Blogging is fun but it can also be hard work. There’s so much to do. How do you make sure that you get it all done?

I know that’s a question I’ve been asked multiple times. How do I get everything that needs to be done accomplished in the time that I have? It’s not easy, but I make as little work for myself as possible. My goal is to work smarter, not harder.

Rather than share tips on how I work. Today I thought I’d share my blogging routine, my work day to see how it is all completed. Now I’m a freelance writer by trade, but that doesn’t mean I get to work on my blogs all day long. I have to get my private client and other work done first. My blogs tend to come last, and that’s something I’m trying to change as I get more serious than ever about my blogs.

So, with that in mind, this is my blogging routine. It’s how I work smarter, not harder.

6 a.m.: The alarm goes off and I hit the snooze. Yeah, I know, I probably shouldn’t, but some nights I’m not in bed until after midnight because of the dog or the kids or something else that I take care of. I’m also a night owl, so staying up later is far more preferable for me, but with kids, 6 a.m. wake ups it is!

6:30 a.m.: This is the time to get out of bed and get the day started. And it always starts with coffee. I’ll check emails from my phone and social media while drinking my coffee.

7 a.m.: On with work. I chunk out the first few hours of my day for some of the residual income sites that I’m on. Well, sites that I run for revenue share. I’ll work on the writing one piece at a time and then each piece is put into the system and scheduled out for later in the day (I do the morning stuff the day before, but we’ll get onto that).

In between some of this, I will have to edit pieces as they come in. That’s why I block out three hours for this part of the day, even though the writing would usually take me 90 minutes. Editing is good for me because it gives me a break.

The kids aren’t in school right now because of the summer. Once they are, my husband will be doing all the kids stuff in the morning and I’ll be doing it in the afternoon. Team work!

The Badass Blog Planner: Your guide to defining your purpose, creating clarity, and building a year of killer content10 a.m.: I spend an hour doing client work. This is important for me to get done as soon as possible in the day. If I leave it, it starts building up on the next day and it’s always in the back of my mind for later.

11 a.m.: I get an hour done on a bigger piece for a revenue share site and get some editing done at the same time. I’ll check in for the editing first and then move onto writing to get that out of the way. Once the writing is done, I’ll check for editing again to get a break and then edit my own piece and publish or schedule it (depending on when it needs to go live.)

12 p.m.: This is lunch time, and it’s time to grab something to eat and take the pup out for a walk. I need to get away from the computer during this time and quite often I’ll read or listen to a book. I use Audible a lot!

1 p.m.: Back to work. First I’ll check in for anything to edit. If there’s nothing there, I’ll get straight onto some blog writing. I’ll write one or two posts and just put them into WordPress and save as a draft. These are ready for later in the day, then.

2 p.m.: Back to some residual income stuff. At this point, I’m usually writing for the next day. I like to have two or three posts per site ready. I’ll start with just the writing, check in on editing, and then get everything scheduled and ready to go. Sometimes, I’ll leave the scheduling for later since the hardest part is done.

This will be where things start to change next week. At a little before 4 p.m. I’ll need to grab daughter #1 (Monkey) from the school bus. It’s only at the end of the street, so no big deal. She’s also the easiest one to deal with when she gets home, as it’s homework time before she’s allowed to play with her toys for a bit.

5 p.m.: Right now, I just take a break. However, this will change soon when I’ll need to head out to pick up daughter #2 (Peanut) from daycare. I can’t wait for her to go to school and be on the exact same routine as her sister!

During this time, it is time to get dinner on the go, do bath time (on days when it’s bath time), read stories, brush teeth, and the rest of the bedtime routine. I take a break from the computer completely during this time. It’s a must.

8 p.m.: Things will change here soon, but right now it’s when I head back on the computer. This is when my TV shows are on that I write about a lot. So, I’ll watch and make notes for post ideas for the next day. I’ll also schedule out the content for the next day if I didn’t do it earlier.

9 p.m.: I’ll edit while I’m watching the shows and making notes.

10 p.m.: It’s time for the last hours or so of work. I try to finish at 11 p.m. but some nights I’ll write until midnight. I write a blog post and get it scheduled for the day it’s due or I’ll write an email to my email list. I also use this time to do 15 minutes of writing on my novel.

12 a.m.: This is the latest I’ll be in bed and the blogging routine starts again.

I know this doesn’t look like I have much time for fun. This isn’t quite as packed as it seems at the moment as I spend time with my daughters, but it is a school day routine. However, at the weekend, I take a lot of time off just to spend with my girls and only work during nap time.

What does your blogging routine look like? Share in the comments below.