Oh, it’s still January. And there was me thinking it should surely be February already. I’m not wishing time away or anything but I have to agree with the many observations I’ve seen expressed on Twitter, that this does feel like an awfully slow month. No wait, I shouldn’t say ‘awful’, there’s nothing particularly awful about it for me personally (as long as you exclude the weather and well, Brexit – let’s not even go there)…but aside from all the gloomy stuff that we’d rather bury our heads in the sand about, over here and on a personal level, things are going pretty okay. I’m taking things slow, as I mentioned in my previous post and with it, time seems to be moving a lot slower too. I have to say this is something that I’m actually pretty pleased about. I didn’t think it was possible to really take control of your time in such a way but it seems that by taking certain pressures off your plate, it allows you more time to breathe and simply think. Usually I feel a constant rush of catching up, but over these past few weeks I’ve been moving at a sloth like pace, making my way from one task to the other and taking my time as I do so.
It’s unlikely things will remain like this, we are only at the start of the year after all, but for the moment I’m thankful for the seemingly abundant time. There are lots of things I need to sort out, plan and do…but like I’ve said previously, I’m in no rush to do them all at once. The ‘one thing at a time’ approach definitely works best for me.
So far this year I’ve been making a concious effort to tick some things off the list that I’ve been wanting to set in motion for ages. I’m first focusing on those little things that are often pushed aside in favour for the bigger or more urgent things, but that you know are always there, niggling. It feels good to be be paying attention to the smaller things that are seemingly less important, but will inevitably be one less distraction or thing to worry about in the long run.
Anyway, I’m back to capturing self portraits, as you’ll see from this post and the one before. Aside from a few campaigns that I’ve shot with the help from Damien, I’ve not been in front of the camera much so far this year. I think this time last year I was on a roll with shooting but as I’m going at a much slower pace this year, I’m taking things easy. I did have a burst of inspiration the other afternoon though when I decided to shoot these shots. Currently the spare bedroom/soon to be office room is waiting to undergo a transformation, but in the meantime it’s providing a great space for shooting in whislt making the most of the natural light.
It’s two and half weeks (and a bit) into the year already and I’ll start by saying overall, so far, so good. I kicked off my year (as usual) feeling incredibly hungover but with little regret, as we’d once again achieved the success of an epic new year’s eve party, with lots of our close friends round at ours to celebrate.
Due to these spirited (in more ways than one) New Year’s Eve celebrations, I tend to officially start my new year on the second day of January, when my brain is no longer rattling in its scull, we’ve swept up any lingering glitter and any traces of Christmas have been tidied away.
This year however, my body had another idea and I woke up on the second of January with a cold, or as I’ll refer to it, my very own bout of severe level Man flu. It was annoying, to say the least and I must admit that by week two I was feeling a tad stir crazy, which led me to feeling quite sorry for myself – poor Damien bore the brunt of it each day when he’d return home from work and I’d be vying for attention like a puppy who’d been left alone at home all day.
In the grand scheme of things it’s not the worse thing that could happen and a cold is just a fleeing setback that most of us have to deal with around this time of year. Plus, whilst being sofa residing for the most part of two weeks, I did in fact still manage to get some work done. I even managed to drag myself away from my snotty tissue ridden hovel that I’d nested myself into on the sofa, put on some makeup and shoot some collaborations in time for their deadlines – go me!
So as I said, cold aside, not a bad start to the year. Now I’m 3 days post cold and feeling enthusiastic to officially get into my year properly.
I always tend to have my positive and optimistic head on around this time of year. I think a lot of us are still feeling driven and that motivation can be quite infectious at times. However, as we move towards the end of the month, I do find there is a tendency for things to all slowly go downhill from there. The January blues creep in and the reality that we’ve not even reach the coldest and gloomiest part of winter hits. It’s like the glum slog between Christmas and Spring that feels never ending. Between that and the emphasis on ‘keeping up with those goals’, there can be an overwhelming pressure to be living our best lives, when all we really want to do is go into hibernate until it’s summer.
I feel different this year though, still eager for summer yes, but just a lot less pressured. Even whilst snivelling my way through the first two weeks of this year, I was still feeling (albeit a little tired) content and calm mentally.
I think the main thing that’s helped my mindset has been my shift in focus this year. I already spoke in my last post about ‘things I’d like to do more of in 2019’, and wanting to have more me time was a big overriding theme there. I’ve been abiding by my own ‘rules’ and allowing myself to switch off, guilt free. I’ve got lost in the pages of a good book, wrote for the sake of writing and switched off from social media. It’s really done me the world of good. It’s also shown me that things don’t all just crumble when I stop. Just because the whole world feels like it’s going at 110mph, it doesn’t mean I have to.
We’re still only two weeks into this year, yes, but so far I’m finding a nice balance between work, me time and socialising (more emphasis can go on the socialising now that I’m lurgy free). I’ve started as I mean to go on, set things in motion that will help me in the long run, started to form new habits that are allowing me to relax and given myself the permission to go at my own pace, which is a lot slower than previously.
I’ve mentioned before that I am a huge procrastinator and it whilst it’s something I’ve had to learn to deal with over time, I’m also aware that it’s a trait I may never fully get rid of and so instead of letting it take over my productivity completely, it’s something I’ve learnt to manage over the years. I’d definitely say it helps to focus on one thing at a time and these are some things that help me when it comes to staying focused and getting stuff done…
Keep Your Area Tidy
If the thing you’re trying to get done is clean, then you’re basically already doing the task by doing this…but anyway, I’m definitely in agreement with the saying that ‘a tidy space equals a tidy mind’. Clutter can easily pile up, be it at your desk or in your home and often this can be a big distraction. I know if my area isn’t clean/tidy my focus will be drawn to the task of tidying up and it will get in the way of me solely focusing on something else.
Put Your Phone On Airplane Mode
I don’t know about you but for me one of my biggest distractions when it comes to getting things done, is my phone. I’ll find myself checking my emails, replying to friends messages and having a quick scroll through Instagram…I’ll basically find myself doing anything which doesn’t involve the task in hand. Even when you’re not actually on your phone, it’s easy for it can still be trying to grab your attention. I learnt a long time ago to turn app notifications off but I’ll still find myself at the beck and call to emails, phone calls and text messages.
The best thing to do when you’re trying to stay focused is to simply turn your phone onto airplane mode. If it so happens that the task at hand is replying to emails (oh how they can quickly pile up), then do it on your laptop or desktop if possible, close all tabs and have just that page open so you can focus on the task.
Set Yourself A Timer
This tip flows on from the previously one as I feel the two go hand in hand. Whilst checking out from the online world for a time can be great at eliminating a lot of distractions, it can also be somewhat daunting for us internet reliant folk. So give yourself a light at the end of the tunnel and set a timer. There’s no point torturing yourself, if you feel your attention span to stay 100% focused will only last 20 minutes, then set your timer for 20 minutes. After that time you can give yourself a five minute break. Maybe you really do need to check those emails. Do it, then get back to work. You might work like this in 20 minute time blocks with five minute breaks in-between and before you know it you’ve actually had a solid hours worth of focus.
Keep Hydrated
Whatever you’re doing, be it cleaning the house, sitting down to write, or replying to that overwhelming backlog of emails, make sure you keep that brain focused by hydrating it. I always drink plenty of water throughout the day and the times that I don’t get enough of it, I find myself losing focus on tasks very quickly.
Aside from the boring water talk (sorry for sounding like your Mum), it can also be nice just to have a cup of tea to hand (if you drink tea). For me it’s a bit of a ritual. I make a cup of tea and I sit down to work. It can also be a great way to stretch your legs during those ‘beaks’ you give yourself and it can work as a nice little treat. I’m currently eyeing up an empty cup and I know that once I’ve finished this I’ll be making myself a nice hot cup of tea. Like they say, it’s the little things.
So there you have it. Those are just a few things that I like to do to stay focused and get stuff done. Do you have any tips for getting stuff done?
Welcome back to another instalment of my Five Things series here on my blog and actually my first of 2018. If you didn’t know, this is basically just a post where I chat about five things as they pop into my head, so here goes…
One
I feel like I’m off to a good start this year. January is often a bit of weird one, it’s half filled with motivation and a fresh outlook and half filled with January blues and a desire to emigrate to somewhere with a warmer climate. I’m happy to say that I seem to have beat the January blues this year and whilst I still wouldn’t mind some slightly warmer weather right now, I’m still quite content and feeling really motivated whilst keeping busy with work.
Two
I’m feeling much more work focused this year. I feel like each year sort of falls into a personal theme. For me, last year’s theme was definitely that of travel, exploration and having fun, and whilst this year I still definitely want to enjoy myself (self confessed hedonist over here), I also want to priorities my blog and work a lot more. I’m feeling focused and organised which is a good way to start.
Three
One thing I’m really enjoying right now is my routine. Being self employed it’s often hard to to stick to a particular routine and you have to create your own kind of structure. I think I’m finding this slightly easier right now as it’s January. The party season is behind us and I haven’t had to venture too far for work just yet. So right now I’ve been able to create a routine for myself and I’m actually really enjoying it, not to mention it’s doing wonders for my productivity levels. Of course I know as we move further into the year, this is bound to change and be disrupted, as travel plans arise, events occur and the social calendar hots up once again. For the time being however, I’m fulling making the most out of it and I’m massively appreciating the early nights, productive work days and party-free weekends.
Four
I’m making more of an effort to keep up with my content over Winter this year. Usually my blog posts become somewhat sporadic over the Winter months and style related posts become less frequent. This is of course due to the awful weather we tend to get here in the UK over Winter. This year though I’m making no excuses. As you’ll know if you follow me on Instagram, I’ve got into the habit of shooting self portraits, which is something I’m really enjoying right now. Along with that I’m making more effort to shoot outdoors too, no matter how cold it is. Sharing my day to day outfits is something I miss and so I’m making a concious effort to start doing more of it again.
Five
I met up with Rosie last week and between catching up over coffee and lunch, we managed to take some shots for our blogs (you can check out Rosie’s blog here). At the time I really wasn’t in the mood to shoot my outfit but in the end I’m glad we did because like I said, I have missed snapping and sharing my day to day looks here on my blog. I think I just need to remember that even when I’m not quite in the mood to shoot (especially when it’s cold), I should always just get on with it because I’ll thank myself later.
