Tips for working from home

For the past month I (along with many people in the country) have been working from home, which has been the first time doing work at home since studying at university!  At first I thought it was going to fine as I used to study/do homework after school and uni for years and was quite good at setting down and doing it.  But when I think of it, that was only for maybe 3 hours and now I am having to do full on 8 hour days 5 days a week at home, which is a bit different.  It took a while to find out what works best for me and getting into a routine.  So, since we are going to be working from for a few more weeks, I thought I would share with you my tips for how to work from home.  These can also be handy for students studying at home too! 

1) Have a set working space:  For me, this is so key to concentration.  When you think working from home, you think yes I don't have to get up and out of bed.  But, for me I found I just don't concentrate the same in bed and get distracted by how comfy it is and find myself more likely to nap haha! I prefer to create a space that really feels like work, so using a desk or table as I concentrate better.  If you can try and find a space that is separate from everyday life so it still feels as if you are 'going to work' even is it just on one side of the room or in a different room.  By doing this I find you can distance yourself and walk away from work when the day is over and give yourself the space away you need to relax in the evening. You may have seen on my Instagram, @sweetpea97.blog that I actually didn't have a desk for the first few days of working form home, so I set up the coffee table on the other side of the room instead haha! 

2) Get up and wake up: My working day starts at 7:30 so I would normally be up at 5:45, however working from home meant I could have a lyin!  For the first week I would get up at about 7:00 and sluggishly slump to my chair still in my pjs and begin working which was not good as I was still half asleep and concentration was not great.  After realising this was not working, I decided it was better to act as if this was a normal day and I would definitely recommend it!  I still have a bit of a lyin as I no longer have the 30 minute drive to work, so I wake up at 6:15 and head to the lounge where I can take my time eating my breakfast, watching the news, having a scroll and just waking myself up for the day.  It has really helped my concentration as I feel more awake and ready for the day. 

3) Get dressed: I don't know if I cam crazy as I thought I would love working in my pjs, but again I found creating an environment that was as much like work as possible was so much better for my mood.  I have found by doing my hair, makeup and actually putting on clothes make me feel more productive and ready to take on the day.  This doesn't mean you ave to out on a dress and heels, as there are so many cute lougewear outfits out there now, I simply mean get out of your pjs and dressing gown and hopefully you will feel much more motivated. 

4) Have a to do list: I love a good to do list because it sets out what I need to get done that day (so I don't forget!) and makes me feel good as I tick off each thing.  By writing everything out on paper and having it in front of you is like a brain dump and gets it all out of your head which for me, helps me concentrate and makes me feel less anxious as I can see what needs to be done. 

5) Have a good playlist: Working from home people think, yes I can watch the TV and catch up on netflix.  But this is a very bad idea as you will loose concentration and not get work done.  So, I suggest having a great playlist or podcast on to boost your mood or have the radio on so you still feel as though you are surrounded by people.  Or, face your back to the TV so you can still hear the noise in the background but aren't able to be glued to it (just don't put on something exciting that is likely to make you turn around haha). 

6) Plenty of tea and biscuits: The beauty of being at home is that you have all your home snacks right on hand as you need.  I love a good cuppa and biscuits to keep me fuelled and topped up throughout the day! 

I hope you found this helpful.  They may seem like such easy tips, but they really do work for me and I hope they work for you too! I would love to know in the comments if you have any tips on how to work from home!

Moving out

This week has seen a great change in my life as I have moved in with my boyfriend! We are very lucky in that he has an annex in the bottom of his garden which during lockdown was transformed into our own little space complete with a bathroom, bedroom and living area whilst we save for a proper house.  I have learnt so much during this process and so I thought I would share with you some tips I found as I enter this next step of adult life!

Tip 1 – Know your budget – Moving into your own place whether it be a house, flat or annex is expensive! Especially is it is newly built like ours was.  Things like flooring, paint and furniture is a lot more expensive than you may first think so it is always good to have a rough idea on how much you would like to spend. 

With this in mind, I would also say do your research to find out what you need and work out your budget. I did not realise how much stuff you need! I thought a bit of paint, carpet and wooden flooring would do but no, you need underlay, grippers, door separator thingies (I still don’t know all the things haha!) and it is the little bits like this that can make costs increase especially if you didn’t know you needed them.

If you are moving in with someone else, I would also say it is essential to discuss this together and how you are going to pay for things such as splitting it or monthly payments.

Tip 2 – Choose a theme – Many people would say this is a classic girl thing to say, but my boyfriend was just as excited about getting everything to match and look nice. We discussed it together along with looking at lighting, space and have chosen white, grey and black with hints of colour such as yellow. I found apps such as Pinterest and Instagram so helpful when doing this!

Tip 3 – Shop around – I felt like a proper adult shopping for things like furniture and flooring and it was very exciting!  However, a very important tip I learn would be: don’t just buy the first thing you see because it looks nice or it is cheap. 

We nearly made this mistake on flooring as we found a deal which we thought was good and nearly went for it as the deal was going to end in a few days.  But after talking to my parents, we found there were so many more options out there such as offcuts of carpets or laying flooring down ourselves and ended up finding a much cheaper deal with just as good quality saving us around £200!

So, shop around take pictures and compare prices, talk to friends and family and see what is the best option for you.

Tip 4 – Measure before you buy! Always make sure you have the space before you buy something as there is nothing more frustrating than putting it together to find it won’t fit.  I would also recommend testing paint to before committing to buying a big tub. We just used the roller samples and they were great!

Tip 5 – There are lots of things you take for granted that you forget about such as Wifi, TV, toiletries so remember to take these into consideration when moving especially when thinking about your budget too!

Tip 6 – Discuss -Make sure you are constantly chatting about ideas, making sure things are right, making sure you are both happy.

Tip 7 - Have fun! 

I hope you enjoyed this post and found it helpful.  If you would like to know any more information about moving please let me know in the comments! 

 

Time For A Catch Up!

I can’t believe it has been 2 months since my last blog post! I am very sorry I have been off the radar for so long, it has been quite a crazy 2 months. So I thought, I would return with a catch up post about what I have been up to over the past two months. It may be a long one, so get comfy, grab a cuppa and a biscuit (or two) and let’s get into it!

The last time you heard from me was at the start of May and OMG has a lot changed since then! During that month, I finished my dissertation along with two other assignments and completed my third and final year – crazy I know! I honestly can’t believe it’s over and don’t think it will really hit me until September when I don’t go back to Birmingham.  The month of May was probably one of the most anxious as everyone was rushing round like headless chickens trying to get everything finished, checked, printed and submitted. But when that was all over it was a weight lifted of my shoulders and felt so good. Since then I have had a few results back and am very pleased, now I am just waiting for the final result that will tell me what I will graduate with. Fingers crossed!

Finishing uni also means I have now moved back home from Birmingham. This day was a weird one as I didn’t want to leave the city life where everything was so close to walk to and there was always something going on. I also didn’t want to leave my friends at uni and work. However, I did feel ready to come home for some much needed fresh air and to see my friends and loved ones from home. So, I got all my boxes and suitcases and packed the lot! It was so weird to see my empty room once all the decor had been taken down but I was looking forward to putting it in my room at home as I am planning on re-decorating it.

It wasn’t all calm when I returned home, as I was straight into work as well as trying to catch up with friends and family. We also had our kitchen ripped out and re-done so that added a bit of chaos to the house as we lived off microwave meals and take-out (this sounds great at first but after a few days, you do get a bit fed up).

I also took a few trips away in the past two months too! I had a girly weekend in London with my best friends from school and college which was so much fun and defiantly going to be something we do more often. I also had a week away in sunny Ibiza with my house mates to finish celebrating university together. We chilled round the pool, had lots of laughs and maybe one too many drinks haha! I will spill more details in another blog post. 

The past few months have absolutely flown past and I have loved every second of it! However, I have missed blogging and plan to try and make it a regular thing, as I have loved reading back my past posts and can't wait to be able to save more memories on here! So, that's all for today and keep an eye out for more crazy adventures, trips, tricks and life stories from me.  

How I Spent Reading Week

For those of you who don't know, many universities in the UK have what is called 'reading week' where students do not have to go to uni and can spend this time doing what ever they want. So kind of like half term when at school. This time is meant to be spent catching up on work, reading or preparing for the next few weeks, however you can essentially spend it how you like! Normally universities offer one reading week in October, but this year I got a second one in March. 

So, I thought I would share with you what I got up to during this second reading week. Due to feeling rather stressed and overwhelmed with the past few weeks, I decided to spend the week at home to take a bit of time to see my family and relax. Here are some of the things I got up whilst at home:

Rock Climbing - My sister and I are quite active and we love to find new and fun ways to keep fit. Something we both love to challenge ourselves in is rock climbing! So we headed on over to a place called Red Spider, and had such a good night.

Shopping - Of course it wouldn’t be a holiday without a little bit of shopping! I had to plan ahead and get some bits for Mothers Day and for my uni trip.

Breakfast Date - I’d say this is probably my favourite meal to go out for! This week, my family and I headed over to cute little place called Tenth Hole for some amazing breakfast baps and yes we did have a piece of cake for breakfast as they looked too delicious not to!

Studying - Okay, I did do a little bit of study for my research trip next week! I’m in third year so can’t have too long off haha! 

And that is some of the things I got up to on my week off uni! I hope you enjoyed this blog post and it has given you some ideas as to how you can spend your reading week in the future.