How to Run a Blog Whilst Working Full Time

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There are so many things that contribute to running a blog. The endless planning future content, writing articles, replying to emails and updating social media takes up enough time to warrant a full-time job title but sadly, it might not always pay like one. Therefore, it’s not uncommon for bloggers to have 9-to-5 jobs.

It’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind when you spend the majority of your day working on something completely different. That being said, it can feel extremely overwhelming to know that you’re essentially running two jobs with only a limited number of hours in the day.

Don’t be disheartened, though – it is possible to run a successful blog whilst still working a 9-to-5 using these tips:


#1 | Plan in Advance

Instead of feeling guilty when your main job takes up too much time in the evening to the point where you’re unable to write a blog post, plan in advance. Along with preventing your blog content becoming thin if you’re busy elsewhere, but you’ll also feel like you’ve got more time to work with if something does crop up.

This also comes in handy with social media too, where you’re unable to constantly be sharing your blog posts throughout the day. Using social scheduling tools like Buffer and Hootsuite will automatically send your social updates at any time you specify throughout the day and you can reply to comments when you’ve got a bit of free time.


#2 | Don’t Compare!

Falling victim to comparing your blog to somebody else’s is a bloggers main downfall. Not only can it make you feel disheartened if you see a similar blog doing better than you in terms of managing content and their marketing activities, but might also feel less encouraged to work on your own site.

run a blog full time

 

#3 | Use Your Lunch Breaks

The chances are, you’ll have a few spare minutes every day on your lunch break where you’re not actually doing anything productive. Instead of running to the shop to buy yourself some lunch, bring in your own dinner and dedicate your lunch break to working on your blog.

I get 45 minutes for my dinner break in my job and I always try and use that to do something worthwhile for Celebricious – like writing a blog post, for example. It saves me time when I get home because the task has already been done, and it saves me being bored on my lunch break too!


#4 | Set Realistic Goals

If you have an aim to write, edit and publish a blog post every day of the week, that’s great! But you might need to figure out if that is feasible and how much of your spare time it will actually take up. Not doing so can leave you unmotivated and downhearted as the goal was too unrealistic.

Instead of going in full force and thinking that you can publish every day, think about what’s realistic to your working situation. Perhaps you might only opt for three posts per week because you can write them on your lunch breaks, or maybe even a post every other day that you work on and publish that night. Whatever number you decide on, make sure that it’s workable.

run a blog full time

 

#5 | Jot Down Your Ideas

Inspiration for a blog post can strike anywhere; from on the train to work to even in a meeting when find your mind wandering. Keep a notepad to hand a jot down all of the ideas you have so that you don’t forget. It could form the basis of a great blog post, or it could be an idea that gets shrugged off when you come back to it later.

No matter how good an idea you think it is, write it down so that you don’t forget about it. It’ll save you time to have a back-up bank of blog post ideas and you won’t need to wait until a wave of creativity comes to think of new blog post topics.


#6 | Make Time for Yourself

As tempting as it may sound to fill up your spare time with working on and running your blog, it’s crucial to make sure that you’re giving yourself time to rest. You don’t have to spend every hour that you’re awake working on it. Take some time off, forget about sending that tweet and relax. Blogging is fun, after all!

Header image credit: Happily Grey

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