A Week Balancing my 9-5 and Blogging

The most commonly asked question I get is how do I balance my 9-5 job and blogging. I was having a chat with Ijeoma Kola during the Purewow in the Hamptons event and she actually inspired me to write this post. I never quite know what to say when people ask me this question. For the most part I just say, there is no real balance. But I guess that’s the easy way out. So for one week, I documented how I allocated my time between work and blogging. This is a very lengthy post but I think it will give great insight into how I manage and allocate my time when it comes to blogging.

SUNDAY AUGUST 19th, 2018

[one_half padding=”0 15px 0 0″]7am — I wake up and look over a few Airbnb’s for my upcoming trip to Paris for Paris Fashion Week. I managed to secure a few days of compensated stays which help curb costs. I take a quick shower and while still in a towel I do my morning walk through video for InstaStories. It takes me about 3 tries to get it right and I save it to upload later. I usually shoot 3-4 looks every other Sunday but today I’m just shooting 2. I get ready in my first look and pack the second look. 8:30am — Rose picks me up and we drive 5 minutes to our shoot location in Striver’s Row in Harlem. We shoot the look then do a quick video. 9am — We then head to Lincoln Center because Rose has another shoot with Danielle. I sit in the car for an hour while they shoot and compile my Instastories and then publish them. 10:15am — We head to the West Village and I change in the back seat of the car. We shoot my second look (the one featured in this post) and then head to Sephora before heading to brunch at While We Were Young. We are meeting Danielle and Tamara for a quick blogger brunch and girl chat. After which Rose drops me off at home.[/one_half][one_half_last padding=”0 0 0 15px”]5:30pm — I start writing tomorrows blog post featuring the fruit print dress I wore to the Purewow in the Hamptons event yesterday. I take a 30 minute break to wash my hair and let it air dry while I finished the post. 10:00pm — I just finished writing the blog post that will go live tomorrow. A lot goes into writing a post and on average it takes me about 4.5 hours. These hours include writing the post, proof reading it and breaking it up into double or single paragraphs, adding relevant links to older posts, adding links to clothing, creating shoppable photos via RewardStyle, selecting which photos to use and then editing them and then uploading them, and lastly adding appropriate tags and categories. 10:15pm — While the photos are uploading I two strand twist my hair with Creme of Nature Honey Leave In Conditioner. Once the photos are uploaded to the post, I give it a once over and save it. I create the New Post Notifications for Instagram and save them to be published tomorrow. TIME SPENT BLOGGING: 7 hours (getting ready for shoot, preparing/editing/posting instastories, shooting 2 looks, preparing 1 blog post)[/one_half_last]

MONDAY AUGUST 20th, 2018

6:30am — I wake up and meditate for about 10 minutes before manually publishing The Latest “It” Print — Fruits and Vegetables blog post that I finished last night. I then create a bit.ly link for my post (that way I can track it) and post it to Facebook, Google + and Linkedin. I change the link in my Instagram Bio to the new bit.ly link as well. 7am — I get ready for work and then I do my morning walk through for Instastories. I make my Nespresso coffee as well. 8am — On the way to work (I take a train, to a bus, to another train and then walk 3 blocks), I compose my stories using various apps and then post them all by the time I arrive to work at 9am. I also post the Instastory I created last night to signify a new blog post. 11am — I post the New Post Fruit Print Dress to Instagram Photo & Caption that I prepared last night. 12:30pm — I eat lunch quickly in about 10 minutes and also take this time to respond to any Instagram and Blog comments. 9am-7pm — I work like a maniac barely even checking Instagram. I see a whooping 30 patients today and I’m exhausted. I get home, eat, shower and am in bed by 10pm. TIME SPENT BLOGGING: 1 hour and 30 minutes (posting blog post on all social, Instastory creation/editing and uploading, responding to comments)

TUESDAY AUGUST 21st, 2018

[one_half padding=”0 15px 0 0″]6:15am — I wake up and meditate for about 10 minutes before getting up and getting ready for work. I’m pretty tired but still do a quick walk through to greet my Instastories viewers for the day. 7am — I leave for work and on the the way compile and post my Instastories for the morning. I create a quick video of my last look, add music and write a caption in my notes on iPhone. 8am — I arrive at work and post the video to Instagram. 12pm — I check my email and realize I have an event today after work. I’m tired but I think I should go. So I text Rose and see if she’s down to meet me at Grand Banks for the 1901 Nordstroms Preview Event. She responds that she is! I love Rose. She’s always down for the cause. 8am-4pm — I see about 18 patients today. 4pm — I uber home and quickly get ready for the event, recording a few Instastories while I wait for my uber to pick me up and take me down to Chelsea Piers.[/one_half][one_half_last padding=”0 0 0 15px”]5:30pm — While in the Uber I upload and post my Instastories showing what I’m wearing to the event, making sure to use the hashtag and @ provided. 6-9pm — I have a ball on that boat and even take a few photos with my blogger boo Tiffany Battle. The collection was cool and the food was divine. I ate my weight in lobster rolls. 9:10pm — Rose and I share an uber back to Harlem and on the way home I compile and post my Instastories from the event. 10pm — I was supposed to start writing Thursday’s blog post but I’m beat and end up taking a quick shower, doing my night face routine and heading to bead. TIME SPENT BLOGGING: 4 hours (Instastories creation/editing and posting, instagram video editing and posting, responding to comments on Instagram and blog post, getting reading for event, attending event, creating instastories about event using appropriate hastags/mentions and posting those)[/one_half_last]

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 22nd 2018

[one_half padding=”0 15px 0 0″]7am — I usually wake up at 6am every day but today I’m too tired and sleep in until 7am. I usually give myself a break on Wednesday’s so I don’t do any Instastories this morning. 9am-7pm — I work and see about 20 patients. On my lunch break I send a few Paris Fashion Week Show Requests and answer a few collaboration emails and RSVPs for blogger events. 7:15pm — I’m beat so I get a via ride home, which is my little treat to myself. I stop to pick up some rice for dinner. While waiting for my order, I got an alert from The Best Time App that I should post on Instagram in 10 minutes. I hadn’t planned on posting anything but remembered I have a few iPhone photos from the event yesterday. So I spend a few minutes editing 5 photos using Snapseed and post them with a quick and easy caption mentioning the brand and the location. 8pm — I’m home sprawled out on my bed with my rice and my laptop to work on tomorrows blog post. Luckily I know what the topic will be and bang the written portion out pretty quickly.[/one_half][one_half_last padding=”0 0 0 15px”]I also take some time to research historical information for my post Ode to Harlem. I spend a good amount of time including relevant links to where to buy what I’m wearing and other Harlem favorites. The photo’s for this post were taken on Sunday morning in Strivers Row. I upload them to my phone using my trusty portable SD Card reader and pick about 20 of my favorite images that I then edit with snapseed. 11:20pm — While I upload the photos to my blog post, I take a quick shower. 11:45pm —  I’m just now adding tags and categories to tomorrows post. After I finish making the New Post Instastory for tomorrows post and decide which photo to post on Instagram along with the caption I save them and head to bed at midnight. TIME SPENT BLOGGING: 4 hours and 45 minutes (editing and posting Instagram photos, 1 blog post including writing, editing, adding links, finding links for clothing, editing photos, uploading photos, adding tags and categories, creating Instastory and Instagram Photo for post with captions)[/one_half_last]

THURSDAY AUGUST 23rd, 2018

6:30am — My alarm went off 30 minutes ago but I’m exhausted. I sit up in bed and grab my laptop. I manually publish Ode to Harlem, the blog post I finished last night. I then create a link for it and post it manually on all my social channels. I still like to publish manually instead of having some program do it for me. 6:45am — I get ready for work and once I’m done I do my morning walk through for Instastories. I don’t make any coffee this morning because I’m out of creamer. I’m surprised at how well my photo carousel from the 1901 Nordstroms event did. I’m pretty happy about that. 7:15am — I head to work and I’m definitely going to be late. On the way there I post my Good Morning Instastories and alert readers to my new blog post. 11:30am — I post my New Blog Post Photo to Instagram and while on my lunch break respond to all the comments and DM’s. 4pm — I head down to Saks to try on some dresses for my trip to Miami. I don’t buy anything though. I wait until I’m home to purchase the dress I tried on so I can get money back for it. I get home around 7pm and just relax for the rest of the evening. Before bed I two strand twist my dry hair with a little Creme of Nature Honey Leave In Conditioner. TIME SPENT BLOGGING: 1 hour (publishing post across all social, creating/editing/posting Instastories and Instagram photo, responding to comments/DMs)

FRIDAY AUGUST 24th, 2018

[one_half padding=”0 15px 0 0″]6am — Not really sure why I still wake up so early even though I no longer work on Fridays. I do a quick 45 minute work out. I then go to the grocery store. I come back and clean my apartment and water my plants too. 8am — I create the video outfit post from yesterdays blog post, Ode To Harlem and publish it on Instagram. 8:30am — I do my Good Morning walk through for Instastories and make my morning Nespresso since I now have creamer. It takes me about 15 minutes to put my stories together using the app Unfold (since everyone asks). You can check out the other apps I use in my Instastories Pro eBook. 9am — I post my Instastories and I start to put together my Fashion Week Itinerary. This always happens. Every season I say I’m going to sit it out and then I end up doing the absolute most. For the most part I’m only doing a few shows and more networking events than anything. I also plan my blog posts for the next month and a half. I know exactly what I’m posting up until I leave for Paris Fashion Week in late September.[/one_half][one_half_last padding=”0 0 0 15px”]11am — I make a quick IGTV video on How I Tie a Headwrap because so many people have been asking. I usually just direct them to my YouTube but people can’t be bothered to leave Instagram. It actually hurts my business. I wish more people would see the amount of work I put into my blog and YouTube instead of immediately hopping in my DMs for a quick solution or answer. IGTV does nothing for my overall pageviews nor does it help me profit wise. I’d prefer if people visited my sites but Instagram makes it hard to flourish if you don’t use all aspects of the app.  I edit the video and post it. 4:30pm — I cook myself some baked salmon and red garlic mash potatoes from scratch. 7pm — I have a date. 10pm — My date is over and I read a few articles online and then head to bed. TIME SPENT BLOGGING: 3 hours (creating/editing/uploading Instastories throughout the day, organizing Fashion Month Schedule and blog post schedule for next 1.5 months, Headwrap video creation and editing and uploading)[/one_half_last]

Photography by Rose Lazard || Edited by Monroe Steele

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SATURDAY AUGUST 25th, 2018

[one_half padding=”0 15px 0 0″]6:30am — I wake up and do a quick 45 minute workout. I then take a shower and do my Good Morning walk through for Instastories. I switched it up a bit and dance today. What people don’t know is that the music provided on Instagram isn’t very diverse nor do they have a lot of music from before 2000. It’s easier to use the music they have versus playing the music from my phone and recording at the same time. It actually takes twice a long to make one Instastory doing it the old way versus just uploading a song from Instagram. But I’ve been getting complaints that my followers miss my Caribbean music and dances so I go back to that for today. 9am — I edit and post my stories and continue working on this blog post after answering a few emails. I also finalize some Fashion Week partnerships.[/one_half][one_half_last padding=”0 0 0 15px”]2pm — I spend most of the day looking up accommodations and finalizing the rest of my Paris Fashion Week stay with Rose and Vana. I did manage to get a few comped days at a lovely hotel using my pitch templates. 5pm-9pm — I’m finishing up this blog post, editing the photos to accompany it and putting it all together. This post will go live Thursday August 30th. Tomorrow I will be putting together a post on What to do for Labor Day that will go live Monday August 27th. I decide to post a photo from my brunch with the girls and it does exceptionally well. I’m pretty happy about it. I also just hit 19K followers! TIME SPENT BLOGGING: 7 hours (Instastories creation/editing/posting, Instagram photo posting, emails confirming collaborations, researching and booking Paris Accommodations for Paris Fashion Week, 1 blog post)[/one_half_last]

TIME SPENT BLOGGING FOR A WEEK: 28 Hours 

TIME SPENT WORKING 9-5 FOR A WEEK: 36 Hours

There you have it folks. This is how I balance my time. I stay on a schedule of posting twice weekly on the same days every week. I stick to my instagram/stories routine and do a lot of things in advance. I plan like a crazy person and try to stay consistent. There’s no way to ever balance a 9-5 and your passion but having a routine certainly makes it a lot easier. A lot of work and money goes into blogging, at least for me it does. Which is another reason why I hardly, if ever accept product for payment, especially after blogging for 8 years.

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xx

Monroe