Okay gang, here’s the deal. I love to write. But finding TIME to write in and outside of my day job as a doctor is pretty tricky, especially since I started a new job as a public health specialist registrar (i.e. senior doctor trainee) in July 2019. There’s 24 hours in the day, and quite a few of those are devoted to work and sleep – the hours that are left are what I have to play with, and there’s a lot to fit in!

So as we’ve just started a new year, I’ve been thinking. How can I best share regular content on my blog with you guys following – content that is current, informative, based on the public health message I share, and gives you an insight into my life too?

Not an easy question to answer.

But here’s what I’ve come up with. Many of you will know that I love having a plan, a structure to life, and that’s true for my blog too. I’ve been pretty good at sharing regular recipes, but they’re a lot easier to create and put into a post than articles are. For quite some time, especially since starting my new public health role, I’ve wanted to set in place some sort of regular structure to my non-recipe posts here. On my Instagram, I’m actually quite proud of the structure and content I’ve created to date, particularly in the last 2-3 months, and I’d like to feel that same pride with my 2020 content here. So I think what I’ve decided is that a weekly ‘diary-style’ entry might be a fun way forward – here’s why I’ve made this choice, and how these posts will look for you, the reader!

Why?

Well, two main reasons. First, I want to say more with less. I’m a talker, and that tends to be reflected in my writing too – and don’t get me wrong, having a lot to say isn’t a bad thing! But I want to share shorter posts, which I hope will be easier for you guys to digest reading, and I want to chat about a few things within these short posts, covering the main points. Second, based on the feedback I’ve gotten from you guys here and on my Instagram, I want to share more of my day job and life week to week, because you guys keep asking for it! In addition, these diary style posts will allow me to address topics and questions as they pop up, whether that be in my working life or on the news!

How will they work?

Each week, I’m going to aim to share a diary-style post – a recap of:

• What’s going on in my doctor life that week – for example, public health projects or research I’m working on, conferences I’ve made it to, on-call days I’ve had etc. 
• What’s going on in my human being/regular gal life – depending on what it is!
• What book(s) I’m reading and reviews if I’ve finished them
• What Podcasts I’ve enjoyed listening to, and if I have recorded any on my own!
• What movies, tv shows or tunes I’ve checked out and want to share
• What places I’ve been – any food, coffee, activity or other recommendations I want to share
• Any major questions I’ve been asked on my social media channels and haven’t had a chance to answer properly yet 

I’m sure I might think of other things, but we’ll leave it flexible! The above bullet points are really the most common things I get asked about, and I think/hope these posts will be useful to you guys following.

When will the weekly diary be shared?

Hmmm, good question. My aim is gonna be to post the article on a Sunday (either morning or evening, probably evening) – the reason being that my traditional working week and weekend will be fully finished by then and I’ll have the most to share!

And that’s it! I hope you guys will enjoy these posts, I’m keen to hear your thoughts! Do leave a comment on this post or catch me on Instagram @theirishbalance !

Ciara 🙂 x