Welcome to the Productivity Blog

With all the content circulating around the web on a daily basis, something all bloggers aim to do is try something different. As creatives, even though amazing relationships can be formed online, we still have to struggle with beating the competition, pushing ourselves creatively, staying fresh and ultimately, standing out. And to do that, we need to do something called thinking outside the box.

If you struggle with this from time to time and find it difficult to understand how to actually think outside the box, I totally feel you. It's a lot of pressure that's really part of our job description. We've got to stay up to date and we've got to stay ahead. It's hard.

The best thing to always do is be yourself and stay true to what you believe in.

Unfortunately, sometimes this isn't enough.

You can be doing things consistently for a long time, and all of sudden, you'll feel like something doesn't click. So what do you do? When you get bored or unhappy with a certain process, how do you change it? It's not as easy as you think to press reset and start again. Our minds don't work that way all the time, which can be frustrating.

In my career and for the ABOH brand, I always have to try and think outside the box - even more so over the last three or four months. I know this is something a lot of you struggle with. So today, I wanted to share with you what I think works when you need to think outside the box.

Read More

If you were to think about one of the hardest parts of blogging, especially when you’re a beginner, it’s not just getting people to read your content – it’s getting them to comment on it.

You might have heard people say lately that comments are “dying”.

I completely disagree.

Blog commenting is still a huge measure of how much your readers engage on your blog. So, friend, if it seems like no-one is commenting on any of your posts or you simply want to grow the community you’ve already got, then this post is definitely for you.

The Obvious – You’re Not Asking Them a Question

What’s the number one thing you should include in every single blog post? A question. When you finish a piece of content, try asking a question to provoke your readers to comment.

I don’t just mean a simple one like, “What did you do this weekend?” or, an open-ended one that only requires a yes or no answer. Ask a question that makes people think. The point here is that you want to make your post engaging enough and your question detailed enough that people have to leave a comment. 

Read More

When you ask for help or read articles on interview advice, you’ll be told lots of things:

• Know your CV inside out
• Prepare and practice your answers
• Stay calm
• Keep eye contact
• Ask questions

These are all awesome and will help you to have a killer interview.

But isn’t there something that will make you stand out more? Isn’t there something you can do to beat the competition and put you in the lead?

If you had to narrow all the tips down to the most important one, what would it be?

Enter the point of this blog post - the only interview tip you’ll ever need

This will help you get the job. Fact. Just read on to find out the answer.

Oh, and there’s a bonus checklist that you can get for free with extra tips!

Read More

After reading some comments on one of my latest blog posts, it got me thinking about the meaning of success. As a blogger, you might think everyone has it all figured out. You might think they know what they want, how to get there and exactly what success means to them.

But I think you’d be surprised just how many of us find our end goal of success a little blurry.

Our reasons for being a blogger and doing what we do vary from person to person. Ultimately, it goes back to your “why”, which is unique for everyone. It’s the same with the meaning of success – it’s got a different meaning for everyone. 

If you look at endless blog posts across the web, there are some generic things that could define success:

• A six figure business
• Tens of thousands of page views
• A book deal
• Your own product range
• You blog full time

These “big bloggers” are now what we’ve become accustomed to. Because we see so many of these “here’s how I made a six figure business” posts, we believe that this is the norm – that this is success.

CAN YOU EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE THE PRESSURE THAT PUTS ON YOU?

Read More

"Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself" 
- Coco Chanel

Some people believe you are born with gifts and talent. If you can play the piano, it's said you're born with it. If you're really intelligent, it's said you're born with it. If you're creative, it's said you're born with it.

I don't believe that's case.

Creativity doesn't come naturally to everyone, even if they know it's the industry they want to work in. It certainly doesn't come naturally to me. It takes effort, dedication and hard work to succeed in something you may not be natural at.

Practice makes perfect - and the more you practice something, the better you get at it. It's like a natural progression. Nobody discovers their creativity or skill immediately. It doesn't just happen. You're not born knowing you're going to be a brilliant writer, photographer, designer, or teacher - you learn this along the way. You don't realise you have a gift for helping people, teaching people, or creating until you're actually doing it. You discover this through practicing, experiment and expanding your confidence. 

As you do this, you grow, Your creativity grows and your confidence grows.

It's exactly the same for your online presence.

A lack of confidence comes with a lack of belief.

Read More

Hey. You. Yes you! We need to talk. See, I'm guessing that you use social media and know how beneficial it can be for promoting yourself. This works out well, because I happen to think social media is great for getting yourself out there. But one thing that I know many people do is throw everything on all the platforms without looking to see if it's actually working. Does this sound like you? Good I hear you. And you're not alone.

If you really want to use social media in the best way possible, then you need to start measuring what you're doing and the impact it's having. Whenever you do a task or have to deliver a presentation, the one thing someone wants to know is what the impact will be.

Just because you're getting more followers doesn't mean that what you're doing is working.

So if you want to get more in tune with your social media efforts, the tips in this beginners guide are full of things you can start doing today to track your success. Now I get that you're seeing a hell of a lot of advice posts at the moment.

But has this topic been covered by a blogger to a blogger and social media beginners?

No.

So are you ready, friend? We might be here for a while - but it'll be so worth it.

#1 | Look at how people are getting to your site

If you're a blogger or small business owner, I'm going to bet that you share links to your posts or shop every day on social media. That's great - but do you know if this is really effective for you? Is this getting you results?

Now we're going to have to get just a teensy bit technical here but go with me.

If you've not got Google Analytics installed for your website that's OK - but you won't be able to do this step. I'd say go and get it installed right now. This post tells you how to do it.

Otherwise, when you're on your Google Analytics dashboard, you want to head to acquisition >> all traffic >> channels.

At the top, you'll see a graph, but the table underneath is what you need to focus on.

The first column of the table tells you how people are getting to your site in order of popularity, out of organic search, referrals, social and direct traffic.

If you want to know what these actually mean, have a quick read of this post.

If you're focusing the most on sending people to your site through social media, you want this to be your top source of traffic. It needs to be at the top of the table.

Read More

One worry of almost every 20-something out there is the big M word – money. 

Once you get that full-time job and you’re finally an “adult” (or so you want to believe!) there seems to be everything to start saving for. A house, holidays, a new laptop – and not to mention the things that can crop up like a smashed phone screen or your car’s MOT. A bad month can turn into a very bad one indeed.

As someone who worries about money a hell of lot, I know how difficult it can be. You want to carry on enjoying yourself, but my oh my, when did a night out for food and cocktails cost so much? 

But today, I’ve put together a little list of things and quotes you should remember if you’re worried about money.

Read More

One question I hear a lot from people is: “What should I do if I have too many different directions to choose from for my career path?”

I definitely struggled with this when I was starting out in my career. And I know a few other people who have as well. So today, I wanted to address this question for those of you that have a fuzzy mind and don’t know which direction to take for your career.

I feel as if I’m experienced enough to answer this question, because I come from a background of different career paths, loads of published articles – and if I put all my professional experience on my CV it would spill way over the usual two sides of A4.

What I’ve come to realise from understanding what it is someone wants to do for their career, is that it usually plays out in one of two ways:

• It could be the case that actually, you’re only passionate about your ideas in theory.

It’s like that underlying idea you’ve got for something, but you don’t realise it until it hits you between the eyes. It builds and builds, and you can use these images to picture this huge idea even before you’ve said anything or written something down on paper. But if you start to seriously think and plan out your idea, you’d soon realise it’s not the right one.

•  You come up with so many different scenarios that are a great fit for you, and that you know you’d be good at.

But you spend so much time building them up in your mind instead of acting on them, that by the time you start to go for one idea, you’ve got another direction to try out. Or “something else” has gotten in the way.

This is no way for you to have the career of your dreams, my friend.

If you’re struggling with this huge, multi-directional fork in the road or have “too-many-ideas” syndrome, get reading the rest of this post for my take on it. 

Oh, and there's also a nifty little workbook you can download to help you through this. 

Read More

Whenever we accomplish something, no matter how big or small, it always seems like straight away, we go onto chasing the next thing. Like what we've done isn't good enough and we're not good enough. You could be exactly where you're supposed to be in your life right now and doing brilliantly - but you don't seem to think it's as good as how others are doing.

It's not always good, but it's natural for us to compare ourselves to other people. And sometimes, after a heavy social media stalk or a hefty, deep read of a blog, this can break you down and make you feel inadequate.

It makes you feel as though you're not doing as well as you think you are.

When actually, I bet you're doing more than OK.

You think just because they're working with bigger brands than you, or just because they're making more money than you, or simply just because their blog is bigger than yours, that you are somehow less than they are. You're made to feel as if you're not doing OK when you are. But you see it and you want it.

How the mind works.

I know I'm very lucky. I live with my parents, I'm saving up for a house with the man I love, I've got a wonderful family, a brilliant job and this blog.

But I've been through tears, tantrums and horrible situations that I wouldn't wish upon anyone, to get to where I am. And I know that'll be exactly the same for most of you - that you've worked mega hard to get to where you are right now.

Sometimes, when I think really deeply about it, I ask myself, how did I actually get here, to this place in my life? Because I know that I'm lucky.

But occasionally, a voice inside your heads asks, is this it? Is this enough for you to feel like you're doing OK?

Or do you need more?

Read More

Blogging, texting, SnapChat, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest – what do they all have in common?

They are all forms of communication.

So for one second, let’s imagine that you’re trying to run your online presence and you don’t communicate with your audience.

What would be the point?

Whether you’ve been blogging for five years or five months, we’re all aware of how competitive our industry is today. It’s never been more important to make ourselves unique and stand out from the crowd.

One of the best ways to do this is to communicate with your blog readers.

Communication is a key value of ABOH. Through this you can turn one-time visitors into everyday visitors. You can turn people who just visit your profile into followers. You can turn people who mention your brand once, into people who mention your brand all the time.

So today, I wanted to talk to you about why communication is so important online and give you some ideas for communicating with your audience in the best way possible.

Read More

Bloggers - we're in a league of our own aren't we? But one thing we all know is how much the blogosphere has changed over the years. 

I think it's more awesome to be a blogger today than ever before. So to celebrate my two years of blogging (and your own blogging journey so far), here's why it's pretty amazing to be a blogger right now.

Your Blog Is Great for Your CV & Linkedin Profile

Yep, your site will shine like a star when you next go for a job interview. How many different careers do you think blogging relates to?

The answer is a lot.

Running your blog alongside your day job is very admirable. It doesn’t matter if you only post once a week or once a month – if you can show consistency and interaction, you’re onto a winner.

I’ve been asked about my blog in every job interview I’ve had and it’s played a huge part in getting me to where I am today. Getting a job is very competitive. Set yourself apart with a blog and give yourself something completely unique to talk about.

There Are so Many Different Ways to Blog

Years ago, blogging just used to be through the form of words. We were quite limited with what we could produce.

Now, the possibilities are endless.

 

Read More

80% of Americans are unhappy in their jobs. That’s a huge figure. Now I’m not sure what that number would be for us Brits – but I bet it would be something similar.

Yet I can understand why the number is so high.

Being unsure about your career path is totally normal, especially when you’re fresh out of college or university. To truly know what you want to do, you’ve got to experience it.

I’ve come across two main scenarios that have led people to being unhappy in their careers.

• You set your sights on a career, get your qualifications and get your first job – only to realise that it isn’t actually what you want to be doing. You’re stuck.
• Or, you feel so much pressure to get a job as soon as you graduate that you rush it and fall into the wrong one. You’re stuck.

I worked in magazines, agencies and e-commerce, before I finally settled on marketing in education.

So how can you know what you want to do if you haven’t tried anything?

Read More

Something I have been thinking about a lot lately is what we as individuals, actually want in life, and how our decisions affect everything. Lately, I’ve seen some of you struggling with knowing what direction to go in and how to get there. But ultimately, that comes down to knowing what you want.

Whether it’s your career, your life or your blog, we can go through a time of feeling lost and confused. There are so many options, right?

But you’re not alone.

When we do something without really knowing why we’re doing it or why we want it, it can actually make us less likely to achieve it. Let’s say you start up a mailing list for your blog. Your initial reason for this is because:

• A – You’ve been told by other people to set up a mailing list
• B – You’ve seen how successful some bloggers have become due to their mailing lists

Yet you don’t have a valid reason for doing it.

So you start out sending emails and trying to grow your list without success.

Why?

You don’t actually know why you want it or why you’re doing it.

Read More

When I first came up with the idea of creating the 101 Best Sites Online Right Now series on ABOH, I had absolutely no idea what journey was about to start. At first, I was so excited by the idea that I didn’t consider anything else. But actually, committing yourself to a series like this is a huge challenge.

If you come up with a unique idea for a series, go for it. Don’t question it. But I’ll be honest…

It’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do for your blog.

You’ll have more late nights, frustration and moments of wanting to give up then you’ll ever have with your online space.

But you’ll also have more enjoyment, satisfaction and pure accomplishment than anything else you’ll ever publish.

Leading up to the first instalment of the series, I was worried I would fail. I started to second guess myself, as you do. But once you’ve decided to commit yourself to it, and as soon as you involve other people in your plan, there’s no going back.

After it all, I can safely say that running a series on ABOH has been one of the best things I’ve ever done and something I’m planning to do again. But I do wish I’d had help along the way. Which is why I’m writing this today.

So if you’re thinking of doing something different with your blog or want to try hosting a series, here are some crucial lessons I’ve learnt that will make it successful for you. Plus, I’ll also give you some tips for how you can create your own – but you can look out for a whole blog post on that next month.

Read More

 

You see it every single day as a blogger. Everywhere you look - you must be on social media. You must do this, you must do that. You know what this ends up becoming? Digital clutter.

After our conversation about unfollowing lots of blogs because they've become the same, I found that a lot of you were in a similar position. You were all fist pumping the air because I was saying what you all were feeling.

I've been having chats with friends online in the community about the issue of digital clutter. It's been eye opening. One person I really admire online, Kory, actually tweeted a link to an article the other day saying she was really considering doing what the writer was discussing: unfollowing everyone on the internet.

It might seem extreme, to completely take that part of your online presence away. But the question you have to ask yourself is whether this is all affecting your online presence in a good or bad way?

Our full inboxes and full feeds can usually make us feel only one thing - that we have to do something or buy something. Everyone is creating the latest course ready for us to buy. Everyone wants us to sign up to their mailing list.

Here's the thing. If we all start creating the same things, the comparison trap gets even easier to fall into. But that's not what social media should be about. Today, I want to chat with you about this and see if we can get back to the roots of social media.

When you first signed up for Twitter, why did you join it? Community and conversation. You got to be a part of something and you got to talk to real, like-minded people. People who were interested in the same things as you. People who had the same views as you. It was a way of seeing everyone on a real level.

Then brands and businesses cottoned on, and soon enough, everyone was on it. People started to see that actually, you can make sales through social media. You can actually promote yourself a lot on these platforms.

That's when everything changed.

 

Read More

A flower arrangement I made for my mum.

Roses and a card from Tom to say congratulations on my new job.

An end of summer sunset.

Gardens and a tea room in Waddington.

A little stream in the morning sunshine.

Autumn flowers.

A dream catcher that Tom designed for me to celebrate our two year anniversary.

 

 

Read More

“Always carry a notebook. And I mean always. The short-term memory only retains information for three minutes; unless it is committed to paper you can lose an idea for ever.” – Will Self

DOES THAT MEAN AFTER THREE MINUTES, YOU COULD LOSE A MOMENT FOREVER?

When you think of keeping a diary, you think of writing down what's happened in your day. You note down what you're doing, what you're looking forward to and other general thoughts about your day. It's this secret thing that no one else can see but you.

JOURNALING IS DIFFERENT.

My journal is something I'd feel comfortable reading to my family. It's somewhere where I write down my thoughts, my likes, my dislikes, and thousands of other things that are floating around my mind.

JOURNALING CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Read More