This Blogging Basics post – how to balance blogging with a full-time job – couldn’t be more timely. Though I no longer have a full-time job, I am a full-time student… and juggling my MBA curriculum with my blog (and its associated work) can get very tricky.
As evidenced by me going MIA each time final exams roll around…
This may be a bit surprising for y’all to hear, but I found it much easier to balance blogging with a full-time job than I have with my workload as a full-time student. Partially due to the variability in my workload… and partially due to the requirements for group projects in your MBA. I’ve also lost a lot of structure in my day, so whereas I used to be forced to do my blog work each night after 8PM, I now have to motivate myself to do it during the day. Which has its own challenges.
What I’m Wearing:
Dress: ASOS / Coat: ASOS / Heels: Marc Fisher / Purse: similar
Earrings: similar / Rings: BaubleBar / Nail Polish: Essie
A lot goes on behind the scenes when it comes to blogging. Yes, you have the content creation aspect: writing blog posts, creating and photographing looks, creating and publishing social media posts.
But blogging is also a business for many people, myself included.
There are emails. So many emails. There are strategy calls and brand meetings. There are events with brands or other bloggers – both of which are important for building your network and your relationships within the blogging community. As a blogger, you have pitches to write, checks to cash, and records to maintain (for tax purposes).
If you’re a blogger, that means that you’re an entrepreneur, so you have to treat the blog as a business. You’re the finance department… and the marketing department… and sales and HR and [you get the picture]. Hence why many find it very hard to balance blogging with a full-time job.
For many, there just aren’t enough hours in the day. But you have just as many hours in the day as Beyoncé has… so here are some of my favorite tips and tricks to help you use that time most effectively as you balance blogging with a full-time job.
How to Balance Blogging with a Full-Time Job
Time Management – Creating a Schedule
The key to figuring out how to balance blogging with a full-time job is coming up with a schedule that works for you. A lot of bloggers say to work on the weekends.
Honestly, that isn’t realistic for me. I am the queen of procrastinating. If I can do literally anything other than blog work when I get home, I will do that. Including vacuuming. And I hate vacuuming.
As a night owl, I know that I get my best work done between the hours of 9PM and 1AM. I’m much more likely to crank out a bunch of blog posts long after most of my friends have gone to bed than during the middle of the day. For me, there are just too many distractions. So working each night when I get home at 10PM is what works for me.
But that schedule is also a lot of the reason why I will often end up posting late (like today) or going days without posting at all. If I’m sick and I go to bed early, I don’t end up doing blog work. If I have a project due the next day, the post doesn’t get written.
Take Advantage of the Tools Available
There are so many tools you can use to help you balance blogging with a full-time job. I really like Buffer and Hootsuite for Twitter and the native Facebook scheduler for Facebook Pages. Though I use the rewardStyle app (for LIKEtoKNOW.it) for my Instagram scheduling, I have used Later and I know people really like it. I also swear by Tailwind for Pinterest scheduling – it’s the best!
For more tools to help you balance blogging with a full-time job, check out this post!
Use the Commute Time as more than Downtime
If you have a long commute, that’s the perfect time to get work done. If you use public transit to get to work, you can use that time to write a blog post or get your social media scheduled. Instead, say you’re like me and you drive to work. You can use voice recordings or voice-to-text on your phone to write a blog post (I use voice recordings all the time!).
When I was working full-time, I’d often use my lunch breaks to schedule my social media or write blog posts. If I was staying in the office and couldn’t access the blog/social media, I’d use my lunch break to reply to emails. Trust me: you can fill that hour. And working through that hour will definitely help you improve your job-blog-life balance.
Or at least give you time back so you can binge-watch shows on your weekends.
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