When you’re balancing a side hustle, career, and grad school, something has to give. Even if you want to be there for every friend get together, every nephew’s birthday party, or even the weekend with your parents, you may not have the time.
While I do my best to share my wins and lessons on Instagram and the blog, I’ve realized that I really haven’t shared my shortcomings and challenges I’ve experienced so far. So thank you to @vanessamedel for submitting this question last week! Vanessa’s question inspired me to share with you guys this blog post.
I’m no superwoman and today I wanted to share the sacrifices I’ve made in my journey so far trying to do it all. Honestly, I know I could be a better friend, a daughter, a cousin, and even a girlfriend. Here’s what where I feel like I’ve fallen short so far:
4 Sacrifices I’ve Made Balancing my Career, Blog, and Education
The sacrifices I’ve made #1: My social life
I’ve been asked this question a few times on Instagram: “how do you maintain a social life while blogging and working full time? The truth is my social life died last fall when I started grad school. And then pretty much evaporated as I took on graduate school full time on top of my full time job in winter and spring quarter. I’ve definitely sacrificed my social life for career, blog, and school success.
The reality is if I don’t have Saturday classes, I’m still at a coffee shop working on school or shooting outfits for the blog. I do my best to still attend friend’s birthday dinners and family get togethers – but my schedule is really challenging. At the height of the school quarter, I’ll spend up to 80 hours of work, school, and blog projects.
So to all the girls who’ve asked about my social life – I think you just have to be honest with yourself with what time you have. I recommend doing the 168 hours exercise to understand where your time goes during the week. You also have to communicate with your family and friends where you’re at. Most of my friends know I’m not laying on a couch on Saturday or Sunday mornings. Most of my friends know I sleep 6 hours a night.
The sacrifices I’ve made #2: Eating Healthy
In college, I was the queen of packing my lunch and meal prepping. Even though I was busy, I always made time to make a salad, wrap, or sandwich. I didn’t want to pay $2 an apple or $10 for a sandwich on campus so I made sure I packed my fruit bowls, hummus, and carrot sticks. I literally made my lunch every day for three years in college. And I’ve been on the slow decline these last few years.
It would be smart for me to continue those eating habits but I’m finding myself eating Trader Joes frozen meals more and more. It’s much more time efficient for me to heat up a pasta dish for 4 minutes in the microwave than to pack a healthy lunch. I know my healthy eating habits are something I need to turn around! I need more fruits and veggies in my life!
The sacrifices I’ve made #3: My running schedule
Running has been a part of my life since I was 12-13 years old. While I sprinted in middle school and high school, I really embraced long distance running in college. I trained and ran my first half marathon my senior year of college. Running to gas works, around south lake union, and back to UW is still one of my favorite training runs I’ve done so far. I’ve done my best to keep up with running but I’m running less and less as my schedule gets more challenging.
Before I added grad school to the mix, I was running at least 3 to 4 times a week. Now I’m lucky if I get two runs a week in. Running brings me so much joy and helps me unwind from the daily stresses of life so I know I have to keep at it. So even though I only have time for a 25-30 min run once or twice I week, I take it!
The sacrifices I’ve made #4: Family Time
I went home every other weekend while I was in undergrad. Because UW is only 45 minutes away from my home town, my family expected I come home often. Even when after I graduated and moved back from California, I still went home every other weekend to see my family.
When graduate school started last year, I transitioned to coming home once a month. And now that I’m in the full swing of my schedule, I’m coming home just once a quarter. Even though I know my parents would want to see me as often as every other weekend, I just can’t keep up that same schedule. My weekends are an extension of my work week and I still have to finish laundry, dishes, and chores in those 48 hours.
I highly recommend keeping your family and loved ones up to date with your schedule. My family knows my graduate school work load as well as how busy blogging can get. But they also know when finals week wraps up and when I have a two week break between fall and winter quarter to hang out.
Why I’m okay making these sacrifices right now:
Even though I wish I had more time with family and friends and more time to run and eat better, I know that my graduate school/blogging/working full time schedule isn’t forever. I graduate with my masters this spring. And I’ve learned that it’s WAY more manageable to blog and work full time. I know my schedule will free up in 6-7 months so I’m doing my best to not stress about these things.
Additionally, I’m still doing my best to still live a balanced lifestyle but not giving up my work out times and taking time for myself. If you’re feeling like you have to sacrifice different parts in your life right
What sacrifices have you made in your side hustle, career, or education so far?
Thank you for reading!
Love,
Emma
Photos: Karya Schanilec
Hi Emma!
I loved this post, I feel like a lot of the time we only get to see the glamorous sides of blogging and not the “wow, this actually sucks” side. Something I feel like I’ve sacrificed with blogging along with a full-time job is sleep lol. I average about 5 hours a night, mainly because I still spend time with my family and friends and do my own thing after work and on the weekends, but then I spend about 3 to 4 hrs a night working on my blog and really building this foundation. So normally, I’m falling asleep around 2am and waking up at 7 to get to work. It sucks, and you’re right, something had to give! What do you plan to do with your masters degree?
I loved this post, I feel like a lot of the time we only get to see the glamorous sides of blogging and not the “wow, this actually sucks” side. Something I feel like I’ve sacrificed with blogging along with a full-time job is sleep lol. I average about 5 hours a night, mainly because I still spend time with my family and friends and do my own thing after work and on the weekends, but then I spend about 3 to 4 hrs a night working on my blog and really building this foundation. So normally, I’m falling asleep around 2am and waking up at 7 to get to work. It sucks, and you’re right, something had to give!
I think it’s so important to be transparent about the sacrifices we as humans have to make for these busier seasons of life because something does have to give!
My piece of advice is not to sacrifice your health too much – health is wealth!! It’s so important to fuel and honor your body appropriately because if it’s not healthy you can’t go one million miles an hour!!
This is an important post. We are all human and once in awhile we do have to give up certain things in order to give to others. Just like your social life, mine was also on a decline but funny enough, it wasn’t because my schedule was too busy. More of life changes like moving and having a child. Visiting family has also declined on my end since my son started preschool. It’s not so easy anymore to get in the car when we are stuck in our own city! But I know it isn’t forever. Hang in there and love your outfit! That blue sweater dress was made for you. Happy Thursday Emma!
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com