Sometimes I think it’s important to get real with all of you out there on the interwebs. I want to give you a sneak peek into what mornings really look like on my days off. A little look into my happy place. You probably figured it out, but my life isn’t all lengthening mascara and trips to wine country. Sometimes (aka most of the time) I just need to hunker down and get work done, without worrying about how I’m going to artfully arrange my coffee mug for Instagram or where to grab brunch. That means sweatpants, a comfy sweater and lots of coffee.
Warning, that means these photos are me with yesterday’s makeup and unwashed hair. In the spirit of real-ness, you know? I also want to talk a little bit about how I fit blogging into my busy schedule. Being a full time pediatrician and running an almost full time blog takes a lot of careful juggling. So curl up in a blanket, grab your coffee mug and let’s chat…
I’m partnering with HP & Intel today to talk about how I fit it all in. They are responsible for this amazing new HP Stream. It’s a new kind of notebook with Intel Inside® and helps me get it all done, no matter where I am. You can join the conversation by looking for the hashtag #workfromhappyplace.
My Tips for Blogging on a Busy Schedule
1. Go mobile :: I don’t think I could function without a laptop. I’m constantly on the go, be it moving from room to room in our house or moving from home to the office (or the hospital, I should say). No Wi-Fi? No problem-o, my HP Stream with Intel Inside® has free 4G data included right out of the box.
2. Use downtime wisely :: I have a 20 minute commute to work every day, and even though that may not seem like a lot, I use my time on the train to edit photos, check up on social media and compose posts in a Word document that I can later transfer to WordPress. A year of Office 365 came included with my new Stream and I can use the 1 year of 1TB free cloud storage to have instant access to my huge photo files. If I have lunch free or a break between clinic patients, I will also sometimes quick open up my laptop and work on a blog post.
3. Create a great work environment :: I love this little nook I created on our deck. We picked up the awesome mosaic table on the cheap from Moveloot and of course I have to have succulents everywhere. California is like a succulent paradise – they grow so big here they sometimes look positively prehistoric. The deck overlooks our gorgeous, lush backyard that has a ton of greenery and even a lemon tree! I’ve also shared the amazing view we have a few times on Instagram.
4. Stay organized :: I’m a big fan of to-do lists. A big fan. I have a running Word document on my laptop that I’m always checking on to see what my priorities for the day should be. I also have another document that contains just blog post ideas. Finally, I have a document that is an editable calendar where I can schedule my posts and make notes about deadlines that need to be made! Don’t let anyone tell you blogging isn’t a job! When you’re working with brands and collaborators it’s important to be organized and professional. All my lists help me make sure I’m not missing important deadlines, conference calls or meetings (even the “meetings” that are really just brunch with friends).
5. Don’t skip on processing power and storage :: When minutes are precious, I just don’t have the patience to wait. I also want the ability to have a hundred tabs open, run photoshop, and check my to do lists without feeling like the computer is going to start sputtering and overheat. The Intel Inside® processor gives me lightening fast performance.
6. Feast or famine :: The nature of my job is that some months are busy and some are a bit more normal. I’ve learned I need to create some extra content in the slow months so that I can have a consistent posting schedule. On a weekend off, I take advantage of the natural light and make multiple recipes or DIYs that I can then edit photos of when I’m on my commute or when I get home from work. Due to the importance of having seasonal content, I will sometimes photograph and write up a recipe and post it a year later. Here’s a secret – some of my holiday photos this year were actually banked content from last year!
7. But know when to unplug :: Even though I pack blogging into all those little moments of downtime, the most important thing I’ve learned is that I have to know when to power down. My time with Pat is sacred and we try to make our time together technology-free. I’d be kidding myself to think I can blog and have quality time with him at the same time! It’s all about balance!
I hope you enjoyed my tips on blogging on a busy schedule! Thanks to HP & Intel for sponsoring this post! As always, all opinions are my own.
Thanks so much for reading A Side of Sweet! For more Sweet in your life, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, Facebook, or Twitter, or subscribe to receive a weekly email with new posts (see sidebar).
P.S. – I know I’m not the only one that’s busy! How do you fit in everything into your busy schedule?
P.P.S. – Want to see more of my balanced life tips? Check out how to fit running into a busy schedule!
You look so cute and cozy in these photos! You are a woman on a mission, and you do it all with grace! 🙂
Awww, thanks Ashley!
I fit everything into my schedule by NOT fitting everything into my schedule. 😛 I need to get blogging already. My last post was in early December. YIKES.
Hahahah! One of the nice things about blogging is you control the schedule! I think it’s better to blog when you feel like it will be enjoyable!
What a great post! I also work full time and struggle with devoting myself to my job and my passion (my blog). I really have a tough time coming home from a stressful day at work – where I’m on a computer – and then spending hours sitting in front of my laptop working on the blog. Your tips were super helpful and that laptop is adorable!
ps – I wish my second day hair looked that fabulous!
Rachel
http://rachelinflight.com
Nice ad Rachel 🙂 I also have a blog and a job. Cheers!
Thanks so much Rachel! It is a lot of screen time! I hope you’re taking little breaks to let your eyes rest!
Wow . A pediatrician and wine to boot?
Hahah, it’s true!
What a great list! I love all of these tips! I don’t have the best work space right now and am super jealous of yours, so I need to work on that! 😉 I LOVE to-do lists and it’s the only way I can remotely function! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Heather! I’d love to hear more about how you balance it all!
This is the best! I love getting little glimpses into how you manage to be so amazing all the time.
Balance is my 2015 word and is one of my biggest resolutions/goals. This year that’s what I’ll be striving for as much as possible 🙂 SO I’ll obviously be working for more time with you to balance out the lack of time with you last year 😉
xx Katie
lovely letters
You are ridiculous! We’ll work on balance together! I love that I’m part of the plan! xo
Great tips! All of which I will take and remember. My life gets hectic but if I stay on my schedule I seem to do alright! Thanks for the great tips!
Thanks Jeanine! I agree, it’s all about structuring your time!
Great tips girl! I need these especially now with a baby due any moment! Thanks for sharing!
xoxo
Lee Anne
http://lifeinatx.com/
Oh my, babies are a full time occupation at first! Best of luck!
Great post! And I wish I looked that good in a sweater and no makeup 😉 Juggling a job and blogging does seem like a crazy amount of work, but I’m with you on the to do lists! I love them! xxx
Yay for lists! Thanks so much – I don’t feel like I look good at all!
To-do lists are my saving grace! I love making them every morning and night and at the beginning of each new month!
It’s so satisfying to cross things off isn’t it?
So, so, so true. It’s all about making sure you use the time you have- AND also sometimes setting aside time you THINK you have for more important stuff (like husband time!) I ALSO have that million tab syndrome- do I need a MEDICAL TIP? 😉
Hahah, it drives Pat so crazy! Sometimes my old laptop would absolutely CRAWL there were so many! And so many photos open in photoshop! We’ll have to start a support group!
These photos have me missing warm weather! And working outside. It was a brisk 9 degrees here today… br!
HP Streams are just the best <3
I’m glad you like them too! San Francisco has the best weather! I don’t miss seasons at all!
These are all such great tips! I’m so bad at managing my time wisely. I feel like the romance time always gets the brunt of it because I try to devote daytime to kids and nighttime to work (who needs sleep, anyway?).
I agree! It’s definitely a work in progress to prioritize time with the hubs.
As always, I love how honest and real you are in your posts! I keep coming back because your content is authentic, which I love.
Thank you for the amazing tips and tricks on how to stay organize. I cannot imagine how much you have to juggle because you do it so flawlessly! Congratulations on making it look easy 🙂
-Chelsea
Thank you so much Chelsea! That’s such a high compliment! Thank you so much for reading!
Hold the phone – is this your new house?! Look how cozy your outdoor work space is now!
You should see the BACK YARD! 🙂
I think you look pretty even in sweats and unwashed hair. I couldn’t blog with out my ipad and laptop.
You’re too sweet Karissa! Thank you!
Those are really adorable pictures, unwashed hair and all!
Aww, thanks Lix!
Great tips. It’s funny I was talking to a good friend of mine who also happens to blog and we were talking about how our blogs and the time we dedicate to them is our happy place. Thanks for sharing.
I agree! Even though it’s turned into a bit of a job I still look forward to my time spent doing it!
So impressed that you are a pediatrician and a full time blogger. To keep up with my schedule, I just get done what I can get done.
At the end of the day, you just have to do what you can and be satisfied with that! I completely agree!
Great tips! It can definitely be hard, almost like you’re doing two full time jobs, but you love both of them!
Exactly!
I nominated you for a Liebster award- check out my post at http://elleinthesuburbs.blogspot.com/2015/01/ive-been-nominated-for-liebster-award.html to read more!
That’s so nice of you Elle! Thanks for thinking of me! 🙂
These are great tips, i work full time for pharma company and have 15 minutes commute i do the same as you lol.
Oh nice! How do you spend it Mia?
walking 5 minutes to station then for my 10-15 right (traffic dependant) I usually spend reading other blogs on bloglovin or responding to comments or just plain post planning or editing posts
Awesome. Sounds like my commute!
Really great tips and view into your daily life. I have a busy work life schedule as well and squeeze in blogging wherever I can!
A few minutes here and there really add up, don’t they?
Love all these tips! Your work environment looks awesome! Love how peaceful and pretty it is 🙂
Thanks! I’m so lucky to have an outdoor spot in the sun!
Great tips! I’m so jealous of your work spot as I sit inside blogging with snow covered ground outside.
Haha, it’s true. Sometimes (often) we complain about the cold too! The constant moderate weather makes us softies.
I have a favorite coffee shop and I blog so much better from there!
It’s nice to have a change of pace, isn’t it!?
I love this post! We have to stay sooo organized at Seek Wander Share because we both still have full time jobs and are juggling everything else in a single girls life like friends, family and love! Thanks for sharing this girlie! So glad we connected on instagram.
xo, Jennifer
Hi Jennifer – I think that most bloggers are excellent at juggling! You really have to be creative to fit in the content to run a blog + work full time!
Great tips! If something isn’t working, I def change it up.
Yes – sometimes a change of venue helps to clear your mind!
Great advice! When you end up using up your 1TB of cloud storage I recommend looking into Pixieset to back up your edited photos. It’s incredible and the design is so sleek and intuitive.
I will definitely do that! Thanks Katie!
oooh I love this topic! I’m all about being mobile too — while also making little cozy nests around the house to blog in. So you use word on your phone? I’m still haven’t found the best way to keep track of all my notes — I use my iphone note app, word on my laptop, a physical notebook, as well as drafts in my email, and I’m on the look out for an app to organize all of these notes, ideas and writings into one place. I used to break up every day into a million pieces — shooting, writing, social media-ing, blogging, working, downtime, etc., but this year I’m practicing on splitting up the week instead. I hope this leads to more efficiency and quality over quantity — but we’ll see if I can keep it up!
Hey Jessica! Thanks so much for this thoughtful comment! I don’t use word on my phone, just on my laptop! If you want to access something on your phone though, maybe you could try Google Drive/Docs? I have a hunch there are some great apps out there too, but I have no idea what ones!
How do you plan to split up the week? By the day? I’m curious to see how this experiment turns out for you. Keep me posted!
I have a feeling there’s a great app out there too but I haven’t done the research yet. I’ll let you know if I find one =)
My day job is a mix of driving around the city being in the field, and being in my home office; instead of my usual day of trying to be in the field, then work in the office, in between blogging, cooking, running errands, and somehow even running or a yoga session — all in one day (which is not so slowly driving me crazy) I’ve regulated that Wednesdays and Fridays are my only days available to be in the field (on those days I don’t do any office work). Tuesday and Thursday are for office work for my day job only. And I’m working on scheduling/dividing Saturday through Monday for errands, all the blog stuff, personal projects, and exercise.
It sounds complicated, but the goal is to have more leisure time, be more efficient overall, and do a better job at all of the above mentioned activities by focusing on them one at a time and not multi tasking so much.
I love the advice in your paragraph about feast or famine! I used to stress if I didn’t get seasonal content up in time. Now I just need to stay organized and not lose it until its time comes around again ^_^
Wow, I love your idea of compartmentalizing! I hope it works for you. I can’t wait to see you in person so I can hear about how it’s going! I hope it does leave you with more downtime (and time to sit on fire escapes looking pretty!).
Seriously, don’t stress about seasonal content! I definitely can do without a million pumpkin recipes in October and pink desserts in February (even though I’m SO guilty of that because I’ve caved to peer pressure!).
Lol! Well said! I’d love to meet in person again soon too — hope we can make that happen sometime in between our crazy schedules 🙂 let’s stay in touch!
xo
Actually I’m on staycation the next three weeks, so if you have the time this would be the perfect opportunity!
These are great tips, and I love your work space! Working outside is the best!
Free 4G data included out of the box on your laptop? AWESOME! I love sneaking work in wherever I happen to be. 🙂
I know! It’s about dang time that laptops get in on the 4G action, right?
This post not just gave me insight into how you manage it all, but your info provided solid, doable reminders for bloggers like me. Thanks for generously sharing these tips. I needed to read this. Your laptop sounds really amazing too.
Thank you so much for your kind words b! I’m glad to hear this random brain dump of my thoughts was helpful to you!
Kelly,
I just love this post! It’s refreshing to find someone out there like me; I love to “do it all” and thrive when I have a ton on my plate! My friends always tease me that I’m so hard to plan around that they have to book me far in advance.
It’s a great piece of advice that you schedule blogging into your calendar, as if you would a meeting at work to hold yourself accountable. It’s also smart to bank up your blog drafts to post at a later date. I will definitely start doing that as I continue blogging more!
Look forward to reading more of your content and learning from how you are so great at truly “doing it all.” Thanks again for your email today.
Best,
Megan
http://www.theurbaniteinsight.com
Hi Megan! Thanks for the lovely comment. Most people don’t think of their blog as a business, but I think it’s a great mindset! The best thing you can do is create consistent content and no one has to know that you actually wrote that post months ago!