My Blogging Routine - Including FREE Blogging Planner Spreadsheet!

I know I am not an example to follow when it comes to blogging. My motivation comes and goes and I often take a couple of months break and that isn't something I am proud of.

Yet, when I come back I do try and be consistent with my blog posts and also with sharing/promoting my content so that I have some interaction with other bloggers.

There are little things that do make a difference when it comes to increasing traffic to your blog and to make sure I don't miss any important step I have created a blogging plan spreadsheet that helps me with keeping things organized and well scheduled as well as planning other blog posts.
Followed by that spreadsheet, my blogging routine includes five steps.

February Recap // How I took my Blog to the Next Level

As February has finished, it is time for a recap of this short month. This won't be something I will do every month but I just felt like it would be more than appropriate has February was a month of a lot of changes in regards to my blog. I guess it was late January when I decided that I would blog frequently, with a regular blogging schedule. I have always loved the world of blogs and although I have tried so many times to build my own blog, I was never completely happy with it. So in the beginning of February I said to myself: this will be the year were I will work as hard as I can on my blog. It is something I love to do so, why not? Being able to be my own boss and work from home has always been a dream and although I love my job as a staff nurse, I would not mind at all if I could blog full time. Will that happen in 2016? I guess not and that is fine. But it is something I would love for it to happen and I will only know if I try. So it was more than time to do something for it!  With this post, I want to share what I did to start this journey.
| Blog Name & Design | If you knew me or this blog since it has started, I have changed it so many times! I have changed the design, the name, the header.. you name it. So it was time to stop! I needed a name that I love and that would describe the blog; a clean and easy to read design and a good blog header. The first two, I have achieved. As cliché or ordinary "Lisa's World" may sound, it is a name that I love. I always wanted a blog name with my real name, so people could relate the blog to me and I thought Lisa's World was just perfect. And I was right! Don't regret it at all. The design is something that can always be improved, so I am constantly looking for better designs or widgets to include. And the header.. oh, well... that is something that I am still working on!
| Planning/Scheduling | One of the first things that I had to keep on my mind was that I will only be able to create a good, consistent blog if I planned ahead or scheduled my posts. I work as a staff nurse and so that means a lot of different shifts, including nights. And those night shifts almost stop me from doing anything. I loose all my energy. I sleep all day, work all night and have no time to do anything else. I hate it. So planning ahead was something I had to do (and still have). So, I got myself an amazing blog planner (for free) and, at first, decided that I would blog every other day. Then, I noticed that that wasn't as perfect as I wanted. So I chose specific days of the week to post, those days being Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, giving me a break of two days for the start of the other week. I was and am quite happy with this but every once in a while (or should I say every week), I publish an extra post on Sunday. Those posts are something a bit more relaxing and that don't require a lot of time to photograph, edit and all those time consuming things. It is the day of the week that I chose to ramble about anything that I want, normally more personal things.
| Custom Domain | After reading a lot of other blogs and looking into the benefits of having my own custom domain, I decided to go for it. It shows how interested you are and how seriously you are about your blog. It just takes everything to the next level. I am so proud to have made the decision of buying my own domain. It just makes everything look much more professional and it is a great source of motivation - at least for me! I bought mine at GoDaddy. It is quite easy and straight forward but if you need any help, I am more than happy to answer your questions!
| Inspiration | Finding inspiration for my blog was something I used to struggle a lot. I think it was because I was thinking about what other people would like to read instead of thinking what do I want to write about. Of course that you should consider if the post will be helpful or beneficial to others but in reality, if you don't have any passion for what you are writing about, people will notice that and will loose all the interest. From the moment that I let go the thought of "will they like it?", everything just got better! I find inspiration in all the little things and I am getting much more creative and it feels amazing. Yet, I still have those bloggers block moments where I have no idea what to write about but that is easily solved by taking a couple of hours to read blogs, listening to music and just getting my mind of it.   | Engaging | Things don't just happen easily. If you want to bring traffic, views and followers to your blog, you have to work for it. And I don't mean commenting just "please check my blog" - that doesn't work and I hate it and I am sure other bloggers do too. You will get more noticeable if you truly read other posts and make a real comment and simply leaving your link at the end. Also, twitter chats. You need them! I was never a big fan of twitter, I couldn't get to the point of what you could do with it. Then, I started using it and just discovering new things, one of them being the twitter chats for bloggers. They are so, so great and you get to meet amazing new bloggers and also get them to discover your blog.
| Taking Risks | I have always thought that you had to have lots of followers to be contacted by brands or even to get in contact with them - you don't. And I can tell you that because you can see how many followers I have and anyways, by taking risks, I have had a chance to work with two brands. One of them contacted me and the other reached out to me after they asked for bloggers on Twitter and I left them my link. If you put your heart and soul into your blog, if you take it seriously and show your passion, hard work and commitment, you will be rewarded. I am living proof of that and I am so, so proud of myself and what I have achieved in only one month of blogging seriously. Follow
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Blogging with a Full Time Job // How I Do it and You Can do it too

Reading about blog planning, organization and post scheduling is something I really like. It is always great to learn new tips, tricks and discoveries either from bigger or smaller/new bloggers.

So, following what I love to read, I decided to write about my own tips and simple things that work for me as a part-time blogger with a crazy full time job. This will be a long post so grab a cup of tea/coffee or smoothie, sit back, read and relax.

Being a nurse and having completely different shifts every week is hard work specially when you want to have a blog and take it very serious like I do.

Photographing, writing and even having ideas for good blog posts takes a lot of time - time that I, sometimes, struggle to have if I don't plan everything ahead and am not organized.

One thing that has really helped me with blogging while having a full time job was having a planner. Being a new blogger, I did not want to spend a lot of money in one of those beautiful planners as I did not know if I would use it or not for a long time.

While doing my google research for a good blog planner, I found the best one that I am absolutely in love and it really motivates me to blog everyday. It is perfect as it has everything you would want and much more.

My blog planner is from Designer Blogs and you can get it here: Ultimate Blog Planner Kit. It has a lot of different pages (24 to be more certain) that will help you "brainstorm post ideas, plan your weekly posts, set yearly & monthly goals, track yearly & monthly stats, etc...".

It is basically the perfect blog planner for who wants to improve their blog content, scheduling, traffic, you name it.

Has said, this blog planner has a lot of different pages/sections - a total of 24. Some of them are still not appropriate for me to use as I would not have anything to fill them in with. So, I went through all the 24 and selected the ones that I would get more use of and that would be helpful and beneficial to me. And those are:

. Username & Passwords | This is were I keep all my log in details for several websites - blog related or not (online shopping, affiliate programs, etc).

. Notes | These are basically blank pages where you can write anything! I normally have all the dates of Twitter Chats for Bloggers in the first page and if I have anything to take notes - like blogging tips or advises that I might read - here is where I would put them.

. Yearly Goals | Well this is something I never thought I would really use or even have goals to set but I do and I love it. It actually motivates me even more to be a better blogger. I only have one goal at the moment but I will be adding more as I go. There is also a section to write your strategies to reach that goal and that is also very good. Love it.

. Monthly Goals | This section goes along the same line as the Yearly Goals. You basically set monthly goals and strategies and there is also a section to take notes of your social media traffic (that actually also exists in the yearly goals too). It is amazing to tick a monthly goal - I did that when I reached 40 followers on Bloglovin. That was one of my goals for this month of February.

I started with 13 followers on the 23rd of January. It is now the 28th of February and I have 48 followers. Setting up a goal really helped me working for it in a much more intense way.

 . Post Topic Brainstorming | I have always had notebooks where I would write blog ideas but then I would just not use it because I would write anything there and it was just too confusing. With this section of this blog planner, I can divide my ideas into subjects: beauty, lifestyle and fashion and this just keeps everything more organized and also when I plan my posts, I make sure I keep rotating between the three.
. Monthly Blog Calendar | Here is where I write all my monthly posts. Basically it is just the title of the post and once it is published, I tick it (as seen on the photo above). 

I publish every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and if I can, there is always an extra post on Sunday (like this one). Again, this helps me maintaining a regular post schedule and I love that.

. To Do List | This is another one I absolutely love. It is a page with two columns where you can write anything you have to do. I normally divide into "Photograph" and "Write" so I will have a list of things I still have to take photos of and write posts about. It helps me keep track of everything I have to do so I don't forget a thing. Love it (how many times have I said "love it" in this post?)

. Weekly Planner | Uhhh, I love this bit. It completely has changed the way I write and plan my posts. I don't forget a thing - tags, SEO, links, spell check, post promotion, everything (see photo below). It has space for three posts although you can really just add another page if you write more than three times per week.

So this is my blog planner and it is my big secret for being so organized and blog as a full time nurse. Every idea and task is there and that is what makes everything run so smoothly.

Now, talking about how I do things and the order I do them, there is no big secret or trick. I normally plan ahead my ideas of posts for the week - I already have my posts planed for the week ahead (basically, just the titles and nothing else). Now what I do is, on my next day off I photograph everything I have to and also edit them straight away. To edit my photos I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (I can do a more detailed post about that if you want to).

After that, I start writing the posts when I have more time. Again, when I have days off, I basically work all day on my blog but I can never write all the three/four posts of the week in only one day. I just see when I am working at the hospital and according to my days off I plan when to write my posts.

On the day before the post goes live, I always do the following things:

. Spell check

. SEO

. Add ALT Text to the Images

. Add the TAGS/Categories

. Schedule the social media where I share the blog post

When all of this is done, I schedule the post for the according day, at 9:30 am and that is all the hard work done. Something that I also do everyday at night, is reading and commenting the blogs I follow or any new blogs. I love doing that!

Looking at final result of my post is so rewarding and enthusiastic! Publishing a post is more than just writing a few lines. Creating a new post takes a lot, I mean a LOT, of work and commitment. Blogging is not as easy has everyone thinks so if you want to take this seriously, you need to put your heart and soul into it.

I hope you really like this post and that it helps you in some way. Blogging is really a passion to me and I am working hard on improving day by day. It is a lot of work but if you really want and are passionate about it, you can do it for sure!

Don't forget to follow me on my social media for moral support and also to keep up with all my new posts! Just click on my social media icons and feel free to follow.

Go ahead and download the blog planner, I am sure it will help you as much as it helps me!

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Organization // The Key for Blogging Regularly ft. an Amazing Blog Planner

When I first started blogging seriously, I found that to be able to update my blog regularly and to keep up with the other blogs that I like to read I had to create a routine, a process to follow. It is hard to maintain an interesting blog while having a full time job. It has been a struggle at times but once I got my routine right, everything went very smoothly.

The key to it is to be very organized. I can happily say that that is a quality that I have and so it made this blogging thing much easier. So here is my blogging routine/process, hoping that I might help you find out your happy place when it comes to this blogging world.

Notebook

I have to start with this. It is not a first step but it is an essential object on everything related to blogging. If you are like me and prefer to take note of things on the phone let me tell you: you still need a notebook. In the beginning I used to use my phone but things just were not working out. Since I got this notebook, I have been much more organized. This notebook is from WHSmith. I created sections inside it for my ideas according to the subject: beauty, lifestyle or fashion. 

Having them organized that way makes it much easier to always write about something different instead of sticking to the same subject for three posts in a row - for me that can be quite boring.

So this notebook has everything: ideas, notes and even my most used hashtags on instagram and twitter to promote my blog.

Also, if I read some blog tips and similar things, I always have this notebook to hand to write all the important details that I cannot forget. Now, I cannot work on my blog without this notebook.

Another thing I recently got into was filling in my Weekly Blogging Planner. It helps a lot having everything on paper. I found a printable, free planner on this blog called Designer Blog (Click here). It is amazing ! I am going to buy a folder, markers and all that stuff that I need this afternoon. Then I might write a post on how I organize this planner.

You should definitely check it out. It is the best one I found!

Schedule

When I have a lot of ideas, I like to schedule them before I even start writing or photographing for that post. When scheduling, I not only choose the date but also create the blog post title and also the labels and things that I want to be included on the blog. It will save me some time afterwards when I am editing the final post.

So basically, I schedule even before writing the post. If I have an idea for a blog post, I will write it down on my notebook as soon as possible and also schedule for when I want it to be posted.

I post every other day of the week and so that means that I need to have at least four posts scheduled for the week. If not, I will start stressing out. So scheduling is now key to by blogging routine!

Photograph

When I know that I have a few things I want to write on the blog, I normally like to photograph before writing the post. And so I have one day or two per week were I take an hour or so to take photos of products or anything that I will need for those posts. I also edit them straight away and save them on my desktop and they are ready to be used. Then I know that I can even write the post on the day before as everything else is sorted. Much easier this way, I think! The camera I use is the Canon 600D with a 18-135 mm lens. To edit my photos I use the Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - it is easy to use and the photos look great!

Write

Now it comes the best but at the same time the most difficult part. Writing is my favorite part. I guess that it is because then I see the blog post turning into something real and not only and idealization of what I wanted it to be. And let me tell you that this is a great, an amazing feeling - like while I am writing this post now.

It is a feeling of realization. Feeling proud to be creating something that I had an idea for, that I photographed myself and that I want to share with the world. Amazing.

Edit

Before saving the post and publish it or schedule for a near future, I always read maybe two or three times the blog post. Also, I might ask my boyfriend to have a quick look at it as he is seeing it from a different perspective and so he can give me constructive criticism to improve my technique and the blog itself.

This will make sure that any error will and should be detected prior to publishing it. There is nothing that I hate the most than publishing a post and when I am visiting my blog, noticing a mistake. We do not want that, right?

Share

As I have read somewhere recently, your blog will barely have any views without the social media nowadays. So this means that every post or update I do on my blog, I share on Twitter or Instagram. If I am not working on the day the blog post will be published, I will most likely share the post in real time. But if I am working a fourteen hour shift on the hospital there is no way I will even remember to share on social media so I have to schedule it. For that I use some apps on my phone I have been loving like Buffer for example. There are some great apps out there for bloggers. There will be actually a blog post about that coming soon so stay tuned!

Read & Comment

Last but not least, visiting the other blogs is a must do. And it is something I do every single day. I follow every blog I love on my Bloglovin account and that is the easier way for me to stay updated with their posts. So every day I take the time needed to go through my Bloglovin, read new posts and comment. Engaging with the blogging community is something I love to do and it is a key to give your blog more traffic but you don't want to be a spammer!

There is nothing that I hate the most than comments where you notice that people did not even took time to read your post. They are just commenting asking for you to follow them. I never agreed with that and never will. Showing interest is much more helpful and it gives the blogger some encouragement to continue with the good work. Don't you think?

Please, show some love to me and my fellow bloggers demonstrating that you actually read our posts, that you like the content. There is nothing more rewarding than that for a blogger - at least this is what I strongly believe.

Do you have any more tips to stay organized and make all this blogging process much easier? Let me know!

My Blogging Essentials

During the time that I have been blogging, specially on this blog, I have learnt many things. One of them being that you don't need fancy equipment to have an amazing blog (even though it helps). What really matters is the passion in you while blogging and interesting, variable content. It took me a while to get this into my mind. And it took me even longer to realize that for me to be happy with my blog, I had to stop comparing mine with other successful bloggers.

I am in a happy moment of my life where I think that my blog is amazing, just the way that I dreamed of. I am happy with the title, design, header and specially, I am happy with the content.

No, I am not contacted by PR companies to review products. I barely have 200 views per day. But it is not that that keeps me going. It is doing something I like. Something that doesn't make me feel like I have wasted my day doing nothing.

So... yea. I just wanted to point that out.

Today, my loves, I came to share with you my blogging essentials. This is a topic that I love reading on other blogs because I always get something from it. Either an organization tip or a phone app that is really handy. So , I am sharing mine with you.

Laptop - There is no blog without laptop and I can't live without mine. I own an ASUS K56CB and I am quite happy with it. I don't get along with MacBooks, my boyfriend has one and it drives me crazy sometimes. Anyways, this is my laptop and he has been my best friend for a couple of years now.

Camera + Tripod + Remote Control - I have only started using a good camera when I started owning my own money. Since I started working, I knew I wanted a good camera. I love photography and a good DSLR was always something that I wanted to have. So, when I could afford one, I bought it. And it is the one I have been using here on the blog. I have a Canon 700D with 18-135mm lenses. It is the one that came with the kit and I am not thinking about getting another one. I don't feel like I need it. 

Also, if I need to take some selfies or outfits, I use my tripod and a remote control that really makes the job easier.

Phone - I can't go anywhere with my phone and I can't blog without it either. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 I use it to write some blog ideas on the go but never blog posts. I don't know why, but I just can't do it properly. Some of my blog photography is with my phone too and I think that it does a good job. But I use it the most to interact on social media. Share my blog posts on instagram and twitter and I am getting quite active on Snapchat as well (@lcatherine91).

PicMonkey - My life got so much easier when I discovered PicMonkey. Before, I have always wondered how people would come up with the perfect thumbnail and well.. it is PicMonkey. My header, blog signature and thumbnails are all done on PicMonkey. I just love it. It changes the appearance of my blog just the way I wanted to.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom - Before, I used to edit my photos with Adobe Photoshop CS 6 but it was way to complex for what I wanted. Normally, I just adjust the brightness, contrast, exposure and thing like that just to make them look a bit more natural and catchy. Adobe Photoshop CS6 was way too much for that. I recently found out Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and I have been really enjoying it. I still have a lot to learn about it but for now, it does the job. I love how it transforms my photos.

External Hard Drive -  Well.. this is something that I am still trying to get used to: making sure that I back up my stuff in my external hard drive. At least I know they are safe in case my laptop decides to do something stupid. And I think this is something everyone should do even if they don't blog. Specially with school work and stuff like that!

Notepad -  As you may have noticed, in the last couple of weeks I have been taking this blog a bit more serious. Meaning that I am trying to upload with more frequency. Not because I want to to blogging for a living but because I love this world and I have been feeling very proud of the way how my blog has turned out. So.. to make sure I am doing everything I should and not miss any important steps or ideas that I have, I bought myself a notepad on Sainsburry's that is the cutest thing ever. Now I have all my ideas written down and all my scheduled blog posts with To Do Lists.

Music -  Sometimes I have the idea for a blog post but when I have to start writing it, I struggle. It lacks inspiration and with English not being my main language, it makes it even harder. So music keeps me going and gives me freedom while writing posts. Everything goes on so much smoother and effortless. So I always have some music on, as long as I can!

Bloglovin + Instagram + Twitter -  social media is part of blogging and it is where I share most of my posts and get feedback from. So I try and keep in touch with all through social media. And also I have been loving Bloglovin. It makes it so much easier to read all the blogs I like and comment as much as I can. I just love it!

And this is it! All my blogging essentials that keep this blog running smoothly, as much as I possibly can. What are your blogging essentials? Any app or tip that you can add to this? Share in the comments below! 

Why do you blog?

I have had many blogs, starting with Portuguese ones. They were more like a life journal than something like this one. I shared my life and thoughts with whoever was reading me. But I was never really happy and proud of it. I liked how the blog was and what I could share in it but most of the time I felt no pleasure while writing it.

Maybe that is why I have so many and why I wrote not every other day like I have been doing with this one but every two weeks (if not three).

So then, after moving to the UK and getting familiarized with this beauty blogger world and all the good things that has in it, I decided to start a new blog. Again. But this time in english.

And I must say that I have started for the wrong reasons. I was thinking about numbers, beauty products, samples and all that jazz. I was thinking about making money with it - this is what many people do.

But then it hit me: I was not doing it for the right purpose. I was so worried with the numbers (views, etc) that that was all I could think about. And it used to be so hard to find inspiration to write on that blog. There was no subject that I thought it was good or interesting enough to share with the world. And this was all because all I was worried about was to write things that others will enjoy, love and subscribe. Nop, that didn't work.

Because when you think too much about what others would like to read, you end up forgetting about what you like to write. And that is what blogging should be about - to write about things that you love and are interested in. Write about your feelings if you feel like it and not to worry to much if that post will decrease the number of visitors, subscriptions or comments that you will have.

So I must say that the blog that I had previously was not something that I loved. It was something that I wanted others to love. I that didn't work. 

This is more or less like that saying "If you don't love yourself, who will?".

If you don't love your blog, your job, who will?

So this is all to say that when I started writing and posting things that I loved and enjoyed talking about it, it made everything easier. I never loved so much to blog, even if I don't have views in my blog (like today)!

I really don't mind because when I open my blog and read it, I love it. And that is important.

Of course I do love to have feedback from you and that is another bit that gives a lot of work. Views and comments won't fall from the sky in the palm of your hand. You have to earn them!

So blogging is a lot of work. But it is worth it when you do it because you love it and not because you want to please others.

I am really proud of my blog now and I will improve as much as I can. If this blog is going anywhere? I have no idea. But it will be a memory of a good part of my life.

I have been sharing a lot of beauty stuff and outfits of the day but I thing that will change just because sometimes I feel the need to write something different and so I will do.

All of this to say that if you do want to blog, do it. And if you do it because you love, it will all be ok.

TWITTER/BLOGLOVIN/INSTAGRAM/PINTEREST

Work + blogging

Hello everybody!

Today I just came to stay that yes, I am still alive and yes, now I know how hard it is to blog and work at the same time. I thought I would still find subjects that will attract more viewers and followers to my blog almost everyday and that the work wouldn't stop me but it does.

I am a nurse and an early shift can be very exhausting - like it was today - and I get home with no energy at all. Today I had a massing migraine that wouldn't let me go. I took two paracetamol (yes, that is what I have for migraines. Here the nurse never went to the doctor because of that) and the slept for three hours so it would disappear.

My head is still sore and I am just thinking about going to bed and asking myself how will I have energy to wake up again tomorrow at 6.30am to start working at 8am and finish at 9pm.

I am feeling really tired this week.

Sorry about this sad post that I am only complaining but I thought I would just write it down just to keep a record of it.

I really love blogging, I love this blog of mine, I enjoy getting little gorgeous followers every-other-day and I do make an effort to keep this blog going!

But this week I am just tired. The shifts that I have won't let me prepare posts with good and interesting subjects and my next day off is only wednesday! 4 days to go.

Before going I just want to tell you that I finished Collen Hoover's book Hopeless. When I said in my September favourites that I wanted to have a favourite book every month I was serious about it!

So I will do a post on that one because I absolutely love it and you will have to count it as an September favourite as I started another one to put on this months favs!

Thanks for reading. 

Follow me on twitter for short, everyday updates.

xx Lisa 

Pinterest. Quote is perfect for today!