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Full-Time Working Mom|Part-Time Blogger

The biggest question I get from my readers is, “How do you do it all with a family and a career in medicine?”. I also have people ask, “How do you work full time and blog?”. So I thought I would explain how I do manage everything I have on my plate. First of all, let me say blogging while working is definitely not easy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. A wise doctor once told me that “art is the dessert” and I definitely believe that is true. A career in medicine is definitely gratifying. I get to work with people who need help. Watching someone come into my office at their worst and come back later at their best is an amazing experience.

That being said however, I never felt that medicine alone was enough to be completely gratifying. As I’ve said before on this blog, I have always enjoyed photography. So blogging while working is nothing new for me. When my children were born, for many years I actually did maternity and newborn photography. It allowed me to explore my creativity and I still had the opportunity to work with people. The business was very successful but it was a full-time job in itself (I have a hard time saying no to people). I gave it up when my fourth baby was born. For two years I didn’t do any photography, but I knew something was missing. I decided to channel my creativity into a fashion blog, and the rest is history!

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How Blogging Has Changed Over the Years

I’ve been blogging while working for ten years now. The one thing I have always known is that I will never quit my day job. There is a huge investment made to go into medicine, and that is something I personally don’t want to give up that investment. Furthermore, I have seen the massive changes that have taken place in the blogging industry over the years. Ten years ago, starting any kind of blog was relatively easy. Now the field is so crowded, it can take years for your voice to be heard. And your blog has to be unique in some way or you might never be noticed. And the income you receive with blogging isn’t really stable the way working in medicine is.

Petite Fashion and Style Blog | Fashion for Petite Women | Outdoor Voices 3-4 Warmup Legging | Boden Whitby Waterproof Jacket

Making it All Work

My family has always been my number one priority! I can’t imagine life without my husband and kids. My kids are young right now and they definitely need my attention. So how do I make taking care of my kids while blogging and working full time? The answer is – blogging is a family affair! Weekdays are focused on work during the day and on the kids in the evenings. My content is usually created on the weekends, and my children are almost always with me on my photo shoots (my oldest daughter is my right hand lady!). Most of the time we do our photo shoots on the fly. I choose my outfit and we usually head to a spot downtown. We usually run some errands  or grab a bite to eat beforehand. So when we have a spare moment, we hop out of the car and take the pictures. So while I may look perfectly relaxed in my photos, in reality my kids are hanging out somewhere in the background. Most of the time I am just trying to control the chaos that is really occurring.

Petite Fashion and Style Blog | Fashion for Petite Women | Outdoor Voices 3-4 Warmup Legging | Boden Whitby Waterproof Jacket

My Blogging Schedule

So when it comes down to it, budgeting my time is incredibly important. My weekday schedule goes something like this:

6:45 Wake Up and get ready. Get the kids ready and have breakfast. I always have sausage and eggs and my kids have cereal. We pack lunches at the same time. 

8:00 Head out the door, drop the kids off at school and go to work. I usually do my Instagram post for the day somewhere during this time.

8:40– Arrive at work. I turn on my computer and I start seeing patients. I will see 8-10 patients in the morning. We have a small break for lunch (catch up on Instagram during this time) and then the afternoon begins. Work wraps up around 5 PM.

5:00 – Head home from work. We have a nanny who helps and she picks up the kids and prepares dinner for us. This is a huge timesaver! It is so nice to have dinner ready when I get home. The best part of the day is coming home to see the kids!

5:30- 6:30 – Dinner with the kids. After we clean the kitchen we catch up on homework and I get to hear about the kids’ days.

7:00 – Bathtime for the kids. This is their time to be silly and have fun. After that is story time and the kids are off to bed.

8:30 – This is when I will finally sit down at the computer to write my blog posts. I edit my own pictures, so I try to edit pictures one day, and write the post the next day. This usually involves 2-3 hours of work each evening.

10:30 – This is when I try to head to bed. I will say that more often than not it is much later. I end up getting distracted by social media or shopping for upcoming posts. I’m the kind of person that needs 7-8 hours of sleep per night. Much less than that and I don’t function well.

 

Petite Fashion and Style Blog | Fashion for Petite Women | Outdoor Voices 3-4 Warmup Legging | Boden Whitby Waterproof Jacket

Petite Fashion and Style Blog | Fashion for Petite Women | Outdoor Voices 3-4 Warmup Legging | Boden Whitby Waterproof JacketPetite Fashion and Style Blog | Fashion for Petite Women | Outdoor Voices 3-4 Warmup Legging | Boden Whitby Waterproof Jacket

Weekends are for Fun

As I said above, we usually take outfit pictures on the weekends. Of course we do all of this in between grocery shopping (I can’t tell you how many times I’m the best-dressed person at the grocery store!). And the kids have ice-skating and tennis lessons in between all of this. Usually I will try to get a workout in if I can. I try to do 2-3 outfits each weekend, since I do a blog post three times a week. We always try to make it fun!  For today’s post I decided to dress casually. I’ve been loving my new Outdoor Voices leggings. My Boden Whitby Jacket is a perfect winter to spring transition piece. We headed downtown to have  milkshakes (the kids loved it, and I found a great spot for pictures). Other times we will go shopping or do something else fun. I never want my kids to feel like taking outfit photos is work.

Petite Fashion and Style Blog | Fashion for Petite Women | Outdoor Voices 3-4 Warmup Legging | Boden Whitby Waterproof Jacket

Overall Time Breakdown

So when it comes to an overall time breakdown during the week, I spend 1.5 hours getting ready in the morning, 8.5 hours/day of work, 2-3 hours with the kids, and 2-3 hours blogging. This schedule is doable, and it means making the most of every minute of the say! As I said before it definitely takes discipline. But I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I hope you found this post interesting! So if you blog and work full time, how do you do it? Leave a comment below.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

xo | April

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7 thoughts on “A Day in the Life…

  1. You sure make a busy schedule seem flawless. I love this outfit that you have here-looks very comfortable but stylish enough for weekend errands.

  2. I totally relate to blogging being unstable and difficult, but I love it at the same time. Love your jacket by the way! I can never wear white though haha

  3. So encouraging to see women that are achieving in their career and blogging as well. I love that outfit and also how you have set your weekends for relaxing and good times.

  4. Yes, planning is definitely the most crucial – and something I struggle with the most. Both my little ones are still at home so I find some days I just fly by the seat of my pants.

  5. Working and blogging is for sure two jobs. You do have a busy schedule and you are very organized so that is really great.