When you work full time, there’s little time to enjoy much else, let alone family time, side hustles and downtime to yourself.

But if you’re passionate about blogging – and it helps unleash your creative side (it does for me), then you’ll want to keep it up.

After six years of blogging I’ve (almost) mastered keeping up appearances when it comes to blogging while working full time.  In fact, I’ve got three businesses on the go at the moment – so if I can do all three, raise a family and keep on top of the blog – then why not you?

Having had a think about starting a blog and keeping it running, here’s 13 fabs tips to blog like a boss when you work full time…

1. Be prepared

The Scouts knew what they were talking about when they came up with their ‘be prepared' motto. And if you haven't yet started a blog then it really pays to do your research.

I'm not just talking about coming up with blog names, you’ll also need to get sorted on social media names, think about who will host it and what theme you want your blog to have. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail! Then you’ll want to play around with your site before you officially launch it.

Try to assign at least 30 minutes a day until you are familiar with how your blog works. Finally, (and I wish I had done this before starting my blog), write at LEAST 10 ‘evergreen' blog posts. An evergreen blog post is something that won’t go out of date a year down the road (or longer!).

If I had my time again I would have had at least 20 blog posts ready before I went ‘live' and I'd stay ahead of the game. Also, as soon as your first blog post goes up, don't stop writing. The extra blog posts will cover you if your boss asks you to work extra hours, if you need to go away or if you're too ill or tired to summon up the energy to blog.

2. Use automation tools

There are so many automation tools for social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc..) that you can use to your advantage, with most of them offering free options for getting started.

An automation tool for social media is effectively something that auto posts for you while you go about other stuff. For example, you can use Hootsuite or Buffer to load up 10 Twitter and Facebook tweets/posts that will automatically post to your profile while you're busy working. You have to load the posts up at first of course, but you can do this in batches and save yourself time from dipping in and out.

As your blog grows and you become busier, you might want to update your plan and start paying for an automation system. Your 10 social media posts will need reloading every couple of days depending on how frequent you decide to post – and you might not want that pressure.

Automation tools are a godsend for saving you time; if you want to take your blogging to the next level, think about using tools like Social Jukebox or Social Bee which automatically posts for you and you’ll never need to ‘reload'.

3. Be consistent

If you decide to upload blog posts two or three times a week, try to remain consistent and update on the same days.

This is easier said than done, but it just means that your followers get used to the days you post and they start looking forward to reading them.

I make sure that I send out a monthly newsletter that cover all the posts I’ve done that month – and helping drive traffic to the blog. Again, consistency with this is key.

Some bloggers write about different subjects or topics on different days – e.g. Tuesday Travel, Family Friday etc

Even though I enjoy focusing on interiors and travel, I’m more of a haphazard blogger, writing about all sorts of lifestyle topics – and posts on blogging like this.

4. Use spare minutes wisely

Fortunately for me, my passion for blogging keeps me motivated enough to continue – even when I know I've only got a few minutes to spare.

Since I’ve starting blogging, I’ve learned that procrastination is my worst enemy. To get things done you really need to utilise every spare minute you get. In the past (and when I was just starting my blog) I'd be up until the wee hours of the morning and then back up at the crack of dawn to blog before starting my job.

It was, at that time, the only solution to getting things done. Now that I've found more of a rhythm to my blogging I allow myself a bit of downtime. Self-care is important and it’s crucial you don’t burn yourself out. You don’t want to resent having to blog – it should be fun, so don’t get to that point.

It helps if you make use of ‘dead time’ – for example, when I'm on the train (like I am right now writing these in notes on my mobile), I use the time to either write my posts or note down ideas for my next post. If I can't get phone signal I'll use ‘notes' to write out some social media posts so I can just copy and paste later on. This saves me loads of time.

Other tasks that can be performed on your phone during ‘dead time' include:

• Writing priority lists/tasks for the day
• Social media interaction
• Topping up automation platforms
• Write notes or ideas for blog posts
• Respond to and write emails
• Use apps like Canva to design or research Pinterest images for blog posts
• Internet research for blog posts
• Read other blog posts
• Leave comments on blogs or on threads… the list goes on.

When I used to walk to the train station for my commute into London, I’d listen to a podcast. I used to download the podcast to my phone ‪on Sunday night, ready to press play ‪on Monday morning. I knew my walk took me about 40 minutes, so I'd download a couple of podcasts. It's amazing how much you can learn; there's a podcast for everything, but I’d mostly improve my blogging knowledge or listen to podcasts on social media.

5. Take a lunch break

If you’re working full time, then it’s important you take a lunch break. If you’ve got an hour, allocate 20 minutes to eating your lunch and maybe enjoy a ten minute walk – and then spend the other half an hour to catch up on the blog.

You could also use your lunch hour to plan your blogging schedule, reply to emails, jot notes for blog posts, jump on social media or source images for your site.

Before you go back to your job, make a realistic list of what you can achieve in tomorrow's lunch hour. That way, when lunch arrives you won't be wasting time thinking ‘what needs prioritising?' – you can just turn to your notes and start ticking off the to-do list. But remember to keep the list realistic; set yourself a task that you know you can complete within the time you allow yourself. The last thing you want is to run out of time and not have completed your task – this will just frustrate you.

6. Switch off every now and then

You can't be productive consistently all of the time. Sometimes your brain just needs to switch off.

You'll get an indication of this if (a) you get ill (b) you feel completely shattered all the time or (c) you feel like giving up the blogging.

Take a few nights off from blogging and see if you start to feel any better. It’s the same deal if you’ve got ‘writer’s block’ or you feel uninspired. Sometimes it's by stepping back from bogging that things start to become clearer and you can see which direction to go in.

If you're bogged down with everyday tasks and chores, your brain will be overloaded and won't function to its best. Plus, if you have a bit of ‘downtime' you'll often find that's when your most creative ideas will surface.

7. Use IFTTT

Have you heard of ‘If This Then That' (IFTTT)? If not then you're really missing out as it can save A LOT of time & hassle.

IFTTT has been described as “a free web-based service that people use to create chains of simple conditional statements, called applets. An applet is triggered by changes that occur within other web services such as Gmail, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.”

What this basically means is that when you perform an action, let's say you decide to upload an Instagram picture, then your Twitter feed will automatically tweet out the same post, for example.

You can set up lots of different Applets with different rules for each one. There are even ones on there that will turn on your lights at home (SMART lights) when you send a text or message with a code word. Genius.

8. Put on your OOO

During the day (or when you're at work), make sure you put on your OOO (Out Of Office).  That way, when people email you, they'll know not to expect to hear back from you until later that night or the next day.

It will appear that you're on the ball and considerate to people trying to get hold of you. Otherwise, you could just do what I do and check my phone (to access emails) every few hours, but I wouldn’t advise this as you’ll feel on a bound to keep checking in.

9. Get some business cards 

There's something to be said for bloggers with business cards. They are taken more seriously and presenting a business card avoids the hassle of fumbling around in your bag for a pen and scrap of paper.

Printing them don't have to cost the earth and it's pretty easy to design them yourself (try Canva!) If you’re out and about, another idea is to make sure that you have a powerbank for your smartphone (in case it runs out of battery), plus a notebook and pen and an open mind – it’s amazing where you can get inspiration for a new blog post while you’re out and about.

10.  Find inspiration 

I get my inspiration from a variety of places – TV programmes I’ve watched, magazines I read, places I visit, other bloggers, observations friends make…. you'll never know when inspiration or that great idea is likely to hit you. If you don't want to be digging around your bag to scribble down notes, write them on your phone or record voice notes that you can play back later.

Google searches can also bring up ideas for posts – just start typing a question and see what comes up in the suggestions.

11. Be social!

As one of my friends keeps reminding me, it's called social media for a reason – to be social! Remember, blogging is not just about uploading words to a site; it's about social engagement – and that's how the best bloggers grow.

So any spare opportunity you have to jump on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest – or whatever platforms you use, grab it with both hands. In fact, what am I even doing her writing this post? I should be looking for new hashtags to follow on Twitter! 😉

12. Get some help

As a journalist, I sometimes find it very difficult to proof my own work. Once you've read something and edited it countless times, you're just ‘too close' to it, so I’ve often asked friends, family or colleagues to check my work too.

It's the same with blogging – if you can help it, try to get someone to read your blog posts before they are published. With fresh eyes on the words, they're more likely to pick up on typos, story flow and consistency.

My mum used to proof most of my blogs (it helped that she was naturally interested in what I was doing!), but if you've got no one who can do this for you on a regular basis, ask on blogging forums if anyone is willing to partner with you to read each others' posts before you hit ‘publish'.

Make sure they're trustworthy first though – and that their punctuation and grammar is up to scratch (perhaps check out some of their blog posts first to check!)

13. Devise a schedule 

Write down everything that you want to achieve that day and, if it helps, break this down into two-hour slots, not forgetting to account for things like lunch, rest times, exercise etc…

Make sure that you get plenty of rest (self-care IS important) and this will ensure that you’re as productive as possible when you’re working on your blog. Try not to sit down to work without knowing what you’ll be working on; you’ll lose time thinking about it, so set a clear agenda on what you want to achieve before you stand up again. If it helps, set a timer going so that you’re ‘racing against the clock’ in getting something done.

Most of all, make sure that you’re blogging for all the right reasons – whether that’s because you just enjoy unleashing your creativity or if it’s because it allows you to record important memories in your life – you’ve got to enjoy what you do. The last thing you want is to see your blog as ‘just another chore’ – only commit to it if you enjoy it.

What rules do you follow when you’re blogging? And what’s helped you keep the blog going?

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