails kind of guy I hope You are not discouraged if I skip some of Your ‘cooking tips’. Happy You are here 😉

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      3. If ya organize rename empty lists you created ‘X’ instead of deleting them since they clutter & are useless after deleting That way you can rename & use again in the future 😉

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  4. Time management is what you make it. I am lucky as I do seem to have more of it because I am an empty-nester….but I do have 9 grandchildren who make their way in and out of my house. I am home for the summer which makes it easier for me but return to work next week to my full time job so then I will have that, a part time job, grandkids, hubby (another full time job) and of course taking care of the house and somehow I get reading in there. I find I do my blogging at night when it is quiet and I can concentrate…Also, Sundays are put aside for ideas….I sometimes just draft or do whole blogs and then schedule them….or go on during the week to publish them. There are no set rules on when to post or how much to post. Reading posts is a bit more difficult but I do subscribe to a few and then go to the reader and at least once a week I try to follow a new blog….

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    1. Great points. Where I’ve been running into the issue is that I usually catch up on reading blogs on my lunch break at work. I’ve been working through lunch though, and once I get home usually try not be on the phone or computer so I can be with the family. Maybe work will slow back down!

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  5. Enjoy your time with your family, read when you can. I do it when I need a quick break at work or while I’m waiting for meetings. My time is really limited during the week so I dedicate my morning to checking in on the blog, but if it’s not there by 8am, chances are I probably will miss it. Don’t stress about it. This should be fun and therapeutic, not anxiety producing. 😉

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  6. I read what I can, when I can and then periodically seek out sites that I know I haven’t seen in a while but are my favorite. I know what you mean, though—it’s really difficult to keep up amongst a busy life!

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  7. I find it so overwhelming to keep up on my blog reading from various social outlets and craft my own blog posts, all while holding the fort down here. It makes me anxious at times. I just do what I can and make sure I check out my favorites, but I love discovering new blogs to follow!

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  8. When I first started blogging, I made it a goal to make sure a blog went up Monday-Friday 10 a.m. – no exceptions. A lot of the time I would write blog posts on my lunch breaks at work or whenever I could find time on the weekends. As some mentioned above, it really is about time management, but it’s also important to set a realistic goal.

    I’ve cut my blogging down to 3 times a week, but there are a couple things I do to make sure that I am consistent with even those posts. I have about 20-30 drafts saved in my draft folder at a time so the ideas are already there and all I have to do is write them when I can.

    Hope this was helpful! 🙂

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      1. Sorry, I got so caught up in the writing of blogs, I forgot to answer the actual question! As a blogger with a *slowly* growing following base, I try to make time to read other blogs on the weekends. Or I try to read a couple each day depending on their length.

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  9. I find this a daily struggle for me. I seldom am ever ‘up to date’. My family are my first priority, so I definitely try not let blogging get in the way. At first the backlog actually overwhelmed me, but now I am trying to not stress about it and take each day in my stride. Sorry, not much help with this.

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  11. God, Lacey it’s a good question! I just do my best…. Sometimes I’ll let go of reading posts that I regularly read if I need to. Often, I just cut myself some slack and hold onto them until I have more time — and then it’s amazing how the time appears! And most of all, I trust in my wisdom to direct me on where to spend my attention.
    NO WORRIES on my end if you aren’t able to read my blog posts right now. Sending big smiles and hugs your way.
    Blessings, Debbie xo

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  12. I run a linky every week and therefore I’m constantly trying to find the time to catch up on reading, commenting, and sharing those blogs plus read new ones. I’m always on the lookout for a good new blog to read. I do a lot of my reading at night usually or sometimes try to wake up before the kids do. Try making a blogging schedule and see if it helps. I did that for awhile and it worked but inevitably life happens.

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  13. Here’s what I do…not sure if this going to sound sassy, but it works for me. I have 4 ways I read others blogs.
    1. If someone takes the time to comment I go and visit their blog…while replying if at all possible.
    2. I have a list of MUST READ that i’ve set up in my bookmarks. I hit those almost every evening to see if new content has been added.
    3. I save the WEEKLY Digests that I get on Monday for most of the blogs I follow and try to go through those as time permits.
    4. I let it go. 🙂 I think I’m a good friend. I know that anyone that supports my blog on a daily basis is getting mine back. It’s the way any relationship works. Once there is a real connection or shared interests,…it’s bound to happen. So I let it go and do the best I can.

    AND….I don’t have a job outside of the home or little ones. If I did…there would be no way I could do as much reading as I do.
    Cut yourself some slack! hugs to you! 🙂

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    1. No no not sassy at all. And I really do appreciate the comment. It makes sense and there’s lists of good info. I need to set up book marks or lists. I started to and then realized that was going to take some time in and of itself lol!

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  14. HI Lacey– such an interesting post– and I read through all the comments and it looks like there are so many different ways to do this! I’d chime in to say (like some others did) that your family comes first and if things have to slide on writing or reading online that’s OK. You are at a unique time of life where your family needs so much from you. There will be other seasons, where you will have more of your own time… And remember this blog thing you do is supposed to be FUN! So if it gets to be a stress and makes your life too complicated, let it go for a few days. And I don’t know if you follow your stats and feel bad when you can’t post 2 times a week, but I read early on, to enjoy posting but try not to let likes and comments and views each day discourage you. I know if almost no one reads my posts, if can get me down. So I try to do it for the joy of creating and let the rest go… Does that make sense? I think you blog is awesome, honest and varied and full of interesting ideas. Hope and pray you find your good balance. hugs blog friend!

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    1. It does make sense, thank you. When I started I was just way less busy and really I want to respect everyone’s work as much as I feel mine is. But you are right. This shouldn’t be stressful. I think when I have time I am going to play around with the list feature though.

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  17. There’s all sorts of ways. I get daily updates from a few blogs that I follow a lot but it’s as and when I see them after that. Don’t stress, keep it fun! ☺

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    1. I don’t know why this went to spam! Thanks for the comment Simon. I think I feel better just getting a reminder from other bloggers that it’s okay, they struggle with it too, and like you said to keep it fun. Using the list function has helped me lots since I posted this. I kind of use it as a highlight reel.

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