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How do bloggers manage BLOG+WORK life balance?

StreetTrotter - Tips for bloggers

Last year I was at home, working solely on my blog. This year, I am back to grad school, attending classes, submitting weekly assignments, and working two jobs on campus. Soon enough, I realized the difficulty in creating a balance between work, study and blogging all at the same time, and I am trying my best to find ways to keep the blog running.

But I was sure that I was not the only one in this fix, as many bloggers around the world maintain full-time jobs, along with a fruitful blogging career. They all face the same struggle, and each one of us try to improvise every single day, for the pure love for our blogs. This collaboration post, brings together eight such Travel Bloggers from around the world, sharing tips from their personal experiences on how they are maintaining the perfect BLOG+WORK Balance.

Write 3-4 posts one day and schedule them for later

StreetTrotter - Tips for bloggersAt the beginning of the week I set one main goal for my blog and each morning thereafter I set my priorities that coincide with that one main goal. One of most important time savers I utilize is setting up a specified list of things that must get done on a given day. I’ll take a walk early in the morning to develop this list and identify each point that must get done on a given day. The primary trick I have to use to save time is to write 3-4 posts during one day and schedule them to publish through Hootsuite. This way the posts and marketing are scheduled in advance to go out throughout the week. This considerably decreases the amount of time needed in each program and consolidates the process for bloggers.

 By Jill Charpia of TravelTillYouDrop

Use your commute time productively

bloggers - streettrotterAn easy tip to follow for bloggers is to use your commute time productively. For example, I’m writing this on the iOS notes app as I await my bus. I can always go back to reading what I’ve written later and fine tune it. Another application that we as couple have found useful is Evernote. It syncs over devices seamlessly, is great for list making and dumping travel related links in different notes that can be categorized under notebooks assigned by you. We use it regularly and right before we travel we take prints of the notes created over months. It also makes it easy for us to look back on what we did, where we went, when we are blogging about it.

 By Supriya Manot of Funtravelog
Set short-term goals for your blog

Untitled drawing (3)I’ve started setting very specific short-term monthly goals for myself now – say x% of growth in Pinterest followers, 1 blog post a week, n% of overall site-traffic growth, and then I sieve it down to a rough weekly plan in terms of tasks I need to complete to achieve my monthly goals. I have to say that I’m  still at about 50% of where I want to be in terms of achieving my own goals, but it’s a start. I’m one of those idiots that can work his ass off for someone else, but I really struggle to motivate myself when I’m working for myself.

By Sanket Dhume of Nomadic Lives

Set schedules and put reminders

Untitled drawing (6)Of-course if I get time during the week, I also write additionally, and whenever I get any ideas for posts, I email them to myself or put them in drafts to follow up later. For scheduling posts, I use Buffer, and also participate in weekly social media sharing threads. Another thing I have found to be useful for bloggers is using a productivity tool or planner, like Asana, to plan out stories/tasks and schedule dates, so that I get reminder emails and have a clear idea of what all needs to be done.

By Menorca Chaturvedi of Europe Diaries

Plan 15-minute increments each week

Untitled drawing (16)I don’t just plan out blog posts, though that is essential, I also plan out 15 minute increments each week during which I will focus on each of my social media channels (programming content, growing followers and engaging), reply to comments on my blog, and work on long-term projects.

By Laura Lynch of Savored Journeys

Be smart with your content and post ideas

Untitled drawing (7)I schedule posts for weeks and I also have a weekly series, Featured Blogger, that fills up for months at a time. I also try listicle posts related to travel, such as best travel accessories/apps or the best Xmas gifts for a traveler. Facebook is great for networking and getting ideas for new posts and collaborating with other bloggers – anything to keep your name out there! It’s tough but if you love blogging you’ll find a way.

By Samantha Tricia of Samantha En Route

Think differently about your day job

bloggers - streettrotterAt the start of each month I schedule an entire month’s worth of posts, tweets and shares, so that I don’t get bogged down with it on a daily basis. Keep a dictaphone in your car – for all those inspirational ideas you have for your next article that always seem to come along at the most inappropriate of times. Have a separate blog diary to keep you on target for posting articles. I try and post once a week on Monday evenings, having a schedule keeps me on track otherwise I’d probably just mess about on the internet and never get any actual work done.

By Heather Cole of Conversant Traveller

Stop comparing your blog with others

Untitled drawing (18)That means that instead of posting average content 2 or 3 times a week just so I could say I had something new up, I’ve concentrated on posting one good piece of work per week. If I don’t have time to post and miss a week, I don’t beat myself up about it. With all the time I’ve saved not writing average content I’ve had time to develop my photo editing skills and improve my social media presence – which is now delivering far more than those average posts ever did.

I’m a big fan of ifttt.com for automation of low value tasks. I have recipes set up that link my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter content. Everyone will tell you that you get less Facebook engagement by publishing via a scheduling tool, but if the option is that you don’t publish anything. I also use Buffer to schedule Twitter content and use the auto share widget in WordPress to share new posts – every bit helps.

By Jo Karnaghan of Frugal First Class Travel



 

 

CategoriesPHOTO DIARIES
STREETTROTTER

StreetTrotter is a Travel, Culture & Lifestyle blog, inspiring people everyday with real stories to look good and travel even better. Founded in 2012 by Shraddha Gupta, Founder & COO, this space is all about experiencing new things in life, be it a daring mountain trek, a frugal backpacking trip, a runway look made local, or simply anything that scares you enough to live a little more deeper.

  1. I liked the last bit;Do not compare your blog with the others…to each , his own..I also like the one that said ios and Evernotes, in Delhi, the commute time on an average is 1 hour plus, so it works…

  2. As a person who is working full time AND doing a demanding course of study I have found my time to blog over the past two years is significantly reduced. As a result I have scaled back my blogging activities to a ‘maintenance level’ – and have definitely seen my number of pageviews etc reduce over the past six months. I only have one year to go on my study so I intend to keep things going and then increase again after I finish. You reach a point where you only have so many hours in a day and you need to accept what you can do and accept that that is where you are at in that moment in time.

    1. I agree Anne. I am pretty much in the same boat, and doing a masters in Journalism, I am writing even more than what I generally did, only now for different purposes. The daily reporting for school takes so much of the time, and doing that for my blog becomes so difficult. But I do post once a week, every weekend, as a rule to keep things going, and while I am not writing I use my commuting time to keep my social media running regularly, specially my Instagram. He little things you post on your insta become great stories later when u sit and compile them.

  3. imagin8wtvr says:

    I have the exact same problem as well and I have another year to go in order to complete my studies. I made the big mistake of neglecting my blog and not posting at all, and now when I do have free time, my posts don’t get much likes or comments. Thinking of starting entirely over. Any ideas?

    1. Well, trust me that little mistake, can be a big one sometimes. People often measure the quality of a blog by how often you post on it. I think for starting over, be very very proactive with your blog now for the first few months. try and post at-least 2 to 3 posts a week, and get onto your social media big time. Make people feel you are back with a bang, and they will forget the past. Rankings will take time though, but work on comments on your posts, and also the backlinks. Do quality guest posts on other blogs, and get your links out there. All the best!

  4. Liz says:

    Love this post! I can totally relate as I am a doctor taking up residency (which is not just a day job but a 24/7 job) and I decided to embark on the crazy/fun/wild world of travel blogging. I do not regret it and while I am struggling to keep the sweet BLOG-WORK balance, I am learning every day. Setting schedules and making great use of automation is something I learned recently, and they are some of the most powerful tools in keeping a balanced life. Thanks for this post! 🙂

    1. Welcome Liz! I realized more than any other tips from bloggers, this one post with suggestions was the most needed for most of us, because even though our situations are different, we are all united in this one common problem. its so hard to let go of your blog, its like your baby, and its so hard to just do that for a living. A good blog needs time, and we all need balance.

  5. Polly says:

    This is really helpful as I dive back into full time work for the first time in a few months. Hoping to keep my blogging momentum going with some careful planning!

  6. Becky says:

    I’ve done blogging full-time and I’ve worked a different job full-time (I’m 50/50 now) and both options are hard in very different ways. These tips are good, whether or not you’re working full-time in an entirely different role. I love the idea to email yourself ideas as you go along…a good way to keep the inspiration flowing!

  7. Adventuring The Great Wide Somewhere says:

    I think the most important thing I’ve learned so far is just to make blogging a part of my routine. It seems I’m not the only one! Sundays are my blogging days. I spend the morning writing, editing photos, and if I’m lucky, scheduling a couple of posts. My boyfriend watches football, I write, and the rest of the week is freed up for work and fun! From this round up, my favorite piece of advice is just to accept that part time blogging is very different from doing it full time! I don’t feel as guilty about the weeks when I produce just one post…or none at all! 🙂

  8. brmsimmons says:

    As a blogger with a full time job I can certainly relate! I’m lucky enough to work 4 days a week which leaves 3 day weekends open for blogging and travel.

  9. This post is exactly what I needed to hear! I’m a part-time traveller/blogger and have full-time work. I still need to make adjustments so that I can blog regularly. I’ve fallen behind again this month after three weeks of leisure travel and one week of business travel. I have a list of things to do and it can be overwhelming. I think realistic targets and not comparing myself to others would help. I’m going to work on it!

  10. WanderingJatin says:

    Great pointers! Being a full time employed IT guy, and weekend traveler. blog did suffer many a times with the frequency. But then, I started prioritizing things and became strict with the deadlines to set stuff in order… Now it’s a constant challenge to not let my work or travel affect the blog…

  11. Samantja says:

    I started blogging about 6 months ago and have had good days and bad days. This month has seem to be filled with quite a few bad days. I was really glad to find this and remember not to compare to others and only focus on what you can do. Thanks for sharing. Appreciate it.

  12. Maria says:

    I completely agree blogging good content continuously is not easy. These people are inspiration for writing and maintaining blog dispite other things they have to do.

  13. We are just getting into year two of our blogging so this post really spoke to me. I try to plan ahead posts when I know we are going to be busy but usually we just spend the extra time making our one post extra good.

    I really like the advice to stop comparing yourselves to other blogs. Some people are really lucky (or good) and a lot of other people fabricate achievements. I think at the end of the day, you need to set goals that you believe in, control and can track. It’s this goal setting and achieving process you need to track instead of somebody else’s claim of a success that you weren’t even pursuing.

  14. Pingback:DN/LI/TB 18/1/17 – The Working Traveller

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