Ever wonder what the heck I do all day? Or what a full time bloggers daily life looks like? Well I’m breaking down a typical office day for myself and sharing some details on how I run Louella Reese + some favorite items I use daily.
Happy Friday y’all! Praise it is almost the weekend! With the craziness that was this past week (events Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evening) this gal is ready for the weekend. I’m headed somewhere fun (with cooler temps) for the weekend, so be sure to follow along via Instagram. What are you up to this weekend? Comment below and share or DM on Instagram and let’s chat, I would love to hear.
On to today’s post, I’ve gotten a few questions about what a typical day looks like for me. So I thought I would share a break down of how a day in the office goes for me. Obviously, some days are different than others. Like this week, it was bananas! As mentioned above, I had events Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings. Which meant I had to end office time early, get ready for the events, attend, and then come home and work another hour or two to catch up. Both Tuesday and Thursday I was working until 10pm.
But anyways, you may also be wondering why I have blogger in quotation marks in the title of this post. Did you notice that? The reason behind that is, yes I am a blogger but bigger picture, I am a small business owner. Louella Reese is an LLC, I am the sole proprietor and A LOT goes into owning and running a small business. You have to keep intense track of your income and expenses, save money each month to pay taxes (either quarterly or at the end of the year and y’all small business owners have to pay a very high tax rate), pay yourself and make sure it aligns well with that you are making + what you need to save, and lots of other not so fun money stuff.
Additionally, you are 100% in charge of your own income. Meaning YOU have to come up with the money. YOU have to find the collaborations aka pitch your little heart out! Which takes a lot of time and to be 100% honest is extremely stressful. I can’t count on a my monthly pay check being the exact same every month with me doing the exact same thing every single month. Collaborations and partnerships are different monthly (heck weekly, daily) so there is a lot of work that goes on, being the scenes to secure partnerships and collaborations to come up with my paycheck. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love this and I think the constant change is what keeps me entertained and excited. Also, I 100% love and adore every single brand I work with (minus maybe one or two that left a bad taste in my mouth following the partnership) so I am thrilled to work with them and share them with you! I just wanted to share it isn’t all rainbow and butterflies on the back end.
PHOTOS BY KRISTEN BISHOP DAY
But, what you really came here for today haha a break down of what a typical day in the office looks like for me…
6:30-7:30am: Wake up, and read my morning devotional (currently reading). I absolutely love this time to myself, focusing on my faith and slowly getting started with the day.
7:30-8:00am: Click the power button on my computer and head downstairs for my liquids. What I mean by that is a full water bottle (legit obsessed with this cute one} and a hot cup of tea. Normally, I reach for organic green tea but as of late I’ve been drinking a detox tea my mom recommended. I also use this time to catch up on Instagram. Commenting and liking a few photos while also commenting back to everyone that wrote on my post from the previous night.
8:00am: Sit down at my desk and get started! I start the day by pinning my blog post that went live at 6am (I post Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday) and sharing it across all social media accounts. Next, I read and comment on 8-15 of my favorite blogs. After that, I work on pinning content for my Virtual Assisting clients. Now it is onto sending and answering emails! I have such a tumultuous relationship with my email inbox. If like me you ever feel overloaded with emails, then Mailchimp seems to be the solution everyone is talking about. A lot of my friends use email marketing as a a way of helping their businesses reach more potential customers. If you’ve got more questions take a look at this handy post which includes everything from Mailchimp pricing to social media optimisation.
10:00am: Back downstairs to make a new cup of tea and grab breakfast. Yes, I eat breakfast late (drives Joshua bananas). I started intermittent fasting earlier this year and try to only eat during 10 hours of the day. So I typically fast from 8pm to 10am. Personally, I love it and am not even hungry sometimes when 10am rolls around. (I can share more about this if y’all are interested in an additional post, let me know). Find out what my go to breakfast choices are in the post, what I eat during the week.
10:15am: I bring my breakfast back upstairs and eat while continuing to work. If I have completed responding to all of my emails then I focus on blog content for the next few hours. That means planning out my editorial calendar, brainstorming content for the next few weeks, working on specific blog posts, responding to blog comments, and linking products.
1:00pm: Break for the gym! I was doing the BBG program (loved it) but have put a pause on that. Right now I’m currently doing a program created by one of my high school girl friends called the #JGoGetLifted program. It is an eight week training program that focuses on gaining muscle, losing fat, and finding your strength.
2:00pm: Eat lunch and catch up on Instagram. I usually spend about 30-45 minutes responding to comments on my posts and then liking + commenting on other bloggers photos.
3:00pm: Back to office! I either get back to working on blog content or have meetings. I love to schedule meetings for the later part of the day so I can get as much work done in the morning as possible. Typically, those meetings run from 2:30 or 3:00 until 3:30 or 4:30pm. I also try to schedule meetings towards the later part of the week if possible. Aiming for Wednesday-Friday. Again, that way I can get as much in office work done as possible!
4:30pm: Respond to additional emails I’ve received throughout the day. Finish up any blog posts for the week or following week that need any additional written content or products linked.
6:00pm: Call it a day!
7:00pm: Eat dinner with Joshua!
Between 8:00 and 9:00pm: Add an Instagram photo and engage for the next hour or so.
10:00pm: BED!
There you have it, a general idea of what my everyday work week life looks like. Hope this answers some of your questions! If you have additional questions or I missed something, feel free to comment below or DM me via Instagram! Happy almost weekend y’all!
I’m like you, and like to get as much computer work as I can knocked out in the beginning of the day and meetings in the afternoon!
-Morgan
How 2 Wear It [] http://how2wearit.com
Yes!!! It helps so much!
xo Laura Leigh
Loved this! You are one busy lady! xo
Thanks lady!!! Yes, life is crazy but I love every second of it!
xo Laura Leigh
Loved getting a peek into your day! I totally agree – those morning hours are the most productive for really cranking through office work.
Also, yes, definitely do a post on intermittent fasting. I had heard the term, but assumed it involved fasting during the day – your schedule makes it seem much less intimidating!
Aw thank you Heather! Yes, morning hours are the best for getting things done.
Okay, awesome. Good to know that is of interest. I have really loved it so happy to chat about it!
xo Laura Leigh
Loved that you shared this! Your day to day sounds very similar to mine!
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
Thank you Rach! So glad you enjoyed it!
xo Laura Leigh
Yes! I loved this post! I’ve got to work on being more structured throughout the day on my tasks! When I am, I’m much more productive! I loved getting a little peek into your day!!
xo!
Katie
http://www.pearlsandtwirls.net
Yay! Thank you so much gal. I really appreciate it! Yes, structuring your day and making to do lists is so helpful. I couldn’t function if I didn’t do both.
xo Laura Leigh
This looks super similar to my days! I love to get my computer work completed in the morning as well. The one exception being that I work out right away in the morning – it’s what sets me up for my day!
xx Mollie
Totally get that! That use to be me as well and for some reason when I started working at home the afternoon workout sessions started.
xo Laura Leigh
Loved getting this peek into how you organize your days!
Ashlee | http://www.cobaltchronicles.com
Thank you so much Ashlee!!
xo Laura Leigh
Love getting a glimpse into other people’s schedules. Mines fairly similar (also doing intermittent fasting and try to eat at 12 which is HARD). I also end up working way too late. I blame this on being single and in my house by myself. It’s all too easy to grab the computer after dinner, sit on the couch and do some work. If I do that, it’s usually the mindless stuff like scheduling out some tweets, or pinning, etc. Blog posts NEVER get written on the couch or emails ha!
PS loves these photos!!
xo Jessica
My Style Vita
Right there with you! Oh wow, that is really hard. I don’t think I could wait until 12 to eat. Definitely get working on the couch into the night. I do that a lot when my husband is gone. It is definitely hard to not do and a hard habit to break. Agree, mindless stuff is what has to be done during those hours haha.
xo Laura Leigh
This is great!! I’m not yet a full time blogger so I love hearing how you schedule your time for work! Great post girl!
Thank you gal, so glad you enjoyed it!
xo Laura Leigh
I don’t have a set time for each thing that I do, but my days are very similar to yours.
Nice!
xo Laura Leigh
You wake up pretty early, its nice to see that you read a devotional in the morning! I love doing that or just spending the time in Gods word! Lovely post, thanks for sharing 🙂
http://innapishtoy.com
I try to! And the husband wakes up very early (like 5 or 5:30am) so I usually can only get back to sleep for a bit. Love that you do that as well gal!
xo Laura Leigh
Seriously loved getting a gldimpse into your day! You work so hard every day, but I love that you manage to get a work out in during lunch!
The Champagne Edit
Thanks Dana! So glad you enjoyed it! And yes, it is needed to keep me sane haha.
xo Laura Leigh
Your days sound almost identical to mine, except I always seem to be busiest from Monday-Wednesday. It seems the events or campaign deadlines always fall on those days, and my shooting day is typically Tuesday, so the beginning of my week is INSANE haha! But at least during the latter portion of the week I’m able to catch up on all the other things! Lots of pinning and pitch emailing and content planning!
Oh goodness! That does sound like craziness. But yes, getting that stuff done at the beginning of the week is SO nice!
xo Laura Leigh
I ‘m currently struggling with getting up that early! I teach at a college part-time and blog/freelance part-time and I have such a hard time getting my schedule together. I love how you break up your day with workouts.
-xo, Azanique | http://www.lotsofsass.com
It can definitely be hard to get in the routine of that! Dana of The Champagne Edit did a post on becoming a morning person, highly recommend it if you’re trying to switch things up. Thanks gal!
xo Laura Leigh
Loved getting a glimpse into how you spend your day!
https://asequinloveaffair.com
Aw thank you! So glad you enjoyed the post!
xo Laura Leigh
I need to create a schedule and stick to it. I’m all over the place throughout my day. You’re so organized.
Aw thank gal! I really try and truly could not recommend it more!
xo Laura Leigh
I love these posts and being able to see a little bit behind the scenes! I need to start forcing myself to get up that early!!
Yay!! Thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. Getting up early definitely isn’t easy at the beginning but after awhile you get use to it!
xo Laura Leigh
These pics are too cute!! And I can’t believe you get up that early! If I worked from home, that would take so much motivation- love learning more about your day 🙂
Aw thank you Kristina!! Definitely wasn’t easy at first but made myself stick to it and now it happens with ease. Glad you enjoyed the post!
xo Laura Leigh
It is so important to have a structured day when you work for yourself from home. Otherwise it could devolve into PJs in bed very quickly!
xo Jessica
http://www.whatsfordinneresq.com
I could not agree with you more!!
xo Laura Leigh