Juggling Work, Blogging and Everything Else in Life





When I started this site, I was studying for my undergraduate degree. Although I worked incredibly hard in my 'study time', I ended up having under 10 hours of actual teaching time a week. That left me with a lot of time to write and photograph content and schedule all the social media posts that go with it. Blogging was an additional 'something' alongside studying that kept my brain ticking over. Things got a bit tougher when I undertook the GDL (Graduate Diploma in Law)- an incredibly intense crash-course in law which was not funded in any way, meaning I also worked around 20 hours a week alongside being in uni 5 days a week. I was determined to keep the blog going, and although dropped the amount of content I was producing, I found time during the day in-between studying to update this site. It was difficult, but I learnt to organise my time perfectly and got by.


Studying the GDL was one of the most academically testing things I have ever done, and my time-management skills had to be down to a tee. But despite having more things going on then than I do now, for some reason I felt like I had more time back then. University life has no set routine, and so blogging just naturally slotted into part of my 'working day'. Now, working full time (in an incredibly busy department of a law firm), I feel like I have to make such an effort to put time aside to blog. And it's almost making me resent having this website in the first place.


On a typical day, I'm out of the house by just after 8am to walk 45 minutes into work. I leave at 5pm and don't usually get home until just before 6pm. After a hectic day at work and walking an hour and a half in total, by the time I get home I am completely exhausted, but change into my gym gear and head off to do some weights training for about an hour. Then I have to cook dinner, make lunch for the next day, shower etc and by the time I plonk myself on the sofa it's gone 8.30pm and I am absolutely shattered. All I want to do is chill out for a couple of hours, not spend the only two hours I have in an evening doing yet more work on my blog. Because of our hectic weekday schedule, weekends are time for Stewart and I to properly hang out together. I have family in Hampshire and High Wycombe now, so often weekends are spent travelling home to see them and having a good catch up.


I want to be able to see my loved ones, hang out with friends, go on adventures with Stewart and even just simply having a little bit of time to myself before getting back to the grind on Monday morning. But instead, I'm forcing myself to spend probably a total of half a Saturday or Sunday writing, photographing, editing, reviewing, scheduling tweets, Instagramming, replying to comments, doing general blog admin and answering emails. It's like having a part-time job. There's part of me that is tempted to pack it in altogether- it would give me the time I desperately need to chill out. Instead of replying with 'sorry, I can't, I need to blog', I can meet that friend for a coffee or go on that walk with my niece and nephew. But then I think about how far I've come and that giving in now would mean all those hours of work I've put in over the past 5 years are just gone, wasted. I love writing and I feel like I need to continue speaking up about topics such as trichotillomania. But juggling so much is making blogging almost a chore and the fun that a hobby should bring has just disappeared.


I know that I probably won't ditch this site. I am far too invested in it to do that. But that doesn't mean that I'm not struggling to maintain it alongside working and seeing loved ones. I really loved Gweni from gbeauty.co.uk's blog post about this topic (which got me thinking about this in the first place as I found myself nodding along to everything she said). You can read the post here, but I agree that posting as and when you have something interesting to say will bring a more relaxed, positive attitude towards blogging and your writing will feel more inspired. I give myself a goal to post at least once a week, but tying myself to a schedule is just causing me more stress. At the end of the day, it is good to have a target to keep yourself motivated, but I don't think it's worth the negative impact on stress levels. I want to try to be more relaxed about blogging and just post 'as and when', but whether I actually do that is a different matter entirely!


Do you blog and work full time? How to you manage juggling work, friends, family and everything else in life?


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6 comments

  1. Blogging is supposed to be fun and add value to your life - not bring with it stresses and strains. I think you need to temporarily step away, enjoy everything else going on in life and prioritise a little; you don't have to jack it in, and it certainly won't ever be a waste, but it's a choice not an obligation. You can always come back to it when you're good and ready and pick up where you left off - I know people that have taken months (sometimes even years) away and they've returned with refreshed passion. Try it and see x

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    1. I know, and I have considered it. I just worry that I would never come back to it, or that coming back would feel like 'going back to work', which I know I would force myself to do because I almost feel a responsibility when it comes to speaking out about trichotillomania. And I think I would miss being involved in the trich community in all honesty as I get so much personal support from it! Xx

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  2. I'm currently in grad school but I was blogging while working full time. I often worked evenings so I had time during the day to take pictures and work on my blog, which was nice. I think it'd be a lot harder to juggle with a 9-5. I always find it difficult to find time to blog when I'm transitioning to a different schedule - it takes a lot of energy to get used to a new routine, and hobbies just fall by the wayside. When I started full time work my blogging definitely dropped off until I settled into my routine. Luckily blogging still feels fun to me, so even though it does take up a lot of my free time I enjoy doing it.

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    1. I think I do still enjoy elements of it- I absolutely love writing and the photography element... anything creative! But the social media and admin that comes with it feels like a bit of a chore. It is difficult to juggle everything and find a good balance xx

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  3. Feel you on this right now - I leave the house at 6am and get home every day about 7pm! I used to try fitting in blogging on weeknights like you but I now know the last thing I'll want to do is look at a computer after sitting at one all day!

    I now try and carve out a few hours into my weekends, nothing more than abput 2-3 hours. I sometimes write up my posts in a notebook during my commute to save time!

    www.traffcjamlife.co.uk

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    1. It's tough! I've started jotting ideas down too during my lunch breaks. I worry about my posts seeming forced. It's all about balance...hopefully we'll get there! X

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