JARUS ON SUNDAY: How I combine blogging with other activities

Suraj Oyewale (Jarus)

A couple of persons have asked me this question, and I know much more keep wondering in silence. Well, if I were a Jarus follower, and not Jarus himself, I would have asked Jarus the same question. So, how do I run this blog being an 8-5 worker?

Well, the answer is pretty simple: time management. But there is a greater explanation in passion. I have always loved expressing my opinions, sharing my ideas and experience, and most importantly, I enjoy writing.

I am involved in a lot of things, and they keep increasing by the day. I am an accountant in an organization in Nigeria’s energy sector, saddled with the responsibility of organizing the company’s tax affairs at operational level.

That is my primary engagement, my primary contract which I must deliver on. That comes before any other thing, because I am contracted to do, and I must do. So I make sure my 8am – 5pm every day is fully devoted to this fiduciary duty. Most of my Social Media engagements are either early in the morning on my way to work, or during lunch break, or after work. Thankfully, with the ubiquitous mobile gadgets, even making a thoughtful Social Media comment can be done anywhere – even while answering the call of nature (if your toilet is not battered anyway..lol). Most of the articles I post on this blog are scheduled. In fact, when you see a post published by 4 am, don’t think I was awake making that post at that time, I had written and used the schedule facility on the blog to set the time it would come up. I may even be sleeping when a post is published. In fact, as I write now, I had pre-set the Daily Career Tips for two weeks which pops up 7.00am every day.

Apart from my job, I also engage in many other activities. I run an MBA programme in a Scottish university, doing 9 subjects, the materials for each subject as many as 600 pages, and I must read them. My next exam is December 4, and I chose Dubai center because the date coincides with my holiday in the Emirate. That is using one stone to kill 2 birds, indeed 3 birds, because insha Allah, I will also be using that holiday to kick-start my book on career ladder in corporate Nigeria. Now, that’s addition to my activities – writing a book.

Now, how do I study those voluminous MBA materials? Actually, I prefer lecture tapes if there were any, for I used that for some of my ICAN courses when writing ICAN exams (I didn’t attend ICAN coaching classes – no time, except for one or two months during the final stage). But Edinburgh MBA programme doesn’t have lecture CDs. So what I do is that I go about with the materials and read at the slightest opportunity. In fact, I drive to work only occasionally, partly because  I prefer to use the 1 to 2 hours inside traffic to read my course texts, which would not have been possible if I was driving. So I join colleagues that live in same neighbourhood or board public transport, so that I can use the traffic time to read, rather than spend it manipulating steering. Well, I once engaged chauffeurs so I can spend traffic time judiciously, but disengaged three within two months (I’m a difficult person to drive).

Now, I’ve discussed my job, my MBA, this blog, but there are still more. I love writing examinations, even if for fun, so in addition to my MBA I also run other professional examinations that also require me to read. Yet, I am a someone’s son, husband, and father, which means I have domestic issues to attend to. You can add that to the list.

Of course, apart from my job, this blog takes the most of my time. While short posts may not take more than 15 minutes to write, standard articles take more. An average standard article takes 2 hours without research; if it is one that requires research, it can take up to 3 hours. Yet, not all articles I write are published on this blog. I write some articles that I get published in mainstream newspapers because their subject matter is not related to what I blog about.

Oops, I am a Social Media freak as many of you know, with Facebook and Nairaland my chill-out zone. I’m an ‘opinionated’ person, as one Facebook friend once described me, so I struggle with twitter. 140 words is too small for me to express myself. But Facebook and Nairaland, with no limit as far I know, offer the platform for me to unbottle my momentary observations and musings.

Needless to say, my activities do not stop online. I do a lot offline. This portal organizes quarterly career conferences and you can imagine the whole lot of efforts it takes in putting together such high profile event. I am also involved in an educational project that we intend to make national, alongside some friends, and that’s another task I must deliver on. We’ve been on that for more than 2 years now. When we roll out the result, you will all get to know.

I have actually been a multi-tasking person since my university days. In my Ife days I was always involved in a lot of activities, beyond my core academics. I was a founding member and second president of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), between 2004 to 2006 when I graduated. SIFE, though very helpful to me, was one hell of activity: we stayed back during school break to think through and implement projects. Some projects took us out of our campus, like our honey project in Odo-Aye (I hope I still got the name), a village 45 minutes drive from Ile-Ife. I was also quite active in Muslim Students activities as well, culminating in my appointment as Coordinator for Faculty of Social Sciences Muslim Students during my final year. Of course, my love for teaching meant I took tutorials for juniors from my 200 level till I graduated, at least twice a week, sometimes teaching SSC 105 (Mathematics for Social Sciences) till as late as 12.00am (we normally started 8.30pm after Isha – evening – prayers at Mosque). Yet I had my own books to read, and a CGPA to protect from dropping below 4.50!

Of course I have not talked about other things like playing football for 2 hours every Saturday and Sunday morning and scoring 100+ goals a year (Messi what? LOL). I also watch football, although Nigerian matches are the most ‘unmissable’ to me. I have not missed up to 3 televised Nigerian national team matches in the last 10 years!

My major shortcoming, however, is I don’t read any book I can’t finish in 60 minutes; at best I flip through and read only the catchy parts. I am however a sucker for short interesting articles. I don’t miss many major newspaper columns. I read many articles on the internet. I think they have improved my versatility.

Over all, I think I enjoy all I do, and being a blogger affords me opportunity to share ideas and experiences which I have always done. Before opening this blog, I was one of the most active guys on Nairaland, Nigeria’s biggest forum, before I broke away to float this portal. Of course, I am still active on Nairaland.

Like Tope Fasua wrote in his book, “reading makes a man, writing makes an exact man”, I am having a go at writing a book. Like I hinted earlier, I plan to start during my vacation later this month by God’s grace, and hopefully, by mid-2014, should be ready.

In conclusion, all my activities, even if driven by natural flair, are all to leave a footprint in the sand of time, not necessarily following someone else’s template but to blaze my own trail, as Akeem Oyewale advised in his lecture  at the first Jarushub Career Conference.

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You may also want to read a related article: How to Build a Beneficial Network and a Formidable Clout: Sharing my Personal Experience