Friday 9 March 2018

How I'm Getting My Blogging Mojo Back*

I can't be the only one whose start to 2018 has been less than stellar? What with illness abound, post-Christmas blues and bloody Snowmageddon, it's been hard to find the motivation to just sit with my blog and write. Over the last few weeks I've been trying to take steps to rectify this and fall back in love with blogging again. I've come to realise that there are a few essential components to getting back on track with anything, be it blogging, work or any other creative pursuits, so I thought I'd share those with you today, along with a few gadgets that have been helping me out.

This post is a paid collaboration with Venom Communications. All words, images and opinions are entirely my own



Get Into a Routine

This sounds super obvious, but I bet I'm not the only one who just wakes up sometimes feeling a bit lost and not knowing where to start. Balancing a job, freelance projects and blogging along with regular life stuff like cleaning the kitchen (thrilling) can be pretty tricky. So I find that having a routine makes finding those rare free hours just a little bit easier. No matter what day it is or what your plans (or lack of) are: get up, get fed, get dressed. At the weekends I sometimes have to force myself into this routine a bit but once I've done it I feel like anything is a possibility and it feels like there's so much more time in the day. Take care of yourself first, and the rest will come.



Get Organised

If you find that you have even an hour to work on your blog, make sure that you have everything you need for a productive session. I like to keep everything I could possibly need for blogging in one place, my desk holds all my essentials, so I'm ready to just sit down and get on with it if I have a little bit of spare time. I'm a bit old-fashioned and like to go to my notebook first to draft a post, create a schedule or just get some ideas on paper (I planned out this post in my go-to notebook, my bullet journal.)

Although I take pretty much all of my blog photos with my DSLR, I actually really like editing photos on my phone. I use Snapseed and A Color Story, they're super easy to use and I always love how my photos end up looking. Make sure you have plenty of spare cables (preferably with neat little cable tidies like these) nearby to transfer the photos easily back to your computer, there's nothing worse than scrambling around looking for a charging cable.

I make sure that everything I do for my blog (photos, drafts, pitches, invoices) is saved in more than one place. You can use the cloud, or hard drives, but my personal favourite is the good old USB. They're the easiest thing to store and I like knowing that my hard work is stored in a physical thing I can lay my hands on at a moment's notice. Have a stash of these bad boys and you'll never lose your work again. How cute and bright is this Happy Jackson one?



Get Inspired

Last year, I started a job with almost an hours commute each way. For me this means walking. At first, I was unsure what to do with this time - I was terrified of wasting two hours of my already limited blogging time. Then I discovered that these hours can be so useful in so many different ways. Occasionally I go techless and have a quiet commute, it can be great to just walk and let my thoughts wander - you never know when inspiration will hit! But I usually like to have my phone on me (if you're anywhere near as clumsy as me, keep it protected in a cute case), sometimes I use it to take note of any ideas that pop up, but mostly I listen to podcasts. I *always* carry earphones with me, I genuinely panic if I've forgotten them, but since having these ones that come with a carry case (and they're PINK), I've never misplaced them again. Some of my favourite podcasts for blogging inspiration are The Creative Leap, Crtl Alt Delete, Magic Lessons and At Home With.

To make sure I'm ready to make the most of that return commute, whether it's replying to tweets, preparing an instagram or listening to more podcasts I always keep a power bank on me to keep my phone charged. My phone battery is shocking so power banks are a total life saver, this 'girl power' one (which also doubles as a mirror, whaaat?!) holds three charges and I honestly love it so much. I've tried quite a few power banks and I can genuinely say that these are my favourite.

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Those are just some little ways I've been falling back in love with blogging again. The routine, organisation and inspiration all fall into place after a little while and have freed up my mind to start writing and creating again. I hope some of these ideas help you too.

If you fancy picking up some of the handy, and frankly gorgeous, little blogging essentials from Happy Jackson then I've got fantastic news. You can get 15% off any of these bad boys, plus the rest of the new 2018 line of goodies by entering code HAPPYSARAH at checkout. Yaaaassss.

Have you got any more tips for getting back into a blogging groove? I'd love to know, tweet me or leave a comment below!

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*This is a sponsored post in collaboration with Venom Communications. All words and images are 100% honest and entirely my own. 

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