Hello lovely In it 4 the Long Run readers! I’m Christina, the blogger behind The Blissful Balance – a food blog focused on living a life of healthy moderation, with a mission to simplify the relationship between food, fitness, health and happiness.
I am so lucky to have met Georgie through… you guessed it… Instagram. Over the last [almost] year she has become a wonderful friend of mine, and a huge source of inspiration for my blog, and my life in general. She’s my blogging shoulder to lean on, and my go-to person for when I feel like sending a Snapchat of a hideous face. [Editor’s note: these are my favorite snaps of all] Of course, she reciprocates and we move along with our days. Totally normal. She even came to Tampa to visit me in November, and I’m heading to the Big Apple in March to see her!
I’m so excited to be guest posting on In It for the Long Run today. Georgie and I are swapping blogs to share ‘a day in the life’ – our processes, methods, strategies as healthy lifestyle bloggers. Without further ado, here’s a day in my life as an food blogger:
Since I work full-time, and I know many of you bloggers out there do, as well, I’ll share with you how a weekday goes for me.
A Day in the Life of a Food Blogger
5:30-6:00AM: Wake up. Grab my phone and scroll through e-mail, Instagram and Facebook. Probably not the healthiest thing to do when you first wake up, but hey, I’m going to be as candid as can be here.
6:10-6:45AM: Make sure the blog post I scheduled went through. Share it on my personal Facebook page, foodgawker, Stumble Upon, Facebook groups (FitFluential Food is the primary Facebook group where I share my recipe posts), and schedule some pins from that particular post. I also always add new post URLs to the link section on my Instagram account – this way people can go directly to my newest blog post from my Instagram. During this time I also check out my favorite bloggers’ new posts, read and comment on them.
6:50-7:00AM: Go for a run, go to the gym, or take a fitness class. Either way, I always prefer to exercise before my day (as opposed to after).
8:00AM: Shower.
8:15AM: Eat breakfast. My go-to, especially after a workout, is oatmeal with protein powder and cinnamon. Oh, and I probably took a picture of it and shared it to Instagram. This is also when I catch up on a little more blog work that I’ve got to get done. Whether that’s more blog reading, Pinterest scheduling, replying to comments, what have you.
9:00AM: Begin working on my day job. I work for a small flexible fitness startup company in Tampa called Peerfit. I work remote, so I am able to sort of plan my own schedule. However, being the routine-oriented person that I am, I try to start my day by 8:00 or 9:00 everyday.
12:00PM: Lunch time! This is when I like to take a break from ‘day job’ work to eat and catch up on blog work. Oh, and share a photo to Instagram! Instagram has been a source for many opportunities for TBB, so it is definitely one of my main social media focuses. I try to share about three photos per day.
12:45PM: Back to work!
4:45-5:00PM: Ex out of my 5 million tabs for work and end my day. I, most of the time, end up having to answer e-mails and deal with any issues that arrive throughout the rest of the evening, but for the most part I put work away at this time. Something to note: during the day, I sometimes will take intermittent breaks to scroll through Instagram and perform social outreach. The best way to grow your Instagram following is to be active and genuine – comment on others’ photos genuinely!
5:01PM: I’m serious – as soon as I am finished with work, I get to cooking or baking. I want to make sure I get the best lighting for my photoshoots. If I am stuck with work until it’s dark, however, I don’t stress about lighting because I recently purchased this photography table light. It has been a lifesaver when it comes to early Winter nights! If you are going to use it, however, make sure all of the lights are turned off in the room.
5:30-5:45PM: Cooking/photographing my finished product(s). Let me give you insight into my recipe development process:
- Inspiration. Honestly, most of the time I create recipes from cravings I have or simply pulling ideas out of my brain for food combinations. If I am feeling uninspired, I head to Pinterest or foodgawker and sift through recipes. I NEVER copy recipes, but I may grab some inspiration for general ideas, and I always make it my own. For instance: if I see a recipe for a dessert, I will think “how can I make this into a cookie?”. I think about the flavors that are in the dessert, and how I can morph those into a cookie recipe. Immediately, I write down the recipe in my pink “Let’s Do This” notebook that you may have seen on this post.
- Shopping. I try to get most of my grocery shopping done over the weekend because, honestly, the last thing I want to do after a day of work is go to the grocery store, and my mornings are too busy for me to get it done then. However, if inspiration strikes during the week, I suck it up and get it done. And trust me, when inspiration strikes, get it done then and there. I try to have at least two posts in my queue at all times, and I continue to overlap so that I am never scurrying to get a post up.
- Cooking. I try to do most of my recipe testing and shooting over the weekend, mostly Sundays. However, I have been getting into a bad habit of not doing anything over the weekend (you know, like hanging out with friends) and only focusing on my blog. Unhealthy! So, I have begun to spread it out so I am not swamped over every weekend. As I am cooking, I am writing down notes in my pink notebook, making sure I have everything perfect for when I go to write up my post.
- Photographing. This is for real. The struggle. I have a dinky printer table that I set up next to our sliding glass door. I prop it up so that I can place my white photo board on the table against a wall. I place one of my many wooden photo boards that Christian has made me on the table, and that is where I shoot my recipes. Mark my words people, one day I will have my own studio.
- Graphics. As soon as I upload my photos, edit them and export them into a folder, I create my pinnable graphics. I like to get this done and out of the way so that when I am ready to write the post, all I have to do is write and everything else is already done.
- Writing. This varies. Sometimes I feel inspired to write so I will open up my laptop as soon as I am done shooting my recipe. Or, I end up writing my post the night before it is supposed to publish. This process has yet to be down to a routine, but at least the most time-consuming part has been finished already. Writing has always come somewhat easy to me, so it is the least of my worries when it comes to blog posts.
- Publish. This is done, as you read earlier, always in the morning before work. A lot of the time I don’t even schedule my posts, I publish them manually. For no reason. I just like to make sure it’s done and done right, is all.
Now that you’ve seen what it’s like to live a day in my life, head over to my blog to see Georgie’s perspective!
Can’t get enough Blissful Balance (naw, it’s cool, neither can I) hop over to the ‘gram cuz she’s takin it ova today!
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Couldn’t love this more! You two are the best. And yes, hideous-face Snaps are my favorite too 😉
I love seeing how people balance work and blogging! I bet it’s hard sometimes to stay motivated working at home, but I’m sure it’s also really nice to be at your own pace and not have the pressures of a typical office! Thanks for posting these!
You gals are both so busy! It’s awesome how you both are able to balance your lives and still manage to be successful in blogging!
I always love these “day in the life” posts! So cool to see what a day in the life of a full time worker and blogger is! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love “behind the scenes” posts and it must be nice to have a bit of freedom throughout the day to do blog related stuff while also working your other job. I would love that!
Definitely a busy day for you. You’re so lucky to be able to work remotely – I end up having downtime in the office when I can only twiddle my thumbs, and then working nights and weekends at home at least a few days a week, so I’m trying to figure out how I can use my phone to do some blog work to make myself more efficient. It’s tough on the small screen!
Day in the life posts are my favorite! It’s interesting to see how people balance working full time, blogging, working out, having a life, etc. It looks like you have an awesome routine down:)
I seriously need that light! I also word for a startup, although that’s part-time, and I do some freelancing. But unlike you, I can’t work a regular day because by 5 pm it literally looks like midnight here. So I work some in the morning, blog in the afternoon and work again in the evening. Not ideal, since it’s hard switching between modes like that, but I’m hoping to one day get a better schedule worked out/move to somewhere that isn’t dark AF by 3 pm -_-
Thanks for the insight into your day! 😀
Love this – there are so many small details in the day that lead to you being successful. I think I need to steal a tip or two from you ! Thanks for sharing!!
Sounds a lot like my life!
So fun!! Loved both of the posts and your guys’ friendship is so incredible.
Also, you ladies are coming to NYC in March?!?! Is this real life omg.
I scroll through my phone first thing in the morning too..I know it is not the healthiest thing to do, but somedays time is precious and you have got to just get it done! 🙂 LOVE YOU TWO! XOXO
I love the day in a life posts and that you guys swapped blogs today! So interesting to read!
That is so awesome you can work remotely so your able to choose your own schedule! Although I’m sure there are good and bad to it !
Love this! Sounds a LOT like my days, but I have yet to gain the success of you awesome ladies, someday it will come! 😉
Hahah I love this! Sometimes I really feel back avoiding my friends on the weekend and telling them I’m “working”, I just love spending all day in the kitchen, styling and photographing recipes! I am just totally in my element! Maybe one day I’ll finally explain it to my friends, they probably think I am very strange standing on my chair balancing and straining on one foot, with camera in hand trying to get the perfect shot of a batch of cookies.
I am so impressed by how you balance blogging and work, and I admire your work ethic. There’s a small typo in the post: it should say 6:50 am – 8 am.
This is really interesting to see! I have a similar day…work a full time job and try to fit in blogging whenever I can. Thanks for sharing your recipe development timeline because that’s something that I’m working on! Love this little series with you two and I hope it’s a reoccurring segment 🙂
I love this so much! It’s so fun to see into the lives of other bloggers. Your day is actually pretty similar to mine with the exception of school taking up most of my day instead of going to a regular job. Thank you for sharing your recipe development process too! I am glad yours is just about as long asnd complex as mine. Sometimes I worry I make things to complicated LOL!
… and there go the people who think blogging was no work at all. I’m impressed by how structured and disciplined you are in everything you do – and the honesty here. Personally, I couldn’t see myself working from home right now so kudos to you. Fingers crossed for that studio becoming part of your life sooner rather than later!
This was a great post, Christina! Funny thing, I also met one of my best friends on Instagram too! About 2 years ago. She is now even going to be one of my bridesmaids in my wedding. 🙂
Your job setup with Peerfit sounds awesome! I wish I had a gig like that! Its interesting to see your schedule too! I wish I was better at setting up atleast two posts in my queue at any given time – I’ve got to work on that 😀
Looks like you got this whole balancing thing down pat. I love reading these posts and agree I need to step up my Insta game (as in, post 2-3x instead of 1-2x) Working on it! I used to publish my posts manually for the same reason–knowing that it published and is formatted correctly–but now I schedule ALL THE TIME and I think it’s truly a life saver.
I love getting a glimpse into bloggers’ lives throughout the day. Makes me feel more normal, especially if a blogger also works full time in a different setting. That LED light is my lifesaver!!
This is so cool Christina! 🙂 I love following your life along and hearing the ins and outs of your day. It sounds like you are really disciplined, laidback, and hard working. And your food photography struggle gives me hope. I’m worlds behind you in learning it, and you and Georgie are awesome examples to me of improvement and growth!
This is awesome! You guys are both so motivating! I love how you both are so organized and committed to your brands! SO inspirational! Thanks for sharing!
Aww thank you SO much Cailee – we really love doing this so hopefully that shows <3
You ladies are the best! I think I did a little PREACH-IT dance when I read “Mark my words, I will have a studio one day”! And a kitchen that’s photogenic. Is that too much to ask for?
Haha right? A nice bright beautiful kitchen is the dream
Thank you so much for this! This was a joy to read 🙂