I’m coming up on 9 years of blogging and can’t believe how long I’ve been doing this. If you’re curious about how I started my blog, you can check out this post. I went full-time blogger almost 5 years ago leaving a corporate job to pursue this hobby full time. Still, people don’t really understand what a day in the life of a blogger entails. A lot of people may think it’s just taking photos and drinking pretty lattes so you can Instagram it. But if you’re serious about the business and the work, it’s a hell of a lot more than that.
There are definitely positive and negative aspects of blogging. A few favorite positives are working for yourself and making your own schedule. The freedom this job allows me is everything. A few negatives include that the industry is so new and ever-changing. Who knows where it’ll be in a year, or 10 years. And the big question I always ask myself, how long do I even want to do this for? There’s also the big comparison game in the industry. Am I doing enough? Why didn’t I get that project? Should I be talking about that sale too? It’s why I unfollowed over 400 people in the last 6 months. Trying to stay laser-focused on being a creator and not a consumer.
The life of a full-time blogger may vary from blogger to blogger. But from what I’ve gathered from my peers who take this seriously, it all kind of looks pretty similar. Here’s what a typical day in my life as a full-time blogger.
A Day In The Life Of A Blogger
Each day can definitely vary in terms of which tasks I do. I personally started using Asana and created batch tasks for myself each day. From Mondays being for writing, planning my Instagram feed, and commenting on other blogs, to Wednesdays being all about planning out pitches and finalizing my weekly newsletter. I’ve found this method helps me to focus on tasks versus just continually working on whatever I could get my hands on.
There are also days that are maybe spent more hands-on creating content like planning photoshoots or actually doing the photoshoot. When I have larger photoshoots like the holiday buffets I’ve done in the past, they require a lot more planning. So there may be parts of my day dedicated to sourcing products, planning out the shoot and recipe testing. These aren’t super common, but they make that time of year a bit crazy!
But either way, my usual day to day looks pretty similar in terms of my routine though. Here’s what my days usually look like.
Morning
I typically start my work day around 8am. I’m usually up by 7 or so with my pup, Pork and take her for her morning walk. Followed by making a coffee and then I turn on the Today show. I rarely sit and watch, but I enjoy the background noise of it. I then always head straight to my desk first thing in the morning. Usually before a shower or even changing. Bad habit, but it works for me. I typically get at least 2 hours of work done before heading to the gym or finally taking a shower.
I start my workday in the morning by checking that my latest blog post is up and good to go. Then I share this post on social media. Sometimes these things are scheduled in advance like Instagram or Twitter. But I prefer to do a few things live or schedule it on the same day. Between Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook, there’s plenty to do on social media alone. Scheduling helps me to batch work on these things so I can focus on other items throughout the day. In the morning I also check emails. Anything that needs to be dealt with will get handled first thing in the morning. I like to go through my inbox as it can also drive that day’s to-do list.
As far as getting personal stuff done that doesn’t include the blog, I do like to get my workout in before lunch whenever I can. I’m not a fan of working out in the afternoon so I try my best to knock this out. Either with a spin class, hot yoga, or a home gym workout with TRIM. No matter the workout, this is always completed before lunch. I also try to get any errands done in the morning too. One of my favorite perks about working from home is that I can knock out errands without anyone around. Returns at the mall with no one in line? The best. Grocery stores with no one in them? I’ll take it.
Mornings are also when I typically shoot for the blog with my photographer, Hannah. Atlanta traffic is horrific, so being able to do this between 10-1 is ideal for us. Depending on location, or what we’re shooting, this may dictate the time of day we end up working together. Hot summers usually mean bright and early to avoid the heat. Things at my house are best done in the early afternoon to get the best light. There’s definitely a method to it all!
Afternoon
Once I finish a workout, get my shower in and eat lunch, I head back to my desk to finish working for a few more hours. On occasion, I’ll head to a coffee shop or Switchyards, a co-work space in Atlanta I recently joined. But regardless of where I am in the afternoon, I still work through the batch tasks I’ve made for myself in Asana. This ranges from scheduling Tailwind, pitching brands, social media and content creating. My afternoon is usually a mix of these tasks and any ongoing projects.
A few other tasks I usually get through are photo selecting (Hannah does all my photo editing for me I just have to make selections). But then I also need to export them, save them to my computer, upload them to blog posts, etc. There’s so much more than just writing blog posts and taking photos. I’m also working on any ongoing bookkeeping, emails with clients and projects, brainstorming ideas for future posts and so on. I’m also responding to comments throughout the day on social media and the blog.
I also will do any work for The Blog Societies at this point as well. This usually consists of creating social media content, writing blog posts and newsletters, and managing the membership on the backend.
Evening
In the evenings I rarely shut work off. It’s a terrible habit that I’m working on. However, I feel like since I have so much freedom and prefer to run errands and workout in the mornings, that my day just starts a little later, so it ends later too. At night, I sometimes head to the couch with my laptop and get some mindless task work done like scheduling social media. Or, I sometimes get a burst of creative energy to knock out serious work and sit at my desk until way too late.
Somewhere in there I usually have dinner around 7. I will also take my dog for a longer walk in the evenings. But then it’s back to the couch or desk to do a little more work. Unless I have plans with friends or a good show is on, I rarely shut work off. A terrible habit that I’m trying to be better about.
I usually head to bed around 10:30 or 11. Yes, that means I’m getting a good 8 hours of sleep, it’s a must for me! I can’t function on 5 or 6 hours as some people do.
Weekdays Versus Weekends
Like I’ve said, since I can make my own schedule, I do like to get errands done during the workday. This means sometimes I end up working on the weekends. Which doesn’t bother me AT ALL. I actually really enjoy it and almost prefer it at times. No emails are coming in, I feel like I’m less on a schedule and oftentimes I write the most on the weekend. Weekdays are just better to get errands done in an efficient way.
The one day of the week that always looks the exact same are Monday’s. My Mondays are usually packed with errands in the morning. It’s the one day I usually leave the house to do a workout class versus an at-home one. I also do my big grocery store run after my class and then prep food and cook some things for the week. I’ll check my computer in between, but usually, very little work gets done until mid-afternoon. But it helps to set my week up for success in terms of having food ready to go, a tidy house and starting the week with a good workout. My Monday’s are everything to me and I rarely let anyone schedule time on my calendar for that day for good reason.
What does your day to day look like?
Photos by Hannah Lozano
