As a mom blogger and side hustler, I find myself continually trying to find balance and organization in the chaos. Earlier this summer I vouched to find balance and get more work done, and spend more time with my boys. The schedule worked some weeks, and others the plan was harder to accomplish. As moms, we always have to go with the flow and expect the unexpected.
The Course – Get Chaos Organized
When the opportunity came up to review Kristine Beaves‘ new course, ‘Get Chaos Organized for Mom Bloggers’, I jumped. I am always looking for additional tips and tricks to get more work done and get more time with my boys. Kristine runs a successful and popular blog Blogging about Momming, and I was eager to get all her knowledge and tips.
I found answers to #allthethings in Kristine’s course. She does a great job breaking the class into different sections of being a mom, being a blogger, and being a person needing time for themselves. Living smarter and being more intentional were two focus points of her course. The course’s organization was top-notch. In addition, some lessons classified as a priority for busy moms. I also appreciated that Kristine has all the content in video and written form. There are many learning styles; mine is definitely written content and not videos. She also includes a large bonus section that appeals to moms like me who are doing everything digitally. They include things like Blog Workbook, Digital File Organization, Family Budget, and Meal Planning.
My Takeaways from the Course
There are so many takeaways, and Kristine does a great job highlighting every type of activity. My favorite section, Scheduling and Planning included lessons:
- Getting Organized
- Kid & Life Schedule
- Blog Planning
- Tips for Blog Content
- Blog Reporting
This section took everything previously learned about scheduling and made it real life. I have a third aspect in addition to the blog & mom stuff as I also run a side hustle. Tips in this course apply to my blog and all the client work I have in my web design and tech coaching business. My blog is also part of my business but still in between the make money and hobby stage.
With so many tips and tricks, I think so many will find value in Kristine’s course. Time blocking was already a technique I was familiar with from my academic and professional career. Timeboxing (which reminds me of agile project management), timeboxing scrum sprints, and daily scrum fundamentals are all concepts she introduces. Timeboxing also reminds me of the Pomodoro Technique, which I love! The idea of Timeboxing is to set the amount of time you will work on a given task and then switch gears. So, for example, for this blog post, I gave myself 40 minutes (set for practical reasons since it is the amount of time the boys have left in child watch at the Y.) I am still working on just focusing on a particular task and not getting distracted with all the other things flooding my brain.
The other concept that makes SOOO much sense (but I always find myself with either not enough time or hitting a deadline) is task grouping. Task grouping is grouping all tasks of a particular type into a time block or timebox. Last night, I didn’t have the energy to write after a 24-hour flu bug, but I wanted to play with Stencil. I created pins for several posts and header images for them as well. Task grouping the creative task allowed me to keep things in the same brain hemisphere. As Kristine mentions, switching up your schedule may take a little time, but when you do, you have a month of posts. Doing task grouping will be a great way to get more productivity in the small amounts of time I have.
Bonus Thoughts
Since I am a techie, I have some techie bonus thoughts and resources! Tech Coach, Techie Mamma, App Addict, yup those are all various names for me. I started searching for apps that would allow me to Time Block, Timebox, and Task Group better. I found a few iOS apps that look promising and also I have a free giveaway just for you! I set this time block schedule up so you can edit it for yourself in time sections that work for you and your family.
Apps!
I 100% and more recommend this course! At less than $50 you really can’t go wrong. You will find tips and tricks and blog resources as well in this course! One thing I do recommend, though, do not try to take the course with the Teachable mobile app. Unfortunately, and not Kristine’s fault, the app has not been updated, and the experience is not as full as on the Teachable website. Sign up for the course and get your life, blog, family to the next level of awesome!
BY TECHIE MAMMA