Tag: work

8 Productive Self-Care Steps for when You’re Feeling Down

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Self CareWe’ve seen a lot about self-care lately, and I love that the internet is supporting it, but I feel like self-care is more than wrapping yourself in blankets and binge watching netflix while drinking tea. Sometimes taking care of yourself is less about relaxing and more about doing.

It’s hard to get going when you feel like you’d rather sleep for five years instead, so here are my steps to get you going and to get you producing- even in times like this.

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Nine ways to beat Procrastination and Improve Productivity:

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  1. Give yourself a break every 45 minutes even if it’s just to listen to a song, get a snack, fill up a water bottle, or chat with your co-worker/roommate. That way you’ll check facebook after you work for 45 minutes.
  2. Get rid of email notifications on your phone because you always check them right then and they’re never urgent- and, hey, while your doing that get rid of the junk use this site to see what your subscribed to and simply click one after another to get rid of them for good!
  3. Okay- and instagram, tumblr, and twitter. I mean, have you ever gotten an urgent instagram notification? And don’t you check it enough anyways?
  4. Learn how long it takes you to read 50 pages and give yourself an extra ten minutes. This right here will keep you from waiting till too late, and it will also let you schedule properly around it. Hey- you can do this with more than reading, but always remember to budget extra time in just encase you run into problems.
  5. Make sure your assignments are organized so you don’t miss anything and realize at the last minute. It’ll also keep you from realizing there were two parts to that assignment or that you had a coffee date the night before it was due. See my planner here.IMG_2490
  6. Switch your work up if you feel your brain going numb from too much of one project after 45 minutes or so move to the next one and switch back and forth. You’ll get more done and won’t be redoing work.
  7. Keep snacks ready. When you get back from the store, pour those chips into little ziplocks or keep granola bars in a basket to grab or wash all the grapes at once when you get home. This will keep you from standing in front of the pantry for ages, spending time prepping or portioning, and it’ll keep you from gaining that “whole bag of chips” weight. Never a bad thing.
  8. Have a study/work playlist so you won’t keep switching songs every few seconds. If it has words, make sure you know them all so you won’t focus too hard on hearing them.
  9. Don’t save anything for the next morning unless you plan to give yourself an hour to wake up before. It’s a lie to say you’ll get it done and do a good job. When you acknowledge this you’ll realize that facebook is not more important than an unnecessary six AM wake up followed up by a failing grade. Ouch.

Now get out there and get stuff done!

Success, Entrepreneurship, & Branding

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IMG_1694I’ve been reading everything that I can get my hands on about success, branding, and entrepreneurship lately. Which in the blogging world isn’t too far reached. However, I’m not planning to turn this blog into a business. I would love at some point to be able to make a little money off of it, but it’s not what I have in mind for my career. My focus over the last few years have been in graphic design, or more so layout. After working for my school’s newspaper and the literary magazine I found my fit. I have an eye for design and a heart for creativity. I’m a design minor with a concentration in photography and an English major. I love practical creativity and luckily I’ve felt our world shift towards it in the past few years.

So even though I’m not planning to start my own business, entrepreneurship is great to read up on. It gives you so many levels of inspiration and wisdom. It also teaches a lot of about work ethic and personal scheduling. Here are the main lessons I’ve gathered:

  • Success comes from the mouths of those who dare to push the limits.
  • Loving your work isn’t enough, you have to live it as well.
  • Balancing everything rest and go time is important to keep sane.
  • Make time to build relationships in your industry and out.
  • Inspiration has to be refreshed daily.
  • You can’t make everything you love into successful work, but you can love your work.
  • Adapt to everything. Be flexible in the details not the big picture.
  • Till you try you’ll never know.

Maybe the drive behind the branding side of it comes from finally knowing myself front and back. I know that the degree of self-awareness will shift as I change, but now that I’ve got the basics down I can handle a change in details. Maybe now that I’ve figured myself out I’m free to share who I am with the world.