Tag: All

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. CONSTANTLY FIGHTING THAT SUNDAY FEAR? YOU’RE NOT ALONE .

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If you’re anything like me and my friends, then Sunday Fear is something you’ll be well au fait with. Sunday fear, also known as the Monday dreads, feeling fear-y, Sunday Blues (etc), is that age old, somewhat anxious, tense, nervy, dreading feeling when you know the weekend is coming to an end, and Monday morning, another week of work and all the stresses that come with it are looming.

First of all, don’t be worried, everyone gets this feeling, you’re not alone. Second of all, we should all be fighting this feeling (not just with quick fixes – see below), but by finding a happy place where work life balance is achieved, and we’re doing a job we love, and actually look forward to working. It may sound madness, but people get this. That Sunday Fear doesn’t have to be a working mandatory … you have to just find the right job, the right people & the right career.

But hears me making it all sound so easy, which it isn’t, so in the meanwhile (while you suss out your lives happiness) here are my top 5 tips to fight the sunday fears.

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. MY TOP 5 TIPS TO FIGHT THAT ‘SUNDAY FEAR’ .

#1 WRITE A LIST

Most the time when we get the Sunday Fear it’s because we’re feeling overwhelmed at the thought of all the work that needs doing once you hit your desk on Monday morning. Well rather than let your brain get carried away with dreadful premonitions of getting fired, literally drowning in paper work or getting so stressed that your brain explodes, at your desk, on your boss (for those of you with a wild imagination), start to tackle the tasks NOW. So that you’re evening can be spent relaxing, not stressing.

I like to spend 15 – 30 minutes on a Sunday running through all the things I need to get done on Monday morning and in the week ahead. Getting the list from my brain onto paper is surprisingly therapeutic and also just makes me feel more in control. When I really am ‘on it’ I’ll also start to make a plan of attack and prioritise tasks to help once I get into work.

It doesn’t have to take long, but it certainly helps the fears.

#2 ESCAPE

Well not literally. I know we’d all like to hop on a plane to the most remote desert island and seek solace on the peaceful, stress free sandy beaches which they’re full of. Sadly unless you’re sitting on a ton of cash, that ain’t going to happen. Instead, escape with the help of a movie, a good book or simply a good old blog session.

I love spending my Sunday evenings watching a movie, it keeps my brain utterly occupied and is just a really chilled way to end the weekend!

#3 TAKE A BATH

Taking a bath, lighting your favourite candles, filling the tub with your most luxurious bubbles and giving yourself a little TLT (Pretty Woman stylee) is another top tip for fighting sunday fears. Not only will it help you feel a million dollars, but it’ll also just help you relax your body and your mind. Release some tension & just give you some time out to chill.

Even better would be to pop on some calming music & just soak up the ‘nothingness’! By the time you’ve left the bathroom you’ll feel like a new person.

#4 EXERCISE IT OUT

We all know one of the best ways to combat stress and tension is to ‘work it out’ … and Sunday nights couldn’t be any more opportune. You’re feeling stressed, tense and anxious, well rather than sit and dwell on it, pop on your trainers and your favourite running pants and just pound the streets until you can run no longer … regardless of whether it’s a 10 minute run, an hours jog, or a 30 minute yoga or pilates session … by the time you’re done, your head will feel clearer than before, you’ll have positive endorphins and serotonin running wild round your body and what felt like the worst Sunday Fear of all time, will be a think of the past.

#5 GET SOME PERSPECTIVE

You want my best tip of all. And for me the most effective. Well here it is …

GET SOME PERSPECTIVE

Sometimes life feels overwhelming, too much, stressful, sad, awful, horrendous, unbearable … but then you actually take a moment and turn your thinking on it’s head, instead of all the woes you’re faced with, you think about all the positives you’re blessed with, simple things, and big things too, you realise how fortunate you are, with the roof over your head, the security of a job, your friends and family around, probably a few nice treats too. And you realise that you’re life isn’t actually bad at all. In fact you’re lucky to have the opportunity to work. And what felt like an ordeal for you … is nothing compared to what some others in the world are facing. In that moment … you get some perspective. And once you’ve got some perspective you know that no work based situation is worth any second of stress, sadness or anxiety. It’s only a job. Life goes on and what genuinely is the worst that could happen if you forget to deliver on something, or you drop a ball, or you miss a deadline. Maybe if worst comes to the very, very, very worse, you get fired … and then you get another job. And life goes on.

Once you get some perspective, you realise actually things are okay, you will be okay tomorrow morning & actually it’s not so bad after all.

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There you have it, my TOP 5 tips for fighting that rotten sunday fear. We all get it, but knowing how to fight it really helps keep things positive. I’d love to know if you’ve found these helpful & if you have any tips too?

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. THE BEST BLOGGING ADVICE I’VE RECEIVED: TOP 5 TIPS .

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I’ve been writing my blogging tips posts now for almost over a year, I love sharing my tips with you from my own experiences and in turn love reading all your comments with your tips too. I’m by no means an expert and I always like to caveat this with any of my tips posts, whether that be career tips or blog tips or even my photography tips, but regardless of my level of expertise my advice and tips posts are always the ones you guys seem to really enjoy.

So today I thought i’d share a few more tips with you, but this time I wanted to share the tips and advice that I’ve been given by other people, friends, family, colleagues, fellow bloggers too …

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. THE TOP 5 BLOGGING TIPS I’VE RECEIVED .

#1 QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

This is a tip i’ve often shared on my tips pages, but it’s not necessarily something I practice when I preach. I’ve been blogging daily since October 2011 and am addicted, obsessed and strict about posting content every day, without fail. More than that I am a big lover of photography and can often be found overfilling my content with imagery … in my friends and families opinion. Too many.

Quality over quantity is a piece of advice i’m frequently given. Less imagery is more (my dad regularly messages me telling me the volume of pictures i’ve added, just to bring to my attention that probably 20 pictures of the same outfit isn’t quite necessary), don’t feel so much pressure to blog daily, why not focus on 3 incredible posts a week rather than 7 etc etc.

And actually whilst i’ve definitely not mastered this yet, the advice is really valuable and something i’m still trying to ‘do’. Practice makes perfect.

#2 HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN

Whilst my blog started out as a hobby, these days it’s something i’m pushing into my own little business. And whilst in my career and job I frequently consult clients, create communications strategies for them and advise them on how best to achieve their business ambitions … for some reason I wasn’t doing the same thing for my own business.

Last year my dad advised me to create a business plan, work out what I wanted, create goals to work towards, and set myself tasks to deliver on each day, week, month. If I wanted to take this blogging business seriously, it was about time I put a proper business plan in place. And so I did that (and wrote a post to help you create a blog business plan too).

It wasn’t just my dads advise either, after attending a Warehouse blogging conference for ‘women to watch’, the advice I received here was really on creating your brand, having an identity, and making sure my readers new it … and as a result of this I created my manifesto, so that anyone who came to my site new what they were going to get. It helps give me guidance on everything I create, it’s my brand summarised into one sentence.

Mediamarmalade is a destination for the stylish, the ambitious and the passionate. It’s a hub of daily inspiration, motivational content and advice and tips for those of us on a journey to sartorial, life and career success.

#3 ENGAGE WITH YOUR READERS

When I met Deliciously Ella, one of the things I was keen to talk to her about was how she grew her blog into a brand and now a successful business. She explained that much was luck that her content gained such a vast organic traffic without any real commercialising, but she did say that she thought the fact that she engaged with every reader, across every social channel, everyday made a real step change in her blog growth, her readers felt listened to, rewarded and more loyal knowing that Ella would always respond to their comments.

For me this was a really great piece of advice as i’d previously been quite slack at responding to comments and feedback, and following my conversation with Ella, I decided that I really needed to focus on building a relationship with you, my readers, and set out time to respond to you all, and start having a two way conversation. You can read my Q&A with Ella here if you’re interested.

More than that, with the blogging industry rocketing over the last 18 months, having relationships with other bloggers, brands and PR agencies has also never been more important. Networking is key if you want to make it in this business.

#4 PASSION IS EVERYTHING

All us ‘old time’ bloggers started our blogs back in the day because of a passion, interest or a hobby for whatever it was we were writing about. And actually it was this passion, this personality and this genuine content which made blogging what it is now. A blog is made, is popular, is enjoyable when it’s truly ‘you’, and that’s because your passion and your enthusiasm shines through in everything you do, say and write.

If you were to ask any blogger, join any #bbloggers chats or even just ask brands or PR’s what it is they look for in a blog, its that ooze of ‘YOU’ that makes a blog stand out.

For me i’ve always written about what I want, when I want and shared things i’m totally passionate about, whether it be blogging itself, photography, clothes or simply just ‘life’, and I hope that when you read my blog and my content, you love what you read because it’s been written with passion!

#5 DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF TO ANYONE

The best advice i’ve given and received is to never compare yourself to anyone else. Your journey is your journey, not anyone else’s. Success is so subjective, vague and undefined that to compare your success to an others is simply unhealthy, unhelpful and if anything dangerous. I wrote a whole post debating ‘what is blog success‘ and my conclusion is that success is your own, it’s based on you achieving those things you’ve set out to achieve and it’s you being happy with the content you’re writing and creating.

More than that, and back to point #4, a blog is good because it’s YOU, not someone else. So being true to yourself, your style, your tone, your passions and your hobbies will mean your blog is unique, engaging and enjoyable for others to read. There’s no point trying to make it into something else, or someone else … it’ll show!!

“Creativity is not a competition” Autumn Skyhall

There you have it, the 5 best pieces of blog advice i’ve been given! I’d love to know what the best advice you’ve ever received is?

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. 5 HACKS TO IMPROVE YOUR DAY .

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Having a positive, happy & productive day everyday sometimes can feel a little wishful, I often find myself reeling off the age old phrases ‘i have no time’, ‘i have too much to do’ or simply ‘i’m too stressed’ because the demands of a career, social life, and general life can  feel a little too overwhelming and a little too much to deal with. But having a positive day, everyday is important. Whats the point of living life if your constantly stressed, unwell, exhausted, or just ‘coping’. No point … so it’s about time we all took a step back, made some small changes, and improved our day not just today,  but everyday. Right?

#1 DRINK MORE WATER

First up, for something that is preached about SO often, it’s madness that we still don’t drink enough water. 2 litres a day sounds a lot, but if you break it down throughout the day, its super manageable, AND will make the world of difference to your wellbeing, your skin & your energy.  Buy yourself a little water bottle (I love these bottles), drink one on the way to work, one in the morning, one at lunch, one on your journey home, and one before bed. If you alway have it on you, you’ll find you naturally drink more often, and easily drink 2 litres a day without even trying.

#2 HAVE BREAKFAST

Breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper. This is a saying I was once told by my Doctor (I think) and is such a simple way of highlighting the importance of breakfast. I for one cannot talk (It’s my favourite meal, but in the week I always neglect it), but setting yourself up with a healthy, hearty breakfast before you start your day (whether that’s at home, in the office, or even on your commute) is key. It kick starts your metabolism, gives you energy and probably makes you happy too!

A recipe I’ve been loving for a healthy start to my day is Chia porridge: mic 3 tablespoons of chia seed, with 3 tablespoons of gluten free oats, a good heap of cinnamon (store in the fridge overnight) and top with blueberries, strawberries & honey in the morning ready to be devoured.

#3 CREATE LISTS

A good way to start your day on the right foot, is to start with a list, a list of all the things on your mind, all the things you need to do that day, or even the things you want to do. By getting all your thoughts from your head onto paper will give you more brainspace to think, do & keep positive.

My top tip is to treat yourself to a nice note book (any excuse to buy stationery). I personally like to have a notebook for work and one for my blog, and I always have them on me! I really love Anthropologie’s stationary collection, this notebook is a firm favourite if you want to treat yourself to one.

#4 TAKE BREAKS

Things get busy, you get stressed, you sit at your desk for hours trying to force out work, you leave work negative, tired & down. This situation is probably too common, and too true for a lot of us. But you know what, breaks are such a simple way of getting yourself back into a positive state, resting your brain & actually making yourself more productive. It’s so easy to neglect breaks, a lunch break away from your desk, time after work to go to the gym, or even 5 minutes to grab a cup of tea – but prioritising a few breaks throughout the day, to get outside, to get some fresh air & to generally give your brain a break from work, work, work will make the world of difference.

Make one small change starting today – pop outside for a walk to get your lunch, and eat it away from your desk. (And, read my post on why taking a break is so important & my advice on how to banish stress)

#5 POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

We all like a good treat, it’s human nature, whether it’s retail therapy after a stressful period, or simply your favourite coffee on your way to work. Introducing some regular, positive treats into your day will just keep your attitude good. Then there’s nothing a little PMA (positive mental attitude) can’t beat!

My quick wins for being more positive are: wake up and think of 5 things your grateful for, browse instagram and pinterest and pin your favourite images, find the perfect quote, buy yourself a ‘cheap’ but nice treat like a coffee or your favourite lunch, and when you’ve really worked your butt off, buy yourself a reward (that handbag you’ve wanted forever, a new pair of shoes, even a holiday). If you want more ideas then read my tips post on how to be more happy here.

 

 

What are your little life hacks to help you have a great day, everyday? Did you find these 5 tricks & tips helpful?