One of the most requested blog posts we get is how we balance life with blogging and opposite work schedules. As a quick reminder, we do have full-time jobs outside of blogging. In a perfect world, we would spend morning to night working on the blog. But for now, we make it work!
As you guys know, we both have opposite work schedules. Alex works during the day, Monday through Friday, and Mike works three, 12-hour night shifts a week. If you just told yourself that Mike is lucky to ONLY work 3 days a week, you are so wrong lol. Since he works during the night, he has to sleep during the day. Oh, and the 3 shifts aren’t always in a row. That means he might work one day, have off the next, then work another two days. That “day off” really isn’t a day off. He is so tired from staying up all night that he sleeps most of the day/night. It’s rough, to say the least. That’s where teamwork comes in. The best part about blogging is the fact that we can do it together. Even though most people think working with their significant other would be awful, we love it. Granted, we still argue just like anyone else lol. But at the end of the day, it’s a blessing to be together doing something we love. We have each other to lean on when we feel stressed or overwhelmed.
When we know we are about to start a stretch of days apart, we make a game plan. We sit down and plan out everything we need to do in those days. This could be anything from editing photos, proofreading blog posts, emails, contracts, you name it! We write everything down and delegate the tasks. We figure out who can do what and when. This way all of the pressure isn’t on just one person.
We also take advantage of the time we both have off and are able to spend together. That means hustle, hustle, hustle. We try to shoot as much content as possible during those days “off”. We use quotations because we are still working, just not our day jobs. We like to plan out those days and stick to the schedule. If we don’t plan everything out, we won’t get s*&t done lol. Can you relate?? Using these “free” days helps us shoot and edit content for the rest of that week. We’re able to relieve a ton of stress knowing we have everything planned out.
Even though everything is digital today, there is something about writing things down. We love being able to cross things off, knowing we’ve accomplished something. It’s so cathartic to check something off. To do this, we use several notebooks. We have one notebook for content ideas. Whenever a new idea comes to mind, we immediately write it down. This way we can come back to it when we have a moment together. We also have a notebook for jotting down to-do lists and keeping track of any collaboration related notes. We refer back to these notebooks almost daily. It really helps us stay on top of everything.
When we talk about balance, we’re also referring to the idea of knowing when to turn things off. That’s a HUGE thing to remember. Since we both have day jobs along with blogging, we must know when to turn it off or we would go crazy. Literally. You can’t work 24/7. It’s important to take some time to relax. Since we are a couple that works together, we need to put our relationship first. Always. When we’re working together, we try to stay cognizant of when it’s time to shut things down for the day. We spend the rest of the night just being a couple. When the conversation is constantly centered around work, we know it’s time for a break. If we didn’t take time for us, it would become a constant business partnership and that’s definitely not what we want. We always remember that at the end of the day, we come first.
The last piece of advice we can offer is to have fun. We truly have so much fun blogging and sharing our life with you guys. Truly. If we didn’t have fun, we would immediately stop blogging. It’s as simple as that. We honestly wake up every day with a desire to create and inspire. Being able to do it together is a true blessing.
Hopefully, this gives you guys a closer look at how we balance life with blogging. At the end of the day, building a community with you guys has been unbelievable. We truly view each one of you as a friend we would invite over for a glass of rosè on our patio. Maybe some pizza, too? LOL. You guys make blogging so rewarding and we can’t thank you enough for that. So keep being you and we’ll keep being us. Deal?
Until next time…
