Typical Day in the Life of a Full Time Blogger
It’s time to share what it’s like to be a full-time blogger! Around this time last year, I was working full time and trying to get my blog off the ground.
When I published my post on what it’s like to work full time and blog, I received a lot of comments from readers.
Related: A Typical Day in the Life of a Part-Time Blogger
Most readers were really positive and found the post to be really informative and useful.
Since there isn’t a one-size-fits-all guidebook on what it’s really like day-to-day when it comes to blogging, it was really nice other new bloggers were experiencing the same thing
First, I recommend downloading these free guides to help you with your blogging journey:
- 120+ Awesome Blog Post Ideas Cheat Sheet
- Blog Template Layout Worksheets
- 7 Ways to Boost Your Blog Income Overnight
- How to Start a Blog
A couple of readers thought I was nuts way too busy all over the place with my schedule and it wasn’t orderly enough. Yup, that was true! I had to fit in blogging whenever I could.
Blogging Was A Side Hustle At First
Since I need money to survive, the full-time day job always was priority number one.
Side hustling was second, since that wasn’t guaranteed income. I side hustled a lot!
So much so, that I even wrote Side Hustle to Success about how I made more than $7,000 side hustling in just a couple years in my spare time.
Then, with time remaining, I blogged. This was usually from 6:30-8:30am and then 8:30-11pm at least 5x a week.
How I Made It Work As A Part-Time Blogger
Because I was on a budget, I did 99% of everything by myself to save money.
I did a lot of research, wrote a new blog post three times a week, and made a ton of mistakes which included the white screen of death a few times 🙂
It took me around six months to earn that first paycheck, which came from a couple of affiliate sales. I made around $60! I even published my first online income report, which remains my most popular income report I’ve ever written (which surprises me, TBH).
Shortly after, I received my first $100 paycheck from Google Adsense and felt part badass and mentally exhausted at the same time haha. Without a doubt, that was the longest and hardest paycheck I have ever earned!
What totally shocked me was after I published my first online income report, I was able to keep it up. If you had told me when I received that first blogging paycheck for $60, that in less than six months my monthly income from blogging would increase to over $4,000, I would have told you that is crazy talk!
If you are thinking about starting a blog, this tutorial will help you start a blog today. You’ll also get a FREE domain name for a year! I was able to quit my job and blog full time, all within my first year of blogging. I invested around $100 to start my blog using Bluehost, and I made $13,000 in 6 months of blogging.
Along with getting hosting for your blog, you’ll also need a theme. While you can get them for free through WordPress, I prefer these:
Here are a few of my online income reports from the last year:
- June 2015 online income report $66.10
- July 2015 online income report $515
- September 2015 online income report $1530.94
- October 2015 online income report $3634.28 **
- December 2015 online income report $4238.99
- March 2016 online income report $5041.85
- April 2016 online income report $5920.53
How I Went From Full-Time Employee To Blogging Full-Time
Things started to go really well with the blog! In addition to blogging, one of my main side hustles I started doing consisted of part-time consulting work in my real-life career niche.
The wheels in my head started turning and I decided that with careful planning, I would quit my job in October so I could be a full-time blogger, as well as continue my consulting work.
I gave my day job a 90-day notice (I knew the position would be tough to fill and train) and there was no looking back! I was determined to be a full-time blogger and start my own successful online business.
Since October, I have spent about half my workday running and growing my Pinterest marketing company that I launched thanks to my blog.
The other half of my workday is spent on my own brand – which means blogging, creating products, working with brands, etc. I still find time to consult in my career niche as well, which I don’t really write about on the blog (I like to keep it separate.)
Typical Day in the Life of a Full-Time Blogger
While it’s totally cliche to say this, no two days are the same when it comes to blogging. However, the motions I go through are pretty similar.
While I love to be my own boss, I do like structure and some routine! I’ve gotten a pretty good grasp on when I work efficiently, even if it’s not always an eight-hour workday or the normal 9-5 work hours.
I have to admit it, being a full-time blogger is amazing!
Here’s what my typical work week looks like (Mon – Fri)
Option A
5:30 – 8:30am Get up and head straight to a local trail to exercise for an hour. Come home, take care of the dogs, get ready for the day. Have my first cup of coffee. Review my schedule for the day and list of goals I want to accomplish in my Emily Ley planner. Anyone else obsessed with planners? Ya’ll, I use two but am thinking about adding a third. I LOVE planners 🙂
Pack up my laptop, planner, notebooks and head to a local coffee shop.
8:45 – 3:00pm On Mondays I meet up with two other female entrepreneurs. We are all working on different things, but we get together to hold each other accountable, share our goals for the week and brainstorm. I cannot stress enough how wonderful it is to work alongside other people who have similar goals. I’m hoping we make this into a 2x a week thing.
Two or three afternoons a week I have chat sessions with fellow entrepreneurs and bloggers who want to grow their business. These are 30-minute conversations, but take me an extra 30 minutes to prep for. You can learn more here. They are super exciting and I look forward to these chats. I always feel more ambitious after hanging up the phone because the people I chat with are so excited!
In general, I go to a coffee shop 3x a week on my own using the same time frame. I can only handle being at home for so long. I crave the energy and vibe coffee shops can provide.
Or totally change it up with Option B
5:30am Get up, take care of dogs, have first cup of coffee
6:30 – 12:30pm Grab everything and go to coffee shop. Totally a dry shampoo type of morning (ladies, how much do we love dry shampoo haha) This is for when I’m feeling really motivated, have a huge to do list and know I can get a lot done in the early hours.
1:00 – 3:00pm Go home and workout at my gym because it’s usually empty during the day. Shower, do stuff around my home, etc.
Below is the same regardless if I do option A or option B
3:00 – 5:00pm By mid-afternoon, my brain shuts down. I get very little done work-wise in the afternoons. I’ve tried to fight it and make myself power through afternoons. But I realized that was a total waste of my time. I start to get easily distracted and restless sitting still.
Instead, if I need to run errands, I try to go during this time. If it’s not too hot, I grab the dogs and we hit up the park. I bring a big blanket, find a shady spot under a tree and then kick it for a couple of hours. My dogs like to people watch and love being outside. Sometimes I’ll answer emails on my phone, but usually, I’ll use my time to brainstorm a list of blog post ideas, newsletter ideas, things to research, etc.
5:00 – 8:00pm Home! Dinner and time to decompress some. Lately, I’ve been getting more active in my community with entrepreneur events and social events not related to work. If the dogs and I haven’t been to the park already, we’ll hit it up in the evening.
8:00 – 10:00pm I almost always doing some work in the evenings. This is usually the time where I am laser-focused and really productive. I like to blast through and clear my inbox, check off those last couple things on my to-do list and make my schedule for the next day.
Of course, the exception is on Monday nights when the Bachelor or Bachelorette is on- then the laptop gets shut down 🙂 I also find myself spending way too much time on Airbnb looking at amazing deals for places I want to visit.
Over the past couple of years, I have stayed at a handful of Airbnb’s and saved a ton of money. I’ve been able to rent an entire house, condo and apartment instead of a room at a hotel. If you want to stay at an Airbnb, here’s a coupon for $40 off your first stay anywhere! Can you tell I’m longing to travel and work from anywhere?!
10:00 to 10:30pm Bedtime! This has been a big adjustment for me. I have always found myself going to bed more around midnight, but for the past few months, I’ve embraced going to bed earlier. My morning hours are my best hours, so making the switch has really helped me.
What I work on each day
My daily routine of going through the motions is pretty much the same. Of course, there are some days where I might take a VaCa day or switch things up, but I really like the layout of my workday. Planning my day is still a learning process.
Everything I do during the day is done in batches. I try to do as much batch work as possible. I like being able to focus on one task and get it done, before moving onto the next task on my list.
Pinterest Management
My Pinterest management company eats up about 2.5 – 3 days a week.
{Resource: 10 Ways Your Blog and Business Can Benefit from Pinterest}
This time is spent creating images for clients, reviewing Pinterest accounts, and scheduling pins via Tailwind. For my blog, I also try to work on things in batches. This means scheduling dedicated time to work on:
- optimizing my posts to earn more income (via affiliate links, spons. posts, ads, etc.)
- adding more Pinterest images (so much easier to make these all at once in Canva)
Other Things I Do As A Full-Time Blogger
- writing my newsletters (I usually send out one a week with ConvertKit)
- working with companies for sponsored posts/social media promotion
- planning my quarterly strategies, and a strategy for the rest of the year (this is constantly changing and being updated)
- blog post idea and writing blog posts (now that I cut back on writing posts to 1 blog post every 1-2 weeks, this has really helped me reduce my stress level.) I also use this time to find stock images that I can use for future blog posts.
- setting up a system for my VA for my Pinterest management company
In addition to batch work, I always spend time each day:
- answering emails from clients, brands, and students from my Pinterest Presence course
- checking in on Twitter, to see who’s retweeted my posts so I can send a thanks and interact with everyone
- check my blog for new comments – I always respond to everyone and love when people leave comments!
- checking in on my private Facebook group for my newsletter subscribers
- checking in on Instagram to see what everyone else is up to. I haven’t had enough time lately to read all the blogs I normally do because I’m short on time. If I can like or comment on an Instagram post, I’m happy and still feel connected to my fellow bloggers.
Since I published my side hustle course and my Pinterest Presence course, things have calmed down. The writing and editing process for both of these products was intense, so I spent most of my weekends and free time in the writing zone to get everything done.
(Have a unique skill or hobby that you would love to share with others? Create and sell a course! Teachable is the perfect platform that will teach you how to create a course and make passive income from it.)
I Have To Be Efficient
I recently co-hosted my first webinar with Allison from AllisonLindstrom.com, which was some additional work to my regular schedule. We hosted the webinar on a Saturday, which was perfect as things can be a little crazy during the workweek.
Since it was my first time prepping for the webinar (and Allison did almost all of the heavy lifting), I probably spend around an extra 10 hours to do the slides, prep work, a dry run and the webinar itself.
The best part about taking on additional work, like writing a book or prepping for a webinar, is that I already have a really good schedule in place for my blogging work week. I don’t feel the stress to take on additional work and really like the challenge of being pushed to do something new!
Blogging Is A Business
My local Chamber of Commerce invited me to attend a workshop for entrepreneurs. The panel session showed me that it’s okay for me to continue pivoting in my business.
I’m still learning as I go – and probably will be for a while – and my brand and business is still growing. Somedays I think I have it all figured out, and then something happens (generally positive) and I have to make adjustments, look at things with a fresh perspective and make smart decisions. All of this is about pivoting my business and being ready for change.
The best part about everything is that I have the freedom to work when I want, how I want and where I want. Being a full-time blogger and business owner has allowed me so many opportunities and it’s such an exciting time.
Have you thought about becoming a freelancer or starting your own business? Here are a few posts to help you get started.
Blogging Resources
- How I made over $13,000 from blogging
- Make money running ads for your blog and business and other businesses
Thank you for this wonderful post!
I’m blogging part time since the beginning of the year and always look around how others organize their day. I love blogging on weekend morning with a fresh cup of Coffee and still in my cozy bathrobe 💕
Greetings from Sweden!
That sounds amazing!
Great post! Hopefully, an insight into the future 🙂 I am working full time right now, but my plan is to be a blogger exclusively in a couple of years (whilst also being a mom)!
That’s an inspiring blogging schedule. I have been trying out different things to see what works best for me. I wanted to do batch days which seems best in getting more work done at a time.
holla
how was u startesdsdsdsdd this blogs
fuch in your ass and tities
nsjkdnsdnskdnskdnskd
I am the same as you I feel far more productive in the early morning than I ever could be in the afternoon!
Reading this has made me realise I need to invest a lot more time in Pinterest and replying to blog comments.
I am totally a morning person!! Yes, Pinterest is the best way to grow traffic organically 🙂
Is there anything you would say really helped your blog get to full-time income? I’ve been blogging for over a year and am just kind of at a standstill with views and income. I have yet to hit $1k a month in income and would love to hear any tips you have that you think really pushed your blog to a full-time income level. Thanks!
Pinterest was huge for me! I also started learning more about all the different ways I could earn income online – working as a Pinterest virtual assistant, affiliate marketing and creating my own products 🙂
Wow, amazing post. My husband works full time while I take care of my mother in law and do some work on our blogs part time. Just yesterday we were talking about how we can organize our day to be more producive blogging. We currently have two blogs, my husband writes, I do all the marketing. We are are starting to see results, but of course we want more, and posts like this are very helpful. I want to organize an plan my days better, dedicate more time to the blogs while I take care of my mother in law and volunteer in a local Historic Society. Thank you for the tips it is just what I needed.
Thanks! I’m finding the more I ‘prep’ and organize ahead of time, the more efficient I become. You def have a busy schedule – good luck with everything 🙂
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who crashes in the afternoon! At my full time job it’s so frowned upon to mention it but I definitely struggle through from 2-5. I’m hoping blogging can become a full time thing for me so I can set my own schedule and utilize my morning productive hours more efficiently!!! Thanks for letting us see a snippet of your daily life!
Love this Marissa! The afternoon struggles are real, right?!
This is a great schedule and being able to play to your most productive time of the day is my dream! Since I’m still working full time and trying to blog I have to push myself to work in the evenings when I just want to veg haha
I hear ya! Did you read my previous post about my typical day as a part time blogger? That might be more helpful as it’s more crazy when I was trying to balance working full time and starting this blog 🙂
I love this post! I myself have recently started to blog full time and I love seeing how other people spend their time!
Reading about other people’s days is fascinating, right?!
Oooo….I love seeing your “typical” schedule. It’s giving me ideas! I haven’t been doing well planning and need to do better, much better. Having all five kiddos home this summer, and the oldest starting at a “real” job will add even more chaos. It is so awesome to know I can figure this out. I’ve got to! Thank you, thank you!
I have to save this post and come back and dissect it later. This is gold for me right now! Currently my blog is my personal brand and provides leads for my freelance writing/editing business. I’m trying to take things to the next level though and this post is really insightful. Personally I believe that connecting with local girl bosses would really help me. Thanks for taking the time to share this.
Hi Candace! You sound similar to me – I used my blog as a way to get jobs leads with a ‘hire me’ page for the majority of my income in the beginning. Adding in additional revenue sources really helped me grow!
LOVEEE this post. thanks so much for posting. I am actually in the process of wanting to create my own blog. I was wondering if there is any other place I can message you to ask a few more questions and get some insight if you do not mind?
Thanks
Sure, you can reach out to me at info (at) believeinabudget.com !
Hi kristin! I’m curious – what did you mean by “adding more pinterest pictures”?
Sure! I like to make Pinterest pins for all my blog posts. For my best performing blog posts, I try to make a few different ones. When making all my pins, I do them in batches, so depending how much time I have, I’ll make a batch of 10-30 images in 1 sitting.
Hi! I ve read your stuff for a year now but always put blogging on hold. Fear, I guess. Now I am between jobs and looking to make changes to a lifestyle and schedule that fits my health, I was fascinated by this article! You mentioned batch work. Could you elaborate? I do best with a rotating schedule like paperwork thursdays, we’d n sat laundry, etc. Also do best on 2nd or 3rd shift. Any advice?
Hi Malena! It can be much easier to work on tasks for my blog in batches. So sometimes I’ll just work on blog post titles for posts I want to eventually write and then create all the images at one time based on the blog post titles. It can be easier for me to do this instead of jumping around from task to task!
I’m where you were when you started. I’m taking an early retirement and am going to blog. But, working and trying to start has made the beginning of my blog slow. I’m doing this…1) Because I love to write and that’s what I’ve done most of my career and, 2) to hopefully, supplement my income. I’m going to have to work hard to find my work schedule, but it sounds like we have the same type of work clock, as I’m an early morning go-getter and then, I tend to wane in the afternoon before gaining momentum again in the evening. One question: How did you locate fellow bloggers in your area to work with at the local coffee shop? Just curious. Sounds like a great way to hold each other accountable.
Hi Jennie! I actually met a fellow blogger at a Chamber of Commerce event I was invited to – we met, bonded and the rest was history haha. I also knew a fellow blogger was in my part of town and we just reached out to each other to see if we wanted to hang out some time. Then, they each know someone who knows someone and it’s easy to start making friends. After working alone for months, having someone else to connect with has been really helpful. You might want to look on Twitter or Instagram and do a search to see who’s in your community. Then just email them – I find that everyone is pretty nice 🙂
I’m 16 so I obviously don’t have worries like laundry, grocery shopping, making money enough for a place to live and so on. But I really enjoy reading your posts about money and budgeting even though I have a 225 $ income each month with 75 $ expenses. I want to save up so I can go to an American college.
Thank you for sharing your experiences!
Hi Ellie! That’s GREAT you have little expenses! You are really smart to understand budgeting and expenses at your age 🙂
Kristin,
You achieved this because you believed in yourself and did the transformation work. Blogging transformation requires tremendous faith and lots and lots of content: something you were persistent in. Keep up the good work. 🙂
Thanks so much!
Interesting! I love that you have options and have time to exercise and hang out with your dogs. A couple of great perks of being a freelancer!
Thanks! The dogs are demanding and high maintenance, haha.
This is great! I haven’t come across many posts like this at all, and seeing what it’s like being a full blogger is awesome! I hope to one day get there as well!
Thanks Heather! Life is hectic and a little crazy, but I love it!
Great post. I love reading “day in the life posts” from other bloggers. It’s great encouragement to see how much work everyone else is putting in. Love all your info and I am planning on switching from blogger to wordpress soon.
I LOVE reading these types of posts too – probably because I’m nosy, ha!
Wow that’s great! I love that there’s an Option A and an Option B, so it’s not the same thing every day. I’m still tweaking our summer school schedule with the kids and we also use an Option A and B for the day.
Also a total planner addict over here. I have three (one for personal/goals/home, one for the blog, and one for travel/always stays in my purse). I may be adding one more for homeschooling and removing those materials from the personal/goals/home planner.
Ha, planners are my life! I seriously am obsessed – I recently discovered people actually get together to discuss different planners and look at each others, and was like yes!!
It was very interesting to see your typical work day. With my husband home on short term disability this summer I too have been working on creating a work schedule that will work for my family. This past week I’ve been up at 6am working until noon then spending the afternoon with the family. After the kids go to bed it’s back to work, until bed time which is 7pm-10:30 pm. I’m hoping this schedule will not only help me get ahead and prepared with extra blog posts already scheduled through the end of the year by the time the twins are born but also give my blog a boost from hobby to business.
You will do great Tennille! It was hard for me at first to get into a regular routine when I was blogging part time, but it really helped me. I used to try to get ahead on blog posts and be a few weeks ahead of schedule, which really helped me save time back then!
Uh that is a great life you are living there Kristen! Im so jealous!! One day I will have a similar lifestyle, just need to quit this darn day job!!
Oh I bet that will happen before you know it!
Ah, this is really interesting to read! Sounds like you have a great day, most days 🙂 is there anything you wish you spent less time on?
Hi Francesca – good question!! Once my Pinterest VA is helping me, I will be able to save time with my business. I can turn over some of the tedious, repetitive work to someone else while I focus on projects that bring in more money! To be honest, cutting down from blogging 3x a week to 1x a week has saved me an entire day. I wasn’t kidding when I said it takes me a while to write a blog post – usually a good few hours to write, make the image, etc.
I love that you give yourself options and leave some wiggle room in your daily schedule since things tend to change all the time. I hit that afternoon slump every day between 1-2pm so I know exactly what you mean.
That afternoon is slump. I used to get it at my day job and it was a struggle. At least now, I can work around it 🙂
LOVE this post!! If I blogged FT, I think my schedule would look very similar 🙂 Up early before the kids to work, take them to school/daycare until 1 and work a ton, then pick them up, do naps and play time, and get things done around the house. Only difference is I am NOT productive at all at night, like after 7pm lol. I’m so tired by then, so I usually take a shower/bath and watch some tv with the hubs until falling asleep around 9 LOL
Love your schedule and it looks like you truly are able to enjoy life to its fullest!!!!!
It took me a while to figure out a schedule, but this one works so well for me! I feel so much better organized too. Ha, with your kiddos and 1 on the way, no wonder you crash out by 9 🙂