Blogging Tips

My Blogging Schedule | How Do I Keep On Top Of Everything With A Full Time Job

by katieemmabeauty

One of the most common comment, tweet, dm (insert another form of interaction here) I get is ‘how do you keep up with everything with a full time job?’. I’ve written a few tips and tricks posts over the years, and my number on tip is always ‘have a schedule’. But what does your schedule look like you may ask (or you may not, you may not care), so I thought I’d actually share what my blogging schedule actually looks like!

Read More: Blogging | How I Manage It With A Full Time Job

Why I Keep A Schedule?

So, not only do I work a full time, 42 hour week. But also, I live in the UK and we have the most unpredictable and dark weather. Which means I have to batch take photos and content, and then release that content slowly over the week or two after. So, when you consider this content is over Instagram, my blog, Instagram & everywhere else, it can get a little overwhelming and I can forget why I’ve taken a photo of a group of seemingly unreleated products! Or, on instagram, accidentally have 3 skincare posts in a row!

Follower Count

I’m a stats driven person. My day job is primarily digital marketing and sales, and so I spend a large chunk of my day looking at and taking in numbers. And, while I know numbers aren’t everything, it’s really how I keep track of things and can track whether the time and effort I’m putting into various platforms are working. And so I track my WordPress, Bloglovin’, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Newsletter, Pinterest, TikTok (ha!) and YouTube follower counts on a week by week basis.

This doesn’t necessarily help me plan my blog content, but it’s just something I have to do to give myself the drive I need to keep going.

Blogging Schedule

It’s worth noting, this is set up on an Excel spreadsheet on multiple tabs. And the second tab is potentially the most important; the blogging schedule (I have my 2021 schedule on the second tab, and the 2020 archived schedule at the end). On this tab I keep track of my blog posts, Instagram posts and Youtube videos. It’s worth noting I don’t track Twitter or Facebook here, as there’s no original photos taken for these platforms, and Pinterest is a little more haphazard!

Hopefully you can see roughly how this tab is laid out. You have days of the week on the left, then a section for blog posts (split out as blog post title, a ‘yes’ option for whether I’ve taken the photo, a ‘yes’ option for whether I’ve written it, a ‘yes’ option for whether I’ve published it, and a ‘yes’ option for whether I’ve promoted it on Twitter/FB), a section for Instagram (the image content column and then whether I’ve taken the photo) and a YouTube section (title of video, whether I’ve recorded it, whether I’ve edited it, and whether I’ve uploaded it with thumbnail and description box).

It’s in this section I preplan my content, I often have blog posts pencilled in for around 4 months in advance (although I tend to only write them to week before) and I’ll plot in ideas as I have them throughout the year too – for example I’ve already pencilled in a few Christmas ideas! Yes… Christmas!

This plan has really revolutionised the way I manage and keep on top of my blog and its content! It means I can know that everything is written down and in one place, and so therefore use the brain space that frees up to really write and enjoy promoting my content!

Blog Post Health Check

This is a slightly personal tab just for me, and may not be relevant to some of you. But I have had my blog now on and off for 6 years. And so some of my older content especially is a little bit…. interesting. And, so I am currently going through the process of updating ALL of my old blog posts. So, here is just where I keep track of every single blog post I’ve written, a link to it, and whether I’ve updated it (I’m currently marking the date I updated it on, so I know in a years time or more, that I may need to go through and update them again).

Read More: 7 Ways To Update An Old Blog Post

Newsletters

I have a newsletter! It’s something I started about 2 months ago now, but haven’t really been investing time in until the last few weeks. So this is a really simple tab with date, newsletter subject, and then whether I’ve written it and whether I’ve sent it. It’s also a little, nice reminder that I need to actually send them!

PR Samples

I am so lucky and so grateful to be sent PR, and I’m starting to get a fair amount of it through my Instagram. But some of these pieces come with certain attachments (Octoly… I see you) and some don’t. Also, with current guidelines, you have to explicitly say when a product has been gifted to you, so I also make note of them just so in a few years time if I’m still loving an eyeshadow palette that was gifted to me, I can reference as such. So this tab has columns for brand, product, contact (email address/platform I received product from), receiving date, posting date (i.e. when the post about that product is going out if it needs to), and then a notes section where I’ll mention if it’s embargoed or has certain rules attached to the post. I then grey it out when I’ve done what I promised to do, or if there’s no obligation when I’ve received it safely.

The Random Tab

I mean this is called ‘Photos to take’ but realistically I just write stuff here. I use this much as you would probably use a notebook. I scribble ideas (if I have no date to post them on), make lists, I also note here bloggers I’ve discovered and fallen in love with so I can refer back to it when I write my 5 bloggers I’m loving posts, and just lots of other stuff. It’s just handy to have a random tab.

And there you have it. My slightly OTT, but 100% needed, blogging schedule. I’m totally not saying you have to have a schedule quite as indepth as this. But it is my BIGGEST tip (alongside batch taking photos) when it comes to juggling an active blog alongside a full time job. So I hope I gave you some good inspo and tips to creating your own blogging schedule! Be it on an excel spreadsheet like me, or in a notebook, or on a calendar… or on your phone!

Do you keep a blogging schedule?

Katie x

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68 thoughts on “My Blogging Schedule | How Do I Keep On Top Of Everything With A Full Time Job”

  4. LOVE this post – it speaks to me so much as I’m also a big planner. Love how much detail you’ve gone into and how planning helps balance your full time job coupled with your blogging. Thanks for sharing this post.
    Simply Alex Jean
    https://simplyalexjean.com/

    Reply

  8. I love the detail you went into here & how organised you are! I’m a little less organised! Haha. I used to be & I found it ground me down slightly & I was posting to stick to the schedule rather than because I wanted to. That’s just me though. I do give myself a weekly ‘big task’ to do, but apart from that I’m pretty go with the flow. I’m definitely going to add updating old blog posts onto the list though! That’s 100% something I need to do.

    Claire.X
    http://www.clairemac.co.uk

    Reply

    1. That’s totally fair! My only issue is, if I went with the flow I get overwhelmed and just stop! It’s how I am across my blog, life and work… I have to have everything I need to do in one place! I’m so pleased the going with the flow is working for you though, that would be goals for me! x

      Reply

  10. New to blogging so I am happy to have found this!! really useful, thank you for sharing 🙂

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  11. This is amazing that you’re so organised and keep track of it all so well! 🙂

    I am definitely not that organised with blogging, haha! I blog when I can, and I have my posts scheduled so it seems like I blog regularly but some weeks I don’t even write a post! My blog is just a hobby though so I don’t follow stats or anything and I turn down most of the requests I get for PR or collabs.

    Hope that you had a great weekend!

    Reply

  13. Great organizational tips. You are very skilled. Really appreciated your tips. 😊

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  16. This schedule is amazing and so organised, you go girl!! I especially like your tab about old blog posts as I’m going through mine and rewriting/optimising x

    Reply

  18. I love how you are organised! I have a spreadsheet for finances and figures, I keep all my blog post ideas inside the WordPress editorial calendar plugin!

    I’ve given our Instagram a follow 🙂

    Corinne x

    Reply

  19. Wow this is so organised! I am terrible at planning and havng everything ready to go. I may have to take a leap out of your book and start a planner like this. Great that you highlighted older posts to update too…sometimes you forget about the older stuff you have posted, don’t you?

    Thansk for sharing 🙂
    Aimsy xoxo
    Aimsy’s Antics

    Reply

  20. loved this! i personally use google calendar to plan out my content for all platforms. idk what i would do without it. it keeps me sane. haha but i also have a planner i carry around with me where i write the same things down.

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  21. I’ve been trying to get more organised with my blog for a while now and this has given me some great ideas and inspiration, thank you!

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  22. Great post! I don’t think I have a strict schedule to follow for blogging because I still would depend on college etc. but I do aim to post two to three times a week. I’m prioritizing content now as a new blogger. I hope for the day I get my first PR too. Thank you for sharing your tips, learned a lot!

    http://www.lifebeginsattwenty.com

    Reply

  23. Your Excel file is so impressive! I actually use Airtable but it feels like I’m missing something. Maybe I’ll give Excel a try.

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  24. Wow, you’re so organised! I keep a spreadsheet to track growth each month, but your way of tracking whether you’ve promoted on social media etc sounds really helpful too. I’ll give it a go!

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  25. This is such organisation goals! 😍 I use a bullet journal to keep track of my scheduling but I also have a spreadsheet of all my posts and when they were last updated etc. I love a spreadsheet! 😂

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  27. I’m aware I was one of the million people who asked this question, and I am so happy to see you’re a fellow Excel organiser! We try our best, especially since Fred is back to work and Cristina and I share a lot of duties, plus I do work as well – fun days always! We might need to relook at what we do and how we do it (particularly the follower numbers!) as we track a lot about the website itself and not the rest! Thank you as usual for sharing, it was a great insight! x

    Reply

  28. No don’t have a schedule set. With the job you have 4 months of written posts wow! Yea you are always and really on time. No ahead of time. That excel thing really intrigued me. Thanks for sharing xxx
    Isa A. Blogger
    https://bit.ly/3wOfSuf

    Reply

  31. You seem to be well organized and prepped to post your blogs on schedule! Planning certainly comes handy and consistency is the key! That’s way to go! Thanks for sharing your schedule. Real inspiration!

    Reply
  33. Pingback: My Blogging Schedule | How Do I Keep On Top Of Everything With A Full Time Job – Like world

  34. I have something of the sort, but yours is truly top notch! Mine is a very simple excel with post ideas and dates when I plan to publish them (that I never end up following). I need to find a routine that works for me before investing time into planning, I think that’s way my plans have never worked.

    Reply

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