Today I am sharing how I balance being a nurse, running a blog and trying to have a life in the midst of it all! Warning this may get a little long but in an effort to keep myself on track and not ramble for hours I am breaking the blog post into two sections with five points each. Section one, is about basic balance, how I balance a busy life and my marriage, my relationship with Jesus ect. Next is for the group of girls who reached out to me as new bloggers wondering how to balance blogging and a full time job!

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Alright lets just dive right in balancing life! I am by no means an expert but this is what works for me when it comes trying to keep all my ducks in a row!

1. Be organized.  I have a planner that I literally live out of, my goal is to always write my list, and all plans in the same place each day. Keeping everything in one place has been a big help this year. If I make a note on a post-it, then add some plans in my phone and put a to do list on a scrap piece of paper then I usually end up having no idea what I need to do for the day, and when I finally get to my planner to combine all the list I feel so lost. Save yourself some steps and write everything in the same place each day! My planner was $35 and it doesn’t have week by week, just the months because thats what works for me! I will be sharing it on stories today!
2. Take time each week to do something you enjoy thats not work. For me this reading, currently I am reading Grace Not Perfection. This obviously is a lot different than the books I read for fun on the beach, but my mother in law gave it to me for Christmas and it has been exactly what I need these past few months. It speaks such truth about wrapping all your plans in grace and to stop expecting perfection from yourself.  I also listen to books all day long when I am off work but usually this is accompanied by me cleaning, doing laundry and working, taking time to read is a different sort of relaxing for me because I actually have to sit still! Every Sunday night I light a candle, get some bath soap, get the water as hot as I can stand it, grab a glass or wine or some hot tea and get in the tub and read for about an hour. It is my time prior to starting each week that I take a second to breathe
3. Have a workout you ENJOY!  Y’all Barre has changed the game for me. I used to get so upset with myself, because I was member of a local gym but NEVER wanted to go, and really had trouble working up the motivation to get myself in the door.  From October to -December I went to the gym twice. YALL , in three months I went twice! I should be emabarresd, who am I kidding I am embarrsessed. It was waste of money and I felt worse about myself because I wasn’t motivated to go, then I felt bad about my body and then I jut ate my feelings lol and the terrible cycle continues. When the new year start I decided I had to make a change. A co-wokrer at the hospital who also teaches Barre reached out and asked if I would want to do a Barre collaboration and it has been the best decidtion I have ever made! I went to Barre more in the first week then I did for the last three months at the gym. Mentally, I was a whole new women, physically I felt better and overall I have been more motivated (not perfect) in the choices that I want to make when I eat. Barre may not be for you, for multiple reasons, it is an investment, and it takes a couple of months to really get hang of how to do the workouts. However, I want to encourage you to get a workout that you enjoy because then you will actually do it! Take a walk, swim laps, do yoga, do Kayla workouts, go to the gym, do workout classes, or run by yourself. But find your groove and do it well, you won’t regret it!
4. Know when to say No! For me this is a real struggle, for someone like my mom this is a piece of cake. I don’t often struggle saying no to strangers but I really have a hard time saying no and over committing to my friends. Heres the deal, when I am so run down and just saying yes to everything I am not actually the person I want to be when we hang out anyways. I am tried, no fun and just not myself, so what was the point of saying yes?! I have to remind myself that these are my friends and they will understand if I say no and need to reschedule. So be intentional about what you say yes to and know that it is ok to not spread yourself too thin. I am learning this the hard way everyday, but I am trying to make saying no more of something I am ok with saying, because it means I am advocating for myself!
5. Spend time with Jesus every single day! For me this is what gives me life. All of the other things mentioned above are great,but without taking time each day to spend time with Jesus I struggle so much. He is my sence of peace, He provides time, He gives me confidence in myself. I still have to work hard and hustle like a boss, but over all Jesus is the reason that I have joy and a heart full of thankfulness each day when I wake up.

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When I started this blog I has just turned 25, and it was something I wanted to do SO BADLY for years. However,  I was so terrified of being judged, and people close to me thinking I loved myself. The list could go on forever with the amount of fears that I had. After a while I just had to go to for it. Here are five tips for you when it comes to balancing a job and blogging.

1. Again be organized! The app Planoly has helped me a lot, it allows me to map out my post for the entire week so that I make sure I have enough content to post at least once a day. When I don’t feel like I am scrapping for content I have such a better week. I am more relaxed and able to concentrate on making each post the best I can vs posting something just for the sake of posting it because I got panicked that I didn’t have anything to share for that day!
2. Be intentional with your time. Take a couple of hours each week to put outfits together and grab your sweet mom, friend, husband. it doesn’t matter it just needs to be someone who is willing to love and help you! Go to a great spot for pictures and about 5 or 6 outfit photos, this will help you SO MUCH! I  am a nurse, which means 3 days out of every week I am in scrubs (not cute for pictures) working my booty off at a hospital for 12 hours each shift. There is literally ZERO time for me to grab outfit photos on days I work. I had to start doing some ahead of time if I wanted to be able to post everyday. For me grabbing some outfit photos to have and post on days that I work has been a huge lifesaver. Although it is not ideal, I would obviously prefer everything to be real time, it’s not something I am able to achieve at this time. This is what works for me now!
3. Write blog post ahead of time. Try to write you blog post a day before you post them. This will help you have time to proof read them and make sure they look and sound exactly how you want them to prior to you posting. This will also help you not feel as rushed to through something together the morning of your blog post is supposed to go live!
4. Do not compare. I struggle with this every single day. I want to do my best each day with my blog, but I have to know that I work another job too and I must have a little grace for myself if this is going to be successful! I often compare myself to others, wishing I could be on stories every day, want my numbers to be higher etc. Let it go, get up, be ready to hustle and work hard and then at the end of the day if you know you have given it your all, be at peace with that. You will kill youself trying to keep up with others and find that over time you no longer have your own style but your style has turned into everyones around you. I say keep your individuality,know what works for you and rock it!
5. Set goals for yourself each week. This can be tricky because with a lot of social media we don’t really have a ton of control in achieving these goals. However, let your goals be things you can make happen, not a follower count. For example, my goal this week is to write two blog post, post twice a day on Instagram, answer all my DM’S and have a meeting call one day this week with my Beauty Counter Rep and thats it. These are the goals I am working towards but I am going to wrap them in grace. Grace before my plan and if it doesn’t work out have a little grace for yourself after. Get up the next day and try to make the goals happen!

I know that was a lot thank you for taking the time to read it, so thankful for you all! I hope it helps!

Photos by KVC Photography

Xoxo

Mary Margaret