Welcome to the Productivity Blog

Picture the scene: you find the perfect job to apply for. It's at a fantastic company in a great location and it's exactly what you want to do. You can see yourself excelling in this role.

You apply and are asked to come in for an interview. It gets even better. You feel totally relaxed in the company, ideas are racing around your head for the role already and you get on really well with the people you meet.

You walk away from the interview on cloud nine. You don't get your hopes up, but it's such a perfect job and place for you that you can't help but wish, hope and pray that you get it. You've even got a feeling inside you telling you that you might just have the edge.

Your phone rings - you haven't got it.

Read More

If I asked you to tell me when the best times to post on social media are, what would you say? First thing in the morning, lunchtime, 5pm when people are going home and so on, right? But there's something I don't get. It's all well and good posting at optimal times like those. Of course, that's when a lot of people are online. But why just publish content on social media when everybody else does, when you can create your own unique posting schedule? 

Let me explain. Many studies have been carried out trying to find the best times to post content on social media. For each platform it's slightly different (but that's for another blog post.) Overall, some common times are always found - we just listed them. You could pick times throughout the day in each of these slots and push out your content at optimal points.

BUT - and it's a big but - every other blogger you know is posting their content to their social channels at this time. That's a lot of noise you've got to compete with.

So what if there was a way for you to create a schedule that was personal to you? So the times that you were pushing out content socially, were specific to you and only you. How great would that be?

Good job it's possible then.

Today I'm going to walk you through how you can find out the best times to post to Twitter and Instagram for your audience and your audience only. I’ll give you step by step instructions and screenshots to guide you along the way to make it really easy for you to do. Plus I've made you a free checklist that you can download and work through as you go along.

If you want that, just put your email address in the box, click the link and you'll be taken straight to it!

Read More

A big Happy Friday to you, friends! I just wanted to start off by saying thank you to all of you who wished me good luck for starting my new job yesterday. Your words were so lovely and I really felt like you were all supporting me. We've had a good old chat in the ABOH (A Branch of Holly ;) ) community this week and it's really made me smile. We said a final goodbye and goodnight to my Grandma on Tuesday, so now it's about trying to adjust to life without her. But we've been laughing, smiling and reminiscing which is exactly what she would've wanted. 

To keep in with the spirit of things this week, I've got a great round up of posts for you on motivation and positivity. Grab your drink of choice, sit back, relax and enjoy. 

Read More

Do you ever get overwhelmed when it comes to checking your emails or logging into your social media accounts?

Does going through all the different articles you’ve got to read leave you feeling irritated and uninspired?

I’m gonna put my hand up and say YES. Lately, whenever I’ve logged onto Bloglovin’ or had a browse through Twitter, I’ve felt overwhelmed, tired and lost with where to even start. My feeds have been too crowded and it’s just given me a sore head.

Did you know that Britons spend more time using technology devices than they do sleeping? If you think you could count yourself in that category (I know I could sometimes) then this is the post for you.

Today, I’m sharing some little tips for how you can completely detox your internet life over the quieter summer months.

Read More

“A problem shared is a problem halved.”

With all the madness of our day to day lives, it’s easy to lose sight of how far we’ve come, and how much further we want to go.

We’re always working towards something, whether it’s for our health, career or blogs – there’s always something else we want to achieve. It’s great to want to aim higher, that’s one of the things I love most about this community. We’re always pushing for more. But let me ask you something. These goals that you’ve set yourself, have you shared them with anyone else?

Most of the bloggers I follow share their monthly and yearly goals, and even their goals for income and traffic too. I do the same – it’s a post I always look forward to writing. We share our goals with our community because we want you to know about them. We want you to be achieving your own goals along with us.

So today, I’m sharing five reasons why you should share your goals with others, if you haven’t done already.

Read More

Did you know that as of January this year, there were 2.08 billion active social media accounts? Did you also know that the average social media user spends 2 hours and 25 minutes per day using social networks?

So basically, if you’re not on social media, you’re missing a trick.

But time and time again, people still ask the same question: how do I get more followers? How do I build more of a community?

The first question you need to ask yourself is why you want more followers - if it’s “just because” your thinking needs to change. Of course, we all want more followers. It’s not just me who gets giddy when I’m getting closer towards my next milestone on Twitter, is it?

Ideally, you need quality followers and readers as part of your tribe who want to know what you have to say. These people will give you a good reputation online and help you build a very strong community. But what do you do if it just isn’t growing the way you want it to?

This post is for you if:

• You’ve been trying to grow your social media presence for a while and you don’t seem to be getting anywhere
• You don’t know what to do to build a community
• You want to up your social media game but don’t know where to start

Today, I’m going to share with you 15 of the biggest reasons why you aren’t getting more followers on social media, plus what you can do to fix this.

Read More

It's hard to believe we're in August. Just one full month of summer left (not that we've seen the weather!) and then the season will change. I usually say every month has been jam packed but July has been a whirlwind. Not only have I got another job, we're also coming to terms with my Grandma passing away. She's left a very big hole for all of us that's going to take some getting used to. But for now, it's a new month, so it's time to take an in-depth look at my goals for the month ahead.

Setting goals at the start of the month is a great way to align my work with the things in life that matter to me the most. Plus, sharing them with you motivates me even more to complete them, and I love reading about the goals you set for yourself too.

Today, I'm sharing with you how I got on in July as well as the goals I'll be working towards during August.

Read More

Happy Friday, friends. How are you all? I hope your week has been productive, joyful and that you've made the most of it.

As for me, it's been a whirlwind. It seems like everything is happening at once and it's hard to know what to keep track of. Then suddenly, something else happens and it puts everything into perspective. If this week has taught me anything it's to cherish every moment. My grandma got taken very poorly yesterday morning so we're all wishing for the best for her. If you could send thoughts and prayers our way, they'd be much appreciated. I may not know you've thought or prayed, but it will still mean the world. But life goes on as always, right?

And to help, here's the best content on the web from the past week.

Read More

Recently, I was listening to a podcast and it was talking about how social media is always changing. One of the hosts said how she wishes a few years ago, there were blog posts like, “How you should be using Twitter in 2 years.” She said, “I would totally read that – how are we supposed to know how to do all of this in the future?”

It’s a valid question. For most of us, it’s no secret that we’re all figuring everything out as we go. But as soon we get our heads around one new piece of tech, another even better one comes bursting onto the scene.

I’ve always had the belief that you need to be one step ahead. You’ve got to anticipate the future – and that’s without having a crystal ball for help.

Why? If you can find the next trends, you can ride them. Then you can be the one who teaches everyone else about it.

If you’re concentrating on what’s already happening, or the trends that used to be huge and now everyone’s jumped on them, you risk the chance of being in second or third place. 

You risk the chance of falling behind.

Read More

Think about the last time you were on public transport. Or the last time you were in a restaurant or a bar. How many people were glued to their phones? 

My guess is a lot.

More and more people are browsing the web from their smartphones rather than their PC, which means bloggers and web creators like you and I need to adapt to this.

By 2017, 90% of smart phone owners around the world will access information about a brand on the internet via a mobile device.

That could mean your brand.

It has never been more important to have a mobile-friendly website. So this post is for you if:

•  You’re not sure if your website is mobile-friendly or how to get one
• You’re unsure just how ‘big’ the mobile trend is
• You want to know the real benefits and reasons as to why it’s so important

Today I’m sharing the main reasons why your website needs to be responsive to mobile devices and what this means for you and your brand.

Read More

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend, friends!

It's not long before it rolls around again, is it? This week has been pretty mixed. There have been times when I've felt at rock bottom, and other times when I've felt really confident to face the world. A bug I caught for the weekend knocked me out flat for a few days. Then on Tuesday we celebrated my brother's graduation. As for the rest of the week, it's given me a sense of clarity. Do you ever find that you need to be knocked back or have a bad experience to make you realise what you want and don't want? I know now, what I want to create for myself.

So here's to the weekend and here's to clarity - plus some of the best motivational blog posts from the past few days...

Read More

If you’ve been blogging for a number of years you’ll know how much the industry has changed.

But if you’re new to the online world, you may not know just how much it has developed over time.

The blogosphere started with people wanting a creative outlet. We blogged about our lives, our thoughts, our likes, our dislikes – anything and everything was written about. Personal blogs, whether they were lifestyle, fashion or food, where big news.

 You could write 300 words every day about what was going on in your life and be done with it. You didn’t have to think about SEO, crafting the best headline or tactical ways to increase subscribers to your mailing list. I’m not even sure mailing lists have been as big as they are until right now! People had blogs to document their lives – there was no other reason.

Today, we’re in a completely different position. 

Now, personal blogs seem to be few and far between. Bloggers today are blogging about what they know. They’re writing about their experiences and they’re using their skills to help others. Readers are selfish – we want to find something in whatever we’re reading, whether that be entertainment, a piece of information or a full tutorial. Which is why “how to” posts are more popular than they’ve ever been. We need to cater to our audience.

The way we consume content has changed. Which means we need to update the way we create it.

Read More

Isn't it funny how inspiration strikes for post ideas?

I've always believed that people who genuinely love creating content on a regular basis never run out of ideas. Sure, we get those days when we can't put pen to paper, and yeah, it's a hell of a lot of pressure to always come up with the best ideas. But soon enough something will change.

What I've found lately is that I've started to think about ideas in every situation I'm in. It's turned into a natural instinct, almost like another sense. Which is where the inspiration for this post idea came from.

There's a lot we can learn from situations and people, no matter where we are in the world.

So today, I wanted to share some things I've learnt about life in the online world from my most recent trip, that will help you to start thinking about the projection of your own online presence.

Read More

Hooray for Friday! I hope you've had a lovely week.

Let me just start by saying a huge thank you to firstly,everyone who's said they love the new site. Your words honestly couldn't mean more to me. I was so nervous about what you were going to think, but your support has been out of this world. My second thank you goes to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday yesterday! I had a perfect day spent with family and I couldn't be more thankful for my gifts.

This weekend we're heading down to Northampton for a 21st get together, so we're planning my birthday celebrations next weekend.

Enjoy the next few days, and here are some great posts for you...

Read More

"if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

- John Quincy Adams

 

Something’s been bothering me lately (and it’s not that our summer weather in the UK only lasted for about a week).

You see, I did a quick Google search the other day on different topics, and looked to see what particular word was in the headline: followers or community.

90% of the headlines included the phrase “grow your followers.”

10% of the headlines included the phrase “grow your community.”

But my question here is this: 

what’s the point in building a following when they aren’t going to be engaged?

Read More

Last weekend, I spent 48 hours transferring A Branch of Holly from Blogger to Squarespace.

I’d planned to do it at the end of this month. But after making a (slight) error and risking my site being down for weeks, I had to do it this weekend. Aside from sleeping and the two hours I took out to go for a walk on Saturday (because I was losing my mind), I was glued to my laptop. My eyes might look square now and I may not have recovered from the late nights – but did I make the right decision?

Hell. Yes.

So today, I’m going to talk with you about what I learnt from making the switch that can help you. This isn’t going to be a ‘How To’ guide, because there are plenty of great ones out there already. I had Jen’s by my side throughout the whole process. Instead, I’m going to write about my experience, what I learnt and the key things you need to know if you want to make the switch or start your own blog with Squarespace. 

But First: Why Squarespace?

Read More