I wanted to write this post because I have gotten a ton of questions about “How do you work full-time and still blog?” Well I finally wanted to answer this (semi-difficult) question. Deciding to monetize my blog was a great decision on my part, but it definitely is not always easy!
Working full-time in itself is draining to anyone who needs to re-charge (like me). The fact that I also decided to add in blogging (virtually full-time as well) is just crazy. I would not have it any other way though! I started monetizing my blog and really working on my content about a year ago.
When starting out, I wasn’t really using the practices that I needed to, so at the end of the year I was scrambling! I also had to teach myself SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and literally spent 12 hours one day fixing my old posts. My mom seriously asked me if I was okay.
In this post I really want to shed light on what it means to have a full-time job and still manage to run a successful blog! If you’re just starting out, and you’re like “how the heck can I do this?” Hopefully this post will help you see how you can!
How to Juggle Working Full-Time and Blogging
For the body of this post, I wanted to list out the steps that I take weekly in order to keep myself on top of both my work and blogging! The great thing about working a 9-5 is I don’t have to come home and have another 3-4 hours of homework/projects. In college it was a nightmare balancing everything.
1. Time Management
This is honestly the most important tip of all. It’s so important when you have multiple things going on to manage your time and plan it out to a tee! I have made plans with people who sometimes ended up 30 minutes to an hour late and I had to leave. I felt really guilty about it, but I have a tight plan for any free time I have and I have to stick to it!
During the weeks when I come home from work, I budget myself two hours to work on blog related tasks. whether that be planning out pins on Tailwind, creating new pin covers, writing posts, or editing pics. This gives me time to work on my side hustle, but still have time to unwind (which as I said above, I NEED). It also helps to keep me from getting burnt out!
2. Staying Organized
Organization is KEY. I’m not going to pretend that I’m the most organized person in the world , because I’m so not. that being said, I will schedule out blog post titles in advance so I can plan out my month. This helps me plan out when I need to write them! Sometimes this also doesn’t work and I’ll post literally the day I write them. THIS IS ALSO OKAY. Being organized just means you do whatever to get it done on time.
Since I started monetizing my blog, I realized that I now need to start claiming everything on my taxes. At the end of Q4 last year I realized i had made a good chunk of money, but that I also hadn’t kept track the entire year of my revenue and expenses. I now have an excel document with a calendar that lists every day of each month and I put a total column at the end!
Another part of being organized is how I organize my photos. I DO use a preset on my photos, but at this point it’s just a jumping off point because it’s so far from what I’m looking for. I still need to keep them organized after editing! I’ll make folders on my desktop for each blog post and then store my photos there until the post goes live (and a little bit after just in case).
3. Establishing a Routine
This was the BIGGEST thing that I did and made the biggest difference. I’ve moved so much the past year that its hard to actually get into a real routine at first. The transition is the hardest part, but very much worth it. Finding places to shoot photos is that hardest part for me because I take 99.9% of them myself! (I have a post on how to take photos with just an iPhone and a tripod linked (here).
Since I work full-time, I can’t shoot before or after work. There’s too many people and most of the time the lighting is just awful! That leaves me just two days a week to shoot. Before I moved this past weekend, I would wake up at 7:20, get ready, and be out shooting by 8:00am. I’d use my steamer (linked here) to get the wrinkles out of my clothes the night before.
I’d then shoot for a few hours before stores started opening (so people don’t gawk at you or tattle on you) and then go home to edit them for a few hours! If I had time after this, I would try to write a blog post or two for the upcoming week. I generally wrote my two posts for the upcoming week the weekend before (because it was just easiest). Figure out what works best for you!
4. Making Sacrifices
This is the hardest tip out of all of them just because it’s never fun to cut people or things out of your schedule. The main things I have to cut out of my life is just relaxation and the time to re-charge. Sometimes it’s hard to remember why blogging is worth it when you had a stressful day at work and then you have to come home and work even more on a post.
It’s also annoying sometime because you feel guilty asking friends to take picture if you go somewhere. I know sometimes I have to yell at myself to live in the moment because I’m constantly thinking about what content I can create. This is especially hard on vacations! Sometimes you have to sacrifice something fun, like an event, because you just really have to catch up on blogging things.
Blogging also comes with a lot of monetary sacrifices. My blog is self-hosted, meaning I pay virtually the full-price to keep my blog my own. This is a big chunk of money every year! Then there’s equipment (tripod, camera, editing software, etc) that costs money too! I love what I do and I now make enough to off-set these costs, but working full-time and then having to spend that money on blogging is hard too.
5. Finding Time to Relax
My biggest tip out of this whole post is to FIND TIME TO RELAX. Some weeks I just go go go and then I get so burnt out I crash. Having anxiety doesn’t help with this either (I have a post on how I deal with my anxiety linked (here))! I stress about work, then come home and stress about blogging, and then I stress about stress and it’s a slippery slope. You have to remember, taking a day off is better than getting burnt out!
My favorite way to relax after work and working on my blog is just by watching Netflix! Sometimes I’ll also go on a run since I have a desk job. It helps get me out of a room and out stretching my body. Working out definitely isn’t for everyone and neither is binge watching. Figure out what works for you, what calms you down and makes you remember that this all IS worth it.
I also make sure to take at least two days off per week (at least from Instagram). I generally take the weekends off (Friday and Saturday evenings) and don’t post on those days. It has helped SO MUCH because I don’t feel the stress of having to engage with my audience! I also end up having so much more time for friends and family which is something that is super important to me.
Blogging has opened so many doors for me while I was in college! It’s something I never expected to explode like it did, but I’m so happy it did. If you want to read about How Having a Blog Landed me My Dream Position, click (here)! It’s also allowed me to work with some amazing companies who I have loved for years. If you want tips on how to get sponsored posts/monetize your influence, check out these posts below:
TOP 10 PLACES FOR INFLUENCERS TO FIND CAMPAIGN OPPORTUNITIES
6 EASY WAYS TO GET ACCEPTED TO LIKETOKNOW.IT & REWARDSTYLE
THE #1 CAMPAIGN PLATFORM FOR NEWBIE BLOGGERS
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