I’ve always been a passionate person, and one of the things that I’ve realized is that I’m passionate about a lot of things. I try to do so much in my life and at times it definitely feels overwhelming. Right now I’m trying to balance a number of jobs and hobbies, and I don’t know how long and how much I can keep it up.
Blogging
I’ve been blogging at Disney in your Day for almost three years and I love it. Writing blog posts is pretty much what I want to do with most of my free time. I have so many things to say about Disney! I’ve read bloggers who write posts about “how to come up with ideas,” but that’s never been an issue for me. I’ve always had almost an endless list of blog post ideas, just never enough time to write them.
I also enjoy playing with photography and getting good pictures for my blog. But as I’ve started to get more seriously into blogging I realize how much else can go into it. There’s promoting, and if you’re trying to make an income plenty to organize there. Email newsletters, social media, sponsorships – if you’re trying to blog “hardcore” it’s a lot.
And that’s why I’ve decided to back off a little bit from some of that “extra stuff” that goes into blogging. I have my social media that I enjoy and I’ll stick with that. I don’t need to set up a sponsorship program right now. I want to do blogging because I love it, and in order to keep my sanity that may mean not doing everything I wish I could do for the blog.
Running
Rocking my Glass Slipper Challenge medals!
Ever since I started running I think I’ve felt better both physically and mentally. I’ve trained for a number of half marathons. And sometimes it’s not too bad, especially in the beginning – but when you get toward the end of training and you’re doing 8+ mile runs, you’re looking at a chunk of 2-3 hours that need to be set aside for running.
In case you didn’t see, I registered for the Disney World marathon the other day. That will be coming up in January and will take a ton of training for me to even think I can do it. 20+ mile training runs means 6-8 hours set aside for that. It’s a lot of time.
Acting
Taking my bow during Anything Goes.
I love doing theater – it’s always been one of my favorite hobbies. But it’s also a big time commitment. Most community theater shows around here rehearse for 3-4 months before they open, and that’s 3 evenings a week. Then you have performances usually 3-4 times a weekend for 2-4 weeks.
I’m currently involved in a production of Anything Goes, where I have one of the leading roles of Hope Harcourt. And I’m having a ton of fun! I’ve also got another show coming up that performs in August. After that I’ll take a little break til January to give me time to focus on the marathon training.
And more
I want to be able to do other fun things too, like host murder mystery parties!
I also work two part-time jobs. And have friends, and a husband, parties I want to go to and events I want to attend, and stuff like that. And the problem is, I love all of these various parts of my life. There’s nothing that I would want to give up. But there are times when I’m really busy. And it gets stressful. And more than that, I feel like maybe I’m spreading myself too thin and I can’t dedicate everything I want to all of my various pursuits. So I come back to the question: am I doing too much? And if so, how do I choose?
Have you ever felt overwhelmed by how much you take on in life? How did you deal with it?
You are one busy woman. Good luck with training for your 20 miles.
Thanks Candy 🙂
Wow! You are such a busy woman! I think you can do it all if you make each of the things you want to do a priority. Thanks for sharing!
You’re right – and I think sometimes one thing might have to take priority over another for a little while, but i can always come back to it 🙂
You are a rockstar, girl. So much going on. I feel your pain in the balance. I am a school counselor, blogger, wedding photographer, fitness fanatic, cook, wife, dog mom, friend, sister, party planner, and more. If any of these things become things I “have to do” I will cut them out, but I love it all. 🙂 Keep on rocking, sister.
Sounds like you’ve got a totally full plate too! I agree with you that if anything started to feel more like a burden than a hobby I would stop (hence why I’m cutting out some of the promotional stuff I’d been doing for my blog but I’m still writing because that’s what I love).
I’d love to see you act one day and I’d love to attend one of those murder mystery parties or shows sometime!
Well if you ever want to come take a trip up to Pennsylvania let me know!
Thanks for the offer, although I dunno how I feel about your Pennsylvania cold weather, lol!
I think there is a point of diminishing returns. I see so many of us trying to it all, and it’s not reasonable to think we can. We need to set healthy limits for ourselves.
You’re right. Our society likes to try and convince us that we can and should do everything, but that’s not always the best way.
i was working full time at disneyland and left to purse acting because i wasn’t able to do both. i do blog while pursuing acting as a way to bring in money but cannot add much more to my plate than that because i don’t want to spread myself too thin
I can imagine how busy you must be! I’m glad that you’re able to do acting and blogging now though.
Yes! I am often overwhelmed by the juggling act of life and have to reevaluate my time at least once a year. I find I do best when I set priorities and focus on what matters most.
That’s really good advice. I need to seriously sit down and get a little more organized.
I say enjoy doing all the things you want to right now! While it may be overwhelming sometimes, if you plan to have kids in the future, this is really the only time that you can be totally selfish 🙂
I think that’s great advice! As long as I’m not feeling too stressed I want to do as much of the things that I enjoy as I can 🙂
I always admire how much you do and fit into your life! My boyfriend went to undergrad for theater and I keep trying to push him to get into community theater.
Thanks – you should definitely encourage him, community theater is such a rewarding experience. And I’ve made some of my best friends that way!
Yes, I have felt overwhelmed. I have a full-time job, a blog, a husband, a son and I also run. While I do enjoy everything on my plate, I do need to plan really well to make sure everything gets taken care of!
Planning and organization is definitely so important. I need to get better at that too.
I feel like being a person with tons of interests/aspirations isn’t uncommon these days, it’s just that everyone tends to find their niche and stick with putting that out into the world. However, some of my favorite blogs are those where people talk about ALL THE THINGS they like and do, not just one specific thing.
I’ve thought a lot about starting a second blog to talk about all of the other things I like and do aside from just Disney – if I had the time to do it I totally would!
Awesome girl! 🙂
Thank you!
I think this is something that we all struggle with. for me, it’s balancing being a mom and a wife and a blogger and keeping my house clean and cooking dinner and spending time with my kids.
I can only imagine how much balance it takes to be a mom!
I loved reading this – so awesome to know bloggers have other interests as well! I say definitely invest yourself into what interests you! At different times, different activities become the priority!
Thanks – I think different times/different activities is the perfect way to look at it.
I think this all the time! And unfortunately sometimes blogging is the easiest thing to let slide! I am with you girl! But proud of you for being involved in so many awesome things!
So true – for me it’s blogging that will slide or running – but now with a marathon in the works I know I definitely can’t slack on running!
Love this. It’s hard balancing everything, but it’s definitely possible! I think it helps that everything you’re involved with are things you love, which makes it a bit easier to work it all in.
It definitely does help – it’s easier to prioritize and feel motivated when I’m actually interested in what I’m doing!
I know it can get oerwhelming sometimes. It does for me too. But I think we all need different things in our life. I’m sure your blog benefits from you being active and and from the creativeness of your acting life.
That’s a great point too. I think my blog, and just myself as a person benefits in different ways from my different passions.
Absolutely! It’s definitely hard to balance everything. I’ve got my blog, family, and I’m starting some new career training. I want to do it all, so I just have to manage my time very well. Oh, and I have to write everything down or none of it happens! 🙂
Time management is everything! And lots of lists 🙂
It’s so hard fitting everything in isn’t it, it never gets any easier! You just have to work out which should be your focus for right now, so if there’s a show coming up it’ll be acting, when you’re training for a marathon it’ll be running. At least you’ll never get bored!
You’re absolutely right! I have to laugh when people tell me they’re bored. I never have that feeling!
I think feeling overwhelemd is just the norm but yes its so hard to do it all. I always feel like something is slacking 🙁
Definitely the norm, particularly in our country/society I feel.
I can totally understand where you’re coming from. It’s hard when you are so passionate and love so many things. I think it’s smart how you’re cutting back from some of the behind the scenes blogging stuff, but continuing to write. I know you’ve decided to focus on your marathon training instead of doing another theatre performance, and I think you’ll be happy with that decision too. When you get overwhelmed, take a break where you can and remember why you love to do each thing.
Very good advice 🙂 Remembering why you love the things you do is so important!
GIRL! I feel you. I work 50 hours a week, plus the blog, plus my urbex hobby, plus my baby neices, plus just being an adult … It’s exhausting. Over the years since I started the blog, a lot of things have fallen by the wayside, but that’s okay. I do it because I enjoy it, it helps me meet people and it’s a great creative outlet. None of it has to be anything more than that.
Very well said. And this whole “being an adult” thing can definitely be exhausting 😉
I totally relate to this girl! It can absolutely be overwhelming at times, but it’s doable! You just have to pick one priority at a time!
You’re right! Just gotta deal with it as it comes.
Good luck with your marathon training. I used to run but haven’t had time to fit in so much since starting blogging
Thanks! It’s definitely hard to have time for both.
One of the reasons I love blogging is because I can fold it around the other things I’m doing.
That’s a really good point too. It’s nice to be able to write about what you love!
Hope in Anything Goes! I love that musical so much. 😀 And long runs do take up a ton of time – even moreso when training for a marathon instead of a half marathon!
It is a great musical! I actually auditioned for Reno or Erma so I was very surprised when I got Hope, but I’ve been loving it!
Reno is my dream. I’ve always wanted to be involved in musical theatre, but never got the opportunity. But Reno… talk about a fun character. After I saw the Broadway tour of Anything Goes I got it in my head that it must be one of the most fun shows ever to be a part of. 😀
I don’t know how you do it all! At 28, I’m realizing that I can’t spin as many plates as I used to. I’m a nanny, so I feel like that is at least 3 jobs rolled into one, on top of blogging and all the social media and promotion that needs to go with that. I’ve found, at least for myself, I have to compartmentalize… and that came after quite a few anxiety attacks.
However, I’m also realizing that its okay to pull back and choose to pursue one thing at a time. You don’t have to do it all and allowing yourself the grace to NOT do everything can help release a lot of the stress associated with that.
I’m 28 too and starting to feel the same way. I think you’re right that sometimes you need to put your focus on one or two things at a time.
You can do anything you want! So inspired by your doing all of this!
Thanks! I try to keep telling myself that!
You can do anything you set your mind to! I have always been interested in many things as well and for the most part, I’ve been lucky enough to experience them all!
That’s wonderful! I really hope I will be able to continue to experience all of the things I love, even if I concentrate more on one at time 🙂
Oh my gosh, I feel as if I could’ve written this exact blog post! I’ve taken a step back from my blog in the second half of 2016 because I got so overwhelmed with balancing parenthood, my freelance writing, blogging, and actually hanging out with my husband. 🙂 Since I decided to dive back into the blog this fall, I’ve backed way off from the promotion and social media sharing that I’d been doing since late 2014. All of that promotion and social media stuff really helped my blog grow over the last 18 months and has opened lots of doors for me, but I felt as if all I was doing was blogging. I don’t want to miss out on my kids’ early childhoods because I was too busy writing and pinning and tweeting!
I really do think it’s so important to focus on other things too! I feel like the more you learn about blogging, the more it can consume you with how much effort you can put into it. Since writing this I’ve actually gotten a full time job and surprisingly that helped put a lot of things into perspective for me. I think previously because I was was part time I was considering seeing if I could do blogging full time, and that puts a lot of pressure on you. Now that I have a full time job I like I can truly look at blogging as a hobby and that makes it a little easier.