#blog and work full time
I’m not the only one of us out there who works full time whilst running their blog and youtube channel, there’s hundreds of us and it takes one hell of a lot of dedication, motivation and hard work to keep it up.
Someone posted something on Facebook the other week about how some people only do things so they can put it on social media and for reasons unknown it rattled my cage a little. It seems to me that those who aren’t in the blogging community or social media game just don’t realise how much work goes into running a blog or a youtube channel or sometimes don’t even understand why we do it all.
There are so many things I wouldn’t have been able to do if it weren’t for my blog and so much I’ve documented that I wouldn’t normally have bothered with - I can’t wait to watch or look back on it all in 20 year’s time and smile. Yes we’re always on instagram posting mundane photos of every day life, updating our statuses, checking in or tweeting random thoughts but why not? The technology is there so we should use it, enjoy it and make our virtual timeline as vibrant as possible. If the initial motivation to do something interesting, fun or different is so that we can blog it or get an amazing photo then does it really matter? It means we’re getting out there, doing more things and ultimately enjoying life to the fullest. We’re also pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones in some cases which without social media may not have even happened.
It’s a lifestyle choice, a mind-set and a sometimes hell of a lot of work but we do it because we love it and that’s the way it should be. Sometimes however there can be a lot of pressure and some pretty tight deadlines that take a little bit of that love away. It’s when you lose that love that you need to take a step back and if your readers enjoy your blog and respect you as a blogger they will understand you dropping your content output to every other day or if your tweets aren’t as frequent as usual. Those who do produce content every day - or sometimes even more - are usually able to blog full time (or are sweating a little behind the scenes!) so don’t feel inadequate for doing a little less. I work around two weeks in advance with my posts and take Friday, Saturday and Sundays off, I also plan my youtube videos a month ahead so I know what I need to film and when - without a queue feature I don’t know what I’d do!
Clever scheduling tools aside it still takes up a big chunk of my life outside of work and so i’ve decided to take a bit more of a back seat for the summer and drop my output slightly so i can enjoy the nice weather and spend time with friends, family and the bearded one. I’ve got books to finish reading, dresses to make with mum, kickboxing belts to achieve, mud runs to race and a whole lot of adventures to have, and although the evenings are long with the sunshine plentiful, sometimes there still aren’t enough hours in the day! I’m really proud of how far xameliax has come and i love my little blog even more than i did at the start (which is a real achievement for me), so it’s incredibly important to look after that love and keep my posts fresh not forced. I’m not going away forever, but you might notice a day or two missing a post and maybe won’t see everything i’m up to on my social sites for now - sometimes it’s nice to have a few things just for you and your special people to share.
I suppose the moral of this little rambly post (apart from explaining my mini hiatus) is to say a huge well done to everyone who blogs and works full time together – it takes a lot of time and it’s an incredible feat to create your own virtual organized brain space. But don’t kill yourself trying to keep up with others who have more time or try to live up to what you think a normal amount of content is. Post for you and protect that passion, don’t let deadlines and pressure ever take that away and never let those who don’t enjoy or understand social media the same way as we do make you feel lame for posting.
We’re making memories and leaving our little stamp on the world - here’s to us and all our updates, regardless of how many people are reading!
xax
