ideal inspiration blogger award

 

Good afternoon all! I am super excited to be doing this post today. A super big thank you to the lovely Isabella Kate from the blog According to Isabella Kate for nominating me for this award. She is a youtube and blogger, and I really enjoy her posts. Definitely check her out if you haven’t already! Alright, let’s get on with the post and do this thing!! :)

Here are the rules:

-Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link to their blog;

-Answer their questions;

-Nominate 9 other bloggers and give them 5 new questions;

-notify the nominees by commenting on their blog;

-list the rules and display the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award logo;

-provide a link to the creator of the Ideal Inspiration Blogger Award: Rising Star (correct me if I’m wrong but it looks like this is his blog!)

 

Now it’s time to answer the questions! 

1. What is your favourite summer activity?

My favourite summer activity would probably have to be reading outside! I love curling up with a good book, especially out in the fresh air, so yeah I would probably have to say reading in the backyard for this one.

2. Favourite stationery product and why?

Ooooh this is a tough one. I kind of have an obsession with stationery haha. I absolutely love my planner. Empty notebooks are always exciting tbh, because they can become literally anything! I love a good empty notebook/journal with a pretty cover. Especially with a good quote on the cover. I get most of my journals and notebooks from Indigo (which is literally one of my favourite stores of all time, you should DEFINITELY check it out if you haven’t!). 

3. How did you first get introduced to blogging?

I first got introduced to blogging through YouTubers like Zoella and Louise Pentland, who had both started out as bloggers. I was obsessed with both their channels, particularly Zoella if I’m honest, and decided I wanted to start my own blog! This was about 6 years ago now I believe. I know, a pretty common story lol. But I’ve always loved writing and have been writing stories since I learned how to write, so blogging was another creative outlet that just made a lot of sense!

4. How do you manage blogging and school + life?

Okay I’m going to be totally honest here: I haven’t been great about this in the past. If you’ve been reading my blog since the early years you will probably have realized this haha. But in all seriousness, my blogging has often been quite sporadic and not at all ‘balanced’, per se, with my school work. However, this is something I’m hoping to change this year, so here are some tips I’m going to start using!

• Set realistic goals. Posting 2x a week may be great during the summer months, but school is busier than it might seem at first so be realistic about how often you will really post. I’m planning to go down to once every week or two during the school year, since I know posting 2x every week is just not viable long term, however much I might enjoy it now.
• Planning! Work blogging tasks into your everyday to do lists, and spread them out over the week so you’re not doing everything in one day. For example, if you want to post on Sunday (hi that’s me lol), write your blog post Tuesday, take pictures Thursday, edit it on Saturday. That way it will all be good to go on Sunday, all you have to do is click ‘publish’! 
• Limit social media time to 1-2x a day. Yes, interacting with other bloggers on social media is fun and important for your blog! However, it is super distracting and, if you’re not careful, can cause you to unintentionally waste hours you could’ve been working on something else. So be sure to be intentional and aware about how much time you’re spending on social media. I’m thinking I’m going to be limiting it to 1 time in the mornings and 1 time in the afternoons (so yes, if you see me on instagram any more than that consider this your permission to call me out hehe).
• Finally, have fun with it! If it’s not fun, frankly, it’s going to feel like more school work and you’re not going to want to do it. Blogging is supposed to be a fun activity, one you can use to take a break from normal schoolwork, or use as a reward when you’re finished your work. That being said, do make sure to take different breaks, and don’t make all your breaks entirely about blogging. Even though it’s fun, engaging in other acts of self-care is equally as important. 

5. Best tips for how to start blogging?

Honestly, just do it. I tend to be the kind of person that thinks through every single detail of something before I do it, but let me be the first to tell you that when it comes to blogging, that’s not very helpful. A lot of it is learning as you go. However, some planning is great, so here are a few things to think about:             

        what topics do you want to write about? Book reviews? Lifestyle? Travel? A mix? Something else?

        what platform do you want to use?

        Is it for personal or professional aims? 

        How much personal information do you want/are you willing to divulge?

Other than this, the best course of action is just to go for it, I think. It’s fun, a great creative outlet, and the online community is so wonderful and welcoming. Don’t overthink the small details, and you by no means have to stick to the same goal/niche further down the road. There’s no right or wrong way to blog, and that’s the beauty of it. Blogging can literally be whatever you want it to be! :)

That’s it for the questions! Now here are my nominees:

            Abby from ExactlyAbby

            CJ from Caffeinated Daydreams

            Marina from Marina Writes Life

            Alia from Living in the Rain Blog

            Meg from Meg’s Life Hacks

            Mackenzie from Success and Self Care

            Andi from Doses of Calm

            Caitlyn from Caitlyn Hearts

            Katie from Katie Lauren Blogs

My questions:

1.  What is your favourite self-care activity?

2. What is your favourite thing about blogging/the blogging community?

3. If you cook, what is your favourite thing to cook? If you don’t cook, what is your absolute favourite homemade meal?

4. What is your most used tip for productivity?

5. What one book would you recommend everyone read?

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this, and hopefully got something out of it as well! I am looking forward to seeing the responses to these questions! :) Thank you so much again to Isabella for nominating me, I really enjoyed doing this!! 

See y’all on Tuesday! :)