five sixteenths blog: How I Turned my Lunch Hour from Nap Time to Power Hour

If you didn't know, I work a regular ol' 9-5 job Monday through Friday. All the content for the blog is written on weeknights and weekends while I ignore my cleaning list and laundry. Yeah, I do that. But recently I've been trying to step up my game. I've been blogging for nearly 10 years and I think it's time, now, to take it to the next level.

this post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclosure here.

There are only so many hours in a day right? Correct! However, I just gained one more that I usually slept through! My previous lunch break was spent in my car taking a mid-day nap - now it's my Power Hour. I usually go to lunch from 11:30am - 12:00pm & I try to get a few things done that need to be done for the blog. Mainly this is promoting! Here's what I do in the 60 minutes I get for lunch while I sit in our company's break room:

Join in on Facebook threads

I am apart of quite a few blog centered Facebook groups. During my lunch hour I participate in the various threads per day in the various groups. Usually this involves adding your own link - blog post, Instagram, Facebook page, twitter account, etc - and the following, commenting, sharing other's links. This is three fold - One, I'm promoting my own blog. Two, I've got content to share on my other platforms. Three, I'm connecting & building relationships on my platforms. I think it's super great to connect with others, share their work and have them share yours. I'm reminded of the Major Arcana card, the Star, in the After Tarot deck. In this card a woman is in a pool watering herself & watering the ground beside her. You can see a few streams of the water that is being poured into the ground heading out in various directions. One stream, however, makes its way back into the pool where the woman is sitting. So, spending this time giving to others will make its way back to you! I love this card!

Pin all the things

Part of posting in these Facebook groups means that I can share my Pinterest content but also find great content for my boards. I am a part of a few group boards on Pinterest which I pin my content to and then pay it forward by pinning content from those boards to my own. One thing I haven't figured out is how to get my feed to not look all wonky by repinning things multiple times to multiple boards. Pro tip though - pin your blog posts to one of your boards - mine is called Five Sixteenths Blog posts - and then repin those posts from that board. That increases your repin count! Pretty awesome.

Share things to the Five Sixteenths | Live Creative Facebook group

While I haven't quite figured out the exact direction of the Live Creative Facebook group, I do like to post things that are inspiring or about being creative. Being a part of these blog centered Facebook groups means that I can find amazing content to share with the group. Of course, my hope is that individuals will share my content with their groups, pages, social media accounts etc.

Tweet, tweet, & retweet

I'm not that active on Twitter, so in addition to scheduling Tweets through HootSuite, I use this time to retweet others that I follow & share content from the Facebook groups I'm participating in during this hour! I can build followers, favorites, and my own retweets as I interact with others on the platform. My twitter account only has around 400 followers...so it's a goal of mine to grow it a little bit. I also use the GIF function of twitter as my main way of interacting!

Instagram it up

I promote my blog post or YouTube video of the day & try to promote one other image. It doesn't take too long to write a caption & add some hashtags. I am thinking about using an Instagram planning app to make sure my images sort of fit in with my theme on my page. I've never been one for Instagram themes....my instagram is a hodge podge of everything I'm interested in and I'd like to keep it that way! But I've found that similar photos fit better & are received better on my page. I also interact with other accounts that are posted in the various Facebook groups I'm in.

*****

Not sleeping isn't always the way I want to spend an hour of my life in the middle of the day...but it has been helpful. I've found that it is rejuvenating to focus on something I love for a little in the middle of a seemingly monotonous day. It also breaks up the day nicely!

The other benefit is that I wasn't doing this before. At home, I wasn't promoting the blog like this...at home I'd write and do my regular Instagram thing. Now, by adding this Power Hour into my day I'm gaining more exposure and I don't have to worry about it later. I've seen an increase in my Pins, page views, and comments on my blog. The way I found these groups was just by searching blogging groups on Facebook! Once you join a few, Facebook will recommend more to you. I've joined and left a few that weren't suiting my needs and I'm always on the look out for more to join. Some will fit you and give you results...others may be a waste of time. It takes some trial and error to find groups that work for you!

I hope that you find a way to regain an hour in a day - the lunch hour is the best for me - in order to get things done. In case you're wondering when I actually eat....I make my food at the end of my lunch hour and eat it at my desk. Luckily, most of the time the half hour after my lunch isn't too busy once I get back to my desk. The real craziness starts at 1pm!

Have you reclaimed your lunch hour? What do you do to fit more things into the day?

xoxo, Moe