6 TIPS FOR BLOGGING WHEN YOU WORK FULL TIME.

How does one blog, if they have a full time job?

This was something I wondered about a lot as I was preparing to return to work after my 1 year maternity leave. Not only was I grappling with not being able to spend everyday with my baby girl but, also having to side burner something I was really enjoying. I didn’t want to give up on my blog just because I was returning to the working world.

I also don’t think I’m off base in saying it’s a rarity in the world of blogging, where the blogger has an actual full time job. Most of the bloggers I follow, their blog is their full time job, but we all have to start somewhere. I can’t just quit my career to become a full time stay at home blogger. I have responsibilities, a.k.a. bills to answer for. Plus, some of us aren’t looking to be full time bloggers, we just want to do it on the side as a hobby. My blog is right now my hobby, it’s my time fully dedicated to me and things I love, hence why I was not interested in giving it up.

For those of you just starting out, or trying to balance work and blogging, I wanted to share a few ways that made it easier for me to continue my blog while working and mom-ing it full time. If you really love something, then you’re going to purposely set aside the time for you to do it. These tips are to help you maximize that very little time you may have in the best way possible. These tips can also be transferred to someone who just has an influencer Instagram account too of course.

What I Wore Posts

If your blog, like mine, is more fashion focused, this is the easiest way to continue creating fashion blog content. As a fashion fan, I love the “What I Wore” posts, and if people are subscribed to your blog because of your fashion sense, they want to see what you’re wearing. The options and ideas for this type of post are endless as well. I’ve done both a “What I Wore My First Week Back at Work” and a “What I Wore The First Week of 2019”. You can easily take outfit selfies in a well lit room with a full length mirror, like yours truly, or if you are super fancy use a timer and a tripod! If doing an entire weeks worth of “what I wore” outfits is still overwhelming, pick one outfit occasion to post about. Maybe a “What I Wore Out for Date Night”? A “What I Wore to a Fall Wedding”. The holidays are coming up, so maybe you already have your Christmas party or dinner outfit picked, there’s a post right there!

Recipe Posts
Making an entire meal just for one blog post isn’t the best use of my very limited time. So, I make a blog post around a meal I’m actually making for consumption that day or for the week. Yes, maybe creating the meal is going to take a bit more time because you’ve gotta stop and take some pictures, but you’re killing two birds with one stone here. Other options can be “What I Ate for Dinner This Week” and share multiple meal ideas. Are you a mum? Do a blog post on what you’re making for baby or toddler to eat. I have to say, right now what to make a toddler to eat is my most searched phrase these days.

Write Up Posts During Your Lunch Break
The biggest obstacle for writing up content is finding the time. I mostly do my writing or posting at night, after the babe has gone to bed. Sometimes though I’m just too damn tired to really give my all to writing up a post. So, sometimes during my half hour lunch break, instead of grabbing food out, eating in the kitchen or taking a walk, I’ll type up a draft of a post while I eat at my desk. Or, even just do bullet point notes of what I want a post to consist of. That’s what I did with this post, the idea came to me at work, so I quickly typed up the ideas of what I wanted to outline and emailed it to myself to work on later.

Brainstorm Sesh
Maybe it’s just me, but sometimes I have a TON of great ideas all at once. When this happens I purposely dedicate the time to writing up drafts of multiple posts all at once. I get my husband to take my daughter for a few hours so I can have uninterrupted time. Better to get it all out when it’s in the forefront then wait on it. Then you have multiple blog content in the archives for posting at later dates.

Pre-Plan Photo Content

Personally, I find this to be the biggest challenge of being a blogger and full time career woman. It’s hard to find dedicated time to take photos to accompany a blog post, or to post on Instagram. If my husband was more willing to be an Instagram husband it might not be as hard, but he is the worst photographer ever. Sorry babe. Instead I carve out a day on the weekend every so often with my sister to take a bajillion photos to use for upcoming blogs. She’s seriously the best, because it’s not quick shoots, they usually last a few hours, and in the winter months it’s cold as hell for both of us to be outside that long. I also use these blog photos for Instagram, especially because I don’t have the time like most to get out and about and take photos at cute coffee shops etc. I always pre-plan in my phone or my head, what blogs I’ll be posting and what photos I want to accompany those blogs. I’m talking to the way my hair is styled, the outfit I’m wearing, the poses etc. This way I’m not wasting precious time “figuring” out what photos I want my sister to take. Though I still need to work on pre-planning the poses!

Write About Life
What’s easier then writing about what’s going on in your life. Don’t force yourself to write about how to make your bathroom cozy if you aren’t actually redecorating it. Keep to blog posts on things that are actually happening in your life. New mom? Write about what you’ve learned about babies that you didn’t know before. Getting married? Write out the 10 most important things you need to do to plan for your wedding.

I hope my tips allow you to continue your blogging or Instagramming journey and make it a little easier to maintain. Like I said, if it’s a passion for you and you enjoy it, you’re going to make the time to do it.

I’d love to know if you’re a full time blogger or a part time blogger? Any tips you’d share that I could utilize! Let me know.