A day in the life: working and blogging full time

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I had thought about doing A Day in the Life: working and blogging full-time for a long time. I wanted to share my passion with y’all and how I managed to do it all by being a Daycare Owner, Photographer & Blogger.

On the blog today, I am going to share A day in the life: working and blogging full time, what I do, and how I manage my work schedule on a typical day at being my own boss as a Daycare Owner, Photographer & Lifestyle Blogger.

My day starts at 5 am

Some days, my work day will end sooner. When I tell people my bed is calling me at 8:30, I am not lying! Lol The comments I get are, “How do you do it?” or “I could never do what you do!”. Honestly, some days are trying, but it comes with the job. But I always had a knack for getting kids to corporate and have a routine.

A full-time job as a Daycare Owner/Provider

Caring for children has always been something I enjoy. I have been in the daycare business for over 30 years and have owned my in-home daycare for 20+ years, and it has become my full-time day job. This was the best decision so that I could be home with my twin daughters and help care for my grandsons when needed.

Recently, I have scaled back to watching three children. Getting older, your patience tends to wear thin. So instead of losing my mind on a daily basis, I decided to cut back from six to three kids, which was the best decision for my sanity.

How I got started with an in-home daycare.

• I still love my job!

Before I had my own daycare, I used to work in a center for 8 years, and then I worked in an office for a few years to get computer experience. Once I got laid off from that office job, I then started helping a friend by watching her two kids. Before I knew it, I was a licensed daycare provider, and my house had toys everywhere on the floor for five days a week, and It was the best decision I had ever made for me & my family.

Even though there are tough days here & there, I still love my job. I love the children and the parents. I have met many people over the years and developed many wonderful friendships, and we still keep in touch. Of course, there will be a time when it will all come to an end, but at least I can say I had a very extraordinary & successful career.

• Will I do daycare forever?

Daycare has become my full-time income for over 20 years and has provided for my family very well. At some point, I will phase out with the kids as they start school, and I will either look for a new job or see where my blogging takes me. But, of course, photography will always be my side hustle.

Side hustle as a Photographer

If you have been following me for a while now, you would know that I have always had a passion for photography and documenting life as we know it. I have been photographing all things wonderful & beautiful.

It was love at first sight!

When my girls were toddlers, my husband bought my first medium format camera, a Pentax. I have been taking photos since I was a young girl with a point & shoot camera that my grandmother gave me. But, then when I started taking pictures with DSLR, it became second nature, and I fell in love with it; before I knew it, my career began in 2005 and is definitely become my dream job, and I have met many people over the years, and many clients have turned to friendships. 

Finally, I was getting out of the house to get some fresh air & some exercise & decided to document “Life” as we see it. 

As I walked around with my gear & just started taking photos of nature. It was satisfying to my soul, to say the least. I just kept taking pics til it made my heart content. But, finally, the best part was that I was getting back out there shooting again.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to be behind the lens again, and I missed it so much, and I loved every second of it & I was just so happy.

How did I get started with a photography business?

I was doing photography for free when I first started until I knew what I was doing. First, I had to learn how to work my camera’s settings and know what to do. As I got the hang of my camera, I started charging cheap, and I mean so cheap, that I didn’t make a profit. It took a few years before I found my editing style.

I spent a lot of time learning how to edit photos.

It took so much time that I would stay up late (even though I am not a night owl by any means) after I put my girls to bed to learn to edit. Once I found my style, I started charging more. I had referring clients, and then it became where I had to create a website and order business cards, and now I have repeat clients and new clients, making enough money to help with other expenses.

Dabbling into Graphic Design

I have always enjoyed art, so I was hooked when I learned how to create digital products like designing special occasion cards, creating logo designs, and designing my own business cards, and all my marketing material is designed by me. For the past couple of years, I have been creating one-of-a-kind Holiday cards for clients and my family.

You need a business plan when you start professionally!

I had to learn about all the backend of photography when I first started, meaning the taxes, licensing, and setting up an EIN# with the State and Insurance, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do for the first couple of years. But, learning from photography groups & fellow photographers was a big help. You may think little things needed to be taken care of, but I assure you it was not; the amount of work to figure out was a nightmare for me, but it all got accomplished, and I was so happy it was done!

Life of a Blogger

When this pandemic hit us in 2020, everything shut down, including going out, caring for the kids & photographing clients. It had been 3 months of not talking to people in the outside world & not picking up my camera.

Photography was my way of meeting people & getting in touch with my creative outlet. I needed something to do to fulfill that need.

Here is A day in the life: working and blogging full time would seem like a good idea, right? I figured this was another creative outlet for me to do. I love chatting about the things we have been doing in our home & some of the amazing finds on our antiquing & thrifting journey.

Getting into the blogging world is just what I needed!

Made some new friends!

When I started blogging about two & half years ago, I joined some blogging communities to meet other new bloggers like myself. It was so helpful to bounce ideas off and encourage each other. They are also great, providing so much value to blogging.

Starting my Blogging Journey

While everyone is still taking it slow to get back to normalcy, I started working on house projects, rearranging furniture, baking & thrifting/antiquing. I have more time on my hands now that my kids are grown. So, I decided to start blogging. One of them is creating my own blog content on home decor, thrifting & and recipes, etc.

I never realized you could make money blogging!

Setting up the blog was the first thing I had to do to allow me to add affiliate links to my site. This is a great way to make passive income. How amazing, right? Once I applied, I was so happy to be approved the next day. But, of course, you don’t make much money initially. It can take a while before seeing a good amount of blog income.

There is so much to learn.

Yes, there are things you have to know to work towards a successful blog. Basically, this is a full-time job and is a lot of hard work, but the good thing is it can be one of the best jobs as a professional blogger! i never thought that A day in the life: working and blogging full time would keep me busy. I spent a lot of my free time learning when I wasn’t working, trying to figure out how to create a website, and learning about affiliate marketing, content creation, google Adsense & keyword research, and many other things that go into blogging.

Create a to-do list

Creating a to-do list will help you stay organized & on top of things when creating blog posts. Another helpful thing I have found is scheduling your posts on content calendars for social media platforms. I try to do this for every new post I have done.

How do I manage to do it all? A day in the life: working and blogging full time as Daycare Owner/Provider, Photographer & Blogger?

Every day is a new day of tasks! I check my emails, calendar, and to-do lists early mornings before the daycare kids arrive. Sometimes I take photos for a blog post and edit and schedule content for my email list and social platforms. Of course, being a morning person does help with that 🙂 Some mornings, I do not have time, so I will add what needs to be done to my to-do list.

Time to tackle my to-do list

Once the kids are napping, I will revisit my list and continue to work on it from the morning. However, this also depends on my deadlines for custom graphic design work or if I have several shoots that need to be culled & edited. I will work in the evenings & weekends when I don’t have sessions.

Having a schedule

Creating my own schedule for the day helps me accomplish most of what needs to be done. However, some days, I don’t have the time or am not motivated to do anything. That’s when I just have to give myself grace. It’s the beauty of real life, right? At the end of the day, you do what you can do.

You have to be organized.

You must be organized when you run your own business and have a system that works for you. For example, I no longer have a home office because we needed that space for my youngest grandson when he spends time with us, and now, I have to be very organized & creative in how I keep my paperwork & files organized downstairs.

• There is always a lot of paperwork & filing taxes on time.

I am so grateful for my sister, who does all my bookkeeping, and I have an excellent accountant. The end of the year is a hectic time for me. Printing receipts, sending out tax letters to clients, filing the end-of-the-year taxes, and making sure everything is in order for my sister to complete the bookkeeping for my accountant.

This is what a regular work day looks like for me from Monday to Friday!

 5 am Wake up.

If I fall back to sleep, the 5:30-second alarm goes off! Get up, wash, dress & brush my teeth. Come downstairs; I get my coffee going in the percolator. Then I feed the cats and let our dog Brindle out. As I am waiting for my coffee to be done, I start on my devotions and say my prayers, then take a few minutes to journal my thoughts. Drinking my coffee as I go over my to-do list & calendar. I usually talk to my sister for a few minutes, then get a head start by checking my emails.

Now If I have time, I will hop on the computer & start scheduling posts on social media platforms. I find that the best time of the day is in the early mornings as I am having my coffee; I will type notes on my phone (notes app). It is quiet with no interruptions,

7 am Work Day Begins

Children start to arrive! Serve breakfast and plan activities for the morning. During this time, I will let the kids watch tv when arriving and eating breakfast. While the kids have free play, I will clean up the kitchen from breakfast. I do check emails periodically throughout the day on my phone.

11:15 am Clean up & Lunchtime

Getting the Kids to clean up & get washed up! When the kids are done cleaning up, they can watch a movie. this allows me to get lunch prepared & served by 12 pm.

Naptime & Computer Work

Once all the kids are asleep, I eat some lunch and start working on my list of what needs to be done for the household, blogging & photography. I will make phone calls, pay bills, respond to emails, edit, or do some blog work.

Getting it done

For the blog post, I have an idea of what I will be writing about and have been writing about over the course of several days or months, so I will take photos for that blog post on the weekends or after I am done with work. It may seem like a lot for such a small time frame, but I do get quite a bit done. Every single day, I have something that needs to be done. Not all these things are done at once, but I manage to get most of them done and space my to-do list throughout the week.

3:30 Naptime is over

Kids are up from a nap, potty/diaper changes & getting ready for a snack. Free play inside or out until parents arrive. I am writing up their daily report for the day during this time. Now on Fridays, I log tuitions that only take a few minutes.

5-6 pm Kids leave for the day

Once the kids leave, I clean up, sanitize & help my husband prepare dinner if he needs it. Then, we eat and watch our shows together.

8:30 pm Nighty Night

My bed is calling me! Lol 🙂 Get ready for bed and watch some tv until I dose off, which is about 9 pm.

There you have it, a regular day of what I do! Obviously, things can get changed up a bit depending on the kids. For example, I may have a kid who is having a rough day or doesn’t want to nap.

How do I accomplish my to-do list for A day in the life: working and blogging full time?

One of the best ways to accomplish my list is to do what I can during nap time, then allow some extra time to work a little bit more on my to-do list after work if need be. Once you get a system in place, everything will all come together. However, I try not to do anything past 6 pm unless I am behind. Family time is very important to me. There also have been times that I have had one of my daughters or hire one of my backups to help me so I can catch up on clients’ galleries or do some computer work.

Do what works for you!

With just that bit of a small time frame, I can get so much done. Most times, I can get a post written within two hours on one day, and then on another day, I schedule posts and newsletters in about a half hour to an hour. So the main goal is to figure out a schedule that works for your comfort zone. Last year, I started becoming serious about my blog by making sure I post at least twice a week. For the main reason, I will earn income by being consistent with my posts. 

Conclusion.

I had been thinking about doing posts on A day in the life for a long time. Talking about what is on my heart, and I want to share it with y’all! Honestly, I don’t know what to share about home decor, DIY & Thrifting & Antiquing. There are some days I have writer’s block, and I have no motivation to write, or I don’t know how to start a post. So I thought this would be a great way for y’all to get to know me a little more!

If you want to follow along on our home restoration/renovation plans and all of our exciting antique & thrift finds, be sure to check out Linen and Wildflowers on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest! And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to receive updates.