Hey guys! So this week we have another installment of Balancing Blogging. When I initially asked for contributors I had too many for just one post- s0 here we are with part two!
As we discussed last time, balancing blogging with a full-time job is no easy feat. If you guys ever see me not post for a few weeks it’s because I’m stressed at work- sometimes I just don’t have energy for two jobs!
Image Courtesy of Sateless Suitcase
Table of Contents
Have you always blogged and worked, or at one point did you have more time for your blog?
My blog started several years ago as a creative outlet where I really only posted every few months, and really turned into something when I spent two weeks in Israel and Palestine last Spring. I blogged while I was abroad for everyone at home, and wanted to continue writing and sharing my experiences. Since deciding to commit to my blog I have always been working full-time, and just went back to school this past fall as well.
What’s your advice on balancing blogging and a full-time job?
MAKE A SCHEDULE. I cannot emphasize this enough! When I don’t have a plan for the month I end up forgetting about it or not feeling a creative impulse and nothing is posted. It’s easy when you’ve taken a trip and have something to write about, but in between adventures can be difficult. I also joined a monthly blogger mail exchange that forces me to post at least once a month, and introduces me to new bloggers around the world! Seeing what others are posting and talking to other bloggers about their experience definitely helps.
Have you always blogged and worked, or at one point did you have more time for your blog?
I’m a workaholic. I’ve always had a full-time job and usually one or two part-time jobs on the side. For two years I worked full-time, had a part-time job, trained on average 12 hours a week for triathlons, and attended grad school full-time for my masters degree while maintaining a blog. I started my first blog a couple of years ago as a triathlon blog, which is now my website for my coaching and personal training business (www.bigskymultisportcoaching.com). My focus over the past year has been my travel and personal finance blog. Like most people, I wish I had more time in my days to do everything on my “to-do” list, but I’m human. I’ve learned the art of time management and picking my daily priorities.
What’s your advice on balancing blogging and a full-time job?
If someone tells you it will be easy is lying to you. It’s hard. Writing quality content and editing photos takes a long time. Each post I write takes me between 1-3 hours to research, draft, and edit. That doesn’t even include the time it takes to edit photos either. I’ve become very good at time management. I’m a wee bit Type A so I’m good at organizing my life into color-coded and alphabetized calendars and “to-do” lists. My advice for bloggers with full-time jobs is to organize and plan time for your blog. I tell my personal training clients that they need to schedule their workout times and treat them as appointments. You would never miss a doctor or dentist appointment, right? Schedule time on your calendar or phone for writing and working on your blog. You don’t need to blog 5x a time. Maybe you can only post once a week. That’s cool too. Do what works for you.
Have you always blogged and worked, or at one point did you have more time for your blog?
What’s your advice on balancing blogging and a full-time job?
Have you always blogged and worked, or at one point did you have more time for your blog?
Yes, I’ve always blogged and worked. My blog is just over a year old, and from the very beginning, I thought carefully about how I was going to combine living a full life and committing whole-heartedly to a blog. I’m also married, hoping to do a Phd, and have a pre-teenager!
What’s your advice on balancing blogging and a full-time job?
- Think carefully about how much time you can sensibly commit: I knew that I wanted to put out regular posts no matter the situation. I’m quite a busy woman and have a lot of things going on in my life and so when I write, I write once a week and I make it count. I write between 2,000 – 3,000 words. As such, I don’t need to write every day!
- I also spread things out in reference to the season, topics, or events and my posts always come out on the same day: In my case, on Monday morning which is my peak time.
- Be creative with how you travel: Although I have a 30 hour a week corporate teaching job, I still managed to travel to 10 counties last year without rushing through them!
- Use your vacation time. You’ve worked hard and you’ve earned it: I live in Europe and holiday time is generous so I use all that vacation time (6 weeks). I also use public holidays (9 days), and utilize the weekends (which are numerous).
- Write ahead if you can: Last year, we spent a month in Asia. It was a family holiday so of course, I didn’t use family time to blog. I wrote all my posts before we went and released them on a weekly basis.
- Focus on your present location if you can’t or are unable to travel at that time: As an expat, I get a lot of invitations based right here in my city of Berlin. There’s a lot to blog about LOL!
- Don’t forget that it’s your blog and you can do as little or as much as you want.
- Have fun and enjoy the ride!
Have you always blogged and worked, or at one point did you have more time for your blog?
Thank you to all the ladies who contributed to this post!
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Have you ever balanced blogging with au pairing, school or teaching English abroad? Email me through my contact page and we’ll talk!
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Oh gosh, I am currently balancing blogging with a Masters program. It certainly is something! I’m glad to see a lot of these bloggers standing for the once a week, quality posts. A couple of blogs I’ve read have said you have to post more often than that to get noticed. But sometimes it is just too difficult when you’re balancing like this.
Cool feature!
I’ve certainly tried to go for once a week post rather than quick, photo-heavy posts. I know not everyone’s pleased with that (on my recent reader survey everyone was like POST MORE) I don’t want to compromise quality or my weekends to get out a bunch of posts.
Of course I do not blog, but certainly admire those who do. Such busy but productive ladies.
I liked the idea of making an appointment for workouts and honoring it.
I really enjoyed all the comments and suggestions.
Love,
Gamma
Glad to hear it Gamma! And you certainly know a thing or two about balancing many different projects :). Love, Ashley
This post comes at such a perfect time for me! My hubby and I just recently left the expat life for life back in the U.S. So, now I am balancing a full-time job, my MBA program, traveling, and my blog- it is definitely a bit crazy! Thanks for sharing :) If you need more contributors for this I’d be happy to join!
Wow that’s seriously a lot! You must be so busy. But I bet it’s all very rewarding :)
I am in the fourth month of having my blog, I am a hairstylist, and am in the Navy Reserves, so finding time is always a struggle. I write in between hair clients, and in any spare time that I have. I have times I’m very motivated, and times that I am not so much. I loved reading this and seeing I’m not alone lol!
This is such a timely post, I start working full time in September and I know I won’t be writing as often. For the past 3 years I’ve pretty much been working part time here in Spain as an English teaching assistant so it’s going to be a big change. Looking forward to reading about more full time workers who blog!
Thanks for including me (although I’m from Maine (ME) and not Mass.)! :-) It’s nice to read other people’s tips on how to balance blogging with 9 million other things. It’s tough at first, but then you manage.
Oh my god, Portland, Mass.? That’s embarrassing, haha. Thanks again for contributing to the series!
This is an amazingly helpful blogpost. Thank you so much for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed, Juliet! :)
Thank you so much for including me Ashley. It has been an honour and so cool to know that there are many more bloggers like myself who combine having a full-time job or a full-time life (Ho! Ho!) and blogging and travelling too! I can’t wait to read all about them.
We rooooooock!
No problem Victoria! We do rock!
I think anyone can blog and work full-time, but to maintain a very successful blog that generates a decent amount of income is a totally different story. That in itself is a full time thing! I think a minimum of 3 times a week is ideal and posting once a month will pretty much lose you a lot of traffic unless you already have a lot of organic traffic.
As much as I try to cut back on the time it takes me to post, it always takes at least 2 hours a post! I wish it wasn’t so!
Yeah I couldn’t agree more- making a living from blogging is super hard and takes a long time. Honestly I think two hours is great- I’d say most posts take me something like 5-6 hours including photo editing!
I do like to read how other people are doing it. My problem is that as a magazine writer/editor by trade, I’m literally writing anywhere from 5,000 to 15,000 words A DAY, so when it comes to blogging at night/whenever, I’m just completely out of steam.
This. All of this!
We both currently work full-time in pretty full on roles, I’m studying my Masters, learning a language, work part time as a nanny/babysitter, and somewhere in there we try to find time to work on our labour of love – the blog! These tips were super helpful… and refreshing! It’s a relief to see that others struggle to fit it all in sometimes, but that with a solid plan and commitment behind you, you *can* get there :)
Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed it, Miranda! It takes a lot of planning and some sacrifice but ultimately is achievable :)