Today’s post is all about juggling! Well… not in the literal sense, although that definitely sounds more fun.
Most of you will know if you watch my YouTube channel or follow me on Instagram that I have a full-time job outside of my little social media bubble. Since I started full-time work almost 2 years ago, I’ve had questions about how I juggle everything as I also have had exams in that time too! So, I thought I would share some tips that may help anyone in a similar situation, who’s having to juggle multiple commitments and that may be struggling. These tips will also work well if you generally just want to get better at managing your time.
The video above is a link to my YouTube video, where I go through my tips. For a written breakdown, continue reading!
—
It’s taken me about a year to really find a pattern that works for me and that I’m comfortable with. I honestly think to find the perfect balance for you, it takes a bit of trial and error as everyone works differently and has different patterns. For me, I figured that I work more effectively if I just plan a week at a time. I used to try and plan out the following day the night before, but I ended up overwhelming myself with tasks because I wasn’t looking at the week as a whole.
By looking at a week entirely, I’m better able to plan and spread out tasks across the days. I’ve found myself a lot more productive when I do this because I know what to expect each day and have a limited amount of tasks to tick off.
In terms of a daily schedule, I’m not great at sticking to those. Every time I’ve tried to do that, it’s just not worked out. My full-time job can be very demanding at times, sometimes leading me to finish late in the evening. For that reason, it’s hard to plan tasks and stick to them, particularly during the weekdays.
It generally works better for me to not schedule any ‘social media work’ in during the week. But it’s very dependent on my workload at the time. Some weeks I may just dedicate my full time on the weekend to social media and not spend any time on this during the week. One task I make sure to complete on weekends is to schedule my Instagram posts/YouTube videos and organise these in advance of the following week. This way, I am able to put out content when I’m not necessarily available during the week.
Even on the weekends, I don’t stick to a rigid plan as I’ve found that going with the flow a little bit works the best in my situation. That’s not to say you shouldn’t be planning content and keeping a log of everything you want to upload. I definitely plan a lot and am constantly brainstorming ideas.
I always keep in mind that social media isn’t my job, it’s just a hobby. This allows me to stop putting unnecessary pressure on myself to get things done and lead to burnout. I already have a full-time job which is very demanding at times, so it’s important I don’t view YouTube as a job too, otherwise, it gets very stressful.
If you’re trying to make a career on social media, it’s important to recognise how fast the space changes. There’s always different apps and trends and new people entering the market. For that reason, you need to keep your head screwed on and not get caught up in your own struggles. It’s a demanding industry to be a part of and one that constantly requires you to grow with it and change your style.
Personally, I started my social media journey out of boredom as a uni student and it turned into something more. I’m still very small and learning all the time, but I will never take for granted the people that support me today and have done so for a while.
Hopefully, you found some of those tips helps. If you have any you’d like to share or have a favourite, please let me know!
