Two YouTube creators explain how they manage their time and create work-life balance as self-employed entrepreneurs

Ruby Asabor YouTuber

Business Insider hosted a webinar with YouTube creators Ruby Asabor (176,000 subscribers) and Katy Bellotte (477,000 subscribers) on how they're making money and adapting as creators during the pandemic.
During the webinar, Asabor and Bellotte both told Business Insider's Amanda Perelli that finding a healthy work-life balance was a challenge they faced as influencers.
Blocking out time for self care and creating a schedule were the most important takeaways that they wanted to share with other creators who are navigating their time management.
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For digital creators, managing time means finding a work-life balance when your life often becomes intertwined with your work, especially for lifestyle influencers.

Between brand partnerships, scheduling posts, selling products, and creating content, influencers have to juggle many tasks at once.

In a webinar hosted by Business Insider's Amanda Perelli, we heard from two YouTube creators, Katy Bellotte (477,000 subscribers) and Ruby Asabor (140,000 subscribers).

The two creators have built stable careers out of their YouTube videos and various side businesses. Bellotte started her YouTube channel when she was 14 years old and now she earns between $2,400 and $5,000 for sponsored Instagram posts, as well as monetizing her YouTube content.

Asabor's YouTube channel Lavish Ruby shares finance- and business-related content and she said she currently has 11 income streams between all her side hustles.

Many successful influencers end up quitting their 9 to 5 jobs to go full time as creators on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. In doing so, they sometimes end up working more cumulative hours on their career than before, but in exchange, are pursuing their passions.

"I always say, I feel like what I do on the internet and in my many side hustles and things that I have going on, I think I work more hours than I did ... when I was at my 9 to 5," Bellotte said. "In terms of hours, I'm working probably … from the second I wake up to when I'm scrolling on my phone at night."

Like Bellotte, Asabor also finds herself working more than she would at a 9 to 5 job.

"I have a lot going on, I have multiple businesses, and I have my YouTube channel of course," Asabor said. Her YouTube channel and businesses, including Lavish Life Academy (a program where she teaches financial and investment skills), require her to be constantly paying attention and be updating her viewers and students.

"The only day I really give myself off is Saturday and that's because I'm forcing myself," she said.

Finding work-life balance takes time to learn

"Our life becomes our work, which is kind of delicate territory when it comes to separating and finding a work-life balance," Bellotte said.

Although she's been working in content creation for over ten years, she's still learning how to find that balance and where "work ends ... and my normal life begins."

Asabor, who graduated from college in 2019 and has since been running her YouTube and small businesses full time, echoed a similar feeling.

"Since college, I've always had a lot on my plate," she said.

Self care needs to be a priority, even if that requires asking for help

Both said that part of finding work-life balance and managing your time as creator depends on prioritizing mental health and self care.

"I need to budget time into my day to not work on anything," Bellotte said. Without self care, which can even just look like getting enough sleep every night, her work and her ability to help others around her were compromised.

"You have to understand when you need help," Asabor added. There are times where she even has her brother help remind her to eat lunch and take a break from working.

It's also important to create a schedule

"Every single day, I have a specific topic," Asabor said.

Mondays she has meetings with her interns where she assigns tasks. Tuesdays are her Lavish Life Academy days when she shares her webinars. Wednesdays are for follow-ups and business operations like managing product shipments.

Days dedicated to filming are also important to schedule, especially when sponsored content can take time to be approved by a brand, she said. Asabor recommends that creators plan out videos almost a month in advance and use a planner to outline the day-to-day and even week-to-week.

To learn more about their influencer businesses, watch the full exclusive Business Insider webinar below:

Here are a few other topics covered in the webinar:

How to price yourself as an influencer when landing a brand deal and ways to negotiate.
How to start a Patreon, from pricing to choosing what to offer your followers.
Why it's important to have several different revenue streams as a creator, and a breakdown of how they make money through membership programs, YouTube revenue, and sponsorships.
How much time they spend each day and week working on their businesses, and tips for time management.
Lessons for other digital creators who are just starting out in the industry.

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