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30 Day Blogging Challenge Update

I was really nervous about starting this challenge. 30 days in a row just didn’t seem feasible for me. Committing to something other than work was really scary lol.

Today is day 30 and I can’t believe the challenge has come to an end. I’ve mentioned a couple times that I’m really enjoying it. The only thing, though, is I thought I’d be farther ahead in my blog schedule. I probably should’ve done the math regarding how far ahead I would get before hand. But oh well. It wasn’t really just about that, it was to see if I could be disciplined enough to accomplish something. And I did!

Even though it was just a small challenge that I created for myself I ended up learning so much from it.

  1. It made me realize how important it is to keep a routine. The saying “we are creatures of habit” is definitely true. We don’t have to keep a routine, but when it comes to productivity it’s definitely best to. Once you really get your stride when you try to make something a habit it’s almost like you crave it.
  2. There is actually something to be shared every single day. I didn’t think I had anything to share, let alone something every day. I kept telling myself that I do the same thing every day – how interesting could that be? So I told myself that if I was going to blog for 30 days straight I needed to find topics. Getting my brain to approach my daily life differently than I normally do has changed my perspective on a lot of things. Not only that but it has kind of pushed me to write about things that I was kinda scared to write about.
  3. If it’s important to you then you’ll make time. When I’m not in the mood I always an excuse for why it didn’t happen. “I’m too tired.” “I don’t have time.” “I’m so busy at work.”  Blah. Blah. Blah. Blogging was one of those things I always made an excuse for. I’ve always been passionate about keeping a journal, scrapbooking, and later, blogging. But it almost felt like a reward. Like I could only do it once everything else on my list was done. At the same time it sort of left like a burden to do – trying to come up with content, graphics for each post, etc. So it was just one excuse after the other that kept me from making time for it. I’m so glad I decided to make it a priority.
  4. Reading posts from a year, two years, even 10 years ago has really been fun for me (and sometimes cringeworthy lol!). Reminiscing and reading what I was feeling at a certain time in my life has been really eye opening. Some of the posts I read are so embarrassing that I’m so tempted to take it down but I’m almost proud of it to see how far I’ve come since then. Some posts from the past were really heartfelt and full of emotion. I surprised myself reading it, it was like an out of body experience. It helps me to relive those moments and be reminded of my journey so far – good and bad. It definitely motivates me to capture and write about the moments I’m living now so I can reminisce in a another 10 years.

Lesson learned – don’t be afraid to challenge yourself to do something you’ve always wanted to try. Even if you need to carve out time to make it happen trust me, if it’s important to you then it’ll be so worth it. Yes, it may not turn out the way you thought it would. Heck, maybe you’ll get lucky and it will. But either way it’ll make you better to knock something off that list.

Xoxo,

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How to Use Social Media Productively

We all know the story – you open up Facebook, Instagram, or your other favorite social media platform and you get sucked into a black hole of scrolling. Or, you check to see what the cool new filters are and start taking selfies. Next thing you know it’s 3 hours later and the only productive thing you did was watch cute dog videos. Just me?! I know I’m not alone on this one 😝

I read a tweet from HeySweetPea on Twitter that really resonated with me about social media.

View social media as a place of community + connection, not competition or comparison. Use this beautiful space to be seen + to see others. – @heysweetpea

Social media can be so tricky. I’ve heard really horrible stories about cyber bullying. Heck, it’s hard for me to not play the comparison game. But if you look at it as a place of community, create positive encouraging conversations, social media can be a really great place and resource.

This year a goal of mine was to utilize social media to encourage others, use it as a positive place, share my journey, and grow my reach through substance, not fluff. I didn’t want my account to just be a bunch of selfies of me with make up on and my hair done or just pics/videos of my adventures. Instead I wanted to show what it’s like in the trenches, what it’s like to be attacked with fear, insecurity, and guilt. I really feel like more people need to be on social media that are real and aren’t afraid to be imperfect. To me, that’s something productive to do with my social media accounts 😊

It’s so easy for people to hide behind their screens and do damaging things. Things that damage themselves, others, or both. It’s easy to say mean and hurtful things when you’re not looking at that person in the eye. It’s easy to wish for something that someone else has because you don’t see how hard they worked to get it. If we change the way we converse over social media it’ll do nothing but good. It’ll make us more productive. It’s all a matter of perspective and social media has a big influence on our perspective. It’s crazy how much power social media has over our lives. And clearly, social media is here to stay. So how are you going to use it productively and for good?

Xoxo,

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May Goal Setting

I honestly feel like April got away from me. It started off with a holiday, a Sunday away from work, and I think that shaking my routine up on the 1st of the month just threw me way off. I’ve definitely been looking forward to a new month, and I really plan to find balance this month. If you saw my May Plan with Me post then you know I mean business this month!

Before the whole move-the-restaurant-to-a-new-location craziness I had a wonderful amount of balance in my life. After working for years to create a workflow and an efficient system at our old location I was able to change my schedule from working 6 days a week at Ninong’s to 4 days a week. Because of this I was able to focus 2 days on my other businesses and have 1 day off. It was working really well – 40 hour work weeks, my house was clean, I had time for myself, it was great! Then the move was a reality. And life hasn’t been quite the same since.

This month “simple” is my key word. Keeping things simple  is such an important part of keeping productive. Letting go of unnecessary things in my life is going to be key here. If I let go of negativity and the unnecessary then I can make room for the important stuff like self care, time with family, and intentional/meaningful work. Honestly, I have to think it through a little more to make sure I take this plan into action this month but I know for sure a few things need to happen.

  1. Create and document a new work flow for Ninong’s.
  2. Train managers and employees on new systems.
  3. Block out my time each day and focus on 1 business during that block of time.
  4. Block out time at the end of every day to plan for the next.
  5. Do something that will bring me happiness once a day.

Another goal I want to continue is my 30 Day Blogging Challenge. I can’t believe it’s almost over. It’s challenging me to create a story from the every day and I’ve really enjoyed making it a part of my daily routine.

May will hopefully shape up to be an amazing month! How do you plan to crush it this month?

Xoxo,

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