I’m Meredith Boggs. My blogging journey in college but underwent a re-brand and relaunch as The Other Half blog in 2015.  The Other Half is, just that, the other half of what people don’t say, the other half of life that doesn’t make the highlight reel of Instagram, the other half of faith that doesn’t happen when we’re all bright & shiny, dressed in our Sunday best, the other half of being married to our other half.  It’s a lifestyle and marriage blog that arrived where after fining that these topics, when talked about in an authentic and vulnerable way, really connect with the hearts of readers.

While blogging and writing is my work and also my passion, I am an ER nurse by trade and toggle back and forth between doing both.  This gives me great versatility and satisfaction in both areas of work but it does come with the need to manage my time well while maintaining personal life and work life balance.  Today I’m excited to share with you two tips for managing your time while balancing your personal life and work life.

Make appointments with yourself. . . and keep them

You attend multiple meetings each month and schedule lunch and coffee dates that you show up at, you don’t cancel at the last minute or bail is something better comes up.

You work as a creative, whether you are a blogger, photographer, graphic designer, calligrapher or writer is so important to this world and to the livelihood of your soul.  Make appointments with yourself and keep them.

Yes, I literally mean pull of your calendar, pick a meeting day and time, schedule it and show up for yourself and show up to your work.

Don’t cancel those plans at the last minute to catch up on a few more episodes of your latest netflix binge.  Don’t say ‘yes’ when someone else asks if you can meet Thursday afternoon at 4pm, the answer is ‘no I’m sorry I already have an appointment at that time’ because you have an appointment with yourself and your creative work.  

Set a time when you will be ‘getting off work’ each day

You may find yourself in the side hustle realm or you may be working full time as your own boss, seeing clients, living and solopreneur life and you may love it!  It an amazing blessing when we love our full time gigs or side hustles and find that work fun.

But it’s imperative to your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health that you stop working and take time to rest and play.

With my side hustle work and my husbands work as an entrepreneur, we set a time each day (that varies based on our schedules) when we will be ‘off work.’  What this means it that at that certain time, say 7pm on Monday, we are ‘off work.’ Email doesn’t get checked or responded to, we go off social media channels unless it’s for our personal use and not business related and any outstanding work at that time goes on tomorrow’s agenda.  

Your work, even your fun work, will not create boundaries for you.  You have to create those boundaries in order to take time rest and play.  Start with the small step of deciding what time you will be ‘getting off work’ today. Be sure to follow Meredith on Instagram @meredithwboggs