Q + A // tips for blogging with a 9-5

I currently don't have a typical "9-5" type job, but in the past I've blogged while working part time, working part time and being in school full time, and also while working a full time job with 10 hour days.  My experience might not be similar to yours, but I'll share my personal story.  I didn't start blogging "full time" until I was out of school, and I didn't blog very seriously during that period when I was a full time student and working part time.  But after graduating college, I worked full time while living at home and also was working towards blogging full time.  I posted just about every day, and also worked almost every day as well.

When I worked longer days, from 7 am to 6 pm, blogging was much harder, especially in Alaskan winters where the sun sets at 3:30pm.  I'd go to work in the dark and get home in the dark, so I would often have to use my lunch break to grab a quick bite and take outfit photos so I could do them while it was still light out.  Then, when I came home I could edit photos and write my post.  I worked in a somewhat industrial area, so there were some cool nearby spots where I could quickly grab a couple outfit photos, and it was relatively unpopulated, so I didn't have to deal with passers by asking me what I was doing.

One thing that helped was the fact that I moved home to Anchorage (after graduating from college), and I didn't have a ton of friends.  I had just one, maybe two, so after work I didn't feel like I needed to socialize with people.  I'd just go home from work, hang with my family and blog.  Plus, being an introvert, I don't need a lot of social stimulation anyway.  My priorities were working and blogging, and since I lived with my family, spending quality time with them was kind of default.  I remember thinking back then that I would never be able to have a typical 9-5 job, blog, and also have a boyfriend because I would just not know how to juggle all those things.  I'm amazed when I see people who do it successfully.


Blogging takes an incredible amount of time, which I don't think many non-bloggers realize.  My photo shoots take at least 30 minutes (unless Dan snaps them super quickly), it takes about the same amount of time to cull and edit, then writing the post can be either pretty fast, or take hours.  Then there's sharing the post on all your social media, maybe sites like chictopia and lookbook, reading and writing emails, managing ads and other blogging business aspects.

The biggest thing, when it comes to blogging on top of a 9-5, is organization.  Fitting in blogging between work and having a social life just isn't going to work very well if you're flying by the seat of your pants.  You'll have to plan ahead when you want to take photographs, edit photos, and write the post.  I know a lot of bloggers will schedule what posts they want to write on each day, sometimes a week, even a month, ahead of time.  Some of them even plan what outfit they are going to blog about many weeks in advance.  For me, I've never been able to function like this and the most ahead I've gotten on my blog is about two weeks.  Organization also means planning your time well, and browsing around on facebook for hours will decimate your blogging time.  Avoid going on time-sucking social media until you've finished blogging.  If I bounce around between social media and trying to blog it takes me probably 10 times longer to finish my post.

If you're working towards making the leap to blogging full time, you're going to want to be putting a lot of work into your blog, which is really hard when you're already committed to 8 hours at another job.  Before going full time with my blog I worked part time jobs that were relatively easy, so I still had enough time and energy during my off time in order to blog well.  I worked part time as a barista, which gave me enough supplemental income that I was able to spend the rest of my time working on blogging, and eventually I (sort of accidentally) switched to being a full time blogger.  Granted, while blogging is a major component of my work, I also do graphic design and photography, so technically I'm still not exclusively a "full time" blogger.  A lot of bloggers I know who are full-timers also have other skills they use to supplement their blogging income.  Some create handmade things and have etsy shops, some sell vintage, some are photographers, some are graphic designers, some write books, etc. etc.  So when you think about making the decision to blog full time, also realize that you can work for yourself in other ways beyond blogging.



For some of you, though, blogging full time just isn't something that is feasible financially, or you just don't want to quit your job!  It's important to realize that you'll have some handicaps when it comes to creating your content.  Full time bloggers simply have more time to create their content, and to make it as good as they possibly can.  They have time to brainstorm and plan and create.  Working with a 9-5, you'll have less time to do everything that they do, which might mean blogging less frequently in order to create great content.  But that's okay.  I'd rather read a great blog that posted less frequently, than a mediocre blog that posted daily.  Some blogs even have multiple people contributing, which means the workload is distributed, which is another handicap you'll have to deal with.  Even I wish I had a "team" sometimes!  Don't overstretch yourself.  Understand that you're just one person and you can't do what they do, simply because you don't have the time or manpower.  Plus, making yourself crazy and working to much on your blog will probably cut into the time you need to maintain your relationships, which should definitely come before your blog, just like your relationships need to come before your 9-5.

Blogging full time can be a little crazy, and having a regular job is nice for financial security and hey, you might actually like your job!  Making the leap to blogging full time isn't for everyone, but lots of people are successful bloggers who also work or go to school full time.

If you're looking for some ways to stay motivated with your blogging, check out this previous Q+A about just that!

a delightful giveaway with bonlook

Hello lovelies!  Today I'm partnering with Bonlook to give you guys an awesome giveaway!  If you're not familiar with Bonlook, they make tons of gorgeous glasses in modern and vintage inspired frame styles.  I recently received the Martha frames and I've worn them almost every day this week!   The color and shape are exactly what they looked like online, which is great. I've gotten glasses online before that were marked as "tortoise," but when they came, they looked basically black!  Plus, Bonlook has a virtual try-on feature that makes it easier to picture the frames on your face.
Enter here for a chance to win $99 to Bonlook to purchase your favorite pair of glasses!  The giveaway will be open for a week, so head over and enter!  You don't have to comment on this post in order to enter, but if you want to, let me know what pair you'd pick.  My next pair is definitely going to be the La Marquise!  I love me a good cateye, but there are so many colors to choose from I don't know which one to pick!

lazy day

I've been feeling a bit of wanderlust lately.  Not for anything grand and epic, necessarily, though I surely wouldn't turn down some kind of international adventure.  Just a hiking trip, or an overnight camping trip, maybe spending a weekend at a seaside cabin on the Oregon coast.  All winter we talk about spending the whole summer going on trips like those, but here we are at the end of September and have done nothing all summer.  Granted, we've nearly completed re-siding our garage, which was a pretty big undertaking.  All it needs now is one more coat of paint and it'll be done!  I'm excited to check that project off the list.  Siding the house was a lot of work, but not quite as fun as other house projects I'd like to do in the next year.   Anyway, I don't think my brain is quite booted up this morning.  So here's a lazy day post, featuring a lazy day outfit, but there's a cute dog in some photos, so at least there's that.
 

top/thrifted :: tee(underneath) + jeans/courtesy of modcloth
boots/courtesy of bc footwear :: scarf/hand me down
glasses/courtesy of bonlook :: hat (similar)/the north face

life lately

 
(well... this was a big post but then blogger went and un-published it and deleted half of the post.  Instead of trying to replicate what I'd initially wrote, here's the bare bones of what was there before...)
Watching: The 4400.  It's on Netflix instant!  I started watching it years ago, but I think I left for college and then stopped.  Dan and I are pretty big sci fi fans, so it's fun to watch another sci fi show. I also started watching Harper's Island. It's funny watching two shows set in the Seattle area.  
Excited About: My new iMac!  My MacBook Pro has become pretty non-functional, and it's rather old (early 2009).  It'll be strange having a desktop, but hopefully it will help focus on work.
Thankful For: My mom visiting this past weekend!  I'm so thankful that despite living thousands of miles from my various family members, I get to see them relatively frequently.
Anticipating: Shooting a wedding this weekend!  The forecast calls for rain, but I'm hoping it'll hold off.
     
walks with the dust :: walk for wishes with my mom :: tomato harvest making salsa :: succulent :: siding the garage :: dusty impeding my workout
 "Feminism is being free to decide who I want to be and how to act"
 So many feels. Well played Katy Perry.
 The Make A Wish fundraiser is done, but there's still a few weeks to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital!  I'll be running their Run Of Hope 5k on the 29th with a team, and if every one of my Bloglovin' followers donates just 50 cents I'll more than surpass my $300 fundraising goal!  Donate here :)
 This documentary is so beautiful and moving.  Humanizing those who are so easily dehumanized by the prison system, and redeeming lives once thought unredeemable.  So much compassion, love, and hope in a place no one would expect to find it.
 My mom did this for me and I didn't even realize it until I was an adult woman. So thankful.
 A wonderful talk about shifting the way we approach kids with ADHD, Learning Disabilities, and other "disabilities" in school environments.  So many of my thoughts put into words.
 Well played, Guinness. Way to make a masculine, manly beer commercial that makes me like men more, not less. 

the narrows

This is where Dan and I took our bride and groom portraits after our wedding reception.  This evening reminded me of that one.  There was a slight nip in the air and the sun was beginning to set.  I've done outfit photos here a couple times, but it's fun to see how I've progressed as a photographer since the first time I shot here.  Granted, a few of these shots are a bit out of focus, but somehow that's how it goes with a tripod/self-timer set up, which is why I like being able to shoot other people.  It's so much easier to get things like focus and exposure correct when you are behind the lens.  I'm shooting a wedding this weekend up near Mount Rainier and I'm super excited to be able to shoot in such a gorgeous location.  Plus, it's rather nostalgic, as Dan and I honeymooned up near Mount Rainier.  I'd love to spend an anniversary up at the cabin where we honeymooned, someday.  Perhaps for a more significant anniversary like our 5th or 10th.
Talking about our honeymoon made me start thinking about it ... and I so thoroughly enjoyed it.  It was so laid back and cozy.  We stayed in an old log cabin, ate cheese and drank wine, had lasagna and old fashioned's, walked around the woods, soaked in a private hot tub, and played tower defense games by fireside.  Even though a tropical honeymoon would've surely been fun, there's nothing that suited us better than our woodsy, cozy honeymoon.
 


top/via swap :: jeans/courtesy of modcloth :: boots(similar)/courtesy of blowfish necklace/in pink :: bracelets/musana and jewelmint
I'm not typically one for drapey tops, but I got this one at the last swap I had with friends and I thought I'd give it a go.  Since it was a swap, it was basically "free." Swaps are great ways to try out items that you might not typically go for, or want to spend money on when it might not turn out.  I think it's high time I organize another swap.  Perhaps mid-october.  It's crazy how time goes so quickly.  How is it almost October!?  I remember booking this weekend's wedding and thinking how far off it seemed and now it's in a few days!  Craziness.  I know bloggers go on and on about how time flies, but as I get older it really does feel so bizarre.  Now that we have Dusty, she's another indication of time's quick passage.  We've had her for little over a month now, but she seems so big!  Not necessarily in size, but in how she acts.  She's become so much more mature and "grown up," if you will.  For a puppy, that is. She's such a wonderful presence in our home.  In the beginning I was pretty stressed out, being a pup-mom (becoming a "real" mom now seems devastatingly terrible. My neurotic tendencies seem ill-suited for parenthood sanity), but she's understanding commands more these days and being less of a toddler.  I've been happy with our interactions out and about.  So many people have given us great feedback on how well behaved and calm she is, especially around children and other dogs.  She has her manic moments, but for the most part I'm so happy with how well she's growing up!  I feel silly talking about her as if she's a child, but it's funny how a pet really does become part of the family.  I'm glad we chose Dusty, versus the other pup we were considering who was much much more energetic and crazy.  Dusty's personality fits into our family so wonderfully.  I can imagine she'll be a great "older sister" whenever we end up having a human baby.