After a while, the job really began to affect my mental health. The "Sunday night feels" became more than a Sunday night thing. I would feel sick on the way to work and I'd always put it down to hating breakfast. I soon figured out that wasn't the culprit. I was constantly busy, constantly tired, constantly achy. I'd panic every time a social invite pinged onto my phone screen, anxious that I wouldn't have enough time to relax. I also hated letting my friends down, because no excuse was good enough for them, so I distanced myself.
The 9-5 desk situation had completely wrecked my posture, meaning I had shoulder pain that would sometimes make even 5 minutes sat in front of Excel frustrating. Now I may not have come out of university with my degree in physiotherapy, but treating countless shoulder patients made me well aware that popping pills wouldn't be the cure. The only thing that touches postural-related shoulder pain is exercise to undo bad habits and to avoid future damage.
Okay, it wasn't the worst job in the world, but I didn't feel like it was in line with what I wanted to do in the future. It was stopping me taking on opportunities for this blog, and meant I didn't have the time to pursue the courses I wanted to do to further my writing. I felt like I was torturing myself each day by staying, because I just knew it wasn't for me.
BLOG GOALS
Since I started blogging, nothing has captured my passion as much as this, so surely it makes sense to gamble, take a stab in the dark and see what I can make out of it?
Now my first week as a
1) Social Media
Grow (or at least understand) the social media channels I have left to fester for the last two years. Yes, you read that right. On the 1st Feb, this little corner of the internet will be the ripe old age of 2. I'll be boring you in another post about how much it has changed my life, so I'll keep schtum for the time being. In short, I want to spend time concentrating on Pinterest, Instagram and my Facebook Page. I'm trying really hard not to get bogged down by numbers though, which is easy to do when you spend so much time on social media. However I can't deny that milestones are exciting, and I'm hoping there are a few of those around the corner.
2) Improve my photography
It's been so nice to have all the time in the world to photograph, but I am feeling a little frustrated about the quality of my photos. I'd like to vary my backgrounds and experiment with styling and props to find something that works for me. I'm considering investing in a new lens/tripod/lighting set-up too (but the thought of spending any money rn kills me so).
3) Develop my content
In the last few months of working, my content really took a hit, and I went from posting almost everyday, to just 2-3 posts a week. Part of the reason was due to my rebrand but seeing single figures on my blog archives really made me sad. I've been working on an awesome new post schedule these past few days, with some exciting posts with some great brands coming up. I've also got a couple of events and days out planned, so you'll be seeing more "out and about" posts too. I might also be sharing some more creative posts, as well as some creative writing.
4) Grow into my niche
Along the same lines as content comes the niche. Y'know, that word that everyone is afraid of... When my re-brand came along, I decided I wanted to branch out into writing more about scent. When I had posted on the subject previously, I found that it really captured my imagination and oodles of descriptive word-vomit would land on the page. When you find you really enjoy writing about it, why fight it? Perfume is something I'd like to become a lot more knowledgeable about this year, and I hope the blog will serve to document my olfactory journey.
5) Me-time
Okay this one is a bit of a cheat as it's not actually blog related, but it's one I really wanted to include anyway. I want to spend a bit more time pampering myself, whether that's having a bath, spending time doing some facial massage or taking time out to read a book. I also want to start some yoga and gentle exercise to try and counteract all those days sat at the desk.
Goals are really important to have, to give you direction as well as allow you to evaluate your progress. I've started out pretty vague for this first goals post, but it's something I'll be covering a lot more frequently on this blog. Also, isn't it amazing to tick something off a to-do list?
What are your blogging goals?
Also, how do you guys feel about personal posts?
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