On how to keep up with your blog when your life gets crazy

Blogging is a pretty serious time and energy commitment and it can be really tough to prioritize your blogging over everything else in your life - especially when things like work and family and your sanity are probably more important. When work heats up or when there’s a family trip to go on, blogging can fall by the wayside. But I have some tips for you for keeping up with your blog when you know your life is about to get crazy (or to prepare for those unexpected crazy times).

1. Write a few weeks worth of material and schedule it - I tend to do this most of the time because I never know what’s going to happen in my life. I try to keep a couple weeks ahead on my blog posts (at least - as I write this, I’m three months ahead on my scheduled posts - because I know my life is about to get wild). That way, even if I forget that I’m supposed to post something, I can know that something will go up and I’ll have at least a couple weeks to get caught up, get my life back under control, or to give myself a much-needed break.
2. Write in big chunks - If your life is perpetually busy, then this may be a better option for you (or you can combine it with the above option). Take some time on a day you typically aren’t busy and set aside a couple hours to write your next week (or month) of blog posts. If you are really productive, you can partially write a handful of posts and come back to them with fresh eyes the next time you have a few hours to write. Writing in big chunks can help you separate your crazy personal life with your blogging life.
3. Keep a few link round-ups on hand just in case - This is something I do every now and then when I’m feeling stressed. Link round-ups are pretty quick to write and can be really fun and interesting if you pick a good topic. I like to keep a folder of finished blog posts that I can throw up if I need to post something quickly and don’t have time to dedicate hours to writing. Obviously, this isn’t something you can use for every blog post, but it helps for those random weeks where you are too busy to blog as much as you want to.
4. Invite someone else to blog for you - If you have a good friend with knowledge about your blogging topic, they may be just the person to take over during your month-long tour of Europe. It may also give you an opportunity to find a blogging partner - which makes things a lot easier (less posts for you to write and come up with while still getting the same amount of material out). Also, this could give your blog a chance to appeal to different sorts of people within your blogging topic - which could equal more readers. You could even combine this idea with suggestion #1 and have scheduled posts from you alternate with new posts from your friend.
5. Take a break - If blogging is difficult for you to keep up on long term, this may be your best option. There’s nothing wrong with taking some time off to get your life in order or to finish something that’s important to you. Bloggers do it all the time.

How do you keep up with your blog when things get busy? Have you tried any of the above suggestions?