From Victoria's Desk

My (somewhat) Typical Workday

Last week, our co-founder Lisa shared why her everyday is far from typical. Today, our second co-founder Victoria (who runs the design studio VMS) is sharing what her typical workday looks like. While a little more traditional than Lisa’s (Victoria’s an early bird while Lisa is a night owl!), working from home still offers a few unique twists…

I will be the first to admit: I burned myself out last year. If I had written this post, say, last October, the listed workday end time would’ve been much later than 6:30, and my best explanation would’ve been “STRESSED OUT. TOO MUCH TO DO. MUST. WORK. MORE.” This approach, like typing in all-caps, was not sustainable.

So this year, I’ve made a concerted effort to restructure my days and figure out a better balance.

Oh, and a side note on the elusiveness of “balance.” If you work for yourself, I firmly believe that finding balance is a constant struggle, and its definition can change as your life and biz evolves too. For me, I think balance means feeling good about the focus of my life overall—do I feel nurtured in work, home life, friendships, and personal time? If so, I’m probably on the right track. It’s not easy to do, but if every decision you’re making pushes you in that direction, you’re doing okay.

With all that said, here’s how a typical work day is looking for me lately: Keep reading “My (somewhat) Typical Workday”

From Lisa's Desk

My (Not-So-)Typical Workday

Over the next two weeks, our co-founders will be sharing a behind the scenes look at typical day in the office! This week, our co-founder Lisa (who also runs the studio Elembee) is sharing why her everyday is far from typical…

I’m sure you’ve read a number of blog posts extolling the virtues of rising with the sun. These posts make mornings seem magical, and convince you that if you could just wake up an hour or two earlier, you would gain some special superpower that would help you get anything you’d ever want in life.

This is not one of those blog posts.

Last week, Victoria suggested sharing our typical workdays here on the blog, and I had to laugh at her timing — I had just read a tweet from someone complaining that day-in-the-life posts from fellow entrepreneurs always look a little too perfect, and a little too similar. Most people stick to the same schedule they had with a desk job, just with extra flexibility. And there’s nothing wrong with that — after all, people wouldn’t stick with it if it didn’t work.

But there’s also nothing wrong with doing something different. I have to admit, I struggled for a long time to find my own routine as I settled into the entrepreneur life, and I thought I just needed to try a little harder to make mornings work for me. I felt guilty when I slept too late, and I gave vague answers when people asked when I get out of bed in the morning.

Then, I decided to embrace my natural tendencies and structure my day around what felt best for me, and not what others told me I should do. After all, I started my business because I didn’t want to live under someone else’s rules — so why was I still letting others dictate my schedule? With that in mind, here’s what my (not-so-)typical workday looks like right now: Keep reading “My (Not-So-)Typical Workday”

Blogging Tips

How To Prepare Your Blog For Vacation

With summer vacation just around the corner, the beach is calling our names. And while working from the beach sounds infinitely more fun than working at a desk, the reality is that you’d still be working while everyone around you revels in the sea, sand, and sun. We’ll take a guilty pleasure book over a laptop as our beach companion any day!

But how do you take a break from your blog and still maintain the momentum you’ve worked so hard to build? Today we’re sharing our favorite methods for preparing your blog for vacation.

1. Double up.

If you don’t want to worry about your blog while you’re on vacation but still want to maintain a regular posting schedule, then you’ll need to work ahead of time. The easiest way to do this is to add a bit of extra blogging time into your normal schedule just before you leave, and produce two posts when you’d normally produce one, scheduling the second to go live during your vacation. This works particularly well if you tend to post similar types of content on the same days each week, for example, an outfit post on Mondays and a link post on Fridays. In this case, you’ve already been through your typical process for that type of post once, which will help you complete the second post faster.

2. Schedule a batch day.

If you have time in advance, try blocking off a few hours to produce all of your vacation content at one time. To make this process easier, consider creating a series of related posts to go live during your vacation, so you don’t have to switch gears in the middle of your batch day. For example, make it a week of vacation related content, and document what you’re packing, what you wish you were packing, what you plan to do on vacation, and even what you’ve done there before, if you’ve been. Bonus points: This will actually help you get ready for your trip!

3. Update or share a round-up of posts from your archives.

Once we publish content, we tend to forget about it. But your archives are a really valuable resource! It takes much less time to update and republish an old post than it does to write a new one from scratch. Look at your stats for evergreen posts that still get decent amounts of traffic. You likely have new insights now that can improve the post content, and you also have new readers who haven’t fully explored your archives. You can even make new connections between your old content with a round-up of posts from your archives.

4. Schedule guest posts.

If you’re open to hosting other voices on your blog, why not ask friends to take over while you’re gone? While coordinating guest posts still requires planning in advance, it helps you reduce the amount of content you need to produce before you leave. We find the easiest way to coordinate guest posts is to give bloggers a prompt, and set the due date at least a few weeks before you leave so you aren’t scrambling to schedule content for those who wait until the last minute.

5. Take a break!

Ultimately, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking a break from posting so you can enjoy your vacation. We find that the total relaxation of vacation renews our creativity and excitement for blogging. And, sometimes your readers need a break, too! If you decide to take a blogging break, consider giving your readers a heads up so they know what to expect. If you have privacy concerns, you don’t have to share details — simply state that you’re taking some time away from your blog and let readers know when they can expect you to resume posting. You may also consider giving yourself a few days after your vacation to get back into your routines.

Whatever you decide, remember that there is no one right answer. Do whatever works best for you and your blogging goals at the time! If you’re feeling extra creative, go with it and work ahead. If you’re feeling behind, give yourself a break and come back refreshed from vacation.

//

How do you manage your blog on vacation? Let us know in the comments!

xx,

Photo by Sebastien Gabriel on Unsplash