What It's Really Like Running A Blog With A Full Time Job
When I first started this blog a couple of years ago it was very much a hobby. I had a free theme from Wordpress, didn't own my own domain and updated it two or three times a week. My social media profiles in no way correlated to my blog and I didn't really have much of a ~brand~ going on. Fast forward two and a half years and this blog is a much bigger part of my life. I spend a hell of a lot of my spare time working on it and I love it - it challenges me, forces me to learn new things and has presented me with some very awesome opportunities.
That said, when you spend 40 hours a week in an office, maintaining a blog isn't always as easy as it may look. Here's what it's really like running a blog with a full time job...
There will never be enough hours in the day
I know some people who think that blogging is as easy as typing a few words, adding a photo and hitting publish - if only! Alongside the actualy content creation (which takes way longer than you'd imagine) there's also social media management, networking with brands and other bloggers, replying to emails, pitching for collaborations, maintaining your site, tax returns and so much more to fit in. Trying to squeeze that in alongside 8 hours at your full time job means there are simply never enough hours in a day. To have half a chance of doing a good job of both you'll need to get up earlier, go to bed later and utilise every spare minute of the day - evenings spent chilling out in front of the TV aren't really a thing anymore!
It will make you better at your day job
Even if it seems like your blog bears no relevance to what you do at work, running it will make you better at your day job. That's because running a blog is about so much more than just writing and taking photos - it's also about learning how to communicate with brands, making strategic calls and in some cases running a small business, all of which are transferable skills. Plus it's likely that trying to run a blog with a full time job will teach you a lot about time management and prioritisation which will be beneficial no matter what career path you're on.
You will become very familiar with scheduling apps
When you're spending the majority of your day in meetings or working on projects that don't relate to your blog it's pretty impossible to be "on it" with social media. Apps like Buffer and Hootsuite will become incredibly important to you as you try to maintain a presence in the online world without getting sacked for being on your phone all the time. That said, I do always try and check in at lunch time and in the evenings and reply to any notifications - nobody wants to be having a one way conversation and I love my little social media communities!
Your house will always be a mess
I firmly believe that it's impossible to have a full time job, run a blog and have a tidy house. Spending most of my evenings chained to my Macbook means that I definitely don't tidy up/do my washing/iron my clothes as regulary as I should do. Same goes for exercising regularly and whipping up home cooked nutritious meals... I'm super lucky that I have an incredibly supportive boyfriend who helps to pick up the slack at home, but if it wasn't for him helping out then I know I'd definitely struggle to keep everything ticking over.
It's important not to compare yourself to full time bloggers
Thesedays blogging can be a career in itself and I know so many awesome ladies that are killing it as full time bloggers. One thing I have learnt though is not to compare myself to them. Sometimes I find myself feeling like my content isn't as good as theirs or that my social media stats aren't growing as quickly. I have to remind myself that I'm doing all of this as a side hustle and have a day job too, so I can't expect myself to produce the same results as people who are blogging full time.
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I love blogging and feel so lucky that I have found a hobby that brings me so much joy, but I hope that this post has given you a little bit of an insight into what it's really like to juggle this blog with my full time job.
Do you any of you blog and work full time? Would you say your experiences are similar to mine? I'd love to hear!