Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motivation. Show all posts

Monday, 10 August 2020

Lessons Learned | You Can Dress The Way You Want No Matter Your Size

August 10, 2020 advice , blogging 0 Comments


- Lessons Learned is a new series of chatty blog posts where I talk about all the lessons I have learned in adulthood so far which I wish I had learned earlier -

TW: Weight, Body Image, Eating

The background

I skim the edges between being midsize and being plus size. In some shops, I fit into straight sizing and in others, I have to shift along to the plus-size section. My weight fluctuates a lot and I can never tell whether I am closer to a size 14 or a size 16. Sometimes a size 16 feels way too tight, sometimes way too loose. Basically, my sizing is a mess. I carry a lot of my weight on my lower tummy (thanks PCOS) but generally everywhere is a bit large. I'm learning to not hate this body, and believe me my confidence has grown in leaps and bounds since I last posted on this blog, almost exactly a year ago! 

I have always been a yo-yo dieter, trying everything I can (for short but restrictive periods of time) to be a certain size or weight. I am also a comfort eater and an emotional eater. For as long as I can remember, food has always been a coping mechanism for me when I have been stressed, upset, angry, anxious, depressed or just generally in any mood that isn't contentment. Someone once said to me "when the going gets tough, Jess starts eating" and it kind of stuck in my head like a mantra, repeated when I'm stood at the open fridge door trying to eat shredded mozzarella without dropping it all over the floor. 

I feel it's also important to point out that I have had periods of confidence in the past before reverting back to feeling ashamed of my body. College was a good time for that, armed with my pixie cut and an attention span that allowed me to bury myself into books rather than into the cupboards. I'm not sure what happened to that confidence; maybe it was my body ageing and carrying weight in a different way, maybe it was the relationship I had with someone who told me I wouldn't be beautiful unless I dropped two stone, or maybe it was just the stress of uni/job/life getting in the way of prioritising my mental wellbeing. Whatever it was, I ended up at square one again and that was the beginning of this little self-acceptance journey I found myself on.

Growing confidence

This is by no means a guidebook to becoming a confident queen because, believe me, I have days where I loathe my body just like many other people. I still often feel shy allowing my partner to see me, despite having pretty much seen it all before, and it was only yesterday I stepped out in public in leggings for the first time without using a long sweater or dress to cover up the jiggle of my thighs. Despite this, I have learned to not scrutinise my body shape every time I catch my reflection in a shop window. I can give my tummy a little squeeze without feeling disgusted. I walk about in tight dresses that accentuate my curves and wear crop tops probably more often than I wear full-length tops. This isn't me dressing more revealing in a way to make myself appear more confident like I have done in the past, this is me finally dressing the way I have always wanted because I am more confident.

This has been the main switch in my thinking when getting dressed in the morning (or afternoon because it's an odd time and I don't tend to have anywhere to be at 9am anymore):

From "this outfit looks okay despite my body" to "this outfit looks great ON my body".
 
My body is no longer the limiting factor in how good I look. I don't have to be confident 'despite my body', I can just be confident in my body. I can look good and be fat. And I don't want to shy away from that word 'fat' anymore. 

Sofie Hagen, the author of the brilliant book Happy Fat, speaks out a lot about reclaiming the word fat and she has really shown me that there's nothing to gain from hiding away from a word that is, in essence, a neutral word. "Fat" as a word does not have a positive or negative connotation, it's just a word. I'm going to post links to Sofie's social media at the bottom of this post and I would highly recommend checking her book out if you want to read more about fat-liberation, fatphobia and self-acceptance.

Dressing the way I want

It started with checking where I draw my fashion inspiration. When your Pinterest boards, Instagram feed and TikTok For You page is full of people who dress the way you want but also have the body you think you want you can tend to gravitate towards inner phrases like "if only I could dress like that" or "I wish I could be her" as opposed to "wow I want that outfit" or "I should try that look". I go to those places for outfit inspiration, not self-doubt. I'm not stating that you should unfollow all the people who don't have your body type, you can draw outfit inspiration from anyone! What I did was balance out my feeds to show more body diversity. I followed more plus-size and mid-size bloggers (or just general people with the style I gravitate towards) and began to expose myself more to media in which the people look like me. To say that this has done wonders for my body confidence is a massive understatement! I have become more used to seeing my body type reflected on these platforms so it has become very normal for me to see it. When I catch glimpses of my body's side angles in the mirror it feels less out of place and I feel much more normal. I no longer feel like 'the fat woman' in a world of people with a different body type to me. I feel normalised, accepted and, more often than ever, I feel good. I like my body more. I want to dress it how it's always deserved to be dressed and not to try everything I can to cover it up!

So, I started to wear dresses more often. I started wearing bodycon styles more often. I started to dress more to stand out than to remain inconspicuous. I have always been more into alternative fashion than any other type of fashion but I was scared to stand out because that would draw attention to myself, and ultimately to my body. I bought the ASOS chain belt I have been looking at for forever. I started buying nicer clothes for every day wear rather than reserving my favourite styles for when I would be in a dark club where nobody could see my curves clearly. I went out in a dress without tights on underneath for the first time in I don't know how long! When I dress the way I have wanted to dress for years it gives me a whole new level of confidence.

Below I have some outfit pics I have posted on my Instagram over the past few months. They were taken by Chloe, Jake and Justin and I absolutely adore them! It has been refreshing to have outfit pictures taken again for the first time in what seems like forever. If you would like to see more of these, my Instagram is @jessistryingblog and I try to post these pictures and to share some self love talk as often as I can!

 

 

 

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read this post. Writing on here for the first time in so long has felt so therapeutic and I can't wait to post more content on here again! My socials are below if you would like to see what comes next!

Bloglovin // Twitter // Instagram // TikTok

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Thursday, 9 May 2019

How I Tackle The Guilt Of Hustle Culture

May 09, 2019 advice , business 2 Comments

A mindset I have fallen into as of late is the idea of the 'hustle'. This is the idea that you have to not only work hard to achieve your goals, but to work constantly on 15,000 projects and side projects in order to be successful and that the quantity of what you can accomplish will show everyone how on top of things you are (or how employable you are in my pre-graduation case). Hustle culture prioritises long hours of work instead of shorter, more focussed hours. According to an article on the Forbes website, 12 to 15 hour work days are being seen as a badge of honour and lots of companies are perpetuating the ideals of this mentality. I've even seen it in job descriptions on my job hunt, especially in companies in which you can earn commission on top of your salary. "Be prepared to not leave the office until you've completed every single one of your goals, even if that means staying for several hours after the working day is done".

Stress & Burnout

Let's face facts, a lot of us put pressure on ourselves to do the best and be the best. If that means putting in hours and hours of extra time on a project or a job then we are willing to burn ourselves out to achieve our goals. However, taking this mentality into our every single day is surely unhealthy. The added pressures and stress that we are putting upon ourselves is exhausting and seeing a culture that glorifies this does worry me. I get it, it can be empowering to talk about being a 'girl boss' and talk about the 'hustle', but some of us can't keep up with it and can burn out from trying to match the ideals of hustle culture. If you want to use 'hustle' posts on social media (not going to lie, for some time I pinned a lot of these posts onto a board titled 'girl boss' on Pinterest) then go for it! If it empowers you to work towards your goals, more power to you! However, don't let the hustle rule your life and be sure to listen to your mind and body if you're feeling overworked or burned out.

Stress is bad, we all know that. The symptoms that come from stress and burnout can be both mental and physical and can be mild or very severe. You can become emotionally drained, you could lose sleep, you could get sick due to the effects of stress on the immune system, and your performance on the job can even worsen, meaning that those extra hours you're putting in could reap very little reward anyway.

Guilt

Not being able to keep up with hustle culture can be a massive source of guilt for some, and I have experienced this guilt majorly. As a depressed person, sometimes just getting through a day of work can be tough and I can burn out quite easily. I also have spells where I'm on top of everything and accomplishing all I want to and more. This fluctuation of my ability to sit for long hours at my desk or to write a lot or to revise for long hours can be incredibly frustrating. Some days I can get up in the morning, spend eight hours in the library, go home and do some more work at home. Then, some days I can't get up in the morning, I do a bit of work from home before I get tired or distracted and I have to stop. On the unproductive days, the guilt kills me. When I lie in bed at night I tend to ask myself what I have accomplished today, and sometimes the answer is 'almost nothing'. I feel guilty and useless and I spiral.

When was I thriving? When was I going to bed each night with a sense of accomplishment and waking up every morning ready to work and do something great? When I was working a 9-5 job and spending my evenings on hobbies and not hustles. I know, it's basic. The thing is, my work day was structured and set. I would go into work at a certain time and spend my morning hours productively in the office, and just as my productivity was lagging it was time for lunch. I would return to my desk refreshed after eating my lunch outside or going to an exercise class and I would spend my next few hours at work getting stuff done. After work, I would write or exercise or simply watch TV or read with a glass of wine. I was thriving.

Others have talked about the guilt that comes from not being able to keep up with crazy long hours, lots of projects and a side-hustle or three (See: Washington Times & i-d.vice) so I know I'm not the only one out here asking myself about the costs of the 'hustle'. It can leave you feeling like you're not good enough and that you're not working as hard as everybody out there. Doing something that isn't goal-related or on your to-do list isn't a crime, and you're not any less productive for doing it. I've started to consider some of my hobbies as 'non-productive-productivity' tasks.

Non-productive-productivity

When you start to consider non-work related tasks as productive, it can relieve some of the guilt of not 'hustling'. Well, it helps me anyway. For example, after listening to the audiobook Atomic Habits by James Clear, I became inspired and motivated to start building habit formation into my routine, starting with listening to an audiobook chapter every day. I started building some of my hobbies or interests into habits which I could set some time aside for each day, and I classed these habit-building tasks as 'non-productive-productivity' tasks. It's a fulfilling way of using your time, and you can choose habits which enhance your skills, hobbies or interests. If you've always wanted to improve at an instrument, try to play for a set amount each day. If you love reading, set aside some time each day to read. If you want to expand your knowledge and keep up to date with current affairs, set some time aside to read or watch the news. Even journalling, colouring or just spending time with your pet can be scheduled in as an essential slot of time during your day. You get the satisfying feeling of ticking off an item on your to-do list without having to burn yourself out for it!

The power of having a day off

If you have the opportunity to have a true day off, don't guilt yourself into skipping it. If you go too long without giving yourself a proper rest then you will eventually burn out and one day off could be replaced with having to write off days or even a week to recuperate. Take that day off, take that afternoon off, have a long bath or go to the cinema. You don't have to be on the go 24/7 to be successful! Treat yo self!

I hope that you were able to take something from this post! It's good to work hard but it's also important to know when to stop. When was the last time you took a proper break?


Photo by Anthony Young on Unsplash

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Monday, 11 February 2019

Make The First Move // Dating Chronicles

February 11, 2019 advice , chat 0 Comments

Sometimes the start of a new dating/relationship scenario can be awkward, confusing and nerve wracking when it's someone you have met organically and not through a dating app. Meeting people through dating apps and starting a dating relationship is super easy since it's probably the reason you both started talking in the first place. However, it can make you forget how to deal with fancying people in your real offline life and wanting to get closer to them in a romantic way. It can make you forget that sometimes you have to make the first move and tell someone how you feel face to face. That's always been tough, though. It can be super scary, but that's why i'm here to reassure you and to tell you to just go for it!

Have they indicated that they feel the same way?

 Do they go out of their way to see you? Do your hangouts feel more like dates than just friendly meetups? Do you both act all awkward and blushy when you're together (awh)? Do you talk all day everyday, and occasionally in a flirty way? Then, my dude, they may just fancy you too! If you're both as awkward as each other then maybe you're both waiting for the other person to make the first move!

I'm not saying that these are all signs that the person you fancy likes you back, but they sure could be! There are also other signs but I don't have all the knowledge of these things for each of you. I am not an oracle, I just think I know enough to make this post. Acknowledging the signs and thinking over all the times you spend together may help you to build up some of the courage needed to make the first move.

Are you close friends or are you acquaintances? 

 If you're close friends already, then you surely won't lose that friendship by telling them you like them in a romantic kinda way. They should respect your honesty and either let you down gently or tell you they've been feeling the same way. You are not going to lose them, I repeat, you are not going to lose them. If it feels awkward for a little while, it will definitely pass and you will get back to the way you are in no time. If, however, they actually tell you that they like you back, you are dating your close friend who you already know you get along with and trust!

If they're an acquaintance, how much have you got to lose if they say no? It will hurt for a little while but that will pass and they will remain an acquaintance. A truly mature grown up person will be flattered by your affections, whether returned or not, and will not run into the distance screaming.

How long have you been crushing?

If it's been a long time and you haven't brought it up with your crush, it will feel good just to say it and get it off your chest. Even if they don't return your feelings, at least you know now. Otherwise you will never know if they feel the same way as you! I went to college with somebody for two years and I had a crush on them the entire time but I was scared to say anything because I thought they didn't return the feelings. We then went our separate ways for university and I didn't see them for nearly two years. When they came to visit me in Manchester, I told them that I had feelings for them for the whole of college and they said that they had felt the same way but were also scared to say anything. It took literal years to tell them I had a crush, by which time we were in completely different places (geographically and mentally) and nothing could come from those feelings. Say something or you may regret keeping your feelings to yourself in the future!

What have you got to lose?

 As I have already said, if the person you have feelings for is already a friend, they will not abandon you if you express your feelings to them. It may feel awkward in the short term but at least these things pass. If they do have those feelings for you, you have so much to possibly gain in the future with them! It's the same with someone you know less well. It may feel awkward in the short-term if they reject your advances, but you have so much to gain in the long-term if they return them!

To conclude this ramble...

 Go for it!
What have you got to lose? What have you got to gain?
If you still don't feel inspired to ask your crush out, just share this where they may see it, read it, and make the first move instead!

Good luck angels!x


Photo by Ioana Cristiana on Unsplash
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Friday, 8 February 2019

Not Having a Plan // Student Life

February 08, 2019 advice , career 0 Comments

I was at an event where I was mixing with a bunch of A Level students and telling them all about uni life and what to expect when a girl approached me looking like she had a pretty serious question to ask me. We sat to the side and I told her to ask me anything, and she told me that she was worried that everyone else around her seemed to know what they wanted to do post-graduation, even though they hadn't even begun their degrees. "Is it bad that I don't know what to do after education? When will I absolutely need to know?" She's not even in uni yet and she's already worried and anxious about finishing her degree. Here's the response I gave her and the advice I want to share on here with you.

It's okay to go into something not knowing the outcome

 Taking risks or stepping out of your comfort zone will help you to figure out what you can and can't do well and what you do or don't enjoy. This even applies to choosing a degree subject or a job. It isn't a case of 'choose this and stick with it forever' and you won't know you enjoy it unless you give it a go. Some people around me have switched degrees and others have stuck with theirs. Some people have gone into a job thinking they would hate it and ended up loving it, others have had the opposite happen to them. A lot of what we do is trial and error, and you won't know whether something works for you unless you give it a try.

 We all change our minds 

 The chances are that a lot of the people around you who are completely certain of what they want to do will end up changing their minds. As a psychology student, I started out wanting to work as a forensic psychologist and now i'm going into marketing as my career of choice. I have a friend who started out wanting to be a clinical psychologist and now she's set to become a teacher. Some people change their minds later in life and leave their long-time career to pursue something new. Nothing is set and nobody's plans are set. The fact that you don't have a plan will change before you know it, and then your new plan can change too.

 University will introduce you to new avenues you hadn't even considered before

 Don't have a plan now? You probably will have one after some time in university. Try out all sorts of new things in university. It's the best place to do this! Join societies, get involved and take up opportunities even if you're unsure of whether they are for you. I decided to volunteer as a Welcome Hero at the start of my second year, which basically meant that throughout freshers' week I accompanied new students on trips around the area, I volunteered at the freshers' fair, and I spent a lot of time standing outside the Students' Union with a big arrow pointing people to events. I loved the buzz of Welcome Week so much that when the opportunity for a summer internship involving preparations for Welcome Week came up, I applied straight away and ended up getting a paid internship for the whole summer working in marketing for Welcome Week, as well as marketing for other aspects of the uni. I loved it so much that i'm now pursuing marketing as a career, something I hadn't even considered before! To cut a long story short, your 'plan' can come at the most unexpected of times, so just take up opportunities where you see them and you never know what might happen!

Sidenote - taking up these opportunities will also look fab on your CV, whatever you decide to do!

Do you have a plan? How has your plan changed?x


Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
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Tuesday, 13 November 2018

I Beat My Gym Fear // Let's Talk

November 13, 2018 anxiety , body positivity 0 Comments
Photo by Danielle Cerullo on Unsplash

I never thought I would love fitness this much, but here we are! I joined the gym a month ago and I am honestly so proud of myself for pushing myself to go. I have been wanting to join a gym for a couple years now but the idea of working out in front of other people terrified me. I have experienced a lot of anxiety surrounding the way I view my body and my fitness, and I have felt a lot of shame. However, I knew that could only be beaten if I just joined and started working out and working though the fears!

Pushing myself to join

 It's kind of like the 'fuck it' philosophy. I had been thinking about joining the gym for forever, but it took one 'fuck it' moment for me to ask a friend where they go and then sign up for my induction. I think that's the best way to do things. There wasn't a massive lead up on the day of me waking up and saying "I'm going to join the gym today", I just did it without thinking too much about it. It worked, I booked my induction for the next morning and told myself that I had to get up and do it.

I was super nervous going into my induction. I had spent too long thinking about going to the gym and then overthinking about all the things that could go wrong. What if people see how unfit I am? What if I fall on the treadmill? What if I break a machine? What if someone finds it funny how little I can lift? But I went to my induction, at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, because I had it booked in so I had to go! The trainer was lovely and informative and I was actually the only one who had turned up to the induction so I got to have a go on almost everything with the guidance of the trainer. By the end of the induction, I felt so much more confident about my choice to join the gym! I felt like I knew the basics and I knew how to use most of the machines with proper form. That was all it took for me to feel fine about going to the gym and working out around others.

 Why am I going to the gym?

 I've been fine with my appearance lately, and I have worked on my confidence a great deal, so why have I finally decided to join the gym? Surprisingly, it isn't because I want to lose weight and slim down. I just want to feel healthier and stronger! I start every workout with a session of cardio because I have been so sluggish and I have felt so fed up about feeling tired and out of energy all the time. It feels good to get the blood pumping and work up a bit of a sweat! I then move on to weight machines, my favourite part of the gym! I have already seen such a difference in my ability to lift and I am always building up the weight and trying to lift heavier!

 How I feel after a month

 I am already stronger and fitter! I still hate cardio (like, a lot) but I have surprised myself with how I still push myself to do it! I can be very inconsistent and unmotivated with these things so I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping it up! I have begun to vary my weight workouts a lot more and I have been trying different machines and weight levels. I can see muscle tone in my legs that wasn't there before and my arms are looking a lot more firm and fit!

How I want to progress

 Cardio is something I really want to focus on going forward. I want to learn to love cardio, or just to like it even a little. I think I'm going to mix it up rather than getting on the treadmill and then switching to stair-master. I may incorporate rowing machines or even bikes into the mix and see if I find that more enjoyable! I do want to have a session with a personal trainer to check my form and see if I can do anything differently, and I would also like to maybe try out a few classes. Since weight machines are something I enjoy, I may move on to free weights. That part of the gym isn't somewhere I have explored much (since it's always packed and everyone seems to know what they are doing), but I do think it is something I would enjoy!

Do you have any recommendations of apps or workouts which could help me to enjoy cardio? I am all ears! x


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Friday, 24 August 2018

Beginner Bloggers Toolkit

August 24, 2018 advice , apps 0 Comments
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.


While the content of your blog is the most important thing to build up, your promotion techniques will almost fully decide who reads your content and how many people do. 

The Social Media Foundations

You don't need all of these social media profiles to get started, but I have found that these are the driving force behind my pageviews. Twitter is a good place to start. The community of bloggers feels so accessible and everyone is so welcoming to beginner bloggers. It's lovely seeing all the support on Twitter and I have met some wonderful people! Using hashtags on Twitter can really drive your blog growth. #BloggersTribe is a solid favourite among the blogging community. You can tag what kind of blog you are running too, to direct people to your blog.
  • #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:

If you use Pinterest or Instagram to promote your blog, Tailwind is the most talked about scheduler. When using a Facebook page to promote posts, you can actually schedule posts without using a separate app.

Mix (formerly StumbleUpon)

Mix is fab for post promotion! You add your post link to different folders which you create, much like boards on Pinterest. I have found that sharing  my posts on Mix (and StumbleUpon) has driven colossal amounts of traffic to my blog! Your posts are shared with people who have already expressed interest in the topics mentioned in your blog so that you will be driving an interested and relevant audience to your content, which can lead to more reader interaction and subsequent sharing!


A big part of blogging is looking for inspiration for your posts. Writing doesn't always come easy, especially when you are trying to stick with a frequent blogging schedule and you feel like you are running out of ideas! However, we are spoiled for choice when it comes to finding things that inspire us! There's just so much out there, especially on the internet!

Other Blogs

Reading blogs can really get you inspired about your own. You can see quality content and want to better your own, or see missing gaps in content which you want to fill with your own opinions and experiences. For example, if you're reading a blog about student life and you're a student yourself, you could find that something you believe strongly about hasn't been talked about. BAM, a blog post idea. Tell people more about what you're passionate about and what you believe has been previously overlooked. 

Places

When i'm stuck in a rut, I find somewhere new or different to plan blog ideas. Sometimes i'll be chilling in a gallery thinking 'this slow living thing is the life' and the I suddenly get the urge to write about slow living. Inspiration can come anytime and anywhere and if you're stuck in a rut, maybe it's because you're in a set routine and you're going to the same places and doing the same thing every single day.

Pinterest

Mood boards are such a lovely way to brainstorm and plan for blog posts and Pinterest is such an easy way to put one together! I'm currently planning an autumnal series for Blogtober and I have been filling a board on Pinterest with autumnal images to get me into the mindset for all these posts. There are also so many bloggers on Pinterest with boards full of blogging advice, tips and tricks! You can check out my profile HERE!

Your Audience

Try to figure out who your audience is and what they would like to see. Got a lot of students in your audience? Do a student life series! Got a lot of movie enthusiasts? Write a post on your favourite films, films that mean a lot to you, or your current Netflix picks! Once you start writing, it's easier to push away that writer's block!


I was hesitant to add this section to the post since I am only just starting to properly attempt to make a small income from my blog, but I figured I have a handful of tips to share and whatever I can give could help someone to make their passion a path to income.

AdSense

Using Google AdSense is a great start in the monetisation journey. You display ads on your blog and earn money from any clicks they get. I have AdSense enabled on my blog but I don't tend to earn much from it. Very little in fact. Once your audience begins to grow more and more, you should see an increase in income through ads, however it does take a little while!

Shopstyle (and affiliate links)

I have found that Shopstyle has been the easiest way for me to add affiliate links to my blog. You set up an account and you can transform links from certain retailers, such as ASOS and New Look, into affiliate links. You can earn a bit of money when someone clicks on a link, and you can earn even more if someone buys a product which you have recommended! This is a great way to earn a little extra money if you run a beauty or fashion blog!

PR and Sponsored Posts

I have only ever put out one sponsored post (HERE) but this has been the most efficient source of income which I have experienced in my time blogging so far! I was approached in my emails for my post but I know that if you are signed up for Bloggers Required then you can browse sponsored jobs and potentially earn some money! 

Monetisation Posts

I am perhaps not entirely the person to be dishing out advice on monetising your blog, so here are a few posts on the topic which could help you a bit more!
So, that's it! I will update this whenever I find out any more tips! I hope that you found this helpful; I would love to find out what your tips are!x

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Monday, 6 August 2018

My Thoughts Going Into 3rd Year // Student Life

August 06, 2018 chat , education 1 Comments

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

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Wednesday, 1 August 2018

My Online Productivity Toolkit // Printables, Apps and More

August 01, 2018 advice , apps 0 Comments

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!


Google Drive, Docs, Sheets and Keep

The Google apps are incredibly useful! I use Google Drive for absolutely everything, from all my lecture notes to drafts of my blog posts and my peer support work! It makes it so easy to keep all your work backed up and also to work collaboratively with the ability to share folders and work on the same file at the same time as others! Having all of your work easily accessible on your phone through Google's handy apps means that you can work on anything on the go and you have access to so much information at your fingertips! For example, in the lead up to exams I like to read through my lecture notes on my phone when i'm on public transport, in a waiting room or on breaks in work! It's just so useful!


Priority Matrix

I have tried so many to-do list apps and none have been quite like Priority Matrix. This app allows you to divide up your to-do list however you want and allows you to change the sizes of each section when you are focussing on one more than the other. There are so many tools in this app and I feel like i've only scratched the surface!


Pinterest/Tumblr

Sometimes what you need to access is some inspiration! Pinterest is pretty much automatic for me when I need this! My dashboard is full of self-care quotes, career inspo and productivity tips. Depending on what you pin, your dashboard will be full of what you need to see! This is why I love Pinterest! You can follow my boards HERE for lots of self-care inspiration and career motivation!

Tumblr can also be a great destination when you need some inspiration. I use Tumblr mostly for study inspiration! The tags 'studyblr' and 'studyspo' are full of tips, tricks and advice for students! I ran a Studyblr blog for a handful of years and it definitely helped me to get to university! Now, I focus all my time on this blog but Studyblr does hold a special place in my heart!


Other great apps:
  • 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!


Blogs

Blogs are full of great advice and some of the best productivity and self-improvement advice I have been able to find in my quest for productivity tips! This is a list of some of my favourite blogs for this kind of advice:

Here are also some of my favourite individual productivity posts, if you want to find something to read quickly to get you into a productive state of mind:

YouTube

Just like with blogs, sometimes the best advice I can find comes from YouTubers! There are so many channels dedicated to self-improvement and they have a wealth of advice for productivity! Here are some of my favourite channels:


White Noise 

When I want to get properly in the zone, I listen to white noise instead of music. I have tried to listen to every genre of music while studying but they all end up distracting me! White noise is great because it blocks out the sounds of your surroundings but doesn't distract you in the process! It's also super calming so really helps with my anxiety, especially when super stressed about exams and deadlines! Here are a few of the best white noise generators out there:

  • Rainy Mood - A lovely rainfall sound to accompany music or just to blur out your surroundings
  • Coffitivity - Cafe sounds which will make you feel like you're out and about being all productive around other people

Grammarly

Grammarly is perhaps my favourite tool on this list as it makes writing so easy, especially when my head is all foggy from stress and I can barely get the words out! It checks your spelling, punctuation and grammar as you write and makes proofreading your work so simple and easy! I have to write to deadlines a lot as a student and Grammarly boosts my confidence about my quality of work whenever I end up submitting it!

Google drive

I have already mentioned Google Drive in the apps section of this post but I need to mention the web version too! I do everything on Google Drive and honestly, I do not know what I would do without it! I have been using it non-stop since the start of college and it has saved my ass countless times since the large storage capacity allows me to use it to back up all of my work! Trust me, give it a go!


My music taste generally is very varied, but I tend to stick to two different study playlists; one of my own and one on a YouTube livestream. However, I have hunted down a few different ones for you, including some of the playlists I used to study for my A Levels with.

Lo-Fi study music

One thing that I discovered when studying in uni is lo-fi study music, which is all over YouTube. This livestream (HERE) is the one I tend to always go for and Chillhop have also put together the playlist on Spotify (HERE). You can check out the other Chillhop playlists (HERE); they're all fab to study to!

This lo-fi hip hop playlist by ChilledCow is also fab if you want to switch it up a bit!

My playlist

 For this post, i've put together a list of the songs I most frequently listen to when i'm studying. They're all classical pieces which I find help me to concentrate the most. I like to pair up this playlist with Rainy Mood to really get a good atmosphere going!


Other playlists


I am a massive fan of finding printables for every occasion, particularly for studying and productivity! I have searched the internet for some free printables and compiled a little list for you! I will keep updating this whenever I find any more great materials!




Just to round off this slightly long post, I just wanted to share a short list of tips which have helped me when I have been lacking a bit of productivity in my life! We all have the capability to be productive and get shit done, it's just harder for some people. My mental health struggles have meant that it has been so hard to be productive sometimes, but while I can't keep up with life sometimes, it really stops for nobody and sometimes we need to look outside ourselves for motivation and inspiration to get back up and keep going.

Make productivity plans

When I can't push myself to get out of bed and get anything done, I turn to others to motivate me. I make plans to push me out of bed from fear of letting somebody down, rather than just myself. If I plan to meet somebody at the library, I will go just so I don't leave them waiting. Book study spaces at the library, arrange a time to meet somebody at a cafe, arrange appointments when you know that once you're out of the house you will be more likely to go to the library afterwards.

To-do lists

I'm talking physical, on paper to-do lists. You can't just delete items and watch them disappear when you don't want to do them. Write in pen and make it neat. You won't want to put a harsh line through the writing, you'll want to check the item off the list! It's the most satisfying feeling ever!

Take breaks

What's better: studying solidly for a couple of hours before burning out and giving up, or studying for longer but with regular breaks? I'd say the latter. Whatever task you're trying to get done, make sure to break it up into chunks and have breaks! This is why I love the Pomodoro method of studying so much. It makes studying so much more manageable and less daunting! Plus, with regular breaks you are more likely to retain the information you're taking in!

What are your productivity tips?x


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