This week I watched an amusing video about working from home versus working in the office. The video made me laugh and I think many Mums especially bloggers and those of us trying to run a business from home whilst raising kids can relate. Today I thought I’d write a post on a day in the life of a blogger with chronic illness.
I used to work in an office environment some of the time when I was a teacher. We had one room for working, typing up reports, notes and completing portfolios. However most of the time we had to fit our paperwork around the constant monitoring and teaching of kids. It was a battle.
Then I became a Mother. I had learnt to juggle working around kids already and it was something I found I could do well. When Sylvia was a baby, I would set up a stimulating play area for her and then get to work on the computer. In her younger years I had an Ebay business and so my work was computer based.
I’d then take a break for lunch and we might go into town to take parcels to the post office, visit the park and my grandparents. I’d then go back to work in the evening once my daughter was asleep and I was doing well.
A Day In The Life Of A Blogger With Chronic Illness
Now as someone with Chronic illness I find it much more difficult. We have a strict routine. I get myself up at 6.30 every morning. I spend one hour doing blog work and then wake my child. We have breakfast together, Sylvia gets ready for school, we check her homework and she watches some cartoons.
My husband takes Sylvia to school and I go back to work unless or until I feel sick. Before I got my adrenal pump this was not possible. I could not stand in a morning let alone get breakfast so this is a huge change in our routine over the past 16 months.
When I begin to feel sick I power through and get the essential work done and then I go to bed to rest. If it’s a really bad day then I will have to stop completely but I try to check my social media and deal with emails a few times each day.
In the afternoon if I feel up to it, I go back to blog work. Sylvia comes home after school and my hubby takes her to any after school activities such as cross country or swimming whilst I work again.
I don’t go to these activities as I don’t have the time and it would take all my energy making me too unwell for dinner so John deals with the after school errands.
We then have a family meal and I spend an hour of quality time with Sylvia before the bedtime routine in the evening. Sometimes I do more with my daughter and sometimes I feel sick and might have to go to bed again. It all depends on how I feel.
In the evenings once my daughter is in bed, between 9 and 12 I work extra hard. I prepare evergreen blog posts in advance for the days I am too unwell to write one and my husband and I work together to promote, share and prepare content. It really is a two man thing. I have a strategy in place and do batch work which may involve writing, photography and scheduling work.
I also contact my two VA’S who assist me with sharing, promoting and preparing blog content. MY VA’s live overseas, one in the the USA and one in the Philippines.
They each have different roles and we check in at night when it is their mornings. I always do my own social media engagement and write my own posts in my voice unless I am sharing a guest post and that is a daily thing no matter how sick I get.
So that’s how I cope and run my blog – with a lot of hard work and support. It is a family affair and one I am dedicated to growing. We all make sacrifices in the home, mainly with time but it has to be done.
Working from home often requires much more hours and work than an office job but you get to be around your family rather than in an office environment. I guess there are perks to both options but given I have a chronic illness Adrenal insufficiency this is the only option for me.
On average I put in 10 hours per day into the blog and social media which is approximately 60 hours per week, (I try not to work on a Sunday) My work is just split up differently than the average office worker.
I hope you found this interesting. How do you get through your day? Do you work from home? I’d love to hear.
Angela x
Gosh 60 hours! It sounds like a lot but I work 37 hours a week in my day job and then blog on top of that. It really does take so much time to create content, promote and engage
it’s a full time career for sure!
Sounds like you have a nice solid plan for handling your illness and that adrenal pump has really made a difference for you. x
It’s great you have a good routine, but I’m sorry at how much your illness affects your daily life. I’m glad your adrenal pump has helped a lot though x
It sure has and I’m glad about that.
it sure des help 🙂
Wow, 60 hours is a lot of hours but you can totally see all the work you put into your blog to make it so great x
it has to be done for me to make my blog a success.
I definitely work much longer hours now that I work from home than I EVER did in an office. How nice that your husband helps you out so much too! x
yes me too!
I work from home and only manage to get things done when my son is in bed so it means a lot of late nights x
Nights is a good time for working as a stay at home mum
You sound like super mum! You should be proud of how much you manage to achieve. Go you 🙂 x
thanks 🙂
That’s a lot of work and my hours are very similar to yours without any help. It makes me smile when people start blogs and just expect readers to flood through the doors. I think I should look into getting a VA.
it does help but I do most of it myself 🙂
i so loved reading this post, blogging can be quite lonely and sometimes its good to know you are not alone!