BLOGGING WITH A FULL TIME JOB

Some of you may have seen that I recently transitioned into full time blogging from full time work; and I’m so proud of myself for doing so. I have worked extremely hard over the last year in developing my brand, blog and content and it’s enabled me to pursue one of my dreams of full time blogging.

Before making the transition I was working in a PR office as their Social and Digital Manager, which was great as it went hand in hand with my blog. I loved working there but the pressure of full time blogging on top of that full time job got too much in the end. I wanted to pop a blog post together as I know there are lots of other bloggers out there that are wanting to make the same transition as I have, and I just wanted to give you a little inspiration and motivation to keep on going, and to not give up. I totally understand how tough it is blogging with a full time job.

Organisation is key. I always tried to keep on top of my blog so every Saturday I would shoot around 4-6 outfits with a tripod outside near my flat in London. Now I was limited to the shots I could achieve with a tripod and shooting solo, but it saved me a lot of time doing it that way. It would take me around 2-3 hours to shoot, which I could do before lunch time hit. I’d then spend my afternoons editing the photos and I’d get the images saved into a blog post format ready to quickly pop some copy in. I’d always try and be ahead so I would schedule in posts for the week ahead, just in case I was too busy to work on my blog in the evening. I’d never get home from work until 7.30pm and by the time you’ve eaten dinner, chilled for a second and had a shower, it was pretty much time for bed. And I needed my sleep! I missed out on a lot of catch ups with friends and nights out, but I was so driven to push my blog. When you have a passion, you’re willing to miss out on things.

I started YouTube just over a year ago, so I had to schedule this into my spare time too. I’d usually spend Sundays shooting and editing videos and I tried to keep a consistency of posting once per week; although it was very hard to stick to that. With my blog, I tried to stick to posting four times per week and this was doable as I was pretty much shooting every Saturday.

Working full time and only having 21 days holiday per year was a struggle. However I made sure I only used up my holiday for paid collaborations and everything else I managed to organise to do at the weekend in my spare time. It did get disappointing at times as I had to turn down quite a few great opportunities. At the time you feel down and like you’ve missed out, but honestly try not to feel crap for too long as another opportunity will come your way. And with your hard work, if you can progress into full time blogging, you won’t have to turn down opportunities again!

Do give yourself some time out. You need a break from that computer screen, especially if you’re glued to one all day at work as well as when you get home. You need time to refresh your brain. I sometimes found just watching a tv show or popping and getting my nails or hair done helped this. And go out with your friends! Make time for people. Even if you have to miss that one blog post, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I know I did, and it’s great in a way as you push yourself but everyone needs to relax at some point.

HELPFUL APPS

With working all day in an office doing social media for 5-6 clients everyday, I never found time to do my own. Until I invested a little spare time into Buffer and Latergramme at the weekends. I would schedule in a few tweets and Facebook posts promoting my blog and youtube for the week ahead. Sometimes I would include generic posts too such as inspirational images to make it look a little more natural. For my Instagram I would schedule in a few posts to help me out during the week, but I’d mainly upload on my way to work, on my lunch break and on my way home. It was a lot easier keeping my Instagram consistent sticking to that time frame.

I know blogging with a full time job can be stressful at times, but honestly just keep on going. Hopefully one day you too can be blogging full time like me.

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Jumpsuit: Missguided // Sunglasses: La Moda // Face Gem: In Your Dreams