Work-life balance (n.) a state of being that I seriously can never seem to nail down. Yesterday, my dad said to me over Facetime, “When do you do your homework, it seems like every weekend you’re working a second job.” That comment honestly made me feel great. I always want to be hustling hard for the blog because it is one of my many passions. But, I also understood where he was coming from and I always want to make sure that most of my time is going towards my degree. Graduate school is a lot like undergraduate in that everything crashes down on you all at once. Midterms and finals coincide with lab meeting presentations and conferences.
Having the blog as a side hustle and booking clients through my photography gig here in the city has been amazing. In just this past week, I attended a Friendsgiving sponsored by Dunkin’ and took a brunch cruise around Manhattan with Goldstar. Wining and dining with your blogger gal pals is never a bad time. BUT, what you don’t see are the hours of curating content for these brands on the back end! Photography, video editing, and writing blog posts can take a crazy amount of time. Today, I’m sharing my secret for how I keep it all together. Keep reading to see how Google Calendar has calmed me down and kept me on task.
Google Calendar for work, Day Designer for the side hustle.
Graduate school is also a lot of collaborations, group projects, team meetings, and running around campus trying to make it everywhere on time. Oh, and did I mention I still have to work in the lab. Luckily, I have a pretty heavy imaging and image analysis project and can work on it from anywhere!
The senior graduate student that I work with highly suggested that I plan out my work/school day on Google Calendar. It’s easily shareable for collaborating with others and everyone has a Gmail account these days. What I didn’t know was how much I would love separating my work day from my personal tasks!
Planners are my lifeline.
I’ve used a lot of the trendy planners that all your favorite bloggers have talked about. I’ve had the Plum Paper Planner, loved the Lily Pulitzer planners in my early college years, took a trip around the sun with Erin Condren, and pledged my forever love to the Day Designer for the years to come.
You’re probably asking why I need a day designer if my 9-5 is on my Google Calendar. Well, I use it to make more in-depth notes for that day’s blog and photography tasks. I plan out meals and workouts, too! My planner has really become more of an adulting journal than anything. I can write down my goals for the week, make a note of when I need to do laundry, and keep track of social media/blog growth all in the same book.
Work-life balance stems from an organized work and life.
I’m a huge believer in an organized life makes a balanced life. Those week’s where I know what to expect are the most productive and the least stressful. It is absolutely critical to have things positioned in a way that allows me to work hard but also take breaks [because I really needed to watch The Princess Switch as soon as it hit my Netflix].
I can’t tell you how much google calendar has improved my work productivity and strengthened my time management. I highly recommend switching it up with a digital calendar if your planner is beginning to look like a maze.
Jean Jacket | Jeans | Sneakers(similar) | Sweater(similar) | Watch
How do you build a work-life balance? Do you have a side hustle/passion that has started to feel like an after-hours job? How do you work in the time to take breaks and take the pressure off? I’m super curious and would love to hear from you. Let’s chat!
keep on keepin’ on,
