A Day In The Life Of A Full Time Blogger

Last Updated on August 5, 2020 by ellduclos

Do you want to know what REALLY drives me insane… When those who have never been a full time blogger, JUDGE and make assumptions about the daily life of a blogger. There are SO many people out there who make it seem like blogging “isn’t a real job.” They think that bloggers live some GLAMOROUS lifestyle and that we are “self entitled free loaders.”

It drives me CRAZY hearing all of these assumptions because it’s so FAR from the truth. Last time I checked, the definition of Job is: “A paid position of regular employment.” AND “A task or piece of work, especially one that is paid.” Straight from the dictionary itself. THEREFORE – if you are getting paid while you are blogging, this is considered a JOB. So what is a daily life like for a blogger?

When I first started blogging I had every intention in mind to turn it into my career. It’s something that I have always LOVED to do. It makes me happy and if my career is going to take up 50+ years of my life, you better believe I am going to pick a career path that I enjoy.

Fast forward 8 months later and I have been making consistent money that pays my bills and then some. And guess what, I didn’t get to this point by doing NOTHING. I put in a lot of hard work, a lot of sleepless nights, and a lot of hours. If you want to know what a day in the life of a full time blogger really looks like, then keep reading!

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Disclaimer: Affiliate links used. full disclosure here

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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A BLOGGER INCLUDES LONG HOURS OF CONTENT CREATION

Blogging isn’t just typing up some quick piece of work and posting it hoping that it will be seen. NO. It’s WAY more than that.

First, you have to come up with a content schedule. I spend hours planning out my month. Brainstorming content ideas and then putting them into a plan.

Next, you have to create the content. This is hours of writing, editing, RE-editing, photography, photography editing, all before you hit publish. Some nights I am up till 4am putting in WORK on my content creation. Not to mention it’s not just about the content. You spend hours tweaking your site from designing every aspect and more before you decide to finally hit publish.

After, you can’t just expect the views to come. You have to market your content. Figure out strategies that will make your content SEEN. This can take so much time just figuring out what strategies work. Marketing isn’t easy.

Then, you most likely have social media that you are constantly trying to grow to make sure your blog’s presence is in more than just one platform. Social media management can be very time consuming. Again with finding the strategies to grow your presence.

To grow a brand, business, and blog, it can easily become exhausting.

 

ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS, in the beginning when you are working on turning your blog into a career, you probably work another full time job, a parent and/or a student.  Now you are doing multiple time consuming activities and trying to juggle them all. Some days I would come home from an 11 hour shift (on my feet all day) to working on content creation and marketing until 3-4am.

FINDING BALANCE IN A BUSY BLOGGER LIFE

This is such a huge struggle for me as a full time blogger. I try to find a balance between work life, family life, and social life but I still struggle. I am always wanting to dedicate ALL my time to life as a blogger. This is because I fear that if I don’t continue to dedicate every bit of my free time to blogging, I will lose progress.

There are still some days when my boyfriend will get frustrated because my phone is constantly in my hand. One thing I like to try and do is dedicate one day a week where I unplug from my phone.

It doesn’t always happen and I know I should practice what I preach more BUT, I am crazy dedicated to my blog. I just can’t help it. It’s become my way out of depression and misery. I have so much fun doing it!

One thing you can do is work on your blog in the late hours and spend time with friends & family during the earlier hours.

THE REALITY IS THE FEAR OF LOSING YOUR PROGRESS

The fear of losing everything I have worked so hard on is always in the back of my mind. I think this is a huge reason as to why I always celebrate small wins! Any progress is better than no progress. I would NEVER look down on someone who celebrated growing their account from 10 – 20 or even 0-1! Every milestone is worth celebrating.

I think one thing that bloggers who are trying to “make it full time” should keep in mind is, it’s okay to take a step back. If you notice your blog traffic went down, or you made less this month as oppose to last month. It’s OKAY.

Instead of getting discouraged, take a closer look. Always keep track of what works and what doesn’t work. Track when and where you post your content and see how the time and days affect the outcome.

Pay attention to your strategies and study why it might have went wrong. Blogging successfully is all about trial and error. You NEED to pay attention to your strategies and build off of what works.

It’s so easy to give up if you are feeling like your blog is going in the opposite direction. But you CAN’T give up. You make it WORK and you turn your setbacks into COMEBACKS. 

DAY TO DAY LIFE AS A BLOGGER CAN BRING LONELINESS

As a full time blogger you are usually working from home and if you are just starting out, chances are your friends aren’t bloggers. In the beginning it’s really hard to find your motivation because you might have so many who aren’t supportive (even those closest to you). I know that can make things very difficult.

Some things that help me are to:

Find Blogging Communities

There are so many blogging communities out there filled with supportive bloggers.

I have a community that I created called Boss Girl Bloggers – filled with over 40,000 supportive and helpful  women who make the day to day life as a blogger feel not so lonely.

Style Collective is another one of my favorite blogging communities that founder Annie Spano created for female entrepreneurs to come together and learn how to be female entrepreneurs! Filled with a ton of fashion, beauty bloggers that are supportive. They also constantly have meetups happening!

Change of Space

Being a blogger and working from home can become very lonely and repetitive if you don’t switch it up. Ways that I find motivation and inspiration is through changing where I work. One day I might go to a local coffee shop instead of working at my home. I also try to find other bloggers in my area that I can become friends with. Having friends that have the same goals as you helps to push and motivate one another.

Create an inspiring space

This is where you can go to get away, blog and feel motivated. For example, an office space. Even if it’s in a small corner of a room it can help. Fill that space with motivation and inspiration! Vision boards are my favorite.

YOU MIGHT FEEL LIKE YOUR CONTENT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH

This can happen often if you are someone who over analyzes. It’s natural for us to over analyze our posts because we want them to be “PERFECT.”

However, there is no such thing as perfect. The more you over analyze and nit pick EVERY LITTLE THING, the more you procrastinate at publishing your content and reaching deadlines.

There have been so many posts that I created and just never published because I feared they weren’t “good enough.” Instead of believing in my hard work and content creation, I just let my work go to waste.

Don’t over analyze. Believe that your content is worthy. If you spent hard work creating it, it’s worthy. 

NOT EVERYONE WILL SUPPORT YOUR DAILY LIFE AS A BLOGGER

This is so common, especially when you are putting yourself out there for the world to see and “judge.” Humans judge, there is no getting around that. There will be haters at some point in your blogging career.

Usually they hate because they are envious, want to be doing what you are doing, or they aren’t educated on what a day in the life of a blogger is really like.  

There are many who hate on bloggers without actually understanding what bloggers do in the first place. Many try to say that bloggers are getting by “easy”, and that their job isn’t “real.” But that’s far from the truth. Brush it off because you and those who keep up with you, know just how hard you work to continuously put out great content!

There are many who wish they could do what you are doing but are too afraid to take the leap to start. Instead, they spend their time bashing those who are living out the life they want for themselves.

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Why would I want to blog full time?

Starting a blog has been the BEST decision of my entire life. It has been the TURNING point of my financial stability. There are so many reasons WHY you should start a blog.

ONE: FREEDOM

This sounds silly but it’s true! You have so much freedom as a full time blogger. Your creativity is limitless, amd you can write about ANYTHING you want! You can work from ANYWHERE in the world, even in bed with PJs on!

There is no limitations to what you can do with your blog. You can sell products, make consistent income on autopilot, and work with some of your favorite brands on a paid basis.

TWO: IT’S A WRITER’S DREAM

Being a full time blogger is a writer’s dream. If you LOVE to write you will LOVE to blog. You can share so many unique experiences with the world. If there is a story inside you that you anxiously want to share then blogging is for you!

THREE: YOU CAN MAKE AN IMPACT

This is one of the biggest reasons why I started my blog. I strive to make an impact on others who have been through similar situations as me. Knowing that I have the potential to inspire one person is worth it.

FOUR: YOU CAN PAY OFF YOUR DEBT

You may not want to blog as a career but, you can still make it a side hustle and pay off any debt you might have. Monetizing your blog can help you even save for something big! There are endless amounts of ways to make money blogging.

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FIVE: YOU CAN MEET NEW PEOPLE

Life as a blogger allows you to meet new people! Being a full time blogger, and creating Boss Girl Bloggers has allowed me to meet some INCREDIBLE and inspiring women.

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What does a day in the life look like for a full time blogger?

I don’t know if I am a great representation because I truly dedicate all of my time to blogging and my Facebook group. BUT my days as a full time blogger usually go like this:

Wake Up: Start my day with a positive thought. I try not to wake up with negativity on my mind. I will usually spend an hour when I wake up looking through my emails, social media, Facebook group, and blog comments. This is also when I do some engaging before getting up and starting my day.

Once I get up I like to go and get myself a coffee. This is one of the luxuries I enjoy the most. I always treat myself to a coffee to start off my day. For some reason it helps me focus and feel more motivated.

I will then sit down at my “space” and open up my planner. I LOVE my planner. I find that scheduling my content with my planner helps me to stay focused and reach deadlines. It also makes sure that I am getting enough content created and published. I’ll look at my planner and decide what tasks need to be done.

(I will prioritize my tasks and then set timers to help me tackle and accomplish these tasks)

Usually I will set an hour for each task, sometimes more depending on the task. Once the timer is up, if the task isn’t finished I will put it to the bottom of my list.

Doing this really helps to keep me focused and productive. I don’t like when I focus too long on one task. Doing so can lead to incompletion of other important tasks.

I like to take 5 minute breaks after each hour during the day. Whether it just be a quick snack or a breathing exercise to help refocus my mind. Breaks are important as a full time blogger. You don’t want to burn yourself out because that can lead to creative blocks.

Try to always make sure you are eating meals. As a full time blogger it can be very easy to forget to eat! I have done this many times and it’s unhealthy. Always set aside breakfast, lunch and dinner! Drink plenty of water as well!

TIPS ON WHEN TO POST AND CREATE NEW CONTENT

Aim to post once a week if you can. Once you have a solid content marketing strategy you can post less.

Bulk Scheduling + Creating

I like to take one day to focus on my photography for the week. Look at what posts are getting published the upcoming week and write down what photography is needed. Then go ahead and shoot the photography needed for that week.

Planning ahead is key! It will help you to stay motivated and on track!

You can also set aside a day or two to write up a few new blog posts so you have content ready to go. Take a look at my monthly blog vision and my content creation strategy to help.

I will also usually plan an hour or two at night to spend engaging with my social media and group.

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As you can see, a day in the life of a full time blogger isn’t simple. However, it’s the life I choose to live and I am thankful I am able to blog full time.

You can either sit back and watch others chase their dreams or, you can GET UP and come face to face with your fears, push them aside & make your dreams HAPPEN!

I hope this helps motivate you to chase your dreams and obtain a creative lifestyle that keeps you thriving!

Until Next Time

xx

Ell