Balancing blogging and working

"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go"

- Rumi

The hardest thing about running a blog and working full time is trying to find balance. I occasionally feel that blogging is cutting into my working time to much or blogging is taking a back seat to work. I am sure that is the same with most bloggers out there, that is why I often take simple steps to keep me organized and make sure I am managing my time between working and blogging correctly.
Book time frames in like you would a business meeting. I get home from work at around 5:30pm so from 5:30pm till 6:30pm my husband knows that this time is blogging time and he doesn't bother me unless there is a emergency. Sunday afternoons from 2:30pm till 5pm are also normally booked out for blogging, this way I can really spend time organizing posts and creating the perfect pictures without feeling rushed.
Use downtime to check emails and social media. In  the mornings I usually have a few minutes before I drag myself out of bed, during that time I jump on my phone and reply to any emails or tweets that I have. Most likely TMI here but I also use bathroom breaks through out the day to also check social media and emails to make sure I haven't missed anything vital whilst working.
Prioritize  I am a slight stress-er, always have been always will be, someday's I can start to feel slightly overwhelmed by it all but normally it is because I have been wasting my time with things that aren't really important or urgent and then suddenly everything that is both important and urgent piles up on me. A good way to stop this happening is to use the Eisenhower Method, dividing your task between 4 different quadrants to evaluate which tasks need to be done and when. These quadrants are divided up into Urgent & Important which are normally time sensitive and to be done immediately, Important & Not Urgent which are usually things that are not time sensitive but need to be done when you get the chance, Urgent & Not Important which are normally task that have to be dealt with but can be delegated to someone else or a later date and finally Not Urgent & Not Important which are tasks that are complete time wasters and should be removed from you daily tasks. Below is a basic overview of task I need to complete with work and my blog and the quadrants they belong too:

Calender  Plan out a month of blog posts in advance, this way you don't have to rack your brain for post ideas. I created my own 2015 printable monthly calender which I keep stuck on my fridge at home so I can see at a glance what each day's post topic is, this way I can check what post I need to write about that day using either my laptop, work computer, ipad or iphone.  Have a set topic theme for certain days of the week ie Wednesday DIY or Thursday Recipes. Colour code each theme to make it easier to read, the colour code I use for my themes is simple Blog Advice are Purple,  Personal Posts are Orange, DIY's are Blue, Recipes are Green, 5 for Friday posts are Yellow and Weekend Roundups are Pink.

2015 Printable Calender
Brain Storm blog idea's Whenever you get a free moment sit down and brainstorm blog idea's, keep note pad by your bed at night and jot down anything that pops into your head. If you are reading a blog post and you think you would like to write about something similar then jot it down, this will help when you are sitting down trying to plan a month's worth of blog post's.
Draft posts On Sunday afternoon's I often sit down with a big cup of tea and start drafting up posts for the week, I write the bones of the each day's blog post so I can come home after work each day fill in the rest of the post and hit publish without spending half my night writing. I also write draft posts and save them for a rainy day when I don't have any inspiration to blog but I still want to post something. Drafting posts is one of the most important parts of blogging.
Schedule Schedule Schedule! Scheduling posts is a life saver when you know that you wont have time to blog that day. To be a successful blogger it is all about consistent reliable posts and scheduling posts can help you maintain this. If you are planning a trip away it is always a good idea to schedule a few posts before you leave, you may notice that your favourite bloggers will go away and yet they will still post new content which are more often then not scheduled posts. If work seems to be piling up on you one week and your really don't have time to write then schedule some of your draft posts to give your viewers something to read.

How do you balance work life and blog life? Do you have some tips that I should use?