Here's something I never thought I'd say: I'm really into audiobooks at the moment. After multiple tries at enjoying and utilising audiobooks, something has finally stuck and I'm in a routine of using Audible to enrich my day-to-day life. For years people have been telling me that audiobooks are the best way to fit more books into your life but I struggled to pay attention to them if I was listening to a story whilst doing anything else, and struggled to stay awake if I was listening to a story before bed. I didn't think to fit audiobooks into any part of my day other than the end when I was laying in bed. It was a great way to drift off but I'd go to continue the book only to realise that I had missed parts of the story whilst falling asleep. Annoying. Finding parts of my day which allow my mind to wander was a good way of figuring out when to fit in my Audible time since I could focus on the book with little else on my mind. This is where I've managed to fit it in:

When & Where

I hate commuting. Getting the bus to work, walking all the way to university, it's all very boring and pretty much unbearable without my earphones. I hate having nothing to do to occupy my mind whilst I'm getting from A to B since my mind always tends to wander where I would rather it didn't. This is where Audible comes in. Music does an okay job at making my commute more bearable, but once you know a song well you don't really need to focus on the lyrics at all and your mind is free to wander. Listening to Audible means that I have something to focus my mind on which is engaging, new and interesting. I find myself on autopilot, getting myself to where I need to be, while completely engaged in what I'm listening to. Often I reach my location marvelling at how quickly the journey has passed.


What

In my unsuccessful stints of using Audible, I was listening to mostly fiction. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fantasy novel, but I was getting lost in complex plots and found that unless I was completely focused on the audio, I would soon get frustrated and give up on the book. I have found that listening to self-help books, personal development books and autobiographies has worked so much better for me. I feel like I'm learning something every time I commute and I find I can dip in and out of these books much easier than high-concept fantasy novels. I love that it brings an element of learning to my day no matter whether it's a university day or not, and after listening to a personal development book I often reach my destination feeling motivated and ready to work towards my goals.

Faves on Audible: Atomic Habits by James Clear & Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig.

Why

So why was I so hell-bent on finding a way to use Audible that works super well for me? Well, I have always been an avid reader but I have been finding it harder and harder to find the time or the energy to just pick up a book and start reading. I have so many unfinished books and even several books on my shelf that I have failed to pick up since purchasing them. I've missed getting stuck into a book, progressing through the chapters and hanging onto every word and I wanted a way to get all of this and fit it easily into my everyday routine. The time I was spending getting from A to B every day felt like time that could be better spent or optimised and realising this made it click in my head that this could be my new reading time. Using Audible means that I can get my reading in every single day whether I have time to sit down with a book or not.Do you listen to audiobooks? When do you fit in time to read?



Photo by Konstantin Dyadyun on Unsplash

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".

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

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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)

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

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

I was laying in bed ready to sleep last night when I was suddenly hit by a number of post ideas. These have been few and far between over the past few weeks so I immediately grabbed my journal and scribbled down any plans I could. In this sudden rush of ideas, I came up with a three-step method for getting motivated. I have no idea where this came from, maybe one of the 'Finding Motivation' courses I took last semester, but it seems to be working! I am on a motivational high today!

Step 1: Assess

Before you start the motivation process, you should first figure out what motivates you and how you gather motivation. Some people are very intrinsically motivated. They are able to motivate themselves with thoughts of goals and future. Their rewards for their motivation are feelings, rather than external factors. They act because they know that they will feel satisfied or accomplished once they have completed their task.

Other people are extrinsically motivated. They act because they want to accomplish something external. They study for grades, not the feeling of achievement. They complete tasks because they want recognition or praise.

Our own 'motivation style' sits on a gradient of extrinsic and extrinsic. If we figure out what motivates us and where we lie on this gradient, we are one step closer to getting motivated.

When assessing your motivation style, you should look at past events. Think about when you have felt motivated and pushed to do something. It could be studying for an exam or picking up a sport. Think about why you did it and how you were able to motivate yourself.

Step 2: Access

Time to access your 'motivation materials'! Apply what you have learned about your own motivation style to how you gather your materials. These all belong in your 'motivation toolkit', which is your arsenal against being demotivated.

If you find that you are intrinsically motivated, focus on things that emphasise this. Find quotes that focus on self-satisfaction and personal development. If you're trying to motivate yourself to study, think about what learning means to you and how you will feel when you improve your own knowledge. If you are thinking about getting fit, think about how it will make you feel healthier and about the positive effect it will have on your wellbeing.

If you are extrinsically motivated, motivating yourself without something to actually work towards can be tough. If you are studying, focus on taking practice tests as you study. Seeing the grades that you attain improve will push you on to keep at it. If you want to get fit, maybe sign up to a marathon or start tracking stats of your workout. You will be working towards something, like being fit enough to have the achievement of running a marathon, or improving a reps number or fastest time.

Gather your motivation materials from many sources and keep them all in your 'motivation toolkit'. It can be physical or mental. Think about your motivation style when choosing what to put on your Pinterest boards or which quotes to write down. Think about your motivational style when choosing your goals to work towards. Keep refreshing your toolkit and adding to it!

Step 3: Success

Congratulations, you are now hopefully more motivated, or at least know more about how to get motivated! Now, go out there and crush your goals!

What do you need to motivate yourself for? x

Planning my summer break is always a fun one for me. I love making plans to better myself and my career prospects while my studies have died down and I have a lot of free time. For the past few years, I have taken on shifts at my various part-time jobs and got together some savings for the following academic year. However, this year I decided to mix it up a bit! I have a list of parts of my life that I want to work on and I have already made plans for all of them.