Welcome to the Productivity Blog

First things first, friend… I want to say thank you.

It's been over three years since I first started blogging and I can't believe everything that's happened in that time, both for my online presence and my personal life too. I'm always floored by the comments I get on social media every single day from you guys.

But the biggest surprise? This tweet from my blogging friend, Rebecca…

“Just to let you know, I've nominated you for a UK Blog Award because of the valuable content you create for your readers.”

“I've nominated you for a U.K. blog award”?? What?!

I couldn't believe it. And that leads me onto today's post.

Today you can officially vote for me in the U.K. Blog Awards!

The purpose of the UK Blog Awards is to recognise “true viral style and creative excellence.” They provide a really exciting time for bloggers in the digital industry.

You can either nominate yourself for an award, or someone else can nominate you. 

Turns out, someone nominated me.

This came out of nowhere. I've been a blogger for three years and nothing like this has happened to me before. I mean, I feel like I've come a long way. Since that very first blog post that I hit publish on, I've transferred my blog to Squarespace and redesigned my site and I've doubled my blog traffic by implementing a solid social media strategy. 

Today, writing this post doesn't guarantee a vote from you, and a vote doesn't guarantee I'll win. But I can try.

So, I wanted to give you some concrete reasons why I deserve to win a UK Blog Award and why you should vote for me.

Why am I doing this? Because I want this. Because I value transparency. I know you care a lot about not just where you get your information from, but WHO you get it from too. I know you care a lot about getting your blog to the next level, to getting that breakthrough and getting to where you want to be.

I believe that I can offer you those things. So here's why else you should vote for me:

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Let me guess.

You’re not sharing your Instagram pics to Pinterest are you?

Well, I only have one question. WHY NOT?

You’re taking great photos of your work, your life - everything. So if you’re putting that much effort into creating your photos, then you want to get them in front of as many people as possible. That’s where Pinterest comes in.

Now, you don’t have to share every single image. You want to share your best photos. The ones that get the most likes and comments. This is a great way to share unique content and get credit, because they're yours! And the best bit? It’s SUPER easy to do. All you need is a phone.

This tutorial is going to be for iPhone users as that’s the phone I have. But I’m sure there’s some info out there for Android users too.

So we’re going to go through, step by step, how to share your Instagram photos to Pinterest. There’s two different ways to do this, so let’s get going with the first.

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“I've been getting a lot out of this in a matter of days!”, a reader told me over Twitter that made me decide to get really serious about blogging.

“I'm going to have to go back through and read all your other posts, because this was exactly what I needed.”

That was it. Right there. The time I started to take blogging seriously.

After reading that feedback, I refreshed my categories, redefined my social media strategy and started a second blog. The rest, as they say, is history. 

In a year, I doubled my social media following, increased my blog traffic by over 300% and created a community of determined, inspirational bloggers. More than any of this though, I found my path. 

I discovered that no matter how hard things got, I was meant to be a blogger and I got great satisfaction from inspiring my readers. 

And that, my friend, is where valuable content comes from.

Looking back over the years though, I realised that none of it would be possible without my determination. 

HOW BLOGGING CAN ENRICH YOUR LIFE

As a blogger, the thing we’re hearing the most about lately is creating high-quality content. We hear that creating valuable content helps build trust in your readers, and those readers then become subscribers and eventually customers. 

This formula is totally possible - but instead of hearing about how this helps people reach six figures, why aren't we hearing more about how it's enriching their lives? 

Because that's what it's done for me.

I love being able to create content for you on a regular basis and talk to you every single day to find out more about you. And even though this is just a hobby, the truth is, if you fall out of love with it then you should stop doing it. Period.

Blogging really has changed my life. It has helped grow my confidence in myself as a person, it's helped me understand that I am on the right path (when I wasn't sure I had one), and it helped me come out of a really dark place in my life, all the way back to those three years ago. 

So today, I wanted to give you three benefits of blogging that you may not have thought of, plus an action step you can take to become the best blogger you want to be.

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You’ve accomplished a hell of a lot this year. 

You’ve tried your best to reach all your goals (it doesn’t matter if you didn’t get there, you still tried!

You deserve to wind down during December and start the new year with a BANG.

You’re ready to make 2017 even better than this year, doing things that you want to do and that you’re passionate about.

The path to get there is much simpler than what you’re doing right now. You don’t have to stumble your way through the year doing things you think you have to do and keeping your fingers crossed that somehow, some way, you’ll get that breakthrough.

Did you know that if you write down everything you want to accomplish, you’ve got an 80% more chance of making it happen?

But saying you’re going to make 2017 better and actually doing it are two different things, right? It doesn’t have to be that way.

You can make 2017 your best year yet through a little tactic of focusing on the right things.

Good job I’m here to tell you exactly what those things are 😉  Let’s get onto the good stuff.

#1 | REFRESH YOUR MORNING ROUTINE

Getting your morning off to the right start is something a lot of us want to do to make an improvement to our lives. Whether it’s making more of an effort with breakfast or simply having more time, the way you start your day is crucial.

The easiest way for you to make a difference is to move your alarm clock. And I don’t mean your phone - make an effort to purchase a proper alarm clock (like this cute one from Debenhams at less than a fiver!) Keeping this away from your bed forces you to get up and not hit snooze.

#2 | SORT YOUR INBOX

We’d all love to have inbox zero, but most of the time it’s just not possible. What is possible though, is making your inbox easier to maintain. You can start by sorting your emails into folders and unsubscribing from all the newsletters that you just don’t read anymore.

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We live in an uncertain world right now and that’s just as true for the world of work.

Good workers are always in demand. But it’s also not enough. Each new wave are making themselves more and more disposable. So it’s your job to make sure you’re too valuable to lose.

One of the most important things you should be aiming for in your career is to make yourself indispensable. What does this mean? It’s simple - it means building up a strong reputation for yourself to show that provide a positive impact to your work environment.

You become so good at what you do that there is no one who could replace you.

Being indispensable at work definitely benefits the company you’re working for. But it also benefits you in a massive way. Not only does it give you better chances of getting a promotion and avoiding redundancies (if they were to happen) - it gives you great pride and satisfaction that you’re doing so well in your career.

This is what I strive to do every single day in my current role. So here are 17 of the best ways you can be totally indispensable in your workplace. Let’s go.

#1 | EMBRACE CHANGE

There’s a saying that goes like this: if you do what you’ve always done, then you’ll get what you’ve always got. Some situations will crop up in your company that require change and adjustment. A lot of people won’t like this. You’ve got to be the one to embrace it.

See change as a positive and always look for ways it can benefit your team and your workplace as a whole. The mindset you want to have is that change doesn’t mean things have to come to a standstill. It means there’s room for more opportunity.

#2 | DON’T BE AFRAID

If someone tells you they want you to be indispensable, they want you to rise to a challenge and push through your fear.

If there’s a project coming up that you want to manage or there’s room for a new team leader within a certain department, don’t be afraid to put yourself forward. It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get to do it. People will notice your bravery and they’d be a fool not to give you a chance next time.

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This is honestly one of my biggest struggles as a blogger.

As a freelance writer with a blog and a day job (plus everything else that goes on in my life), the amount of free time I have becomes a lot smaller. But what’s growing is the list of projects I want to do for my personal brand. 

So why do I do it? Why do I run two blogs that I publish content for every week? I don’t monetise them, yet blogging has become such a big part of my life that I spend a huge amount of time committing to it each week.

You might be in a similar position as a blogger.

Maybe it started out as a hobby and you just published a post once every week. Then you realised that the quickest way to grow would be to publish content more frequently. But after that, you learnt that it’s actually more about promoting your content than it is about hitting that publish button.

Now you have an editorial calendar, you’ve got a social media posting schedule and you write guest posts for other bloggers - it’s these things that’s getting your name out there.

But you don’t want to cut down the number of times you post on your blog. You love writing and you know it plays a bit part in getting you to where you want to be. So what do you do? How do you manage both? How can you promote yourself online and still have time to write for your blog?

At the moment my time is very limited, so being productive and managing my time well is key. Luckily, I’ve found some strategies (or productivity hacks) that have helped me build my platform as a blogger and freelance writer, whilst still publishing frequent content on my blog.

This is how I do it.

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Well would you look at this. Two posts in a week! What’s going on? Well it’s all part of me realising that not only did my traffic take a hit when I went down to one post a week, but I also missed posting extra content too. So here we are.

Anyway - onto today’s post.

There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding SEO in the blogging industry - how important it is, what it actually involves, whether you have to be technical to understand it and so on. This is a post I’ve actually been meaning to write for a while and now seems like quite good time to do it.

You know - since SEO isn’t really going anywhere.

They’re not so much tips to make your organic traffic soar out of the roof or so your favourite brand hits you up for a massive opportunity. They’re more tips that I’ve learnt myself from working in the industry, and from the various training sessions I’ve been to about digital marketing.

So here are seven of the top SEO tips that I think you need to know, and we’ll also be busting some huge myths too. Spoiler alert: the basics aren’t actually that difficult to get your head around.

#1 | WRITE DESCRIPTIVE TITLEs THAT ARE SHAREABLE

If you take anything away from this post, let it be this: your headline is arguably the most important part of any piece of content you create. Yep - more so than the lovely words you fill your actual blog post with. Why?

Because your headline is what actually gets people to click through to your content. It’s the gateway.

That means it has to be descriptive, attractive and offer a promise.

Holly, you’re hyping headlines up a lot - surely they’re not that important, right?

Think again.

8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read your entire post - Copyblogger

Basically, the better your headlines, the better your chances are of beating the odds and getting your content out there in front of a wider audience of people.

You want your headline to tell readers what they can expect in the post, but you also don’t want to give everything away. Take these as some examples:

• Stop! This is why you need to rethink using ads on your blog
• 41 of the best ways to use Twitter to improve your blog and personal brand
• How to keep your blog running when you go on holiday
• 7 of the biggest reasons why you’re just not getting the job

Each of those examples instantly interests the reader and this is a key point - you’ve got to keep your audience in mind when you’re writing headlines.

You write content for your readers, yes? So you want to craft a headline that your readers will want to click on.

Let’s go back to the examples above. What words do you think people would search for, for those articles to appear?

• Using ads on blog
• Using twitter to improve blog
• Keep blog running on holiday
• Why I’m not getting a job

What do you notice?

Each phrase is included in the headline in some way.

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If there's one thing I talk about a lot on this blog it's productivity. Being productive with your blog, being productive with your routine - but have you ever stopped to think about this personally? 

Have you ever stopped to think about what a productive day would look like for you?

A key thing that will really help you to achieve your goals is visualising what success looks like to you. Want to lose weight? What result will make you feel like you've made it?

The same goes for designing your day. Want to feel super productive when you sign off for the day? What will that look like?

I've been giving this some thought recently and I think I've come up with a basic foundation that anyone can apply to their own lives to design a productive day.

Now this isn't a formula that has to be set in stone - you can adapt it so it looks differently for each and every one of you. But I do believe if you make time for each of these activities and work to integrate them into your day, you're going to see an increase in your productivity immediately. 

#1 | START YOUR DAY ON TIME

What happens in the first ten minutes of your day can also set your tone for the rest of it. And it's hard to have a productive day when your morning goes wrong. Fact. Oversleeping, hitting the snooze button or waking up in a bad mood all lead to your day being completely unproductive. 

This takes a lot of self-discipline, which doesn't come naturally to people. For me, I have the same routine every morning, and I have no problem getting up when my alarm goes off at 6:30 during the week. 

For others, it's not that simple. For when you're struggling, try this instead - give yourself something to look forward to in your routine. Whether it's an exciting breakfast, getting to watch a YouTube video while you get ready or whatever it is that puts a smile on your face - add that in. You'll find that if your day gets off to the best start possible then you'll be super productive and boss it.

#2 | CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

However much time you have in a morning, establishing a simple routine is key to being productive. Getting to where you want to be doesn't come down to luck - it comes down to working smarter, not harder. That's where your morning routine comes in.

I wrote a whole post about how you can take back your mornings here, but these are a few pointers for you:

• Plan ahead
• Don't hit snooze
• Get focused
• Don't check your emails first thing
• Manage your energy

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When it comes to your career, it’s not quite as simple as simple getting paid to do what you love as soon as you start out.

For most of us, we’d love to run our blogs full-time. The question you have to ask is this: is it realistic? 

Usually, the answer is no. So instead, we look for a job that’s somehow related to blogging. But the question I see people asking all the time is, but how do I find a job when I don’t have any skills or experience?

The truth is the skill set and professional value you’ve developed as a blogger means that your career options can be far more diversified than you think.

When I graduated from my Masters and started looking for jobs, (you can read more about my career journey here), one thing I noticed was that most companies in the digital marketing sector were looking for the same things: management of social media accounts, high quality writing skills, editing experience, coming up with ideas, working as a team, being organised and so on. 

Yes, they’re very general skills to ask for, but the majority of them can be applied to a variety of scenarios and a variety of career paths. And do you know what’s even better?

You can do all of them.

So today, I wanted to talk about the skill set that all bloggers have at their disposal. Hopefully, this will help you succeed in your next job interview or inspire you to be more confident in the job you’re in now.

#1 | Your own opinion and writing experience

When you become a blogger, you instantly create your own voice. The content ideas you come up with are from your own mind and you write about them using your own thoughts and opinions. And as you grow as a blogger, your view and your words develop an authority that people want to hear, to communicate with and to get involved with. 

Think about the way you communicate with your audience right now. It’s online right? But think of all the different ways and the different channels you communicate on:

• Blog posts
• Comments
• Social media
• Live video
• Imagery
• Online conversations (Twitter chats/Facebook groups)
• Email marketing

The amount of ways you can communicate is so diverse and even better than that - you have the knowledge about how to use that communication for each one too.

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Some of you might've seen that not only do I manage and run this blog, but I've also recently started a new one. 

As someone who has got a full-time job, a blog, does freelance work on the side and is in the process of looking for a house, you can see there's a lot going on.

So why would I even consider starting a brand new blog on top of all this?

I don't know a lot of bloggers in real life. But the ones I speak to online all love pushing themselves to try new things. 

And so do I 😉

My friend Stephie has just rebranded her site and launched a brand new interview series with creatives. 

Another blogger I love, Anna, has also gone through a redesign and is producing better content than ever. 

I love writing, and I've always wanted to go back to my roots of why I started blogging in the first place.

So if you're considering starting not just a new blog, but a new project, and you're not sure whether you'll be able to handle it - go for it. You can have doubt after doubt, but I'm here to tell you that it IS possible. Plus, there are so many benefits to having more than one creative project (especially more than one blog).

First of all though, I wanted to talk to you about why I decided to start Little Branches.

NOT ANOTHER LIFESTYLE BLOG!

A few months ago, I was talking to Tom about all my dreams for ABOH and described how I really wanted to fit in a way that I could document everything that was happening in my life. 

See, I wanted to keep ABOH in line with its specific purpose - to inspire you to get to where you want be, using my own tried and tested strategies that really work.

If I started documenting my life in sand amongst all that other content, it just wouldn't fit in with the flow of the blog. 

So the thought of having a separate place to write about all things lifestyle didn't seem like such a drastic idea. I knew I was cutting the posting schedule down on this blog, which would give me more time to write content for the new blog - plus I wanted to do it. So I went ahead and created Little Branches.

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Running your own blog is a great way to develop new skills, make yourself stand out and can bring you loads of opportunities. But no matter what you write about - whether you use it as a space to document your life or market it as a platform to sell your services - it's hard work. And there’s something I’ve learnt over the past three years.

You need to make some sacrifices in order to get a breakthrough. 

A few weeks ago, I talked about my creative process and how you can create systems for your blog that will help you be more efficient and successful. But that doesn't happen on it’s own. Making some important decisions based on your priorities will help you to reach your goals.

Managing a blog requires a lot of hard work, dedication and patience to see results. Thankfully (and if you’re a blogger you’ll know this), there are still endless benefits to being a blogger.

For instance, my blog has played a huge part in me getting to where I am today. It’s helped me be successful in my career and because I’ve worked so hard (and implemented my own strategies), I met one of my end-of-year goals in July.

Now, even though I’ve cut my publishing schedule down, I’m feeling more confident about my blog than ever. This all wouldn't have been possible without having made some sacrifices along the way.

So if you’ve got big goals for your blog, here are some sacrifices you could be looking to make in order to get a breakthrough… or two 😉

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Since I started blogging seven days a week back in March, things are now looking completely different.

I've developed a lot as a blogger over the past few months and I've watched everything about my online presence grow. As my workload has become larger and I've had the urge to create more, I've had to refine my processes to find a more systematic way to get everything done that I want to, whilst living my best life.

And if you've seen my tweets recently, you'll know I've been feeling the pressure.

If you run a blog alongside your day job or you've got loads of projects going on at once, I'm sure you can relate to my current situation. 

But even if blogging is only a small part of your life - I'm sure you've felt the pressure of keeping up and getting noticed, right? I mean, it's so easy to get sucked into this world and everything it has to offer.

One day last month, everything just became too much. I hit a big wall. I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything, I felt completely overwhelmed, my mood was affected and I couldn't remember the last time I had some free time to play around with.

This told me that I needed to make some changes to create a better routine that would involve everything I wanted to do in my life, whilst being manageable and helping me move forward.

I also wanted to start doing more things for me. My blog is partly a hobby still, but there are so many other things I’d like to try in my spare time that I don’t get chance to do. Things like reading books and makings, baking, DIY projects and flower arranging. Plus re-watching Gilmore Girls and Gossip Girls from the very beginning 😉

So during September, I’ve tried out this new method for creating my routine and carried it out. Because it’s gone so well, I really wanted to share it with you today, in the hope that it can inspire you to make some change to create your ideal routine. If you want to feel more in control of your work, whilst still making the most of your life, I really think you’ll find this helpful.

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Twitter is my go-to social media platform for anything and everything blogging related. It's the one channel I truly couldn't live without.

While it's easy to pass Twitter by because hey, there's only 140 characters to work with - there is so much more to this platform than you know.

With analytics, optimal times, chats, hashtags and so much more, its benefits really are endless for bloggers, entrepreneurs and small business owners.

So to get your Twitter mind thinking, here are 41 of the best ways this social platform can help you get a breakthrough with your blog and/or business.

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I’m going to really help you today. Why?

It’s time to bust through some more myths!

 

I’ve already written a post about what social myths to ignore, and today we’re talking about all the rubbish that’s made up about digital marketing. 

So often I see blog posts and articles online all giving advice that I just want to write the word ‘ignore’ across. I think to myself, how many people are going to actually listen to this rubbish? Some people could actually not do things they love based on these lies!

I know that the people who will have written these articles will just be speaking from experience and that’s fine.

But what’s not fine is the fact that some people take this (bad advice very seriously). Like, ‘I’ve never written anything in my life before so I can’t start a blog.”

Or, “well lots of people say you need to spend thousands of pounds on a kick-ass blog design if you’ve got any chance of getting noticed.

And on, and on.

But what gets to me more than anything is that this advice stops people - stops YOU - from doing what you want to do.

That’s why I’m writing this post.

So we’re going to clear up 11 of these biggest myths today. I’m even going to give you some real examples so you can see how rubbish they really are.

Let’s get into it.

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I talk a lot on this blog and on my social channels about setting and re-evaluating your goals.

Setting one goal for the whole year isn't too realistic - your mindset, passion and circumstances chance overtime. As you grow, that means your goals adjust and change too.

The last quarter of the year is usually seen as a big push. We want to achieve those goals we set ourselves so many months ago and we want to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. This is the last chance of 2016 to make big things happen with our online presence, so it's natural to want to strive for more right now.

SO WHY DO I NEED A SURVIVAL GUIDE?

It’s good to have a survival guide for the rest of the year to help you work towards your goals. This is always a tough and busy time of the year, so you want to make sure you’re working in a way that makes you feel good and fulfils you, whilst also making sure the work you’re doing is productive and worthwhile.

A survival guide helps you achieve your goals on your terms, in the best way possible. You decide what your survival guide is going to include. But it also helps you take care of yourself in the right way. We all need to practice self-care in order to make big things happen. 

If you feel like you need something to get you through the rest of the year, I have the perfect thing for you.

After evaluating my own processes recently, I’ve created my own intentional survival guide to help me achieve big things for my blog and business over the next few months. I’ve crafted it in a way that works best not just for myself, but for my readers and clients too.

This survival guide will help you take some important steps to help you get to where you want to be. So below, I’ve listed the parts that make up this guide that you can use yourself, whilst still enjoying yourself in the last months of 2016.

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A few months ago, I stumbled across the blog of Boho Berry. It was like no other blog I’d ever seen before. Kara is a productivity whizz and I soon spent a decent chunk of time reading all her posts.

Then I came across a collection of her posts on something called a Bullet Journal. I was instantly intrigued. At first, it looked complicated. I thought, there’s no way I could do that. But the more I read about it, the more I realised how suited to me it was.

So I researched, pinned things I liked and watched videos, all with the aim of helping me try and create the perfect bullet journal for me.

 My first go was way too complicated - I wanted to include #allthethings. But recently, I’ve cut back and found a method that really works.

Something I pride myself on is my productivity and motivation. I’ve always been a driven person - but my problem has been trying to keep on top of everything I want to do. That was until I started bullet journaling, and now I’m achieving more than I thought possible.

 I’ve shared some images of my bullet journal on my Instagram and talked about it on Twitter - so this post is for everyone who asked me share an insight into how I use it. I want to do a video at some point too, so let me know if you want to see that. For now though, let’s get into it!

What even is a bullet journal?

The way I’d describe a bullet journal is that it has everything in one place. It was originally created by a guy called Ryder, and it’s basically a notebook system where you can organise yourself. You can include lists, plans, goals, your diary - basically anything you want.

There’s a very thin line as to how much you include. I used to struggle to use mine effectively because I was including too much information. But after refining how I wanted the bullet journal to work for me, it started solving all my problems.

I’m definitely no expert, so if you want to know more about how the bullet journal works, watch this video.

WHAT EVEN IS A BULLET JOURNAL?

Ryder does actually sell journals you can purchase, but I also know a lot of people who purchase this one on Amazon.

You don’t need any extra special tools for this - I use a notebook that I bought from Sainsburys, because all my stationery has to be extra pretty 😉

Don’t pick a notebook just because everyone else is - pick one that’s right for you. When it comes to size, A5 is the most popular choice and I haven’t seen any bigger or smaller than that. This size means it’s easy to carry round with you, you can use it whenever you want and you don’t need to squint to see your writing.

In terms of pages, I’ve been used the lined style, but I’m leaning towards going for the dotted look next time. Something you’ve got to remember about the bullet journal is that you can listen to lots of advice - but it’s all about personal preference.

ALRIGHT, I'M INTERESTED - WHAT DO YOU PUT IN IT?

Anything. That’s the beauty of the bullet journal.

This is where you need to do some research. But set yourself a time limit, because the tunnel of bullet journal inspiration is never ending.

Some people use their bullet journal for everything. Some people have different bullet journals for different areas of their life. Some people store memories, goals and wishlists in them. Some just use them as a day to day planner. It’s completely up to you.

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