How I Organise My Week For Creating Content

 

Ohhhh this has taken me a long while to figure out. Back when I started blogging in 2013, having a job as a content creator was practically unheard of, and even though it is still very much a hobby for me (which I still absolutely love), I didn't use to do as much planning or admin as I do now. 

When I first started my blog, I would post as and when I wanted to, creating whatever I wanted to (remember the days of outfit posts where you just talked about the outfit), but fast forward 7 years and I've finally found a creative balance that fits around teaching 5 days a week as well as around any acting I may get. 

This is mainly down to one thing only...

BATCH CREATING

This took me a little while to get into, but now I've been able to slot it into my routine and it allows me to not freak out that I don't have anything to post when life gets hectic. 

Batch creating is when you breaking down the process of creating whatever content you're producing, and preparing it all in bulk. For me, that includes shooting Instagram posts, blog photos and Youtube videos in bulk, as well as editing and writing. 

This has helped me out in a huge way, especially when I've sometimes missed a shooting session, but I know I have photos and videos in the backlog ready for me to edit for my next post. 

When you batch create will totally depend on your current situation. If you are working 9-5, you'll probably have the evenings and weekends to do this. I work in the afternoons/evenings as well as Saturdays (not to mention any days I have auditions or filming work) so, for me, the mornings and my one day off mid-week are the times that I get to work on these tasks. 

I used to think that batch creating would take up too much time, but in the long run, it's seriously saved me time, especially as I always know that the bank of content I've created can last me a month or more if I ran out of time to do it. 

MY WEEKLY BATCH CREATING SCHEDULE

MONDAYS

On Mondays, I normally catch up on anything left over from the week before. This could mean finishing the weekly blog post (which I'm currently doing now) before it goes live, or planning my Instagram content for the week. 

I love using UNUM to set out my grid. I don't keep to a particular theme, but it's nice to see all the photos I've shot next to each other so I don't end up posting three mirror selfies in a row!

I also like to spend this day looking at what's coming up in the week, or how I'm feeling, and making notes on what to say in my captions. I definitely prefer to write my captions in the moment just before posting, but sometimes, for example, if I have bought a new item of clothing or I am posting a throwback travel photo, I make a few bullet points of things I want to talk about as, knowing me, I'll probably forget when I come to post it!

TUESDAYS

This is the day I like to edit my videos. I have a bit more time in the mornings, and as editing is such a laborious task, I like to get it over and done with on Tuesdays. 

I do find sometimes that I haven't finished editing and have to finish it off further on in the week, but it certainly helps to do a chunk of it in one go, and know that I have time to catch up before I post my Youtube video on a Friday. 

WEDNESDAYS

Wednesdays are my main shooting days in the week as it's my only other day off apart from Sundays which I like to keep free from work. 

Normally I'll have already planned what I want to shoot the night before from my monthly content calendar so that I don't have to worry about planning things out when I could be utilising my time with actually shooting the content. 

I'll normally try and get four pieces done in an afternoon, covering blog posts, Youtube videos, and Instagram videos (IGTV's and Reels). I'll also try and get some Instagram photos shot, especially if they are more editorial ones. This is the main way I create my backlog of content and is probably one of the most important days of the week in my batch creating. If you don't have the content, you can't edit it, write the captions and blog posts, and post it!

THURSDAYS

On Thursdays, I like to try and make a start on writing my blog posts. This doesn't always happen, and that's totally okay, but having this day down in my diary as my 'writing blog posts day' encourages me to make a start on writing. 

Again, I don't beat myself up if I don't finish writing it, as I know this can always be finished on Monday's but some Thursdays I'm able to get a few posts written and saved ready for the coming weeks. 

FRIDAYS 

I normally like to take it fairly easy on Friday's, mainly because Saturdays are so hectic, so I use this day to edit photos, as I normally can whizz through this pretty quickly. 

Friday's are also the days that I post my Youtube videos, and that normally takes a lot of my time. If I haven't uploaded it already, I'll be doing it on this day as well as writing the description, doing Youtube SEO and then being around after the video is posted replying to comments and interacting with other videos on Youtube. 

WEEKENDS

Now, I know I said that I like to leave weekends free from creating, but one thing that I do is to take what I call 'casual Instagram posts'. 

What I mean by that is, if I'm heading out or if I'm not wearing just my comfies, then I'll quickly snap a mirror selfie so that I have another post in the backlog ready to be posted as some point. 

This is probably spontaneous batch creating, as I don't exactly plan it out, but over a weekend I can end up shooting two or three outfits depending on what I'm up to!

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Do you like to create content in batches? Or do you prefer to create as you go? 

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