Book Blogger Hop is a weekly meme hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer, where you answer a question and join a “hop”. The purpose is to help bloggers discover and get to know one another.
For this week’s question, Danielle @ PoetryBooksYA asks:
For all of you worker bees out there! How do you balance having a day job/career and managing your blog at night? Is it hard or easy to do, and what do people in your work life think of your blogs?
My answer:
What a great question, Danielle! I can’t wait to see everyone’s answers this week!
I am incredibly busy. I have one full time job, one part time job, one appointment-based job, I’m in crunch time of planning our wedding, I’m in two book clubs, I run this book blog and try to stay on schedule with honest reviews, and then of course I have all of your standard life things to juggle; cleaning, cooking, errands, appointments, exercise, family/friend time, et cetera.
Phew!
To be totally honest, my book blog has taken a bit of a hit. I’ve been making sure to take my own advice and I try to keep this book blog fun! When things are too stressful, and I work to balance things out, this blog is unfortunately the lowest on the totem pole of importance. Not that this isn’t incredibly important to me, but my paid job and the wedding most definitely come first.
I used to have blog posts written, formatted and ready to go days and even weeks in advance. Now I simply blog as I go. If I finish a book, I write up my review that day if I can, and then publish. Occasionally I manage to block out some time on a weekend where I am able to write up a few posts to scatter throughout the month. I love when this happens, so I know I have a few things in my content pipeline, but unfortunately I haven’t had the time to do this in quite awhile.
As for what people in my work life think about my blog…
I showed my blog to a couple of coworkers that seemed interested (Hello, if you guys are reading this!). After talking about using flooring samples as my backgrounds for bookish photos, one coworker snagged some wood flooring samples for me from our showroom when we were breaking it down to make room for more desk space. These samples have been amazing! It gives me better options than just using the same old surfaces in our town house.
I also showed my blog to my manager one day to give her a bunch of book recommendations that she wrote on a couple of post-it notes. And I even sent a business book review link to my director when he forwarded our team a blog post from the same author. He came over immediately to high-five me in his excitement that I had read the book.
Thanks for reading!
For multiple-plate spinners like me, how do you balance out your time?
Yeah, it can be hard to balance work and blogging, especially when I'd rather be blogging than working! But I just try to make time for it at night and in the morning. I told one of my coworkers about my blog, because we talk about books a lot together, but I don't think she actually reads it.
I haven't told anyone about my blog.
I can honestly say that I would rather read and enjoy books, than blog about them. As a perfectionist, everything has to be just right – from the JavaScript, CSS, down to the literary nature of my review. ARGHH!!
Angela- I agree! haha if only blogging could be a full time job! 🙂
Erica- I feel that pull every now and again as well. And I'm a total perfectionist as well…
Ahh!! What an interesting topic and post! My blog has surely taken a hit, as well. My full-time job (and family) DEFINITELY take priority. I had to stop doing blog tours and taking requests via my blog, simply because it started to feel like an overwhelming (and unpaid) hobby.
Right?! I stopped doing tours as well. They were just becoming too much! Now I just post whenever I have something ready. 🙂
Good topic this week. Usually what little time off I haven't work at catching up my blog. I'm so glad that I can schedule posts!
😀
I wanted to keep content coming out even when I didn't have the time to read and write blog posts myself. So I added a second reviewer and then a features writer. I even had an interviewer for a while. The current team (3 reviewers and 4 features writers) have been with me for some time now. I try to do all the formatting and scheduling on the weekends (I'm actually better at this when I'm super busy than when I don't have much going on).
That's awesome! <3
As someone else who works full-time, it’s definitely a challenge sometimes to fit blogging into an already busy schedule. And yes, sometimes I just have to let it go and face facts that because of a crazy busy week I’m only going to get 1-2 posts up. So be it. It’s certainly not something I stress over. Sure I’d love to have all the time in the world to read more, to blog more, to create awesome posts consistently… but in reality I’m happy with what I create in the time I have. 🙂
That’s very cool that some of coworkers actually know about your blog!
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
http://girlplusbooks.blogspot.com
Right?! It's so much easier if you just let it be a fun thing rather than another job!
I work full time and do most of my reading during my commute, at night or on the weekends. I feel like my blog is on a roll when I have had a few 4 – 5 star books in a row, but if one is a miss it totally throws me off. It can take longer to read through and then I don't want to review on my blog. I still am trying to balance my time and organization and sometimes you just have to go with the flow!
I totally get that! One star reads throw me off as well.
Thank you for answering my question, Erica!! You had an amazing answer. And it’s so cool how your coworkers and boss are good sports and positive with your blog. 😃
Of course! Thank you for asking it! It's one of my favorites by far doing this hop!
What a great question, and an honest follow up answer. The struggle is real to balance everything. I can absolutely relate with the love of writing multiple posts to scatter throughout the month. . .I wish that would happen more often.
Yeah… I feel like i have to continuously work on my balance, but it's so worth it!
Sounds like you've found a pretty good balance. June has taken a hit for me and I feel like I'm drastically behind and I'll just be glad when it's over.
I'm certainly trying! 🙂 I need to carve out more time for blog hopping though!
I do most of my blogging on nights and weekends (though I have blogged a bit during work in the past…not so much anymore). Since my blog also relies on cooking, I almost always do that on the weekend. I often try to do a few recipes in one day so I can have more posts ready further out, and if I have to take a weekend off due to other commitments, it's not a big deal.
I have told people at work about my blog, and many of them are supportive. It came up naturally because I often bring in blog "leftovers" for people to eat (so my husband and I don't have to eat a million baked goods and desserts ourselves), and so people get excited to see what I'm cooking up next. Lots of people come to me for reading recommendations too… though I wish they would actually go to read my blog instead.
– Megan @ The Hungry Bookworm
That's awesome!! I hope they start reading your blog soon! 🙂
I’ve been struggling so bad for balance but life and work always win. At least I’m still reading…just not talking about what I’m reading.
Reading is really the only reason we're all here anyway 🙂 As long as you can continue to make time for that, I think you're winning!
– Megan @ The Hungry Bookworm
Agreed!! Reading is the most important bit! Our blogging friends will be here no matter our posting frequency! 🙂
Great post. You certainly have a lot on your plate. Good luck with it all, especially the wedding plans.
Thank you! <3
But like, do you even sleep? Holy cow you've got a lot on your plate right now. No wonder the blog gets put on the back burner.
Have a great weekend. – Katie
Hahahahaha! 🙂 Have a great weekend as well!
Man, you are crazy busy! I'm just in a part time job right now so I know once I get full time blogging will be a tougher. The busiest I've been though was doing grad school full time and working two part time jobs – and blogging! It's hard sometimes, but I try and keep it fun.
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
Phew! I can't imagine trying to blog while in college. I couldn't even find the time to read at that point of my life! Good luck!! <3
Wow you are busy! I love it too when there's time on a weekend to get ahead a bit- that's always an awesome feeling to have a bit of a cushion!
Have a great weekend!!
For sure!! 🙂 Have a great weekend as well!
I'm a full time working mother and wife who also struggling to find a good balance for my blog. I don't post regulary as I write when I have time, like 1-2 times a week. It sure is hard, but I also want my blog to stay as a fun hobby of mine.
<3
This is definitely the most challenging part about blogging for me. I used to really want to try to post all 7 days of the week but finally just decided that between working full time and being the primary one at home to run my son to all of his before and after school activities and practices that I could only manage 4-5 posts a week. I have a few like the Top Ten Tuesday and Can't Wait Wednesdays that when I have extra time, I can prepare and schedule a few of those in advance but my reviews tend to be written the night before I plan to publish them because I just can't seem to find enough time to get the books read and reviewed any faster than that, lol. It's a challenge that I honestly wouldn't put myself through if I didn't love it so much.
haha same! It's difficult, but so worth it! 🙂
I usually feel like I'm a similar position as you. Book blogging is the first thing to go when I'm busy with university. It happens! Work and wedding probably deserve priority 😉 That's one of the things I like about blogging. It's a hobby, it's flexible, it's still going to be around when I come back from a break. For the first time ever, I actually have lots of time for blogging and have posts scheduled a few weeks out. It's a new experience for me haha.
Exactly!! Oh that's so exciting! Congrats! 🙂
The balance is so hard for me. You have WAY more on your plate than I do, but man. Blogging is the last thing on my mind after a day at work. I just want my pillow. I applaud you for your ability to seem so put together my little juggler.
I hear ya! We all definitely have to take care of our selves! If there isn't time for blogging, there just isn't time! This should always be fun, plain and simple. It makes me so sad to see bloggers apologizing for not following a schedule… Like, does anyone actually care if you follow a set schedule?! I highly doubt it! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂