My room at The Dreamcatcher Guesthouse in Puerto Rico
If you guys read yesterday’s post, you would be aware that my holiday in Puerto Rico ended up being more of a working holiday.
In addition to doing media work at Dreamcatcher Guesthouse in Puerto Rico, I was also doing an instagram takeover for sisterMAG, keeping up with LFB’s daily posting schedule for the most part, and remaining active on social media (twitter and instagram) – as well as responding to comments on LFB and visiting LFB readers’ blogs and leaving comments. Suffice it to say, I was attempting to do everything I generally do back home during a normal work day and then some. But by adhering to some rules I set myself, I was able to make it work AND still enjoy the hell out of my vacation.
Now, if you are the kind of person who actually likes to fully unplug while on holiday, skip this post. However, if you are like me and cannot bare to miss a week’s worth of blogging – out of a sense of guilt, responsibility, or a combination of the two – then this post is for you.
5 ways to keep blogging while on holiday
001: Pre-plan!
I don’t know if you guys knew, but I have been planning out monthly editorial calendars for LFB for the last few months. Doing so has really helped my workflow and enabled me to work more efficiently. It also means I am not scrambling at the last minute to try to come up with an idea for tomorrow’s post. Of course, there are times when things do not go as planned and I do have to fly by the seat of my pants, but for the most part, things stay pretty organized around here.
But no one said that you have to stop there. In addition to planning out the following month’s calendar in the last week of the current month I find myself in, the minute I know that I am going to take a trip, I try to work out what posts I want to publish for the days that I am going to be away. This way I can already start to plan and get a leg up on the work.
002: Pre-write! & Pre-schedule!
After planning out the posts that I want to go live while on holiday, I set out to pre-write and pre-photograph everything. That way, I do not need to worry about actually creating blogpost content during the actual trip. This frees up a hell of a lot of time, because even workaholics need to learn how to take a break sometime. (Burnouts are not pretty, trust me.)
Once these posts are completely planned out, I go ahead and pre-schedule them, check them off of my editorial calendar, and breathe a little easier, knowing I will not have to scramble to finish up posts and miss out on exploring an entirely new place I will be blessed enough to be able to call home for the duration of my travel.
003: Wake up early and get shit done
Although I make sure all of my posts that are set to go live during my time away are taken care of before my trip, I do still make it a point to tend to daily blog activities. These include updating instagram, remaining active on twitter, replying to comments, and visiting your blogs and new blogs as well. I tend to use the morning hours after working out and having breakfast to do this. Just sitting down for an hour a day lets me rest a bit easier, knowing I have finished my work and allows me to enjoy the rest of the day (relatively) guilt free.
004: Continue to create bomb content
Okay, so I kind of lied, because the work doesn’t actually stop after the morning. I also try to do a bit of research (both ahead of time and while I am on holiday) into local spots, attractions, and places to eat that sound really interesting to me and would also make great blog content. Sometimes I contact these places ahead of time, sometimes I don’t. But what I always do is bring my camera and make sure to photograph every damned moment of my trip both because I am a photographer and feel naked without it and because I know that everything I capture will make for sweet future blog content.
005: Check out now and then
Although I consistently work throughout my trip, I also allow myself to unplug and destress. After all, that’s what holidays are for. There is nothing wrong with turning holidays into semi-work vacays (in fact, I like these kind of trips the best), but the key word here is “semi.” Get out there and explore what this vast planet has to offer. Meet new people and forge new friendships. Leave your camera back in the hotel room every now and then, or take your camera with you but photograph for the joy of photographing and not with the purpose of creating content. Take a walk without your iphone and enjoy your surroundings without worrying about what is happening on twitter. As much as I love creating content, the best moments in life are the ones we actually experience in real time. So get out there and live! And write about it later.
These are the 5 ways I stay on top of my work but still find time to enjoy my holiday and get enough downtime before returning to the real world. I hope that these tips will help you bridge the gap between work and play on your next trip. Have any personal tips? Please share them in the comments below or tweet about it with the hashtag #lfbtraveltips.
Photo of The Dreamcatcher Guesthouse in Puerto Rico by: Rae Tashman
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