How I Stay Organised

Getting organised has been a serious journey I've been on since January - My New Years Resolution was to make more of an effort to be productive. Productivity and organisation go hand in hand. Today I'm going to talk you through my organisation tips and what I've learned to help productivity.

Image: Google Images

Prioritise Your Time

Decide what's important, and make sure you have time allocated. I block in time for college, study, writing, training. I delegate particular tasks to particular blocks of time. If I have to be in the college library, I'll get all the things done in the library that I possibly can, in order to eliminate those tasks for as far into the future as I can - realistically that's about a week at most.

Be Open To Change 




Image: Pinterest

 

At first, I was a staunch advocate of the FiloFax, but over time, I've been leaning more towards digital. Google Calendar has a great functionality, which I can access from my phone, or either of my laptops. I color coordinate to a few different uses so I know at a glance what is on the agenda. I also make written lists for tasks, day to day. So if on a Friday I've blocked in time to get tasks done, I've a hard list I can cross things off, and I don't have to be glued to my phone. This makes me feel more productive and spurs me on.

Block In Time Off 

Image: Google Images

 

I've a weekend away coming up, and I've the whole weekend blocked out. This means that I can't double book myself. I always make sure that Wednesday is never booked unless it's unavoidable. Wednesday is my day to do anything I want to do, from cleaning, to watching TV. Generally I get to write blog posts on a Wednesday. For me, that's down time. That's not time for anyone else, just me.

So there are some of my tips to staying organised. If I didn't have these working in my daily life, plus the time management effectiveness of Google Calendar, I'd be a big ball of stress and nothing would be done.

 

I hope this helps,

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Amy

Twitter // Facebook



The College Comeback - Doing It Maturely

Going back to college as a mature student, well, that's a different story to the usual college experience. When you're 18 and wildly into partying, there's a different culture to being 25 and chasing a dream career. Chances are, you've been out of the education system a little while, maybe you didn't have such a good time in college first time around.

Image: Google

In order to succeed at anything, preparation is key. Prepare yourself for the course ahead. Know what you're getting into. For me, I'm taking on a special purpose award level 7 from Dublin Business School in Digital Marketing. I have been through the module headings, spoken to the lecturers, emailed and called the college with questions, and I've taken online courses that give me a stronger grounding in the concepts I'll come up against in lectures.

Don't get too overwhelmed. Keep lists and plans. Invest in a FiloFax or a diary of some kind. Write down your deadlines, make notes of meetings you need to attend. Spend time in the library. Read on the bus or the train. If you know the things you need to do, you can tackle them more easily and the act of checking things off a list will motivate you to keep going.

Image: hercampus.ie

Having an end goal is great, but short term goals are key to maintaining momentum. You see it all the time, people who go into something feet first and end up drowning in work, with no real focus or drive or direction. Knowing what you want at the end of the course is of course a huge driver, but do you know what you need to do at the end of every month to keep you moving towards that end goal? Short term goals will keep your wheels in motion, and every one you meet is one step closer to the dream.

Plan for after the course. Apply for jobs or internships. Know what you're going to be doing when the course finishes up and you graduate. Have a plan stepped out so you're not going to flounder when you finally have your qualification.

Image: quotesberry.com

Take breaks, though. Remember to look after yourself. I've been talking to friends about my impending studies, and one thing I've noticed myself saying if that I'll be "climbing the walls". Probably not a good thing, girl! So I'm going to make plans for one or two weekend breaks, archery, and friends. Keeping the balance in life means you can maintain some sanity in the midst of all the academia. Go for cocktails once in a while, eat dinner with your other half, watch B-movies with your friends. If you plan and prepare well, you won't have to worry about taking weekends off!

Enjoy your college experience, dear reader, and take from it everything you can possibly get! 

I wish you the best of luck, 

Amy,

xo

Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest

Making 2017 My Year - The Strong Start

Image: www.dumpaday.com

2016 was a wonderful year in many ways, but in other ways it was a bit of a bust! I left my bakery job before my birthday in March, went off on holidays with Dex, and came back to face unemployed life. I did get a job pretty soon after we came back, but it was obvious that I wasn't good at the job, so a couple months later, we parted ways. When I left that job, I gave serious time and thought to the idea of going back to college.

The thing is, I have many many areas of interest, and a whole plethora of things I want to do in my life. Just for the hell of it, I'll give you a few of the stand out things I'd love to try my hand at:

• Chocolatier, 
• Optician,
• Combine Harvester Operator (I know!!) 
• Model
• Radio Host,
• Writer, (This one, I hope to achieve one day)
• Chiropractor 
• Personal Assistant, 
• Lyons Tea Taste Tester (Dreaming big, yeah, that's me!!)

I really only gave one or two of these options a real chance, and optometry was a high contender until I realized I would need to take Leaving Cert Physics. There would be a better chance of getting me to sit for a blood test than getting me to sit another leaving cert paper!! 

I decided to look around for some other options. I had seen a good while back on my OG blogging buddy Kayliegh's blog Kayliegh Land that she had gone back to college through a local governing body and that seemed to be a cool option, because she's been retraining into Accountancy if I remember rightly. 

If any of my readers are unemployed, you may have heard of Springboard, an initiative to retrain and upskill people who are currently out of work. I was mooching around online on St Stephens Day and I stumbled on the Springboard website, so I signed up, and I decided to see what was on offer. Next thing I know, I'm filling in an application for a Digital Marketing course in Dublin Business School (DBS). I thought I'd never hear anything back but lo and behold the first Monday of the 2017, I got a call from the Admissions Officer asking for some transcripts and documents, I went off to meet the head of the Digital Marketing Department in the college a week later, and next thing I know, I'm in! 

The most nerve wracking thing for me about the whole thing was the meeting. I'm a nervous chatterbox, and I was terrified, but when I sat down with the Dept Head, I was absolutely at ease. We talked for a while, and by the end of it she had told me on no uncertain terms that I was going to be recommended for a place in the course, shook my hand and bid me farewell. Poor ol' Dex came with me and he had to endure my excited, completely awestruck ramblings for the following few hours over dinner, and take a call in his work when I got the acceptance, but he was a trooper.

Image: www.zerodean.com

I had already decided on New Years Eve that I was going to make 2017 MY year, that I was going to do whatever it took to bring myself closer to the dream. When I applied for the course in DBS, I had made a positive move in the right direction, but if it hadn't have worked out in my favor, I just would have kept of trying. Getting a place in this intensely competitive course is just the beginning though, next thing I need to start looking for is a suitable internship and start taking steps towards a future in this industry. 

I'm only 16 days into 2017 as I write this, and I'm already so excited for the year to come. I'm so pumped to get started with my course, it's given me a new focus and a new drive to succeed that I haven't had since I first went into the bakery. 

All in all, 2017 is shaping up to be pretty great already, I'm ready to smash it!!

Amy

xo 

Twitter // Facebook // Pinterest