There seems to be a myth surrounding the life of bloggers that prompt about a hundred questions. Do they really have that many shoots? Do they really wear those outfits on a normal day? What do they look like without makeup? (Or is that just my question?) Do they spend the entire day just taking photos of themselves and Instagramming their food?
Here are some things that you may find interesting. It’s easy to spot a blogger at a restaurant because those gorgeous meal photos don’t take themselves. We stand, we re-arrange plates and we forbid people to touch anything until we’re happy with our photos never mind how hungry people are. Yes, those outfits, believe it or not, are worn on a normal basis. Overdressing is pretty rampant. There’s an event essentially every day, sometimes there are three events you have to attend in a day. All of us slightly panic when there’s rain or when sunset is looming and we still haven’t had a single decent shot. Our minds (or just mine) are constantly on the lookout for shootable locations: walls, backgrounds, Instagrammable nooks.
While there are distinctive and deeply ingrained habits that mark me as a blogger, I am not a full-time blogger. So no, I’m not constantly being made up by professional make up artists and I don’t spend my days on set. I don’t get to shoot outfits as much as want to, actually. But, yes, that kind of full-time blogger lifestyle is pretty normal both locally and internationally.
My schedule is actually very flexible and I don’t usually go out everyday. I work as a social media manager of a certain fashion school which involves handling the social media accounts, creating campaigns, tracking numbers and more and up until recently had another job at an e-commerce site as a managing editor, also working mobile. The beautiful thing about my job is that I don’t really have to report to the office constantly. Deliverables and day to day tasks can be done from anywhere. Plus, writing articles and creating content kind of requires digging for inspiration and translating that into cohesive sentences and I really don’t like being bothered when I write. So when I do go out, on the average 3-4 times a week, they’re usually just for short periods of time, either for an event or a meeting.
I wanted to show you, via my new Sunday Paper Today planner, what a day in my life is like – no pretenses. I chose a day I actually stepped out of the house for both personal and work reasons.
Work-life balance is very important to me. So I really do try to balance both stressful activities with fun ones like lunches with friends or, for the past month, any excuse to do Christmas errands. My work related activities on this day included finishing posts, drafting and shooting, and a quick pull out in Megamall. Fun ones were catch up late lunches and Christmas shopping. A normal day for work entails scrolling social media for news, updates and shareable posts, creating content & scheduling them and then reviewing numbers and cramming by the end of the week and month. Personal errands usually involve “cleaning my room” which is a constant fixture in planners, meeting friends, buying random stuff (like salami and bras), and other appointments.
If you want more day in the life photos, let me know, and I’ll try to give you more peeks via Instagram and Twitter. For now, see it through the pages of my new favorite Sunday Paper, Co. planner, one you might want to invest in. Any reminder to put your personal agenda alongside that of work is a plus in my (metaphorical) book. No need to feel guilty inserting your coffee date and shopping schedule at the bottom of the page. Prioritize yourself.
Plus, it’s cute.
Planner, Php 250, available via Sunday Paper, Co.