Motel skirt, Primark polo neck, Topshop tights, leather brogues via eBay, Primark belt assorted rings
Rather fittingly for today’s Blog Issue, these photos are professional shots taken for an article in a trade magazine about that thing I like to call ‘my day job’.
Like most bloggers, I work 9-5.30 (and very often outside those hours too). I went to uni, studied hard to get my degree, did unpaid work, got my first proper job and was already on the second rung of that clichéd ladder by the time I started writing about clothes and thrifting and stuff. As my blog started to grow, my career took off too and I found myself forced to consider what comes first… the career or the blog?
I’m a pretty ambitious person and I have that desire to succeed in everything I do. I’m not about the half-hearted. I believe if you want something you have to make it happen, and making something happen means dedicating yourself to it. Giving it 100%. The whole hog. Everything you’ve got. So what happens if there are two passions vying for your attention? Can you be successful at both, even if you can only physically give 50% to each?
I often find myself making choices. I choose to give up my Sundays so I can write blog posts, catch up with my community and answer my emails. I choose to get up earlier than necessarily so I can troop outside at 7.30am, tripod under arm, to take my daily photos. I choose to dedicate lunchbreaks to research and content planning. But I also choose to not post some days. I choose to take a blog break when I’m working to a client deadline. I choose to sleep, rather than write, after a 12 hour day (of writing).
I hope that one day, blogging will be synonymous with my career. But until I get there, I’ll continue to stretch myself. I’ll keep making choices and hopefully, both will flourish. It’ll be hard work but that’s okay, because hard work always pays. Didn’t your mother ever tell you that?
Do you find yourself forced to choose between your blog and your job? Is it a hard choice to make? How do you split your time between the two?
