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Are you one of those people who are interested in the idea of being a blogger? Or maybe just a part-time blogger? Maybe you’ve even had a daydream or two about being able to work from home for yourself. I’ve had that dream. In mine, I’m usually eating a donut that doesn’t have any calories and I’m wearing my favorite lounge pants and reindeer slippers. And Channing Tatum brings me my coffee. Hey, it’s a dream. Anything is possible!
I am fortunate because I work from home a few days a week for my day job. A lot of companies see this as a way to cut costs since the employee is basically paying for their own office space. A price most people are willing to pay because it means you don’t have to schlepp into the office every day and listen to your neighbor scraping the bottom of their yogurt container like they’re digging for gold. But. I’m still working for the man. I may feel all footloose and fancy-free sitting in my pj’s but someone else is calling the shots. And the man has good benefits, like a steady paycheck, healthcare, tuition reimbursement and a 401k. That’s a lot to give up and just eat donuts all day.
There are plenty of stories out there about bloggers who couldn’t take the 9 to 5 gig anymore and gave it up to pursue their dreams online. I prefer to take a more cautious approach and dip my little piggy into the water a bit before I go jumping right in. Being a part-time blogger doesn’t mean you only have to do half the work. It just means you have about half the time to things done. Good time management is really a necessity here.
If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering what a week looks like if you’re only blogging part of the time. I wondered if I’d have the time it would take to build this blog into something successful. Especially if I only dedicated a few hours a week to it. If you’re considering trying blogging on for size in addition to keeping a full-time job, hopefully, this will give you an idea of what to expect. This is kind of a high-level overview of what I do each day to keep on top of things. It varies depending on what else might be going on around here. Alex and I both are trying to get better about staying ahead of things by writing and scheduling posts.
Check out my productivity post on how I made a few changes and was able to get more done.
Mondays and Tuesdays look pretty much the same for me since those are my work from home days. Since I don’t have to get all fancy, I’ll wake up around 6, hit the shower, put some comfy clothes on and my hair in a ponytail and start my day. I’ll use the extra time in the morning for blog work. I start work at 8 so I usually have about an hour and a half. On these mornings when I have a little more time, I’ll try to work on posts or graphics. I’ll check Tailwind and Boardbooster to make sure everything is OK there with my pin scheduling. I’ll stop at 8 and get to work at my other job and work all day.
I stop working at 5. I also have Aislynn here those days after school so I like to hang out with her until 7 or so when she gets picked up. Depending on my mood, I may head to the office for a few more hours of work but pretty often I’ll just relax and watch TV.
Wednesday is my first day in the office for the week. I get up at the same time but will typically just read emails or make a to-do list and then I’ll spend the rest of the morning until I leave for work grumbling about having to leave for work. I leave the office around 5:30 and head home. I’ll either fix dinner or grab something quick and work on posts for an hour or two. I’ve also been spending time lately learning more about affiliate marketing. I’ll try and implement some of what I’ve learned with my own affiliate programs.
Thursday I try to make sure that I’m on track for Friday’s post. If I’ve slacked at all during the week, Friday’s post is usually the one that suffers. In the morning I’ll work on that and then after work, I’ll make sure it’s done. In a perfect world, I’d have the week’s content done already and scheduled in WordPress. #bloggoals
Friday I’ll review what’s coming up for the next week and decide what needs to be done over the weekend. I’ll also spend some time in my Facebook groups looking for new group boards to join. Group boards and both Boardbooster and Tailwind tribes have really increased my Pinterest reach.
Saturday morning is a great day for me to write. No idea why. I have to be careful though because if I don’t watch it, I’ll look at the clock and realize it’s 2 in the afternoon and I’ve been in front of the computer all day. Whomp Whomp. I’ll clean house or run errands in the afternoon and then if I don’t have plans on Saturday evening it’s a night in front of the TV for me.
Sunday is when I like to do any projects for the blog for the upcoming week. It’s an easy day so I can just take pictures and make notes as I go with no stress involved. Then it’s easy to edit photos and write up a post. Sunday afternoon I’ll spend an hour or two setting up my schedule in Tailwind for the entire week. Boardbooster is more set and forget so there isn’t a ton to do there. I’ll make sure everything is scheduled for the upcoming week and if I’ve been a really good girl, I have the week after that taken care of too. Sunday evening is for Walking Dead. Period. Don’t bother me, don’t call, don’t text.
I hope that gives you more of an idea about what’s involved with being a part-time blogger. It really does require working a little bit every day on some aspect, whether it’s Pinterest, or posts, or affiliate sales or just research. Once things get going it will all feel a lot easier and more stable. In the beginning, there’s a lot to learn and different things to try. We like to say we throw things against the wall and see what sticks. Eventually, things will start to stick to the wall and it won’t require so much work to keep it going. If the eventual goal is to quit your day job and try to make a living from your blog, there will be more work involved in setting that up since you’ll definitely want to have multiple income streams set up.
But you’ll be that much closer to having Channing bring you your coffee in the morning wearing nothing but a tie. Sigh.
I have a lot of pins saved relating to blogging tips and working from home on my Blogging Tips Pinterest board. Follow my board for all the latest and greatest info that Pinterest has to offer!
