Welcome to the Productivity Blog

Quit talking about it and start doing it – how many times have you said that to yourself?

Having an idea is great. But sometimes, we can be in a place where we just don't follow through with it. We can feel so much accomplishment from saying we're going to do something, but it’s fear that holds us back from doing what we're meant or inspired to do.

For a long time, I had an idea. I spent months thinking about it and planning it. But how much of that time did I actually spend doing things to work towards it? About 10%.

Can you relate?

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So...it's September. I'm just going to brush past that, alright? Alright.

Well, things have changed around here over the past month. I realigned my purpose for this blog with what matters most to me in life, and I've never felt better because of it. So you'll see in this monthly series that my goals will be slightly different too. More in tune with me, my life and the path I want to go down. Thank you all so much for your support over these past few weeks - your words have meant so much to me and I love that you're all high-fiving me about this new venture!

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 August as well as the goals I'll be working towards during September.

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If you're reading this post at around 5pm, I'll be on a train to (hopefully sunny) Penrith! The fam and I are heading up there for the Bank Holiday weekend to have some relaxation and time together. It's been a long time since we've had a holiday together, so we're taking it as a fresh start and the beginning of a new chapter.

Which mean that for the next weekend readings series, I thought a group of posts on transformation would be perfect. Get ready to feel powerful and motivated.

I'll see you in your inboxes on Monday!

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If there’s one thing there will always be too much of online, it’s advice.

Over the past six months, it seems like almost every blogger has jumped on this bandwagon, which means it can be easy to feel overwhelmed, lost and unsure of what to listen to.

The right advice can be magical. It can help you move forward, inspire you and motivate you. But too much advice, and too much generic advice can leave us following another’s path, not creating what we were made to create and prevents our purpose from shining through.

This is why the advice “do what you love, love what you do” annoys the hell out of me, especially when it comes to our careers. For blogging, alright – the saying suits it fine. But our day jobs? The way we make money?

That’s when it starts to get to me.

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If you’re working hard to build and maintain an online presence through your blog, social media and perhaps your newsletter, I know it gets challenging. But there are a few core things I think we need to believe in, in order to create a purposeful online presence that still delivers impact.  One of these is having a clear direction.

But what if you lose your direction?

 

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Let me ask you a question - and I want you to be honest when you answer. You don't need to leave your answer in a comment. You don't even have to say it out loud. I just want you to think about it.

How many times have you felt like quitting? Not just in blogging, but in different aspects of your life. How many times have you thought, I can't do this, and wanted to give up?

My guess is a lot. Why? Because I've been there too.

Everybody has. There will be someone, somewhere that feels like quitting every day. There’ll be someone who feels like quitting right now. A person who has everything and a person who has nothing - it doesn't matter the difference between them when it comes to quitting, because they've both felt like doing it.

But how do you know when to quit for real?

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When you're asked the question, why did you start blogging, many of us usually have the same answer - we started because it was a way to document our lives and everything that inspires us. It seems that's changed lately.

Ever since I announced earlier this week that I was bringing more personality back to this online space, you've all been so supportive. I've even had emails and messages from you, and when I've been reading them, I've noticed one thing in particular.

You all feel like your favourite blogs are lacking personality

I completely get where you're coming from, which is why I made a change. I'm taking ABOH back to its roots - and that's where this new series comes in. 

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Before my Grandma passed away, we'd see her every weekend. My mum saw her everyday. On Saturday and Sunday, she'd spend the whole afternoon with her. It's been hard for her now,  knowing that she has huge gaps of her day to fill. So we decided that we'd go on dates - Tom has a season ticket for Preston North End anyway, so every other Saturday my mum and I are going to visit somewhere. For our first date, the whole family went and it was a place I'd wanted to take them for ages...

a walk up to the top of Nicky Nook, in The Forest of Bowland.

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Wow, what a whirlwind week it's been! You know when you're just mega busy but in a really good way? That's been my week. First, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me this week. If you don't know, I revealed to you all on Tuesday that I was slightly changing the direction with this blog. It was nervy being that honest with you, but once it was out there it was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I couldn't run this online space without you and I'm feeling really positive about where to take it in the future.

It's been GCSE results week so naturally, working at my new job at the sixth form college has been absolutely mental! But I've been really enjoying myself - I hope your week has been full of positivity and productivity too!

So with a change of direction I realised, these weekend reading posts don't have to just stick to blogging resources do they? Which is why today I'm rounding up the best posts of two other big loves in my life - food and interiors.

Enjoy!

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Fact number one: there are jobs out there.

Fact number two: it's never been a more competitive time to get one.

Employers today want a lot from their prospective employees. A lot of experience, a knowledge of industry trends, a pro-active personality and a whole list of other things. Each time you show your strengths on your covering letter or in an interview, another box is ticked. 

But what happens when they get to your CV and they see a gap?

This isn't uncommon. I know people that have been worried about job interviews due to the fact they know they'll have to explain a gap in their employment. What these people (and you) may not realise is that this isn't necessarily a bad thing. 

Some gaps are easier to explain than others. But if you go about it in the right way, you can use a break to your advantage. Here's how...

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My guess is that you've got at least one to-do list.

Chances are, you probably have a few more. But have you ever had a to-do list as long as your arm that doesn't get any shorter? No matter what you tick off, it seems to stay the same length, or get even longer.

It's the same when you start a project. You plan it, start it, but it never seems to get finished. Days and weeks go by and you're stuck at the same point, not getting time to work on it, not getting time to finish it.

We can spend so much of our time focusing on what we don't do, especially as bloggers.

You haven't tried Periscope yet, you've not edited your photos for next week, you've not finished your free opt-in offer for your mailing list, you've not checked your Facebook groups in a week.

It can become exhausting.  

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Yesterday, I sent an email to my lovely tribe of people about something I've been struggling with lately. I feel like I've needed your help over the past few weeks, although it's taken me the last few days to realise it.

Today, I want to talk to you about it.

Unlike the usual content you see on this blog, this post won't teach you a new skill. It won't be a tutorial and it won't have anything to do with social media or digital marketing.

But it will be honest.

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Happy Friday folks! It was A Level Results Day this week, so if any of you got your results, I really hope you did well. It's been six years since I got mine and I still remember the day perfectly in my mind. It actually made me quite nostalgic - do you ever let yourself take a look back at everything you've done and see how far you've come? I hadn't until this week. I was worried that the six years had just passed me by. But thankfully, I'd achieved more than I ever thought I would.

Which is why this week's Weekend Reading is all about being purposeful and productive. So at the weekend, take a beat to see how far you've come.

Then read these posts for more inspiration!

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Three years ago, a lot of bloggers didn't know anything about SEO.

It was a buzz word, making its way around the community. We were aware of it, but we didn't think it was that important and we definitely didn't understand it.

Fast forward to today and it's a completely different stories. Now, we all want to know about SEO. Whether it's in a Twitter chat, a Facebook group or a blog post, people want to know about it. We want to know how to use it and how to maintain it.

It's all well and good learning what SEO involves, and what you can do for your own strategy. But do you have any idea what you might be doing wrong? I was doing things wrong for a good six months when it came to SEO. Since then, I've learnt from my mistakes (and learnt from the pros!) to know what works and what doesn't.

So today, I'm not going to share with you what you can do to boost your SEO strategy - I'm going to share the mistakes you can avoid, which are going to help you out a lot for the long term vision of attracting a community to your personal brand.

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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.

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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!

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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. 

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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.

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“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.

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