LiveWorkBalance

Blogging is one of those things that attracts many people from a wide variety of backgrounds.  Whether you’re just writing because you need to write or because you have something to say or to make a living, there are as many reasons for blogging as there are bloggers.

The vast majority of bloggers do it part time.  Whether they’re running a hosted blog on Wordpress.com or Blogger, or running a self-hosted blog like this one, chances are the person who’s words you’re reading is doing this on the side.

For those concerned with living a balanced life and interested in starting a blog, how does this work?  Where do the bloggers find the time to write or maintain their blog?  Where do they actually write?  Where do they find ideas and inspiration?

If you’ve asked yourself these questions, here are a few tips to get you going.

When

This can be one of the biggest questions a new blogger will have.  “When do I find the time to write X posts per week?”

There are actually two questions in the phrase above.

The first is how often should you be posting?

This isn’t an easy question to answer, as it’s dependent upon a number of factors, including your topic and how much time you’re willing and able to devote to blogging.

To go into these is outside the scope of this post, but for more detail, check out these great posts at ProBlogger. (As an aside, ProBlogger is a great resource for any starting blogger.  If you’ve got the time, I’d highly recommend you check it out.)

Now, onto the second question.  When do I find the time to write?

Not knowing the intricate details of your life, I can’t give you answers like, “You know when you have that ten-minute break while your kettle is boiling and tea is steeping?  Yeah, write then.”  But what I can do is share when I write, and you can perhaps draw a few parallels to your own life.

For me, there’s a few times when I seem to get more time to write.  Of late, the big one has been lunch.  Whether I’m sitting at my desk at work, or out getting a bite somewhere else, this is a great chance to take thirty minutes and hammer out some ideas.

Another time I find myself writing is first thing in the morning.  I’m usually up around 5:30AM, and after I’ve done a few things, (fed the dog, made sure I was ready to go for the day, etc.) I usually have a few minutes of uninterrupted time to get some writing done.

I’ll also sometimes take larger blocks of time in the evening or on the weekend, but I find for me that is better used for other tasks.  It might be blog design, or working on a series of posts,  or making sure my Wordpress installation is up to date.

The key is to look at where you might just be whiling away a few hours.  Taking fifteen or thirty minutes a day doesn’t seem huge, but if you add that up you’re looking at one to three hours a week.

Where

Many people think that if you’re going to run a blog, you need near constant access to a computer and the web.  While this will be affected by how often you’re looking to post, I’d say that’s really not true.

While it comprises of many things, at its core, blogging is a channel for the distribution of writing.  So if you’re trying to find time to blog, a large part of the equation is really finding time to write.  As we’ve probably all been writing for at least a few years now, I’ll assume we’re aware that we can do it pretty much anywhere.

If I’ve got a pen and paper I can be working on a blog post wherever I happen to be.  In fact, this is the way a lot of my posts start.  Whether it’s a mind map, point form notes, or the full post, a pen has been one of my most important blogging tools.

When it comes time to actually post your writing, even then you’ve got options  If you’ve got access to the internet, you can pretty much access your blog software, whether it’s at an internet cafe, a kiosk in an airport, or from the comfort of your own home.

If you add in the fact that a lot of blogging software allows posting through email, then you can be easily posting from a BlackBerry or smartphone.  Heck, Wordpress has even launched iPhone software.

So while the where is a consideration, it’s really not as limiting as you might think.

What

This is the other big challenge for a blogger.  I remember when I first started LiveWorkBalance, I wondered if I’d have enough to write about.  I mean, it’s a topic I’m interested in, but how long can I talk?

Well, over 100 posts later, I’m still finding things to say.  They key to the what is to always be learning, and in many cases on more than just your core topic.  It’s through the new and interesting links you can make between your topic and your life experiences that you’ll discover your content.

I just read an interview with Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist, and I think she says it quite well:

Find a … topic and then write at the very edge of that topic. If you write in the center, that’s where everyone else is and it will be hard to present something that is unique. If you write at the edge, and throw in stuff not totally related to your topic area, then both you and your readers will find surprise in that intersection of the new stuff and your topic.

Being a lifelong learner can really help you in coming up with creative content, and the links you can make through blogging can provide lots of new channels for learning.

This what can also be a big balancing factor for your blog.  If you’re already trying to find balance, the knowledge, connections and relationships you can gain through blogging may open up channels you never thought possible, and can help you in reaching seemingly unrelated goals.

So is blogging for you? Maybe or maybe not.  But if you’ve been hesitant in starting one because of one of the reasons above, hopefully this will help you clarify things for you.

Already blogging?  If you’ve got tips for aspiring bloggers, please share them in the comments, or drop me an email at adam@liveworkbalance.com