Blogging even if it is just for fun is a FULL TIME JOB. My friends think of it is as a hobby, if only they knew the amount of effort that goes into prepping the posts and everything else that follows after. Last year with work from home and switching jobs, I had time at my hand and didn’t think that blogging was that time consuming. But now while drowning in work, I literally feel guilty every time I click on the tab with my blog (it is perpetually open on my laptop). So for everyone that thinks blogging is just a fun activity, boy, is it not and here’s why –
- The writing – it takes time to research, it takes diligence, multiple checks to make sure everything is ‘grammatically’ correct. Add to that the research that goes into finding the right topic to write about! And the right mood and energy needed to write – *sigh*.
- Perfecting your blog – once you’re a few months into the blogging game, you want to perfect your posts with pretty images & graphics as well as how the post looks and feels. This actually takes up a lot of time.
- Linking posts, other blogs, products, affiliate links – 50% of my posts have links to either someone else’s post or product links or YouTube videos etc. As insignificant as this might seem, it does take time to find the right links and to make sure you’re linking it correctly.
- Replying to comments – I have fallen SO behind on replying to comments. It takes a lot of time to reply to all the comments you get on your posts. This is the only way to make sure people are engaging with your blog constantly.
- Marketing you blog – Even though I do not market my blog (I AM LAZY!) – it can be very time consuming to market it on various social media platforms.
- SEO – optimizing your post to get maximum views – who said getting views was easy?
- Finding time for your blogging family – reading their posts, supporting them – the bigger the family, the more time consuming it is.
- Reaching out to brands to work with – if you’re just starting off, you definitely need to spend time to reach out to brands that you like to get an opportunity to work with them. You need to create a media kit and keep it up to date as well. And if you do land a deal, working with the brand to make sure they approve your content can be time consuming.
- Updating/upgrading your blog – as you grow, you spend more time playing around with the look & feel of your blog to make it more appealing to followers as well as make it optimized for people searching for content that you post about.
- Thinking about your blog – the sheer amount of time I just spend thinking about my blog is A LOT. Thinking of what new to write about, what different to do, etc. – is time consuming too.
For everyone that thinks this is just a hobby for the weekends, it isn’t – it takes a lot of time, energy and love to keep your blog going! It definitely is a break from our day to day work but it is work too.
Do you find it hard to manage your work/studies and blogging? Let me know in the comments below how you manage your time. ❤
Leave a comment below to join my blog-fam! ❤
Checkout my other recent posts here –
- Things I Haven’t Been Liking About Myself This Year
- February 2023: Reads & Update
- Working Title
- Why Am I Scared?
- January 2023: Monthly Book Reads and Reviews
Connect with me outside the blogsphere –
Happy Panda 
Totally true dear… Blogging is not too easy task to do… Loads of thoughts, ideas ,efforts needed for finalizing a content on blog…
LikeLiked by 4 people
Yesss! It’s so much of effort and people who don’t blog usually don’t get it. 🙈
LikeLiked by 2 people
I feel your pain!
LikeLiked by 4 people
I’m glad I’m not the only one. 🙈
LikeLiked by 2 people
I agree. Yet you should try to make it easier every time. We should develop our way.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I understand what you mean. Ever since I came back to my hostel I haven’t had time to finish a book. And I haven’t been able to come up with any ideas to write a post. I had a lot of time in 2020 but now I can feel the time and effort I need to put in my blog.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I so get you! With drowning in work this year – I’m trying to do all my writing on Sunday evening and scheduling posts for 1-2 weeks in one go. And whenever I find it hard to think of a new topic – I stick to reviewing books. 😊 How is it being back in hostel?
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s been very busy actually. With 11 months of cleaning and everything, I haven’t had much time to myself. And a tiny bit homesick too. But not that bad as I had expected. The blogging has taken a backseat though.
LikeLike
OMG —I couldn’t agree more🙈🙈
Just the other day while I was doing all the things we do after writing the blog —my hand was aching from typing, selecting images to grammar correction, by the time I went to sleep I was exhausted.
I was saying to myself —I don’t even get paid for this🤣
LikeLiked by 2 people
Same! Everytime I take out time between work to write – I’m like hey, I’m not getting paid for this! But I love my blog and this blogsphere so much – it’s got me hooked.
LikeLiked by 1 person
True, I normally post either once a day or more but between the time I have to study and do common things like maybe writing or reading and also research for my blog. Thanks for the post Happy Panda 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
You have such a good blogging frequency. I could never post everyday. Kudos to you! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thankyou 🙂
LikeLike
A full time job for sure!!
I’m really struggling to balance school and blogging 😭😂
I never thought it would get to this but here we are.
LikeLiked by 2 people
And I only post once a week! Imagine those who post more often than that? My heart goes out to you 🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try to do 3 posts a week and it gets so exhausting sometimes especially when I’m out of ideas! 🙈 But I love it nonetheless.
LikeLike
Right On!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My blog is still pretty new (5 months old), and with my domain authority so low I barely get any organic traffic. I find I spend a lot of time trying to get my name out there and drive traffic by myself. It’s certainly time consuming running a blog.
Ang | https://loseweightwithang.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is very very time consuming! But I’m sure it’s worth our while. I’m hooked to your progress – waiting to read more! You’re really motivating me! ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww thanks!
LikeLike
I FEEL THIS! Especially spending all your time thinking about your blog!! It seems to be all that occupies my mind
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha samee! Everytime my brain has a minute free – I think about my blog.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So so so so accurate! It is basically a full time job and child! I find it very difficult to keep up to date with other bloggers’ content because work takes up the majority of my day. And planning, creating, correcting, adjusting and presenting content for the blog is very much a full time commitment! Loved this post ☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
True! There is so much of effort that goes into it but I love putting in that effort because like you said – it’s my baby. ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is so true – “…time, energy and love…” I love blogging, and I love connecting with other bloggers, but it does take time and energy, and sometimes it’s hard to get motivated. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, though. 🙂 Thank you for writing this!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right? It is A LOT of work but I don’t want to give up on it since I love this blog so much. ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
And I love reading it. 🙂
LikeLike
This is all so true!! But gosh, it sure is nice having a second full time without having a second full time boss 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
Omg! Hahaha!!! Your comment made me laugh so hard! Hell yeah – so glad to not have a second full time boss! 😂
LikeLike
All of this is so true. My best moment for blogging had been before I found my current job. I had the time to write almost every day and work on my craft. Now, that I’m working it’s a lot harder to focus solely on writing without something else popping up😓
LikeLiked by 1 person
IKR? Last year between switching jobs and starting new – I had time to dote on the blog but now I just feel like I’m drowning. 🙈 But I love my blog too much to give up on it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do hope it’ll become easier for you to balance your obligations so it isn’t always so overwhelming 🤞🏾
LikeLike
Sometimes I feel so stressed about posting 😭 and I’m lazy as well when it comes to SEO (I’m horrible, I know).
LikeLiked by 2 people
You’re not!!! But we should probably stop being THIS lazy 🙈
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true dear.👏👏👏
LikeLiked by 1 person
Every. Single. Word. True!! I read a post obsessively, probably over 15x before I post it (editing and re-editing and re-re-editing along the way)! And then after it goes live I reread it just to make sure I’m happy with it. My blog circle is not as big yet (crossing fingers) but I get what you mean about keeping up with everyone else’s! I’m always trying to discover great blogs so always on the hunt too! Great post!
LikeLiked by 2 people
IKR? And so many times after posting – I still keep finding mistakes or tweaks that I need to make. 🙈
I’m sure your blog circle will get bigger. It takes a lil effort to find blogs that you enjoy reading and bloggers that you enjoy interacting with. I’m still trying to find more like minded bloggers. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
So relatable. I remember, when I started that I played around with colors and different fonts and even pictures. Even now, for the thumbnails for my posts, it takes me at least one hour 😅.
Since school keeps me very busy, I also like to schedule blog posts a few weeks in advance. Plus having a calendar for my posts! ✨
Blogging is time consuming, but it’s fun and worth it! 🙂😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw this is relatable. It is literally so time consuming, and I know that if I spend a day away from my blog, I would regret it. However I do love blogging!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I KNOWWWW! *Monica style*
I keep thinking I’ll take a break but I keep itching to checkout the Blogsphere and my break ends in 2-3hrs. 🙈
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hmm for me it takes only a few hours per week. I go with the principle of “100 crappy words per day ” and I am sustaining
LikeLiked by 2 people
These are all so true, regardless of it being a hobby or proper job, it’s so time consuming!
LikeLiked by 2 people
So so time consuming! I write for fun and yet it takes forever to perfect the post.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Same! *sigh*
LikeLike
So true…! I don’t do half of the things you mentioned, but it still takes so much time! Even just replying to comments, checking on the “blogging family” and writing posts” + thinking about doing all of the above (which is actually the most time-consuming ahah) takes a lot of time! It’s okay to be behind sometimes, we all have our lives to sort out though 😊
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you
LikeLiked by 3 people
So true! Especially to think about a blog. But it’s worth it.
LikeLiked by 3 people
It is SO worth it! 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true and relatable 🙂
LikeLike
Though I am a hobby blogger it takes a lot of time to plan a blog post and I don’t do all the things above but few of them takes a lot of time but thinking about blogging really makes me happy. Great Post dear 🙂
LikeLike