How To Stay Productive As A Blogger!

2017 I have made a promise to myself that I would make blogging a priority and become full time with it! So I have been on the GRIND! As you may have seen I have tried to be more consistent with my Instagram page (posting at-least 3 times a day), writing a book which is soon to be launched, running my small business OSoCurly , planning events, creating content for brands and more!

You may not know but I work full time at the moment and have done for the past year, so you can imagine how hard it is to juggle running a blog, small business, writing a book, emails, gym, driving lessons AND keep my sanity, rest and try to have some type of social life/time with friends and family..

I thought I would put together some tips on how I have managed to become much more productive this year whilst juggling to excel in all other areas of my life. It takes a lot of getting used to and sacrifice but you will reap the benefits instantly!

Purchase Link: http://thehappinessplanner.com/?aff=222

Along with reaching goals and planning your success you can sometimes lose sight of your mental health and doing things for yourself. I recieved an amazing Christmas present last year which is the ‘Happiness Planner’ an amazing daily journal that makes you write down every day what you are thankful for, what made you happy that day, meals, exercises.. Basically reinforcing you to take care of you! I will admit it is hard to keep up with the daily writing but is so worth it.

The journal comes in this cute box with a gold pen (Insta worthy) and lots of worksheets for you to fill out with your goals and dreams for the year ahead along with reflecting on last year. If you struggle with taking out time for yourself this will be perfect for you and also forces you to have some down time before bed.

(You can also choose different sizes & colours)

If the journal isn’t for you they also have Free app!

I read about the 'power hour' in a book which gives you a guideline on how to write a book! It is great help for those who lose focus because of work and other daily activities. You basically take an hour out of your day and get to WORK!

By work I mean writing for a blog, article, book any kind of creative writing you are struggling with. This 1 hour slot is something easy to commit too and is a way to ensure you are working towards your goal daily. Mine is usually from 10-11am or 11am-12pm (They say that mornings are the best time to get writing done.

Now as a blogger/social media influencer/business owner this tip is essential (also the free option lol). I created a daily planner on excel for my social media/blog tasks. I draw it up monthly so I can add in any deadlines I have coming up (I code deadlines in red) once the tasks are done I change the red to yellow which lets me know I can relax because that task is out the way!

It’s really good to have on your laptop for when you are feeling a bit overwhelmed, I literally have to have lists for EVERYTHING otherwise I feel anxious about everything I have to work on.

I have been working constantly since the age of 17 but have always done jobs in the retail field which is PAINFUL! You are usually on your feet for the whole shift constantly dealing with complaints, tidying up the shop floor, working on the till I could go on and on! I am happy that at the age of 22 I managed to let go of the retail world and moved on to admin work. I now currently work full time and although it isn’t what I want to do forever it is a good fit for my current lifestyle.

I don’t have stress that I carry home after work, each day is pretty much the same tasks so I can work on other things alongside my job which is perfect for a blogger/business owner.

As I said before, working full time makes it difficult for you to be on call 24/7. What I do in the mornings is check my social media, reply to comments and send any important emails I need to reply to that day to my work email address. I then draft out my answers at work and send them back to my personal email address to then send to the appropriate person. This changed the game for me as it allows me to juggle it all! I am constantly sending emails to myself all day long (lol)

I have always been the kind of person to keep things to myself, things I am working on, things I have achieved anything! This year I am beginning to let go of this fear as I feel others won’t care or that there is nothing someone can do for me that I can’t do for myself.

Get a group of trustworthy friends or family, let them know what you are working on be confident and positive. Make them your accountability partners which means that you tell them your deadlines or goals and ask them to make sure you are keeping on track. For example I told 2 close ones about my book deadline and asked them to ask me weekly if I have finished or worked on it, it can be annoying at first but sometimes you need that push!

These are the main ways I have managed to keep it all together for the past few months and I am drained but I can see my goals clearly and am reaping the benefits by gaining more followers, more brand deals and more of a chance to follow my passion which hand in hand means spending more time travelling and with friends & family.