Work-life balance. I hear it all the time, you might of too, but I still can’t seem to figure out too well. When I decided to start a blog almost 2 years ago now, I did it with only one thought in mind, not giving up on my writing passion.

When I had under a thousand followers, I was posting more blog posts and it was so much easier to engage and connect. Over the last year, I’ve grown in this platform and I couldn’t be more grateful. There’s days when I don’t even fathom that I’m an influencer, because in my mind I’m just a woman who loves writing and sharing what she loves with the world.

I slowly started noticing how much of a true job this was becoming and I’m not going to lie that exciting but nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach started to rise. Instagram has been such an amazing platform to really put my life and my content out there and having the opportunity to connect and meet wonderful people. But along with that, came collaborations, sponsored content, engagement, special hashtags, tagging… oh and not to mention the fancy shmancy algorithm. Trying to keep up with all of this is not only incredibly time consuming but also exhausting. I can’t really tell you at what point it started feeling like slight chaos, but what I can tell you is that it’s not supposed to be.

I found that I was way too sucked in the app to even notice my family, I was spending countless hours on pods liking other posts, “trying to build my engagement” in content that perhaps didn’t even interest me, and not to mention all the crazy arguments I was having with my partner and how it was affecting my mood and mental health. No bueno.

I’ve rambled about my anxiety and mental stress a few times on Insta-stories, so I won’t ramble much here, but the minute something disturbs your peace, spikes you anxiousness or affects your confidence it is time to STOP. I had this realization that one, this is mean to be fun, two, whoever wants to come on this journey with me will, and who doesn’t won’t and that’s ok, three family always comes first. I knew there had a to be ways to work on finding that balance. Now, I’m not a pro by any means, these are just things that I’m trying to implement to ensure that all areas in my life synchronize in harmony. But if you’re a new mommy blogger, or you’re still feel like you can’t get on the right foot, try these:

• Weekends off. I hadn’t really made an announcement about this, but surprise! here it is! I realized that this not just somewhere for me to post pictures. I want to build a brand and that requires work. Lots and lots of work. I stopped posting on the weekends to disconnect from social media and be present with my daughter and my partner but also to work, these are the days I do my best to create content and prepare for the week. And no, I’m not tied at my computer all day. I stop and play with my daughter, watch TV, connect with Byron. It has brought me so much peace to not be so sucked in Instagram and just taking those two days off to live in the moment.
• Be smart about your time + give yourself a deadline. I’m still part of pod groups that I truly enjoy and love interacting with, so I will set aside some time either on my lunch break at work or before bed to engage other fellow bloggers. If I do this before bed, I will do this for about 1-2 hours tops. This time works for me because by this time (if I’m in luck) Leya will already be in bed I don’t have to feel guilty for not paying attention to her.
• Prioratize. Let me tell you I am guilty for wanting to take the world in one day. When I get inspired I want to do it all in that very second and then when reality sinks in and I realize I literally can’t, I panic and here comes anxiety. One thing I realized is that it’s ok to want all of those things but you can’t implement them all at once. I started setting action items: Things that I needed to act upon sooner rather than later. A good example is insta stories because it’s quick and easy, or responding to comments on your recent post, that usually takes about 5-10 min tops. Planning out what needs to go out first and what can hold off for a bit will be a huge anxiety saver lol. Plus you feel that accomplishment because you actually checked off those items.
• Sleep. Sounds silly, maybe even impossible if you have kids and since I’m being completely transparent, I still haven’t fully mastered this, but when you give your body and mind that time to rest and reset it shows. I noticed that the days I actually go to bed at 9:30 I feel so much more refreshed, energized and focused and it truly shows in the way I perform as a mother, at my job, and my blog.

Being an adult is hard and so is being a parent but just so you know, no one expects you to be perfect even if it seems that way. Life is all about mindset and organization and yes, I know that you’re thinking ‘it’s a lot easier said than done’ because I’ve thought that too, but it can be. There has been many times I’ve caught myself complicating my life more than I needed to because I’m an over-thinker and that’s what I do, but when I started putting these steps in action and began to organize my thoughts, my action items, and all those to do lists, things got easier. Also, please don’t go in to this thinking you have to do it alone because you don’t! Seek help, take a day off, sleep in, don’t post today. Do what you need to do but again nothing is worth losing your sanity over.

I love blogging, sharing my life, tips, ideas, shoes, everything with you guys but everything is work and we have to be willing to put in the work to see the results. So don’t be discouraged! You can do this friend!

Till’ the next post!

Xo, Guadalupe ♡