Typical day in the life of a full-time blogger

While blogging isn’t typically a run of the mill daily routine and set schedule, I thought I’d take a wee bit out of my week and show you the fun parts of being a blogger are. I swear, most days are spent all alone, workin’ the internets, stylin’ flatlays and coming up with collaborations and campaigns. And oh gosh, I do not take blogging for granted and it has its privileges. Especially these past few months where now I can make monetary compensation off what I have been doing for over 15 years as a hobby.You better bet I miss a bit of routine in my life. Not a week goes by where I don’t miss my old job and co-workers in Canada! If you want to see who I’ve partnered with to make this blog post come to life, please see the disclaimer towards the end of the post.

SEVEN O’CLOCK

06:45| I love waking up early when I know I don’t have to. Does that make sense for anyone else? I mean, I could sleep in, but think of the length of the day when I get up at the crack of dawn. I wake up and check my e-mail and social accounts on my phone for 15 minutes or so. Probably not the best thing to do when you first wake up but I love checking it! I know this might seem like an ungodly hour to wake up when I mention I work from home, but I tend to feel focused and most productive in the morning. It’s also nice waking up while my husband is still around in the house! He wakes up around this time daily for either commuting, or going to the swimming pool.

07:00 – 07:15| Get dressed and let Alfie outside for his morning walk. Come back inside and turn on my computer and immediately start playing some tunes on Google Play music (I prefer a bit of noise in the house). This is also when I clean up my desk, as it’s always a pile of grocery receipts / post-it-notes / mugs. I’m not a fan of working around clutter.

Ninja nutri bowl duo07:15 – 07:30| Some mornings I either drive to the town of Los Gatos for my famous CPR (lol…I know, the name of that drink kills me!) or head to McDonalds and grab an iced coffee. This isn’t an every day occurrence, and I definitely savor it when I drink my specialty drinks. I don’t like to have a ton to eat when I first wake up, so I’ll make an omelette as soon as I get home. On special occasions where I want a cool treat in the a.m. I’ll make an acai bowl topped with fruit and coconut chips. I’ve been going ham over this Nina Blender I was sent a few weeks ago (I vlogged about it here!). It’s the Ninja nutri bowl duo and perfect for frozen treats — I broke our other blender last summer by making too many açai bowls. Oops. One of these ‘jars’ is enough for two bowls — and I only use 1 frozen packet of açai from Trader Joe’s, the rest of the goodies inside the bullet is made up of frozen goods: blueberries, strawberries, 1 full banana chopped, and some milk. Boom. So good.

07:30– 08:10| This is when I sit back and relax, eat my banana + sip on ice coffee, and catch up on Snapchat, IG stories, YouTube videos and reading blog posts. I only allow myself 30-40 minutes for this otherwise I could easily sit there for hours. Clearly I seem to work best when I’m on a schedule of sorts.

EIGHT O’CLOCK

08:10– 08:55| Hop in the shower and get ready for the day. Here are the contents of what I applied on my face this day: Tarte Maracuja Oil, It Cosmetics CC Cream (applied with a beauty blender), BECCA bronzer, Burberry blush, Tom Ford lip balm (that I bought from the Sephora VIB sale) and top it with Marc Jacob’s new mascara. Whooo wee it’s nice. Also, remember my fancy dyson hair dryer with hilarious pictures? I still use it. It’s annoying to store under the bathroom cabinet as I don’t want to twist the wires up so I’ve been leaving it unplugged on my counter. I’ve actually been having a bit of issues with the ground fault protection needing to be reset any time I turn on the dryer. I had a sunken feeling the first two times the dryer wouldn’t turn on. But my husband told me that perhaps the wiring in this place can’t handle such voltage. Anyway, just a little tidbit for you if you have/had that issue! Side-note: Like my agenda that’s half-showing? It’s a caviar leather planner from Cloth & Paper, it’s all-black-everything (because it has black hardware on the inside) and the perfect size. I really need to get crackin’ on my stationery favourites, either a post or a video — any preference?

08:55| I pop all my supplements and allergy pills to combat my hives. Yes, they’re still going on and no we still don’t know the reason. At this point (close to 2 years) they’re simply considered chronic. This is when I review my schedule for the day and list of goals I want to accomplish in my planner. Occasionally I’ll plan a breakfast/brunch date with another local blogger, pack up my laptop, planner and notebooks and head out to meet with them.

NINE O’CLOCK

Black + Decker pet vacuum9:00| This is when I get some chores done. I start cleaning up the house and doing my daily clean-up, each day is different but this day I vacuumed (every second day I’ll rotate between floors. Today I vacuumed the stairs because I’m completely obsessed with this new Black + Decker pet vacuum (the mid-part is removable!!!! It’s perfect for getting into the crevices of stairs.

Then I empty the dishwasher, tidy up the kitchen, bring any clothes on the main floor up to the bedroom, and put away the clean laundry.

TEN O’CLOCK

10:00| I’m a PR Manager with Canadian Beauty Bloggers network (say hi #BBloggersCA!), so at this time I check the inbox and reply to any e-mails that may come in during the day. After the tasks are done for the CBB’ers I continue working on spiffykerms blog posts and/or responding to comments / tweets / Instagram comments, and checking my own two e-mail accounts.

10:40| Take Alfie out for a lil’ piddle. I either make myself a mid-morning tea (always tetley), or fill up a glass of water. Trying my hardest not to consume caffeine every day. I now order decaf lattes at coffee shops, and going on 6 days without that buzz! Ha. Funny how you can get addicted, and I only started drinking coffee beverages 2~3 years ago.

ELEVEN O’CLOCK – NOON

11:00 – 12:30| If I’m not out with a friend for coffee/brunch or hanging with a pal, I’m usually writing blog posts at this time. I don’t write blog posts every day, if you’ve noticed I backed off from 5 posts a week, to 3. However, lately I’ve been blogging less — eep I want to get back to blogging regularly again. I find it’s easier to manage, as I am more careful with how I articulate things on my blog. I make sure the meta/keywords/SEO on the particular blog post is up to par.I change my top, in exchange for one that isn’t covered in pet hair, put on my Forever 21 corduroy jacket and head out the door. This day I was writing this exact post at my friend Elisabeth’s house on my Lenovo Yoga Book. I’ve been using my Lenovo for blogging on-the-go lately and I love how portable and light it is, it’s so handy to have and just shove in your purse!

12:45|  I head back home and stop by Trader Joe’s to grab a salad and run any other errands I need to do (groceries, Daiso items: dish sponges, etc).

ONE O’CLOCK – THREE O’CLOCK 

1:20| If I’m not writing another blog post, I’d probably be taking photos/flatlays for my Instagram, especially during this time when the lighting is perfect at my flatlay-taking-spot in our house. Sometimes this can take hours if I’m in the mood to stylize many products. It’s one of my favourite things to do lately. You might’ve noticed I cut back on how many blogs I post a week over the past few months. That’s intentional as I’m trying to focus more on quality content, narrowing in on my niche, and providing better value for my blog readers

2:00| There’s a 4.5 hour time difference between my Mom and I, and I talk to her pretty regularly on FaceTime. This is when I ring her up and hope she picks up for a chat to discuss what’s going on back home in Newfoundland.

THREE O’CLOCK

3:00| Dreading the inevitable late afternoon crash I try and get as much done in the morning as possible. Like most, around 3:00pm is when I hit my slump so if I’m on the computer I walk away, make myself a snack, then check the mail and take Alfie for another piddle. My UPS guy usually comes around this time, so I’m often opening up PR parcels on Snapchat lol.

3:45| Pop back on the computer, check Instagram and reply to some comments, and check into YouTube to see if anyone posted any new videos (I’m addicted!) and watch one or two.

FOUR O’CLOCK

4:15| I’ve been turning off my computer and putting my phone on airplane mode for an hour a day, just to unwind and decompress. This is the time I’ll take Alfie out for a super long walk or if it’s raining I’ll literally get out those adult colouring books and giv’er, it’s surprisingly relaxing.

FIVE O’CLOCK

5:15| Sometimes my neighbour texts me for a walk with Alfie and her pup Nelly (and baby in tow!). Alfie’s girlfriend, Nelly? Alfie hates her… hahahahaah I’m serious too. It’s unfortunate situation really but seeing them two loud-mouth dogs together make me laugh.

SIX O’CLOCK - TEN O’CLOCK

6:15| I’ll unload the dishwasher and start preppin’ supper for us. One of the easiest recipes I make us is my “Fish Friday” meal which… I tend to serve on you guessed it… Thursdays. Just kidding. I really do make fish basically every Friday and I love it. I purchase boneless skinless salmon from Trader Joe’s and it’ll make 4 meals (two lunches for me when I save the left overs). All I do is plop’er on a sheet of parchment paper, coat both sides in a mixture of honey mustard, and yellow mustard. Boil a pot for basmati rice, and halfway through everything cooking I also lay out some broccolini (so much better tasting than reg. brocc), with salt/pepper/olive oil drizzle and boom, a tasty meal. Carb heavy yes, but sometimes I make it with the crunchy brown rice that Trader Joe’s sells… equally as nice.

6:35| Alfie gets pretty active around the time my husband gets home, so I’ll play fetch with one of his favourite toys :)

7:00 – 10:00| It varies of when I start my nightly routine. I’ve been removing my makeup with some Trader Joe’s micellar water makeup wipes, and washing with my ol’ faithful Purity by Philosophy cleanser. Then following up with my two aveda moisturizers that I reviewed a while back. They’re sooo good, and I’m using them so so so sparingly. Not too often, but 1-2x a week I’ll do a longer nightly routine with my skincare. This is when I whip out the Pixi beauty products with glycolic acid (both the serum and the glow tonic have it). When I do that, and pair my aveda moisturizer on top? Boom, unreal skin the next morning. I should do it every night, but I don’t want to… lol.

10:20| When I head to bed, I end the day the same way I start it, on my phone — a habit I should probably break but it’s the reality. And that’s it! A day in the life of me. One of the best parts of being a blogger is that no two days are the same, so it rarely feels stagnant. I spent this entire day writing down what my day looked like, but it will be completely different tomorrow I’m sure! I put in a lot of hours into this blog and social media to support our household (which I’m sure makes the tiniest dent… ha!).

I hope you enjoyed this detailed peek into my daily life!

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Disclaimer: Products shown in this post were sent for review, I was not paid or sponsored in any way for this post.

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Co-workers reading your blog?

Are you nervous about friends or co-workers reading your blog? May I ask why? I have to be honest. I’ve been there, and I know how awkward it can be. Now, I give my website out freely to people, when it comes up in conversation. Slowly but surely a lot of offline friends and family are finding out my blog. Which is great!

That doesn’t mean that I’m comfortable giving my blog out to every single one of my friends and co-workers. My website is not even listed on my Facebook page. Some people are just better off not knowing. It’s just now I’m less nervous giving it out. Make sense?

I started blogging for realz back in 2002-ish (archives only go back to 2004!), and I told a handful of friends. I wasn’t very smart when blogging back then, because I told personal stories, complained and I swore, which I think is so ugly on blogs. Basically, I used it as a public diary.

Slowly but surely I turned around my blog and I’m careful of what I put out there now.

Tips for blogging:

1. Don’t blog when you’re angry. You’ll regret it and probably hurt people’s feelings. I’d suggest writing it out, saving your draft and if you really want to publish it, wait a couple of weeks. Tweak the blog post and make sure there isn’t anything in there to harm someone. That doesn’t meant to say you shouldn’t vent on your blog. Because, we’ve all done it. So have I! Just do it tastefully.

2. I’d suggest not blogging about work too much. The photos I’ve published on my blog from work include the girls who already know and enjoy my blog. I love it when they get excited that they’ve been “featured”. haha! Makes me feel famous. The last time I blogged about work was showing how much fun we had with the Breast Cancer Awareness Day.

3. Don’t ever blog at work. It’ll just get you fired. At least, I would think so! If you must, do it during a lunch break. I usually blog in the evenings, and don’t publish the blog post until morning. My posts go live between 7-9am EST. My “fast” (it’s from ’05) desktop PC is currently on its way to the grave… but I’m slowly saving up money to get a ton of brand new parts to make it shiny and new again. For now, I’m blogging on my 2005 laptop, which likes to overheat. It can get pretty frustrating ;)

6 of the 35 people I work with, know about my blog. Most of them found out through me giving them the URL. However, some have found it on their own. It can be awkward for them to come up to you when you haven’t seen them in a while and already know a ton about your last week, or what you’ve been up to lately. But you know what? I don’t mind people reading my blog, and what I’ve been posting online at all, because that’s who I am. It also creates conversation when you haven’t seen that person in a while. I like it.

I’ve always been brought up to the phrase: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Which applies to my blog. My parents reads my blog. It’s why I cleaned up my act with blogging the past 5 years. It’s not that I’m not ‘real’. I just don’t air my dirty laundry online or for anyone public to see.

My site is a place for people to come and see what I’ve been up to lately. Or find out about new products, or even just scroll through the photos if you’re not in the reading mood that day.

How many offline friends/family/co-workers know about your blog?

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