Managing Work,Family, life and Blogging

If you had have asked me how busy I was a year ago? I would have said far too busy, having a very active social life, 2 very busy children, a husband, dog and .8 position as a hairdressing lecturer. I would have said there are not enough hours in the day; I have no time to myself.

Yet here I am writing a daily post for my blog, my 4th Child. Its weird this time last year I felt like I was drowning with all I had to do. So what did I do? I started a blog, something that required more time and effort than I was already giving. Another ball to add to the 50 I was already juggling. 

Yet it seems to have had a positive effect on my life, almost therapeutic. I have always struggled with time management, I am one of those people that is so easily distracted so will set off on a task or a job, but half way through will come across another and complete that instead. My blog has taught me to write things down, prioritise tasks. 

It has taught me to leave work, at work. I used to always bring it home with me, potter at home on resources, and ponder over events of the day. I am now able to complete my workload at work, yes someday this means working through my lunch; but I am not bringing it home. And when I leave work unless it is urgent I don't think about it until the next day. This has had such a positive effect on my work life, as I generally do not worry about work related issues at home as I just don't have the time. 

I prioritise family life, yes there are times when I am checking emails, I try to do this whilst cooking dinner, or when they are in bed. We have a ban on any type of social media over dinner, no Mail-online, phones, twitter, snapchat, Instagram or email. 

Becoming a Blogger, Overcoming Confidence Hurdles

If you had asked me when I was a child, what I wanted to do when I grow up? I would have said writer. I used to spend hours writing stories and I can not remember a time when I didn’t read at bedtime I love books. However when I hit my teenage years something changed. Yes I still remained creative, but I lost my confidence in writing, I put it down to a tyrant of an English teacher that killed any aspirations I had of being a writer, crushed the confidence I felt when writing as a child, and picked holes in everything I wrote. 

I turned my creativity towards hairdressing and got a Saturday job in a hair salon. I turned out to be quite good at it, so came the praise as a reward for my efforts. Hairdressing became a passion and I carved a successful career. I have been lucky, I have had some amazing jobs. I am now a teacher, a job I love. I am always mindful that I never want to be like that English teacher, and kill my student’s creativity and confidence. I want to feed their hunger for the profession, encourage creativity and help them aim high. Realise their dreams. 

So yes I am glad I took that path, I have met some incredible people on my journey, have some wonderful experiences and have the odd tale or two to tell. 

But there was always that niggle at the back of my mind, what if?  I started reading and following blogs and realised there may just be a way to become a writer. But I was terrified that like I was told at school, I would never be good enough. A few of my friends offered support and said they would blog with me, I know they were just being supportive. I must have talked about it for 1 1/2 years. I wanted to write a blog about fashion, hair and make up I think purely because of my professional experience.