My Life As A Blogger

I often wonder that myself as it hits about 4:00pm and I feel I haven’t accomplished much in the “working” world. Then I look at my laundry list of items I wanted to accomplish on my blog and I can typically say it was a successful day.

I do have another part-time job – I am also an elementary school secretary. I absolutely love that job, as it has so many different dynamics. I always told myself that I did not want an office job and even though kids come to the “office” for help, it is far from an “office” job. It holds many different aspects that give me variety and really, there is never a dull day in an elementary school. Those kids always keep me on my toes!

The “other” half of the week, I try to keep our home running, while also working on my blog, Organizing Life With Less. Do I have certain goals that I want to accomplish each week? I do…and that is what’s fun about what I do! I dictate my schedule. I am in complete control of what I do! If I want to take a break from writing posts for a day, I do! If I want to spend the day working on the site, I do! If I want to sit and read a book, I do! Running my own business is something I love and have never regretted!What does a typical day look like? Here is a little glimpse:

Writing posts: (about 5x/week, with roughly 1-2 hours per post = 10 hours)
Each week varies, but I try to write about 5-6 posts per week, with drafting posts about 1-2 months ahead of time. Why so far in advance? Ya never know what is going ot happen in a week or month, so this allows some cushion. To be quite frank, I get really excited about writing some posts, so I just sit down and type because I can’t wait any longer!
 Content: A blog wouldn’t be intriguing without the content. I have learned in my first year, that the content is incredibly important. It is what keeps your readers coming back, time after time. Is the content relevant, easy to understand, and worth the reader’s time?
So…what goes into each post?

• Ideas – coming up with unique, interesting, and relevant posts takes time!
• Try products – testing out and reviewing products may take hours
• Take pictures – getting the right lighting, the right angle, and the right setting
• Edit photos – going into another program (I use PicMonkey) and editing every photo
• Perform task – during my 100 Days of Less series, I participated in every day as well, so in order to write the post, I had to perform each task myself, to make sure it “worked.” Same with recipes – I don’t post a recipe without trying it myself, first!
• Draft post – after researching, taking pictures, etc., it is now time to actually DRAFT the post! ‘Bout time, huh?
• Finalize post – review, make corrections, and schedule the post.

Maintaining actual website: (visit this about 3-4 hours per week) 
This is the part that takes me longest; meaning, how productive I am given the time spent on it. For example, figuring out html or how to add a certain size ad, or format a picture just right to make it fit.     Some of the things I have struggled with most, are the things I still am not happy with (like my green horizontal drop down menu). I am FAR from a web designer and sometimes I feel I should just cave and spend the money to have someone redesign my website. At the same time, what makes Organizing Life With Less what it is, is that it is personally designed and it is so me. In order to make it “me”, of course I have to have a lot of trial and error (more error) to make it truly “one of a kind.” In saying that, it is one of a kind because it probably has odd things that you wonder “why is that there” and just so you know, I wonder the same thing :)!

All that to say, maintaining the actual site, takes me a LOT of time; more hours than I care to even count because I would probably cry! At the same time, I have learned more than I thought I ever would and would not trade that time. I have never regretted it and am looking forward to what I hope to continue to learn by doing my own “web design.”

Networking/Communication: (about 2 hours per day = 10-12 hours per week) 

Another favorite part of blogging for me, is building relationships. I would say this is where my social work (I have my BSW) side of me comes out.    Answering emails, replying to comments, updating social media sites, I LOVE. I would not blog if it wasn’t for YOU. Often people will comment how inspired they were by something I posted, but what they don’t understand is that their idea or comment inspired ME to grow, to challenge myself, or try something new.

I have met some absolutely amazing people through blogging. They are not only acquaintances, but friends. Networking is one of the most important aspects of blogging! It takes more time than I would’ve ever imagined, but it is also what keeps Organizing Life With Less going and it is one of the parts of love the most!

This equals to about 23-25 hours per week. Again, this can vary greatly! I so enjoy every aspect – writing posts, maintaining the site, and networking/communication. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t do it.

One thing my husband told me his speech teacher once told him:

 

That is what I feel I have found in Organizing Life With Less. How I get paid is a whole other post in itself, but really, I have found what I would call a “dream” job.

I hope this gives you an idea of what goes into Organizing Life With Less each week!