Friends, this is a question I’ve grappled with for months now.  While Chic in Academia has maintained it’s momentum on Instagram and Pinterest –  and to some extent Facebook – the blog for the most part has been grossly ignored.

You see, when I started Chic in Academia, I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, full-of-energy post-doc.  I was fresh out of grad school, with two little ones under 4.  Kids with no friends and no activities. Haha!  Now, two slightly older kids in and three years into faculty, I find myself at a loss of time.  My days are filled with meetings, writing, teaching, science-ing, followed by school and daycare pick-ups, baseball, birthday parties, and a slew of other kids and family-friendly activities.  And while I used to be able to get back on the computer to write a blog post or two after the kids went to bed, these days, I find myself instead finally finding quiet time around 10pm.  10pm!!  That’s when I can either A) workout, B) watch tv with the hubs, C) do some more work or answer emails, or D) or write a blog post.  As you can imagine, A, B, and/or C above take priority over D.

Instagram and Facebook have been easiest to keep up with because they take so little time.  I snap a pic that takes maybe 30 seconds to take.  I spend another minute writing out a caption, and then boom, content for Instagram is done.  And, I can do it all on my phone, anywhere.  Meanwhile, for the blog, I have to physically be at a computer to type out the post, edit the text and sometimes the photos, etc.  I also have to usually import pics from my phone because that’s the camera I use for EVERYTHING.  So, it’s a process. And sometime a lengthy one.  Especially when I have a lot to say.

Anyway, in the “blogger community”, there has been a lot of talk about where one should focus one’s effort.  I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Snapchat reported stunted growth and financial losses last quarter (read this, this, and this), meaning fewer people than expected are using Snapchat.  Snapchat is an app that some bloggers/influencers monetize.  Imagine a blogger/influencer whose largest following is on Snapchat.  Now imagine that Snapchat either goes out of business or gets bought out.  Now this blogger/influencer is seriously out of luck!

So, the prevailing theory in the community is that the blog is where one should focus one’s efforts.  If the blogger/influencer owns their domain, then they own all their content and are not subject to the losses and performance expectations of the app the content is uploaded to (eg Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, etc).  Say for example that Instagram were to shut down operations tomorrow.  I would lose years of content, never to be recovered!

All that to say, I’d like to bring Chic in Academia’s blog flow back.  I haven’t quite figured out how yet, but at least the intention is there.  Perhaps posting once a week will be the way to do it.  How does that sound?

In the meantime, and in case you don’t follow along on Instagram, check out some of the things I’ve been up to lately:

In brief, I went without makeup, am back to iced lattes (hello warm weather), love the Who What Wear collection at Target, also love Marshalls, figured out how to make homemade donuts, still loving ThredUp, LOVING my new kitchen, love tacos, got a Google Home, got a Gilmore Girls inspired sweatshirt and pajama pants that have become my uniform at home, and – probably most importantly – reminded myself that it’s never too late to start over.  All this in a span of 5 days!!  I’m telling you, it’s just so much easier to document on Instagram than it is to put this all on the blog. 😦 These topics would have comprised at least 10 blog posts.  So, perhaps committing to addressing them over time – in depth – will be the best approach, whilst continuing to provide snippets of my thoughts on Instagram and Facebook daily.

We will see how this goes!  I’m not teaching over the summer, so perhaps there will be a tinge of extra time that I can dedicate to the blog.  For now, check out these other posts from bloggers who do blog on a more regular basis. 😀

The Chirping Moms

20 Books to Read This Summer: http://thechirpingmoms.com/20-books-give-mom-mothers-day/

My Life Well Loved

Busy Mom Whole30 Must Haves: http://www.mylifewellloved.com/whole30-must-haves/#/

Take Time for Style

Strawberry Rum Milkshakes: http://www.taketimeforstyle.com/2015/02/strawberry-rum-milkshake/

Sew Sarah R

Favorite Workout Playlist:  http://sewsarahr.com/2017/04/motivation-monday-my-favorite-workout-playlist.html

Seven Graces blog

Kid-Approved Trail Mix: A Rainy Day Activity: http://www.sevengracesblog.com/kid-approved-trail-mix-rainy-day-activity/

Life in the Greenhouse

 http://www.lifeinthegreenhouse.com/2016/09/buffalo-chicken-dip-whole-30-approved.html

And from my own arsenal of past posts:

Chic in Academia

Life Lessons in Heels:  https://chicinacademia.com/2017/04/26/life-lessons-in-heels/

Geek Chic DIY Chanel USB:  https://chicinacademia.com/2014/07/19/geek-chic-diy-the-chanel-usb/

Hermes Tray DIY:  https://chicinacademia.com/2015/01/22/hermes-tray-diy/

 

Until next time!  Stay ‘Chic’!