I’ve had a couple of people ask me how I have time to do “all that blogging” that I do, and I’ve been mulling it over in the last few days as I juggle going back to work, the strange not-established-at-all routine we have been experimenting with at night, paying the bills, shopping for gifts, and the little household tasks I do do regularly (mainly laundry and dishes, with some picking up thrown in).

Just how do I have time for this?

I couldn’t come up with an answer until I started making a list (ah, the joys of list-making).

Answer 1. I don’t clean. OK, I’m being harsh. I clean. Just not very often. Mind you, I try and keep clutter to a minimum, now that I sort of can (our renovating is finished for a little while), but actual cleaning, as in scrubbing the floors and vacuuming (pause while I gag at the thought of getting the sweeper out – I have thought of banishing it to the little-used corner my ironing board is in).

Answer 2. I don’t watch TV. OK, that’s not entirely true. When American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance are on, I’m planted there, without my nose in a book, watching the screen. It’s actually something Prince Charming and I do together, sort of like a date on the couch twice or three times a week. We record the episodes and watch them when we can both sit down (within a day, of course – we don’t want the suspense ruined by what they say on his morning show or over the water cooler!). Sometimes I’m in the same room with the TV while it’s on, but my nose is usually in a book or magazine (that’s where it’s happiest, you know), or I’m busy doing something else (sometimes even laptopping).

Answer 3. I don’t sleep. Yes, I have an infant and a toddler who isn’t the best sleeper (no matter what the “experts” say about making sure your kid has good sleep habits, she just, well, doesn’t. At all. And such is life.), so I get less sleep than usual lately. But I’m up early as a natural matter of course, and now that I’m not pregnant, and my body doesn’t think it needs to be a night person anymore, I’m back to trying to establish my morning writing routine. It doesn’t work every day, but when the house is silent and it’s just me and the little one (asleep on my lap at this very moment, as a matter of fact), I find my head is clearer and the clamoring voices are better managed so I can actually say something coherent, whether I’m writing for the blog or for myself.

Answer 4. I’ve alluded to the fact that I have some ambitions toward writing, as in Writing For Money (shocked silence while I take a deep breath to laugh at myself). Back when I started this blog, it was so that I would actually keep myself disciplined to write daily, which is an exercise that not only helps to keep the voices in my head at bay, it also gives me new ideas as I clear my head of the old ones.

Answer 5. I’m addicted. And that’s worthy of its own post (and perhaps some therapy, starting with a decaf pumpkin spice latte, thank you very much). My husband is patient and supportive of this, my side endeavor (and he frequently contributes to posts when I’m somewhere and the inevitable “Oh, this is so getting blogged!” comes flying out of my mouth), and I’m careful – very, very careful – to not let blogging run my life. When it feels like I’m spending too much time with the blue glow of the screen on my face because of blogs (writing and/or reading), I make myself stop. Recently, I pared down my reading list to the blogs I want to read first and the ones I will check when I have a chance (I do this every so often).

So there you have it. If you’re reading this and you blog, how do you make time (because it’s a choice, isn’t it?) to blog?