5 Simple Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get Stuff Done

Tell me if any of this sounds familiar:

You have this important piece of work to get done. Or maybe six. There's a big deadline looming, you've got the whole day ahead of you to work as hard as you can - and do you know what? It isn't even that difficult. You've done stuff like it before, and you'll probably have to do it again at some point.

But as you stare at your blank computer screen, you can just feel yourself twitching. Your hand moves, almost of its own accord, and suddenly there's a new tab on the horizon. That new tab, within seconds, has wandered over to Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and goodness knows what else.

The situation is so dire that after about half an hour, you find yourself reading some random post about how to get work done. Because reading about it is practically doing it, right?

Wrong. But if you're here, I might as well give you some tips:

#1 ~ Use ambient noise

Yes, I can see the weird look you're giving me right now. It's pretty obvious even through the screen. But however weird it sounds when I tell you that silence can be distracting, I'm going to need you to try listening to some computer generated sounds in the background next time you work - and no, I don't mean your favourite YouTube channel or the latest episode of Sherlock.

Not that I can remember a time when there was a latest episode of Sherlock to watch, but you get what I mean.

I tend to use RainyMood.com, which I love mostly because of its simplicity. All you have to do is enter the URL, wait a few seconds for it to load, and hit play - there's no need to go anywhere near YouTube, which frankly I don't have the willpower to do -  and it's also on a handy half-hour loop, so when the sounds stop for a few seconds, it's a great time to get up, stretch and take a break from whatever it is you've been doing.

If rain isn't your thing, then you could also go for white noise, bird calls, or even whale song. Classical music is also great provided you aren't the kind of person who's going to spend hours finding the exact right piece to fit your mood.

Having a variety of sounds is also really useful because, after a few months of using the same one, I've found that my brain gets kind of used to the noise and it doesn't work as well. I resorted to some Mozart for a few days when that happened last time, and now I'm back on my lovely rain noises.

#2 ~ Get out of the house

You may not be surprised to learn that I am currently typing this post from the World and Family History section of my local library. It's nice for a lot of reasons, but I think the main motivator for me right now is that I've made the effort. I got up early, dragged my Dad out of bed in order to drive me here, and now I'm actually taking up a valuable study table - I find it very difficult to justify doing all that only to get sucked into YouTube, if I'm honest.

Another thing I love about libraries in particular is the air of concentration. Being surrounded by other people working just as hard always spurs me on to work; I don't know quite why I've decided that everyone else would somehow know if I was procrastinating and judge me for it, but the feeling does tend to make me type quickly.

Don't forget - libraries are by no means the only place you can go to work! If they make you uncomfortable or are too far away or you're just looking for a more casual vibe, then school study centres or even local cafes can be of great assistance.

#3 ~ Shut that computer!

This, not-so-shockingly, is the one tip I haven't managed to put into practice while blogging today - which goes to show that it's not always possible. That said, you should always find a way to try, because it can be really, really effective provided that you manage to resist the waves of temptation coming off your lovely shiny laptop for an hour or two. I'm that bad at self-control that I've been known to convince a friend to hide it from me, and only reveal its location once I can provide them with evidence of finished homework or whatever.

They take far too much joy in frustrating me, if I'm honest. It's a tad worrying.

The thing to remember about this tip is that you can use it a lot more often than you think. I do most of my schoolwork / blog stuff / world domination online these days too, but I can always find odd bits of a task that can be done by hand, be that planning, writing out a rough draft, or even (shock horror) doing research with actual books! Spend some time figuring out exactly what you can do, and ... do it.

Basically, anything that allows you to get started while avoiding even the possibility of procrastination online is always worth it in the end.

#4 ~ Use Fighter's Block

Fighter's Block is a free, in-browser piece of writing software which turns your word processor into a video game. You enter a word goal, choose a character and monster, then - FIGHT!

For every word you take out of the goal, your monster's health bar drops further - and for every moment you're not typing, it takes a little bit of health out of your character. There are so many tiny things I love about this software, from the animation (which is simple enough not to distract you from what you're writing, but cute enough to spur you on) to the ability to choose different characters (so I can keep my blogging separate from my school work and my school work separate from my writing) to the fact that you can actually change the monster's speed and attack strength based on how quickly you're able to type.

This particular feature was really helpful for me because my disability makes my fine motor skills kind of funky, so I struggle to type as quickly as a lot of people. But the custom difficulty really does make it possible to defeat as many monsters as I please.

Oh, and did I mention that achieving your word goal adds XP to your character? The more words you've written in the past, the more points you get - and points = levels, so ...

If I'm being completely honest, the only thing that convinced me to start writing this post today was the possibility of another thousand points.

#5 ~ Just. Get. Started.

In the end, it literally makes no difference how much time you've spent looking up the perfect combination of classical music and pattering raindrops, or how many miles you've travelled to find your ideal studying location, if all you're going to do is sit there, listening, and stare into space. Or surf Twitter.

Please trust me here when I say that I absolutely get how hard it is (I'm speaking from literally hours of personal experience) and I'm not judging you for it in any way whatsoever. But if you want to get finished, then you're going to have to get started.

Write a word. Now write another word. Now, try a sentence! Good. You're on a roll. Don't stop until you've done what you wanted to, and if you really have to get up to use the toilet or something, stop slap-bang in the middle of a sentence. Then you'll at least have something to pick up from when you get back.

Now what are you still doing on the internet? Bookmark my blog and get out of here!

***

In the comments: Do you have any preferred techniques for avoiding procrastination? Or have you tried any of these? Please - I think I have a problem, and I'm desperately in need of techniques!

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How to Make Aesthetic Collages and Prettify the Internet

I'm not sure if you guys are aware, but I'm fast becoming majorly, majorly obsessed with picture collages. I basically put them anywhere I can ... tags, lists, some of the oldest posts on my Tumblr.

Oh, you were aware? Because you've noticed how heavily they feature in this post and this post and almost every conversation I've ever had online? I was worried that might be the case. Anyway, huge thanks to Dina for asking for kind-of-sorta-asking-for this, because I don't think I'd have thought to write it otherwise.

Are you guys ready to spend surprising amounts of time tearing your hair out in the name of aesthetic? Don't worry - the first ones are the hardest. You'll get a knack for it eventually.

Step 1 ~ Pick your aesthetic

You can probably predict that, since it is quite literally the name of the game, identifying and sticking with your aesthetic is pretty darn important - and honestly, most of the time it picks itself based on what you're trying to do. If you're making a collage for your favourite ship from a YA Contemporary, then you know you're looking for something cute and a little bit sugary; if it's a Ravenclaw theme, you want something more classic, with an air of learning and seriousness.

You then need to choose your colours based on those aesthetics. Again, it's really simple, but having a basic palette in mind really helps when it comes to combing through photos and trying to figure out what's going to work with what. That contemporary one would probably suit pastels and paleness, your Ravenclaw aesthetic would need some cool tones (specifically blues and coppers, obviously) and something more romantic would require warmer colours, maybe with some smoke or fire.

Step 2 ~ Find some images

I'm only going to say this once, so I'd better say it very loudly: IF YOU PLAN TO USE YOUR COLLAGE IN ANY PUBLIC CAPACITY WHATSOEVER, THE IMAGES YOU USE NEED TO BE PROPERLY LICENCED FOR DESIGN. This goes for if you're using it online, in print, on some missing cat posters ... you're probably okay if all you want to do is stick it up on your bedroom wall, but if there's even the slightest chance the photographer might see it, then you'll need to do things properly.

Luckily, it transpires this is relatively easy, provided you know where to look.

What I tend to do is make sure that all of my images are licenced under Creative Commons Zero - which means that the photographer is happy for you to use that particular work in any context, edit / remix it, and even make money out of it without giving credit, provided you don't pass the work off as your own. And, of course, credit is always appreciated. My favourite search engine to use is Unsplash, because the sheer artistry involved in its photos is stunning, but their selection isn't huge - if you're struggling to find something specific you definitely want, then Pixabay is a good backup. I also found Pexels when I was doing the research for this post, and their library is seriously impressive.

When it comes to actually finding photos that fit, it might be a good idea to brainstorm yourself a few search terms related to your theme- colours, keywords, even specific items from the plot of a book, like the mini eggs that I included in my Upside of Unrequited collage. Don't go nuts like I have above, because you only need a maximum of about six images and sometimes you find everything you need on the first try, but be willing to cast your net as wide as you need it. Once you find a good image, save it to your computer.

I like to at least attempt to get some different-shaped photos - some portrait, some landscape, some square - since they make for a more interesting collage. This can be tricky though, particularly if you're struggling to find what you want, so don't worry too much about it if it's becoming a headache.

Step 3 ~ Open a blank collage

I use PicMonkey to do this because it has a specific collage function and you can use it straight out of your browser pretty much hassle-free. (Absolutely #NotSpon, just to be clear.) If you're a diehard Canva or BeFunky or insert-other-photo-editor-here addict, then I guess you probably could use whatever you're more comfortable with, but I only know PicMonkey, so you'd have to be pretty confident that you can make it work by yourself or with some other tutorial.

If you are using PicMonkey, you'll want to hover over the "Collage" icon in the top menu and select "Computer". Select your required photos from whatever folder it is you have them in (check Downloads or Pictures if they've disappeared entirely) and you should be taken into an editing screen that looks something like this:

Step 4 ~ Choose your layout

This can be as simple or as complicated a step as you need it to be: to insert a photo into a collage, just drag it from the photos menu on the left of the screen into one of the hatched grey areas (or cells) on the picture itself. I tend to just start sticking photos into cells to see if they work, messing with the shape (which you can do pretty easily by dragging the dotted lines) and adding in more if I need to (to add a cell, just drag a picture into a space between two existing ones, and it should just appear). The interface might take you a few experiments to figure out, but it isn't that tricky once you've had a little practice.

If you're unsure about finding a way to fit pictures together, then you can use one of PicMonkey's pre-made layouts - switch from "Photos" to "Layouts" (the second icon down) on the left hand menu - and just start sticking your photos into that. Don't feel locked in by the proportions, either - you can click the little padlock at the bottom of the screen and drag at the edges of the collage to change the size around as required to ensure your photos aren't squished.

Step 5 ~ Make It Pop!

If you've followed all the steps above, then you should technically have yourself a finished collage. But is it a little meh? Don't worry! Here are some things which I think make a big difference to the appearance of a nearly-finished collage.

• Colour the borders between the pictures
• See that little paintbrush icon? The very last one in the left hand menu? If you click on it, you can change the thickness of those borders (or make them disappear), round the corners, or change their colour. If you find a colour that matches the palette of your pictures, it makes them look a lot more coherent, and anyway you should avoid white when publishing to a blog with a white background because the edges kind of disappear and it looks funny. I like to use the little eye-dropper to pick a colour directly out of one of the pictures, because otherwise the exact tone is ridiculously difficult to replicate.

• Focus in on certain parts of each image
• If you hover your cursor over an image in a cell, you should see a sort of pencil in a circle. Clicking on it will give you the option to change the zoom, and dragging the picture around within the cell allows you to move it so that different sections are in the frame. This effect is perfect if there are certain parts of an image that don't fit your aesthetic, because it allows you to focus in on only the colours that match.

• Add in swatches and colours
• Have a space to fill on your layout, but no image to fit it? No worries. By clicking on the "Swatches" tab, which is the third icon down on that left hand menu, you can find loads of cute patterns to add (they're organised by theme, so make sure you click on the drop down menu and look at each one in turn to get the full selection). They're especially great for really cutesy aesthetics, but if you can't find one to fit, you can always just choose a block colour by clicking back on that paintbrush and selecting "Cell" instead of "Background". Click on the specific cell to fill it.

***

In the comments: Did you find this useful? Send me links to your aesthetics! Is there anything else you need to know?

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The Lazy Blogger's Guide to Title Graphics

So, it turns out that title graphics are kind of important.

If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then forgive me. I should explain. A title graphic (in my mental dictionary, anyway) is the picture on the top of a blog post with the title written across it. The picture just at the top of your screen right now, in fact. They matter because they literally go everywhere. If your blog's hooked up to Bloglovin', then the first picture in the post will automatically be attached to its title and your blog name, and show up in people's update feeds. If you attach them to your tweets, then you'll get on average 313% more engagement, according to Twitter. If you have a picture-displaying homepage, like mine, then title graphics are the very first thing that someone sees about your blog.

You want them to see good things. Right?

And I know that anything picture-related that isn't just slapping an appropriate GIF near some text is time consuming. I know you're busy trying to juggle everything else that comes with trying to keep a blog afloat. Me too. But in all honesty, it doesn't have to be as gargantuan a task as you might think.

You just need to know the right shortcuts.

Image reads: Shortcut #1

DON'T TAKE ANY PICTURES

I have absolutely nothing against blog photography, but you'll probably know as well as I do that it takes forever. Between placing everything in the exact right place, waiting for the light to be perfect and then taking shots from at least a dozen different angles, only half of which are anywhere near comfortable, a decent photoshoot has been known to take hours - and this is all very well when you need to update your Instagram feed or feature a specific book (or lipstick, or video game ...) on your blog. But 99% of the images you need for a title graphic are just going to be backgrounds. Is it really worth your time to slave over taking them yourself?

Then where - I hear you cry - am I supposed to find my images? I don't want to violate any copyright!

It can be tough - unless you want to go ahead and remix old images you took for other purposes - but knowing where to look is the key. There are a lot of websites out there which specialise in Creative Commons Zero images - this is a type of copyright which basically means the creator has waived all their rights in relation to it, so you can use it in any way you like, personally or commercially, without giving credit, provided that you don't imply the photographer is endorsing your blog / work. My favourite of these websites has to be Unsplash. Their contributors are all incredibly talented, and they specialise in high-resolution photos, so the detail is perfect for big images. PicMonkey, the free photo editor, also has a bunch of textures and overlays built into it that you can use for backgrounds or extra detail. (The denimy background of the image just above this bit of text is from their 'Paper Scraps' section, and they have a whole collection of buttons available to use too.)

Lastly, when looking for pretty patterns or pictures to put in the back of your title graphic, remember that they don't have to be relevant to the post you're writing. I went through a phase when every single graphic I made had to have something to do with books or blogging ... this was problematic not only because it's hard to find a wide variety of decent photos like this, but because it was cluttering everything up - something interesting but uncomplicated, like marble or concrete or ... I don't know, a tablecloth, tends to work a lot better if you want to be able to actually read the text.

Text Reads: Shortcut #2

EDITING TRICKS

Once you've found an image, you'll need to upload it into your photo editor of choice in order to mess around with it (uh, I mean create the perfect background) and then add some text. These are some things to think about in order to make your image sing really easily:

• What dimensions do I need for this graphic? I know, it seems like the kind of step that you ought to be able to skip if you're being lazy, but it's honestly really important if you want to make something that looks good - not to mention that it's one of the easiest things to decide in the world. You don't need to know the exact pixel width of the blog template you're putting it on, for instance, because your blogging platform will probably scale it up or down accordingly anyway. Your options are:
• wider than it is tall (as is best for most blogs and webpages), 
• taller than it is wide (as is best for Pinterest and probably Bloglovin), or 
• square (a good all-around dimension if you want to use the graphic in a lot of different places).
• (And please, for the love of love, remember to crop your background image as needed. It's no use thinking "ok, this is what I require" and then making the exact opposite because you're just following its dimensions. Seems stupid, but ... guess who's done it?)

• Can I use more than one font here? I will admit that it's a tiny bit more time consuming to separate out lines of a title so that the key words are in one font and the less important ones in another, but it takes maybe two minutes more than slapping the whole thing into one textbox on top of an image - and the advantages are numerous. You get more size control. It's easier to change the shape of the various lines to fit around any features on your background (like the laptop on the title graphic for this page). But the other thing is that it just looks nicer. It might be something about having my eyes drawn to the key words, or liking the variety, but I always find myself clicking more on posts with more than one type of text in their title graphic.

• Have I got too many colours going on? Colour is great, sure. It's pretty and without it, your graphics would look kind of ... dull. But they clash big time if you're not careful - not to mention that 'less is more' is cliche for a reason! I like to use mostly monochrome plus the odd one or two highlight colours, but then I am the kind of person that appreciates grey. Finding whatever works for you saves a lot of time because you create a formula for yourself; that formula is a downright incredible shortcut for professional looking title graphics.

• Am I done? Here's a hint, bro. You probably are. Less is more with these things (hush, I know) once you've got the title written out, looking nice, you probably won't need much more. And it's much quicker to call it quits early rather than spending ages fiddling with filters and effects, then realising that it looked better to start with, anyway.

Image Reads: Shortcut #3

PRACTICE

I know, this sounds counter-intuitive. You're trying to save time, goshdammit, and can't I understand that?

Shush, peasants. I know exactly what's best for you and I'm your overlord anyway, so a) you should be smart enough to listen, and b) it's not like you even have any choice. After about eighteen months of this 'making graphics' lark, I can do one I'd consider decent in about ten to fifteen minutes. Sometimes way less, if I've got a specific design in mind. And I have invested a bunch of time in reading tutorials and working out how to use PicMonkey and just making lots of graphics, but I never sat down and intended to. I've just learnt odds and ends from hanging about in the bloggersphere.

I'd say that now I have the design speed, I've more than made up for my time learning the ropes. And to be honest, it's got to the point now where I kinda love it. I look forward to starting a new post because I get to be creative and make pretty things. (Plus, for some reason it requires less brainpower than typing. I like to use the time I spend designing to mentally brainstorm the post I'm about to write.)

Also? I have by no means finished learning. There's so much I want to be able to do, so many people whose blogs I look at and want to emulate (if only a tiny bit because I fancy inspiration, not copying.) I honestly believe that every time I learn, I make my blog a little bit better.

That's awesome.

***

In the comments: Do you guys like designing graphics for your blog? Or ... is it kinda dull? Tell me what you found useful here, and if you've got any questions, please. Ask away.

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5 Ways I Plan to Improve My Blog In 2017

First of all, I would just like to thank everyone for your amazing support with Disability Diaries last week. It meant the world to me to write those posts and have those discussions, and the fact that people were out there retweeting and contributing and actually listening to what we all had to say ... it blew my mind. I think I speak on behalf of Ely, Cee Arr, Angel, Jolien and Dina when I say that you guys were (and still are, of course) utterly amazing.

It was also, as you can probably imagine, a ridiculously busy week. Between homework and music practice and finding the time to chat with you guys on the internet, I don't think I've had a moment to sit and think about my blogging direction since the New Year.

So that's what I'm going to do today. Here you go:

#1 ~ STREAMLINE MY TAGS
Hey - tags?

You've probably never bothered to scroll down far enough on any of my post to get to the tag wasteland, but do it. Do it now.

The amount of tags there that are absolutely useless because they only contain one post ... it hurts me. It's just a painful mass of links that tangle up everyone's brains - especially mine. I've been putting off pruning the whole jungle because the thought of going through every single post I've ever written to fix its tags makes me want to turn my brain inside out just a tiny bit.

But it really is bugging me.

#2 ~ ACTUALLY PUT REVIEWS ON GOODREADS

Yes, Tom Hanks. Really.

I'm doing my first category-based Reading Challenge this year (courtesy of Sorry, I'm Booked) and it has a rule that you have to review the three books you read per month for the challenge. And, therefore, I plan to review not only those, but EVERY SINGLE BOOK I read this year.

Good luck, me.

As I've found that a) I like to write itty bitty tiny reviews which don't always fill up an entire blog post, b) reviews don't actually get enjoyed as much as my other blog posts (based on the stats, anyway), and c) I'm sick of having a Goodreads account that resembles a town abandoned after nuclear disaster, I decided I'd post those reviews there.

I'm not going to completely abandon on-the-blog reviews - in fact, I've got some lovely ones lined up for you in the next couple of weeks - but they will become a rare species. You know, like pandas. Or ... unicorns.

#3 ~ GET BACK INTO TWITTER CHATS

When I took part in the Teen Bloggers' Chat yesterday, my main intention was to make sure that the blogging community at large knew that I was still alive and hadn't just zombified myself for Disability Diaries before returning to my silent grave.

Hush. I'm tired. It's not that long for a metaphor.

Anyway, yakking on Twitter is a very fun (and also very productive/ networky) thing to do, so I need to get around to doing it more. Come join me, if you fancy! 7PM UK Time? Next Sunday? It's on teen voice and opinion and all that kinds of awesome.

You'll be there. *nods with completely hollow confidence*

#4 ~ SCHEDULE MORE POSTS

I don't just say this to myself every year, I say this to myself every week. And I always believe it. Come Saturday, I'm always excited about two whole free days and I think 'hey! I can get two or three posts written and scheduled, no problem!"

Then Monday rolls around, and - well. There's a reason this post is going up exactly ten seconds before my bedtime.

It's as if I'm physically incapable of writing anything unless I am facing a near-impossible deadline, and this is not fun. It might just be the way I work, but if so ... it is not my favourite attribute. Right now, I'm so tired I am typing the wrong words and barely noticing.

This needs to stop.

#5 ~ ACTUALLY COMMENT ON PEOPLE'S BLOGS FOR ONCE

Gosh, am I terrible at commenting.

I'll read maybe two or three blog posts a day, and a lot of them are amazing. I'll get to the end of the post, think something along the lines of "wow, that was good" ... and then CLOSE THE WINDOW WITHOUT COMMENTING.

And I know how terrible this is. I know how much I appreciate comments on my own blog and the people who genuinely care enough to leave them, especially regularly (you guys are beautiful and I love you. Thank you for all your support and gorgeousness), so it's really bad that I love posts and then the blogging geniuses behind them don't get to hear about it.

I guess I just need to get into the habit? But WOW. Someone hit me with a hammer until I hit reply next time, okay?

***

In the comments: Do you have any blogging goals for yourself this year? Why are they important for you? Do you think you'll actually end up meeting them?

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6 Ways to Bore Your Blog's Readers

It turns out that it is surprisingly easy to be boring as a blogger.

I've done it. There are old posts that I've read and cringed at, posts that I'm not really shocked got zero comments or a handful of views, because even I can admit that they were bo-ring with a capital everything.

(By the way, don't bother trying to look for those posts. They are deeply buried in the trash bin of my Blogger account along with some typoed comment replies and that dead body I promised I wasn't going to talk about.)

Oops. *continues with post hoping nobody called the police yet*

But when I can actually force myself to read the whole thing before pounding on the delete button, I can often put down the cringeworthy boringness to one of six things that I did wrong. And, because I am an incredibly charitable overlord, I figured I'd share those things with you, so that you can make boring content too!

Or ... not make boring content. If that's what you fancy.

#1 ~ Give Yourself An Imminent Deadline
Deadlines ... can be a good thing.

They keep you focused, they mean that you blog at least semi-regularly, and it's a really nice feeling when you meet them. But when deadlines are unrealistic, they are one of the most unhelpful things for a blogger to have.

Why? Well, this is what tends to happen when I set myself a ridiculous deadline.

Firstly, I will procrastinate. Procrastination is your brain realising it doesn't know how to deal with the task you've tried to give it, and buying itself enough time to try and figure everything out - as a creative person, you likely experience it a lot. The problem is that this process will usually happen for longer when you have a more difficult problem, like a shorter time frame to complete the task in ... you see where this vicious cycle is going, right? The procrastinating monster has even been known to make pretty reasonable deadlines impossible much quicker than you'd think, so do watch out.

And then, when I finally decide what I'm doing and sit down to write, I have no option but to rush everything. I don't research, my graphics are horribly sloppy if they exist at all, and the actual post, if it makes sense, is mind-numbingly dull.

That's what we're trying to avoid here, I guess.

#2 ~ Stick Too Closely To A Blogging Schedule
I love schedules, but I never stick to them.

They represent organisation, which is one of my favourite concepts, but also structure, and structure can very easily become - all together now:

BORING!

One of the great things about having a blog is that it's yours to do whatever you want with, and if you keep yourself limited by some abstract framework that might not fit as well as you want it to anymore, then you're denying yourself that freedom. That'll make you fed up, let alone everyone else.

Not only that, but if you tell yourself you have to post on certain days or a certain amount of times, there will be times when you end up having to write posts with zero ideas or inspiration just because they're due, and often (in the eyes of your readers, anyway) a yawn-worthy post is worse than none at all. Sure, have a schedule - go ahead and do your best to post three times a week - but if you're regularly not living up to that, it's time to reconsider either how much content you're trying to create, or the way you're trying to create it.

#3 ~ Isolate Yourself
If you ask a blogger what their favourite part of blogging is, I can bet with almost complete certainty that they'll tell you it's the community they're a part of. Hey, if you're desperate enough to read this, then you're probably one of us too. You'll understand how amazing it is to make friends and interact with the other people that are reckless enough to engage in this crazy little hobby.

So why (WHY? WHY?) would you keep yourself to yourself when it comes to your art? It's only by surrounding yourself with different styles, different opinions - different voices - that you are going to broaden out, to decide where you want to go with your blogging and stop yourself from staying in the same stagnant position the whole time.

(Yeah, you guessed it. That stagnant position is MEGA-boring as both a blogger and a blog appreciator.)

Feel free to go on Twitter or Bloglovin' or whatever super-secret online blogger collectives I haven't been invited to yet. Share your ideas. Those close online buddies, the ones you'd trust to see work you're not quite sure about? Email them. I'm sure they'll be okay with it. If you take the time to use the support system that's available to you (and, of course, keep your voice shining through), it will be incredibly tough to be boring.

#4 ~ Mess Up Your Timing
As a blogger, you're basically a magician, except you use words instead of rabbits and top hats. Which, of course, means that timing is everything.

If your readers are anything like me - with the amount of blogs I find myself on daily, one of them probably is me - then they get bored by seeing the same things in the same place all the time. It doesn't make any difference that you only participate in blog tags twice a year if those two posts are within a week of each other. You're going to get scapegoated as "that one that only posts tags" and no-one gives a second thought to your insightful discussions or how helpful your tutorials are. If your content always seems the same lately, then just take some time to think about what else you could be writing. Try something new.

And remember - what you're working on isn't the wrong idea or the wrong piece. It's just the wrong timing.

#5 ~ Take Yourself Too Seriously
One thing you will, always, always have to remember is that BLOGGING IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN.

It's not about agonising over your niche and whether your posts properly fit into it 100% of the time, or forcing yourself to write when you really don't want to. It's about getting joy from your craft, and if at all possible, using it to give other people some too. It probably sounds cliche, but readers really can tell if you're having fun or not - and if you're bored stiff, then they're just going to follow your lead.

So ... just have fun with it. Post the even craziest ideas that come into your head. Laugh as you type. Don't you dare think about playing it safe. 

Not only will 99% of your readers be having just as good a time as you are, but the ones that don't hardly matter anyway.

Sorry. I just couldn't write a whole post about boredom and not fit this GIF in somewhere.

***

In the comments: Do you catch yourself doing things that make your content boring? How do you stop yourself? What tips do you have for others to avoid making the same mistakes?

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How to Manage Your Blogging Time

Being a blogger is easy ... until life gets busy.

If we all had a couple of extra hours in the day when we weren't allowed to do anything except stay in, glued to our computer, and pound out a post, it would probably be easier. But the fact of the matter is that, even if we had those extra hours, they'd probably get taken over with all those busy life things if we were lazy about it - the trick is to manage all the time you have.

Yes. This is easier said than done. But never fear, for I AM THE MASTER OF ALL THESE THINGS AND SHALL TEACH YOU.

*everyone bursts into uncontrollable laughter so acute that they struggle to breathe*

Okay, fine. I am not exactly the master of blog organisation. I'm the un-master, if that's a thing. What that does mean, however, is that the tricks I use must be mind-numbingly easy to use, or I just wouldn't be able to follow them. So ... you have guaranteed success, right?

That has to be a good thing.

Now, I have experience balancing blogging with school, homework and choral singing, so some of my examples might be a little specific, but this advice should be general enough to blog while keeping up a job, looking after kids or guarding your secret ninja identity.

Tip #1 ~ Make the most of all your time.

Some days, that convenient half an hour you can use to blog isn't going to involve you sitting at home with all the supplies you could possibly need. It might be while someone else drives you to school, or while you wait at the bus stop, or in your lunch break at work. It might even be divided into 5 minute chunks.

But that doesn't mean you can't use them.

Both WordPress and Blogger have apps that you can use to write up posts on the go. They don't have as many features as the desktop platform, obviously, but what I love about the Blogger one in particular (I've only ever used that because frankly I'm scared of change and WordPress seems a little scary) is that it works without WiFi as long as you've 'synced' your posts before you start. So you can literally blog anywhere in the world.

If you do happen to have WiFi, you can catch up on emails and blog comments too. Doing anything that would otherwise eat into the little in-front-of-the-computer time you have will help so much, I promise.

Tip #2 ~ Keep track of ideas.

There is nothing more annoying IN EXISTENCE than having all the time you need to blog ... and then not being able to think of a single thing to type. Except maybe getting food stuck between your teeth. I'm sure you'll recognise that horrible sensation of time slipping away - any clocks in the room usually end up sounding ten times louder at this point - and knowing you're just wasting it, but not knowing how to stop.

The thing is you'll also have times when you have a brilliant idea, but no time or space in your schedule to write it. Or maybe, while you know it's good, it just isn't inspiring you right this minute.

Please, please, please write it down somewhere. In a list. As a draft blog post. Just have a place where you put all of those unused ideas (plus tags you've been tagged in - I always seem to forget about these), and then they'll be ready and waiting when you have a spare moment but nothing to fill it with.

Tip #3 ~ Break it up

No, not that kind of break up.

So, you have to write a blog post.

At a first glance, that sounds like a basic task that can't be split up much more. It can be difficult, but isn't the kind of thing you can take in stages, right?

Wrong. Off the top of my head, these are some of the stages you have to go through to get a blog post from a blank screen to the archives. I'm sure there must be more that my over-busy, slightly exhausted brain can't come up with.

• Come up with an idea.
• Plan the structure of the post.
• Write an introduction.
• Write your main body.
• Find / take photos.
• Make a title graphic.
• Proofread final post.
• Add labels, or tags, or whatever you want to call it.
• Publicise

Recognising each of these stages as seperate tasks is something I find really helpful. First of all, the psychological joy of having ticked nine things off my list instead of one is ridiculously motivating, and secondly it makes things a lot more productive when I have to blog in short bursts. Ten minutes? Okay, get your introduction done. Five? I can make a title graphic in that time. Two? Oh, I can write a tweet. Even thirty seconds is enough time to add my post labels. 

And all this from properly splitting up your tasks.

Tip #4 ~ Look into co-blogging

I don't know very much about co-blogging, to be honest. I have always been and will always be (for risk of sounding too scary and dramatic) someone who works better alone. But I can't possibly write a post for busy bloggers without mentioning sharing a blog with someone else an option. The way I understand it, there's less work if two or more people can split it up between them, bouncing off of each other is both fun and great for when you're blocked, and ... sometimes it's just generally a lot of fun?

Clearly, I am not an expert on this subject, but luckily I can link to some people who are. Shar from Virtually Read wrote this lovely post on The Benefits of Co-Blogging, YA Midnight Reads' Melanie can tell you All About Co-Blogging, and Pages Unbound has some more specific advice on How to Find a Great Co-Blogger. They're all awesome enough to tell you more than you need to know.

Tip #5 ~ Let go of perfect. Strive for better.

Sometimes, you just have to admit that nobody's perfect, and things you hadn't planned on are going to happen. You might miss a post one week, but hey! You still wrote the rest! Not having the time to take your own photos for a day or two doesn't undo all the amazing photography you've done in the past, just the same as it's okay to take a week off for exams or a family holiday or to look after your mental health for a while. Blogging is amazing, but only if you give yourself the freedom to truly enjoy it, and you can do that in any way you want.

Don't compare yourself to everyone else. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday.

***

In the comments: What tricks do you use to manage your blogging time? Are they the same as what you've seen work for other people? And do you have anything motivational to say to other busy bloggers?

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14 Ways to Find Blogging Motivation

When I opened my computer to write a post today, I realised that I wasn't really feeling it. All the ideas I had roughly planned out just kind of bored me, and the thought of actually typing something felt vaguely ridiculous.

In short, I was in need of some serious motivation.

I went out to find some, and admittedly it took a while (I've spent most of my blogging time today self-motivating, and while that is a perfectly awesome thing to do, it might mean today's post is a little more rushed than usual), but now I've written three paragraphs! Behold! It can be done!

Because I actually care about you people - a lot, actually, but don't tell my IRL friends or they might get jealous - I thought I'd tell you what motivation worked for me today, what's worked in the past, and what I've bookmarked in the hope that it'll work for the future. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the master list:

• Read old blog posts and comments. Maybe even the very first post you wrote or the first comment you ever received. Remember how awesome it felt. Feel awesome again.

• Noodle around in an empty draft post. You might be able to tell that this post started with me basically describing my bloggers' block. Write about your day, or how frustrated you are, or literally anything, and you never know. Just starting to write can be surprisingly helpful.

• Choose a reward for when you've finished. If I've got a perfectly good idea for a post, but for some reason am just too lazy to write it, I like to load up a YouTube video (check out Spirit YPC if you're into musicals or recognising any kind of talent whatsoever) and tell myself I can only watch it once I've written that post. You could also reserve a bar of chocolate, a book you've been anticipating or even a trip to the loo. (Just give yourself a short-term goal on that one. No wetting yourself.)

• Have a look at this amazing post from Amber @ The Mile Long Bookshelf. She gives some specific tips about getting a review going as well as some more general ones to get you started.

• If you have a little voice in your head telling you you're not good enough, or should be enjoying yourself more or whatever, have fun telling it as rudely (or politely) as possible to go away. That could even make a post!

• Look through any old post planners to find an idea you had but never used. It might be gold.

• Instead of starting right from the beginning, create a title graphic for an existing idea first. That way, you're still doing bloggy work, but don't have to start grinding out words just yet.

• Are there any other things you have to do today? Blog promotion? Finding a birthday present for someone? Homework? Get your other work done first. Not having the thought of "oh, and I have to do this afterwards too" hanging over your head while writing can be really liberating and motivational - and ideas will often fly in while you're doing something entirely different.

• Put some key words into this post title / idea generator. See if you're inspired by what comes out.

• If you really can't generate any content right this minute, spend the time increasing your blogging knowledge or adding details to your website. Just because you aren't writing doesn't mean you can't grow as a blogger.
  

• Look up some GIFs from your favourite fandom and use them to inspire a post. Do they sum up your opinions on or reactions to something?

• Research the latest news in your blogging niche. (If you're following the right people, your Twitter timeline can be a great place to do this.) Is there a topic you feel passionate about and want to discuss, or some interesting information you want to report?

• Do some photography to use in the post. This gets you up, moving, and thinking about what you want to say without actually saying it just yet.

• Write yourself a list of all the reasons you started blogging, and all the things that make it awesome.
  

Before I go, I will say one more thing: Motivation is great, but only until the moment when it turns into procrastination. After a while, you just need to choose a topic, close all the other tabs, and WRITE. So, by all means, try the points from this list that interest you, but don't do every single one - don't even wait until you feel 100% pumped and ready to write. If you're anything like me, that happens about twice a year when the sun and moon are perfectly aligned and my computer is facing due north and . . . well, I probably shouldn't admit to the virgin sacrifices.

But that's okay. I started writing this at about 50% motivation, and by now I'm actually pretty proud of what I've come up with. As soon as you can actually see yourself mashing words together, no matter how painful that vision might be, just think of the first sentence. Write it down. And keep going.

***

In the comments: How do you like to find motivation? If you were going to give me just one or two of the most important tips, what would they be?

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Ten Twitter Tricks to Get Your Blog Out There

Do you feel all lonely in terms of the blogosphere? Are you screaming out into the void on your blog instead of having a conversation? Do you just feel like no-one's reading your posts?

Chances are, there are people out there who would, if they could just find you. The internet is a pretty massive place, and it can be tricky to make blogger friends if you have absolutely no idea where to start. But don't worry! That's where I (and my good friend twitter) come in.

Twitter is kind of like the mall of the internet. It's where people hang out if they don't have much to do, or just fancy getting out somewhere and making some friends, like you. But, maybe unlike real life malls, you need to learn how to use it effectively if you're going to get everything you want from it. And that's what this post is trying to do.

Wait, wait! DISCLAIMER!

Before I start this post all good and proper like, I just want to say that it isn't intended to make you feel any pressure that your blog has to be a certain size or that you have to use all of these tricks to be a 'proper blogger'. (Goodness knows if there is such thing as a proper blogger, I'm not one. Why would you want to be?) I just want to give you some options for any publicity you might want to eventually do - because talking to yourself on the internet gets boring after a while, right?

Work Out What You're Doing

I'm assuming that, if you're reading this post, you at least have a twitter account set up. If not, get that sorted! It's pretty easy, you know.

Now.

If you've been tweeting for a while, you're probably within centimetres of skipping over this part of the post. BUT DON'T! Are you sure you know exactly what the right etiquette is for @mentions or DMs, or even precisely who can see tweets beginning with a handle? It's better to be save than sorry, dude.

Even if you're an absolute pro and need exactly none of my help, the comprehensive guide I'm about to recommend is relatively short and absolutely downright hilarious. You should visit it anyway. It's called Mom, This Is How Twitter Works, and I'd like to thank the kickass-awesome letterer Jessica Hische for creating it. You've no idea how many times I've tabbed over to it 'just to check'.

Non-twitterers, please don't panic. It's easy to understand, too.

Tune Your Profile

When people stumble over you on twitter, the first thing they see (other than the thing that tripped them up in the first place) is usually your profile. It's a representation of what you are, so unless you happen to look like a slightly lopsided egg, you might want to make that profile picture a little more like you.

That's not to say you have to plaster your face all over the internet! There are lots of bloggers out there - me included - who kind of prefer to keep the mystery going, but that doesn't mean you have to use the default picture. Make yourself a cool logo. Alter an image of your face so much that you become an unrecognisable (but undeniably cool) alien. You could even use a picture of your feet like the fabulous Cait from Paper Fury (if she's doing it, it must be brilliant).

But don't stop there! Don't forget a cover photo (that large rectangular pic at the top of your profile) which can be pretty much whatever you fancy - but something to do with your topic might help you connect with peeps who might be interested in your blog. Make sure you attach your URL to the "Website" space too: how else are the lovely twitter humans going to find your blog?

And now it's time to write your bio, the summary of you. Don't panic. Just be unique, be succint, and don't be afraid to change it as much as you want over time to get it perfect.

Follow Smart

The people you follow (kind of like friending on Facebook but they don't have to give permission) dictate what tweets you see. You'll notice ones they've written themselves, ones they've retweeted and ones they've liked. Other than the odd promoted tweet (that a business has paid to show on lots of people's feeds), that's it. And that's why it's so important to follow the right people: the tweets of influential people in your niche will help you keep up to date with blogging news, and show you opportunities that you wouldn't have seen anywhere else. (I'm only doing my first Book Tour in a couple of weeks because I stumbled upon one tweet and managed to muscle my way onto a mailing list.)

That's not to say that everyone you follow has to be from your blogging niche. OH NO NO. Follow your friends. Follow celebrities. It's completely up to you . . . and the fact is there's no limit on how many people you can follow. Go wild. And if you're having a fun conversation with another blogger and want to keep in touch, FOLLOW THEM!

Use it Organically . . .

When you were choosing who to follow, did you pick feeds that were 90% "Read my new blog post!"? Chances are, no, because you chose the people who were funny and stood out from the crowd.

This doesn't mean you can't mention your new blog posts: Twitter is one of the best publicity tools out there and you'd kind of be stupid not to use it. Just try to be entertaining about your shameless plugging. Instead of just tweeting the name of your post and a link, ask an intriguing question or be hilariously sarcastic. Here's a couple of examples from the fabulous me, and a couple of other bloggers (who probably did it better, to be honest):

Example 1 by @otherteenreader (me) - I WROTE A #readalongdiaries THING & IT CAN'T BE HALF AS GOOD AS THE EVENT ITSELF. I TRIED.

Example 2 by @PaperFury - To all wishing to get started on #bookstagram (or just wanting general awesome tips from awesome me) ... HERE YOU GO:

Example 3 by @otherteenreader (me) - Insert stellar review of @junodawson's Mind Your Head here.

Example 4 by @MileLongBookS - Need to get rid of some books but can't bring yourself to do it? You might wanna read this:

The second important thing is to make sure your tweets aren't all publicity. Write about funny things that happened to you today, or the news, or compose a series of slightly odd haikus. The fun is trying to get the point across in an entertaining way with 140 characters.

Top tip: If you really have nothing original to say, but feel your timeline is getting clogged with publicity, just retweet. Hitting the button that looks like two arrows at the bottom of someone else's tweet will place it on your timeline with credit to them, and you can also write a caption to what they've said which will be shown above.

. . . But Not Too Organically

If you're going to make twitter a truly effective tool to promote your blog, it's fine to basically talk about whatever you want - but bear in mind that your blog's target audience should find it interesting. Go ahead with the pictures of your dinner, but how are you going to relate them to your personal brand? (Should be easy if you're a food blogger ...)

I also can't believe I have to say this, but the internet is not interested in your bowel movements. I'm hoping you don't blog about them, either.

Tag Authors and Bloggers (Where Relevant)

You don't need me to tell you that the blogging community is an incredibly supportive and genuinely friendly place. Chances are, it's supportive and friendly enough to have told you already, all by itself.

But what I do need to tell you is that said friendliness can be a real advantage for promotion. If you mention an author or another blogger's work in your post, mention it to them on Twitter: one of three things will probably happen.

1. Nothing.
2. They retweet your link, and some of their followers click on it. (So you get more views and meet more people to talk to. Yay!)
3. They reply and you have a conversation. (This is what you wanted, right? To talk to people? Yay!)

None of these things are bad, are they? You might actually get a REPLY from someone who's WRITTEN A BOOK or done something equally exciting in your blogging niche. Oh, the excitement.

However, it's important to be kind about when you tag someone in a post link. If you were an author, would you want to click on a lovely tweet you'd been sent only to find that their review give your book one star and called it one of the shallowest things they'd ever read? Obviously, sometimes (in the case of so-so reviews or things you really loved but had one or two drawbacks) this line is harder to draw, but you'll get used to it, I promise. In the meantime, better safe than sorry is a pretty good motto.

Pictures Are Your Friends

No, not that kind of Friends.

Studies from the Twitter Blog have shown that adding a picture to your tweet will up its retweets on average by 35%.

Like, that's a lot of percent! And it’s not even the hardest thing to do … chances are, you’ll have put some photos in pretty much every blog post you’ve ever written (if you haven’t, then I’d start, pronto. Pictures break up your text and make it a whole lot easier to read) so it’s just a matter of taking the photo that represents said post the best and slipping it in your publicity tweet. Even a GIF will get you more attention.

And it’s all about attention-seeking, folks.

#HashtagSkillz

I know this isn't entirely relevant, but ... Jennifer Lawrence, you guys!

I spent about five minutes making attempts to define what a hashtag is and utterly failing, so I'm just going to point you towards its entry in the Urban Dictionary.

The great thing about hashtags is that people search them all the time, so using one or two might point people towards following you, and then checking out your blog. Just go wild! You're not a bookworm, you're a #bookworm. You're a #foodie, not a foodie. A good rule of thumb, however, is only to hashtag a couple of key words per tweet, otherwise everything just becomes unreadable and confusing, no matter how good the actual content is. 

You can also use hashtags to link together any topics you mention on a regular basis, so that if someone likes one of your tweets on it, they can easily have a look at the others. I've been doing this with #choirconversations lately, and it seems to have worked okay. However, I'm really wishing that I'd searched up the hashtag before deciding to use it, because, well. Weird things happen at choirs and some people have been tweeting them. If I'd used #choralconversations, I'd have had the whole hastag to myself.

Reply, Reply, Reply

If you want to start chatting with other people on twitter and get your blog out there, you're going to have to talk to them at some point. So if someone replies to one of your tweets, reply back! Thank them, answer any questions, and (especially if they're someone you've been following for a while) ask any you might have. This can be very scary if they're a really Big Blogger or someone even more famous, but 99% of the time they will have got where they are by being one of the nicest people around.

If someone follows you, you might want to consider following them back (after you've hugged your cat at the prospect of a new follower of course) to show your appeciation and keep the conversation going. Not that you have to follow everybody! Some twitter accounts are just robots that follow you for unknown reasons, or spammers trying to get something out of you. I guess if it looks like the kind of account you'd follow anyway, then the decision is easier.

Of course, there is one exception to this rule. THE TROLLS. If someone is saying nasty stuff about you or your work, or indeed anyone you know, just ignore it. Chances are you'll be angry, and replying will make things ten times worse. If you're really upset, if someone is being particularly nasty or the same person has trolled you over and over, report it to twitter or the police. But striking up a conversation is like feeding them. NEVER FEED THE TROLLS.

Join A Twitter Chat

Twitter chats can be organised by anyone who tweets, but they're often set up by bloggers about bloggery things. Basically, they'll be a set time in which a specific chat happens (usually for an hour or so weekly) and during that time the host poses questions (labelled Q1, Q2, etc.) that everyone else answers (labelled A1, A2, etc.). A specific hashtag is used on ALL TWEETS relating to the chat so that they can be found.

They're are brilliant because a) they are great fun and you get to introduce yourself to tons of lovely, likeminded people and b) the amount of people seeing your tweets during that time is mindblowing. Twitter Analytics tells me that on average, about one hundred people see one of my tweets per day. On days when I join a chat, it's usually about one and a half thousand.

The one thing I will say about twitter chats is that they are FAST. You need to start preparing for the chat a few minutes before it starts: find an area with absolutely infallible WiFi, make sure you have the fastest computer in the house, and open tabs to the Twitter homepage (for composing tweets), the account of the blog host, your account, your notifications and a search of all tweets containing the chat hashtag. Having your phone handy for other miscellaneous searching is also useful.

Twitter chats are wonderful, you humans, but not for the faint-hearted.

***

In the comments: Are there any other tricks you use on twitter to start chatting with people? Which of these has been most useful to you? And what other social media sites have been useful to you in getting your blog out there?

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