Oh hey, friend!
If you’re here, you probably want to know all about how to manage your blog while still working a full-time job.
Blogging is a pretty big time commitment that can often conflict with the other things we’ve got going on in our lives.
It’s a bit of a catch-22 because we want to be our own bosses, make a full-time income, embrace that freedom lifestyle…but we can’t do any of that until we actually get our blogs off the ground and to a place where we can quit our full-time jobs. And of course, we can’t get our blogs off the ground unless we are spending a consistent amount of time working on it each day.
So today, I am going to share exactly everything I do to manage my blog while still working a 9-5 job.
1. Wake up early
I know this has been said a million times before, but it’s an important one. And that’s because the only way to really add hours into an already packed day is by waking up a bit earlier each day.
And this is probably the hardest thing on the list for me to do, because I LOVE my sleep but I am also the most productive in the mornings. (I’ve tried to bite my boyfriend one too many times when he tried to wake me up early at my own request. He refuses to wake me up anymore.)
So even though I am cranky the entire time I’m waking up, I’m super happy that I pushed myself once I’m actually up.
These days, I usually wake up at 7am, which gives me a solid 2 hours before I have to start working my 9-5. I’d like to get myself to a place where I can wake up even earlier than that but…baby steps. For now, 7am works for me.
Luckily, I also work from home so I don’t have to deal with commuting to an office, which would eat away at my creative time.
I usually like to use my morning time to focus on my bigger and more creative tasks, like drafting a new blog post, an email newsletter, or working on a paid product.
(P.S. I’m actually writing this post about an hour before I need to start my 9-5 job for the day!)
2. Use the “blackholes” of my day productively
Picture this with me…
You’re at Starbucks waiting for your iced macchiato. It’s a busy morning so you know it’s going to take at least 10 minutes for them to get your order ready. Or you’re at the doctor’s office, sitting in the waiting room bored, hoping the doctor calls your name soon. Or you’re at your corporate job and you have 10 minutes of downtime before your next meeting.
Instinctively, what do you do next?
If you’re anything like most other people, you’ll most likely pull out your phone and scroll through it mindlessly to pass the time. That’s what I always used to do.
But what most of us don’t realize is that these little blocks of time are blackholes in our days.
The book “Someday is Today” by Matthew Dicks has completely changed my life and the way I approach these blackholes in my day-to-day life.
In the book, Matthew teaches the importance and value in using our minutes properly. If you have 5-6 of these ~10 minute “blackholes” in your day, you’re pretty much completely wasting an hour of your life each day. UNLESS you learn how to use those short periods of time more productively.
You might be shaking your head and thinking something like “that’s ridiculous, what can I realistically do with 10 extra minutes while I’m waiting in a Starbucks line?”
Turns out there is a lot you could do!
First, get the Kindle app and download a book to your phone. Then, download whichever writing app you use. Whether that’s Google Docs, ClickUp, or even just your notes app!
The next time you find yourself with a little bit of downtime, I challenge you to stay away from mindlessly doom scrolling, because you’ve got better things to do!
Whether you are at home or on the go, here are a few things you could do instead with 10 minutes of spare time:
- Read a few pages of your book using your Kindle app
- Write a few sentences for whatever you are working on (you can use just your phone to do this even if you don’t have your laptop with you!)
- Re-read and edit a paragraph for something you had already written (again, you can use just your phone!)
- Fold a load of laundry
- Unload or re-load your dishwasher
- Research something you have been meaning to look into
- Any admin tasks, like paying your bills or booking tickets for that even you’re planning on going to
- Stretch or do a mini-workout (The MOVE LSF workout app actually offers free daily 10 minute workouts, if you’re looking for something to do on your quick little breaks of time!)
These little pockets of time really add up, in ways that you wouldn’t believe! I promise, this single tip has made me feel more productive and less stressed through my days.
I HIGHLY recommend you give this a try. It’s so easy and can really have a massive impact over how you spend your time.
3. Focus on ROI
Focusing on your return on investment is everything! Being mindful of your ROI is generally always important, but it is absolutely crucial when you are in the beginning stages of building your business.
Your time and energy is literally the most precious resource you have.
And when you’re just starting out, you’re likely going to be the only person working on your business. You need to be able to run your business while still juggling all the other aspects of your life.
It’s important to really figure out what is worth your time. What are the things that are really going to get you closer to where you want to be? What things are nice to haves but actually really don’t matter that much?
This is honestly one area where I have really struggled. It can be really easy to fool yourself into thinking you’re being productive, when instead you are really just procrastinating and dragging your feet on the things that actually matter.
One example where I dealt with this: the font and text color on my website has been driving me INSANE. I originally thought it would be an easy 5-minute fix, but for whatever reason, the theme I’m using has made it very difficult to change.
In the past, I’d have spent hours researching and trying to figure out a solve for this little detail that most other people won’t even notice.
But I decided my time is better spent on growing my audience and I’d rather work on creating new content instead. I’ll still figure this out someday, but for right now, it just doesn’t matter enough for me to spend time on.
4. Knowing that I’ll need to make some sacrifices
Running a blog = running a business!
And naturally, running a business takes a lot of TIME! Which if you also have a 9-5 job, you’ll know that there are never enough hours in the day.
And sometimes that means making a few sacrifices. For me, that might mean skipping out a night out with friends or waking up a little earlier (which is a big sacrifice because I LOVE sleeping in). It could simply mean learning to say no to other obligations.
I’m definitely not saying you should make yourself miserable and only ever dedicate any free minute to your blog, because that’s not healthy or productive.
I’m just saying, evaluate what your priorities are and if something actually isn’t that important, drop it from your list!
5. Letting go of perfection
This is the most important piece of advice I can give you: learn to let go of perfectionism!
And honestly, this was a hard one for me to learn to do. I really felt that everything I did had to be wonderful, perfect, beautiful. I was comparing myself to others who have been in the blogging game for YEARS, and I was expecting myself to be at that level from day one.
But I quickly realized that perfectionism is actually just procrastination in disguise. And that’s because if you’re able to convince yourself that something isn’t perfect and therefore can’t be shared with the world, you allow yourself to never put yourself out there.
Nothing will ever be perfect. And by waiting for perfection, you’ll just be perpetually delaying and making excuses for yourself.
The best thing you can do is realize when something is good enough and just hit the publish button. That’s the fastest way you’ll learn and grow.
These days, I strive to add as much value as I can for my audience, while realizing when something is good enough to share with the world.
These were all my main tips on how I manage my blog while working a 9-5 job. Are you trying to quit your 9-5 job? Let me know in the comments!
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