Blogging Routine with a Full-Time Job

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “How the the heck do you manage your blog with a full-time job?!” Over the past ten months it has been a juggling-act of getting into a groove, being overwhelmed, and finding the best weekly routine for blogging with a full-time job. My hope is that in sharing what works for me, I can help a few others out there that are finding their groove, too.

Let me just start with this: Blogging is no joke. It’s time consuming and a lot goes into each and every post. If I’m being really real, you have to make sure you blog about what you’re truly passionate about. It has to light a fire in you week in and week out. Choose wisely. Luckily for me, I’m honestly obsessed with home decor & blogging. I love every bit of it. I could probably talk all things “home decor” all day long and not get bored (ask my husband!) It’s 100% my passion and I hope that you can see that by being here!

I never realized just how much time goes into blogging until I started doing it. In case you’re wondering, I’d say I spend at least 12 hours a week on my blog. This doesn’t include IG and/or projects (that’s a topic for another day). It’s a bit of a commitment, especially if you are looking to make something more of your blog than just a hobby. To set the scene, my full-time job is a consistent schedule: No weekends, evenings, etc. This has helped keep a pretty good rhythm with the “leftover” hours that I’m able to use for blogging. My routine could be tweaked a bit to fit your job schedule! I’m no pro, but through the last few months, I’ve gotten into a bit of a groove with balancing these two parts of my life.

Batching my content has been such a life-saver! Never heard of batching? Basically, I will take one day (typically on Sundays for me) and take all of the photos that I will need for that week’s blog content. This means getting those areas clean and making sure to snag the pictures at the right time of day (natural sunlight, please!) With a day job, I found that any more than two blog posts a week was really asking too much of myself. Like I mentioned earlier, prior to starting my blog I was “gung-ho” and set an expectation of three posts a week. I was burnt out and I promised to never let this be something that I felt pressure in doing. I want it to stay fun!

Two posts a week is perfect for me and to accomplish this I will typically spend one evening a week editing my blog photos (I’m really particular) and uploading them to WordPress. We have SUPER slow internet so sometimes uploading my photos takes a solid 45 minutes. Hashtag country life. Two nights of the week are spent creating the blog posts. This part includes linking any products, writing the post itself, inserting photos, and getting it ready to be published. Typically on the evenings that a blog post goes live, I reply to comments/emails, pin on Pinterest, and post on Instagram and Facebook. There really is a lot of due-dillegenece when it comes to blogging!

In the beginning, I was all over the place. I was in a pinch constantly. I would be scrambling trying to get pictures before the sun went down or get content done before midnight. It took me awhile to realize that that craziness just wasn’t going to work for me. In order to not feel “rushed” in my creativity, I’ve been trying to work on posts a bit in advance. I like being about a week ahead of schedule (if possible) so that I’m not pressed for time!

I’m so glad to have implemented this routine because I didn’t want to take the joy and excitement out of blogging. Being a bit more systemized has gotten me back to feeling that enthusiasm again and I’m hopeful that this will help someone out there! I hope this was useful and as always, thank you for being here everyday!

xo,

sarah jane