Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

Another toolkit?? Yep, here I am to tell you literally all I know about a certain subject. This time it's one of my favourite things on this earth, blogging! I am not the wisest and most experienced blogger, but I do know how to start a blog and to begin to create and promote posts! I'm going to cover four main topics in this post; creation, promotion, inspiration and monetisation.


If you want to get into blogging, I think it's safe to assume that you have an interest in content creation. These are the first steps to take when starting a blog and creating your content.

Blog templates

Whatever site you are using to start your blog (eg. Blogger, Wordpress, Wix) you will need to choose the template or design of your blog. This can be super easy or fairly difficult to set up and you need to go with a theme that suits your skillset! If you are just starting out with blogging or web design for the first time, for example, it may be a better decision to use the templates on offer on your blogging platform. I started out with a super simple Blogger template and it really helped me to just get started and get creating!

If you're not a fan of the templates on offer on your platform, there is plenty of choice out there for templates. If you're willing to invest in a template then PipDig have some gorgeous ones on offer and they're super customisable! I will definitely be investing in one of these when I have the money! I used Way2themes to get my current template for free and I loved how simple it was to switch everything about and customise my blog!

Graphics and Photos

For all of my graphics, I use Canva. This goes for all my post headers, social media graphics and printables! They have templates for just about anything you may need, and a vast many of them are free to use! It's also a lot of fun to create your own templates and the site is super easy to use! Snappa is similar to Canva, but Canva seems to have more free templates and I tend to stick with it! I have also used Piktochart in the past and it is super easy to use with some great template options; especially for infographics!

Some of us are not the best photographers, or may not have the time or ability to take the photos they want for a post. This is where stock photos come in! Since being bombarded with assignments and exams and general life, stock photos have been cropping up on my blog more often. I use Unsplash to find my free stock photos, but there are sites all over the place with loads of stock images. Other great sites for free stock photos include Pexels, Canva Photos and StockSnap.

Writing

You have probably seen the Grammarly adverts all over the internet, but if you haven't downloaded it yet I strongly advise you do. It has proved to be such a useful tool when writing and it picks up more written errors than my usual spell-checker. It makes proofreading extremely quick and simple and is perfect for any written content creators out there!

Sometimes, all you really need is the basics. I always keep a Thesaurus tab open when I'm writing, just in case I'm not loving my word choices.

• #lbloggers - lifestyle blog
• #bbloggers - beauty blog
• #fbloggers - fashion blog
• #mhbloggers - mental health blog

The other foundations are arguably Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. On Instagram, you can connect with other content creators in a way that lets them immediately see a grid of content. If you have great photo skills, show it off. If you have a knack for creating art or graphics, show it off. Displaying blog-relevant content on Instagram is a great way to attract an audience. Making a Facebook page for your blog is a great way to collect your audience and easily notify them when you release new content. It's a quick and easy way to connect with your audience and drive your blog traffic. It took me a while to get into Pinterest, but it really is a great hub of fellow content creators. You can drive people to your blog with 'rich pins' and you can collect inspiration on your boards.

Google Plus can also really help to drive traffic to your posts! Setting time aside each day to share your posts on Google Plus can really boost your views!

Scheduling Tools

One thing that can really boost your use of social media to the next level is the use of scheduling tools. I tend to use these exclusively for Twitter, as this is the site I tend to focus on most. I have yet to find a scheduling tool I use more than Buffer. It's just so easy! You type your tweet up and add the hashtags you want to use to promote your post. Once you add your blog link, the link is automatically shortened and Buffer picks up the images used in the post so that you can quickly select an image to go with your post before you schedule it! It's really simple to use and I definitely need to use it more!

Other Twitter scheduling tools include:

• Twittimer
• Twuffer
• Postfity
• SproutSocial (paid)

Photo by Mark Solarski on Unsplash

Music is something we all have in common. It has the capacity to lift you up when you are down, make you feel emotional and can even motivate you in the worst of times. We all have vastly different music tastes and this can cause countless debates and arguments. However, we can all agree on one thing. Great speakers make listening to music even more enjoyable than it already is! I for one love the look of the Panasonic Wireless Speaker Systems. Imagine having a multi-room speaker system! I listen to a lot of music when doing chores around the flat and when listening to music with my current sound system, I can barely hear my music from the next room without turning up my speakers to the highest setting and annoying my neighbours to their wits end! Being able to have my music playing in multiple rooms around the flat would be so amazing!

Nostalgia is defined as: "a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time". I can't imagine a better way of describing it. A yearning, not just a feeling. It envelops you in a way that any other thought or feeling fails to do. When I feel nostalgic, it puts me in a bit of a daze. I feel preoccupied fully with the bittersweet yearning of it. I reflect a lot and I find that so many things evoke a sense of nostalgia within me; especially music!

Nostalgia can be felt in a multitude of different ways. It can be happy, sad, amusing and even reflective. It doesn't just make you yearn for a former place or time, it can really take you back to that time and the mindset which you were in at that time. Let's start with happy nostalgia. I have kept the same playlist of 'happy songs' for years and every time I listen to the songs on that playlist, they completely take me back to happier times. The nostalgia really stirs up a true feeling of happiness within me.

• You Make My Dreams - Hall and Oates
• Mr Blue Sky - ELO
• Rock With You - Michael Jackson
• Africa - Toto
• I Wanna Be Your Lover - Prince
• Barracuda - Heart
• Everywhere - Fleetwood Mac
• You Can't Hurry Love - Phil Collins
• Hit Me With Your Best Shot - Pat Benatar
• You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
• A Little Respect - Erasure
• Beautiful - Carole King

Prioritise

One of my biggest pieces of advice is to hoard your work holidays for the exam period. You will need that time off to revise, especially if you have long hours at work. You will have more of a chance to revise and you also need to rest and conserve your energy for studying! Taking time off during exams is such a lifesaver, and I would rather have those dates off than just a random weekend chilling in the middle of the semester.

Don't take on too much! Obviously, your set hours are a bit hard to control so what I mean is don't take too much overtime on if you don't have the energy. Also, always prioritise assignments over overtime. Yes, the extra money is nice, but you also need to focus on the reason you are in university and really focus on your assignments.

Shift Patterns

Ah yes, the dreaded decision. Evenings or weekends? Well, I have tried both, and I have even worked late night shifts. I have found that weekend work is so much more manageable than evening work. You can dedicate your weekdays to university and weekends to work in a nice division of time. I am not thinking about my weekday job in university and I focus on my studies in the evenings. When I am in work at the weekends, I get to take a break from university for a while and it really takes my mind off the goings on of the week.

If you can, I would also go for set shifts. I had a shift pattern which changed weekly when I worked in fast food. It was disrupting my weeks and making it difficult to make any plans. I told my boss that I was thinking of quitting due to the job's effects on my studies and my mental health and I ended up with a set shift. All I had to do was ask.

Energy

It's not just the hours you work and when you work them. It's about making sure that you are not burning yourself out during the course of the week. When you overwork yourself and tire yourself out, that's when your grades may fall or you may not be as social as you want. I know it's easier said than done (especially when you need to work long hours to keep yourself financially secure) but please don't burn yourself out! University is supposed to be enjoyable and a great experience, and this can be hindered by being exhausted all the time.


Distance

I would recommend applying to part time jobs within walking distance of where you live or study. Last year, I was able to walk to work in under 15 minutes, whereas this year I changed jobs and now I have to take the bus. Believe me, the bus money really adds up and I hate how much I spend on transport to and from work! As a student, being able to cut down on these costs is so necessary and needed. If you cycle, this would also be a great alternative to paying for transport to and from work.

If your job is near your uni, it can mean that you are able to go to the library before or after work and get some extra study time in around your job. Every moment of study counts and being able to easily nip into the library is a great chance to get some work done!

Envy

Finally, while some of us have to work part-time, many do not. It is not helpful or healthy to envy the people who do not have to work part-time alongside their studies. I am sure that given the chance we would just focus on our studies and not work, however there are things that we just cannot help. Envying others is not the way to go. Just embrace the opportunities which you are getting from your part-time job!

What work/study balance advice would you give?x

Summer is passing by quicker than ever! I have been working 7 days a week so the days have been feeling like only minutes lately! After just focussing on my health, job and internship for the past month, it's time to think ahead to my final year at university and really gauge how I'm feeling right now. I can't believe that I will be graduating in less than a year, but I have so much to do before I get there!

Excited

Third year is already looking amazing! I have dropped a psychology unit to take up a couple of interdisciplinary courses and I am so excited to expand my knowledge of business and marketing! I am also so ready for my psychology of politics and society module! I have started looking through the reading and I am already finding it so interesting! I am so ready to get stuck back into my  degree and really work hard this year!

I also have a lot of amazing opportunities coming up this year which I am so excited to jump into! I am on the committee for a mental health society in my university! Last year, I got really involved in this society and even co-set up a mental health mentoring scheme for students! Becoming the peer support officer on the committee means that I can keep up the hard work and oversee the scheme as it grows and develops! I can't wait!

I also have a role in my course's peer support scheme, which aims to help first years to settle into university life and excel from the start of their degrees! I can't wait to help to facilitate the constant improvements in this scheme and I truly believe that it will be bigger and better than ever with our coordination team!

Nervous

I am pretty worried about stress and workload. I went a bit off the rails in terms of my mental health last year and cut myself off from a lot of people. My grades dropped and I developed a nasty spending problem! Lately, I have been able to get myself back on track and I have really improved my physical and mental health. I am just hoping that I can keep this up once i'm back in university. I think that what I am going to do is book onto the fitness classes I have been attending over summer and this will help me to break up my days and have a good workout on my lunch breaks. It will help me to bust my stress and clear my mind!

Because my grades fell last year, I have to really work twice as hard this year to get myself back on track! I am nervous that I will continue to work hard but not see any improvement in my grades, just as I did last year. However, I know that I feel more connected to my units this year and way more enthusiastic about them. I know that I will be engaged and I will (hopefully) enjoy my units this year!

Eager

This is my final year and I need to jump into it head first! I will be so busy trying to smash my degree, figure out what I will be doing after graduation, and balance my extracurriculars and part time work! However, working 7 days a week this summer has taught me that I thrive when I keep busy. When I am busy, my days have a solid structure and I do not have time to over-think or dwell on events which have occurred in the past. I can't wait to get back to the grind of university and I can't wait to see what the future brings!

If you're in education, how are you approaching this coming year? x

Lately, I've been feeling so cluttered. Not only in my surroundings but also in my mind. There is so much going on at once that it can feel so overwhelming and so easy to lose track of what is going on around me. I decided that I needed to have a proper life declutter, both for my surroundings and mind. Here's what I've been doing to tackle all this decluttering!

Digital

I've had most of my digital devices for years, and there has been such a buildup of files and browser bookmarks! On my phone, I have way too many apps which I never use and are just sitting there taking up precious memory. On my laptop, I have deleted a lot of lecture slides from previous years and pretty much cleared out my downloads folder, the source of most of my anguish. I have reorganised the files on my desktop and moved a lot of them to an external hard drive for storage, rather than letting them clog up my laptop. On my phone, I have deleted all the apps that I don't get anything from anymore. These are games that I haven't played in months and apps for media players that I don't watch anything on (eg. NowTV). Now, my desktop and phone are so much clearer and I only keep what I use. It is less stressful finding files and apps and I have freed up tonnes of memory!

I have also done a complete overhaul of my scheduling and general productivity habits. I use Google Calendar for all my planning and scheduling since it's so easy to organise my days into blocks of time and keep track of everything I have planned during the week. I have been storing and creating my files on Google Drive and I have reorganised all my folders in this. I have stopped using the social media that I don't enjoy and I have pretty much simplified all of my digital day-to-day activities.

Clothing

Who else is completely guilty of hoarding clothes that you never wear? I definitely am! However, when I moved to my new flat and I was unpacking my clothes, I realised that I had way too many items that I don't really like or enjoy wearing that much. So as I was unpacking, I bagged up a good portion of my clothes to donate and I also threw away some old tatty underwear. Decluttering your clothes leaves lots of space for new clothes, but I'm on a spending ban so I'm just learning to appreciate the clothes that I have kept a bit more. I am getting more use out of everything I have kept and I feel better about clothes shopping whenever I do decide to treat myself!

Surfaces and surroundings

Clutter. Clutter everywhere! In my old room in my student house, all my surfaces were completely covered and it made my space feel so claustrophobic and messy all the time! I hated it and always blamed it on the fact I didn't have a lot of space in the first place. Nope, I just owned a lot of pointless stuff that was cluttering up my room and making it feel crowded. Now that I have donated and thrown away a lot of stuff that I don't particularly love, my space looks so much tidier and is way easier to clean! I have realised that clutter makes me super stressed and I would rather own less and be tidy than own lots and let all my items completely take over! Now, everything has its place and is neatly stored exactly where I know to find it.

Walls

I loved all the posters on the walls of my student house room! I had so many and they all represented something about me. However, when I was moving and I took them all down, I realised how much I love plainer walls and how much lighter the space became when there wasn't so much covering the walls. In my new place, I have a couple of small items hanging on my wall and three beautiful prints by Jessica Gutteridge. My rooms feel so light and open and I love it!

Products

I own too many skincare products. However, I have not bought any lately and I have been working my way through everything I already own. The box that I use to store my skincare and body care products used to be very full but now it is looking pretty empty and I have been able to try out all the products and figure out what works with my skin best. Not having all those products all over the place has really decluttered my space and I know exactly what to repurchase when my spending ban is over!

Mind

Finally, I have been taking steps to sort through my thoughts and declutter my mind! I have been journalling more again and getting all my pent-up feelings down on paper. It's a weight off my chest and I like to look back through the pages and see how I have progressed into a better place due to counselling, medication and other factors. I have also started exercising more. When I am working out, nothing is on my mind and I am just focussed on the task at hand, which is so refreshing! I am hoping to get back into running next and clear my mind in the outdoors!

Have you been doing any life decluttering lately? x

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

I've been a student for a good amount of years now and I've constantly searched for new ways to get productive throughout my time as a student, be that at high school, college or university! I have gathered a lot of tips, tricks and techniques over this period of time and I am so excited to share these with you! Before I set up this blog, I used to run a study blog over on Tumblr and I really learned a lot about productivity from this experience, as well as from studying and trying different things for myself!

There are so many great productivity apps on the market and so much choice that it can be hard to see which ones actually work and help you to get productive! I have tried and tested so many apps and I have finally settled on my handful of staple productivity apps, which I keep in a folder on my phone for those study/work days!

Forest

If you haven't heard of Forest, it is an incredibly popular app on the app store and possibly the cutest productivity app out there! It asks you to choose an amount of time that you want to focus for (I always go for 25 minutes as per the Pomodoro technique) and it plants a lil tree for you. As long as you do not go on your phone and exit the app for this length of time, the tree will grow. If you go on your phone and procrastinate, the tree dies and you are left with a dead little tree in your forest. It's a fun and cute way to get productive!

You can download Forest on the App Store HERE and the Google Play store HERE. There is also a Chrome browser button that you can download if the app isn't your cup of tea!

• Quizlet - a great app for students who are trying to revise!
• Canva - for making great graphics on the go!
• Google Calendar - gotta have a good calendar!
• To-Do - simpler than Priority Matrix!
• Dictionary - you never know when you'll need it!

• My Passion Projects
• Career Contessa
• Career Girl Daily