Outfit is from THIS post.

Today’s post is one that I get asked to write all of the time. I’m answering the most frequently asked questions I get like “do you even go to work?”, “do you have a whole team helping you?”, “how do you have time to do everything?”, etc! In addition to answering those questions I am going to shed some light on how I juggle working full-time, blogging, and you know all the other less fun but necessary things like grocery shopping and feeding my dogs.

MACRO LEVEL PLANNING

Now, let’s start out with a macro level overview of how I approach each week/day. So generally speaking I try to post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday so I know that unless I pre-write all of my posts over the weekend that I will be doing it on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights. Usually I can plan around it and still have time in the week for taking my own photos and also photographing other bloggers for Studio Magnolia, oh and spending time with friends/Zachary.

So I try to accomplish content creation and ideation over the weekend then decide which days I will work and which days I will relax. I found that I do best when I get a few good night sleeps every week. I cannot function on less than 7 hours of sleep. Some nights I will stay up until 2AM and then wake up for work at 8AM. I do this usually 1-2 nights a week, but the other nights I will make sleep a priority and shut everything down by 10PM regardless of how much I really want to keep working.

I try to plan out as much as I can in advance, even if it’s just a week out, whether that be photo shoots, dinners, date nights, etc. There will obviously be things that come up last minute sometimes I can say yes if it’s on a night I don’t have to work on something but sometimes I have to turn people down. I try to keep a good balance though. I usually keep my real life and my job as a priority. I love blogging and I love producing content for you all to read, but I have to put my family and friends and my full-time job first. So sometimes I don’t get a blog post up because real life gets hectic and in my book that’s ok! I try to keep y’all in the loop on Instagram either in posts or stories of the day to day when I’m not posting on the blog.

MICRO LEVEL PLANNING

Content Creation

On a more micro level day to day I will occasionally wake up before work to write out blog posts or edit photos, but generally I’m more of a night person so I’m better off staying up late to finish it up. I plan out my content at the beginning of the week by writing out ideas in my planner. I keep a running list of post ideas in there too so if I ever need an idea I have pre-written ones there if I don’t have time to ideate. I have Zachary take multiple outfit photos at once so we will shoot 3-4 outfits in one day depending on the heat levels here. That way I have a lot of content ready to go and all that’s left is to write it.

Quality Time

Some weekends Zachary and I are traveling so we get to spend lots of time together, some weekends we’re doing stuff around the house together and some weekends we’re both going in different directions. I’m so lucky to have a partner that is so supportive and understanding of what I do. Some weeks we get to have date nights or watch movies together at the house, but sometimes our time together is me working on my laptop in the same room he’s watching a show and we chat while I work. I definitely try to shut down the electronics for us to spend time together a few times a week. We make a point to eat dinner sans phones too!

My Job

Last fall I switched fields and went from sports marketing to working for a digital content agency. While I LOVED working in sports it was very time consuming and didn’t leave much time to dedicate to my blog and photography. My new job is very flexible and just 9-5 which leaves plenty of time to work on my blog. Luckily my job is very accommodating when I have special events come up like the one with Lilly Pulitzer and SouthWest Airlines last week. But to answer your question, yes, I do indeed go to work Monday-Friday like most people!

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

1. Dry shampoo is your best friend.
2. When it comes down to it sometimes you have to choose between a night out with friends and working on a Friday night. If you want to be successful you should choose work because you have to put in the time and make sacrifices. BUT there’s an exception to every rule so give yourself a break sometimes because real life is important.
3. Communicate with the people in your life. If you can’t make it to dinner one night tell them when a good time is for you in the future.
4. You’re only human! It may seem like I have it all together and I’m getting so much accomplished, but behind the scenes I am staying up way too late some nights or on the contrary some nights you just have to say “F#%& IT!!” and go to bed at 10PM because you have a busy work week ahead.
5. You won’t be able to accomplish anything if you’re over tired so make sleep a priority.
6. Try to set a game plan ahead of time so you’re not scrambling.
7. Make your loved ones a priority!
8. Don’t bite off more than you can chew.
9. Get a planner!
10. Say no to things that don’t put you on a path to achieve your goals!
11. Have a few people close to you to use as a sounding board!

I think that’s all! If you have any more questions feel free to shoot me a message at thesaramagnolia@gmail.com. Also, one last question I got was how big the team behind SaraMagnolia.com is. Welp, it’s me doing emails, content, ideation, writing, editing…. Zachary is my Chief Photography Office (LOL!) much to his dismay. I use Zachary to read contracts too. I use my two best friends as my sounding board on ideas or opportunities I’m not sure I should take.

I hope this helps you in some way!