I have a problem: There are just far too many different things I want to do with my life, [...]]]> 1, 2, 3, 4

I have a problem: There are just far too many different things I want to do with my life, and the knowledge that I won’t be able to do all of them frustrates the Hell out of me! My mind consists of a chaotic jumble of interests all fighting for my attention. When I’m studying, or just chilling out watching TV, one or more of these interests will leap to the forefront and I will have an almost irresistible urge to Google something, pick up a particular book and start to read, or look into taking a Masters course in something totally unrelated to anything I’ve studied thus far in my life.

It’s truly maddening!

Even now that I’ve decided upon a career in Law, something I’ve wanted to do since I was around 16, I’m still torn between which branch to go into. Do I become a solicitor and possibly regret not becoming an advocate later, or do I pursue the Bar, knowing that my A-Levels count and are nowhere near the standard of most candidates, it’s more expensive, and I might only be attracted to the drama of the profession, rather than the realities of the job. However, I also have my heart set on having some writing published at some point. I’d love to write for magazines, and I harbour the desire to start my own one day, either Online or in print. I’d love to try graphic design and photography (though having little in the way of actual drawing skills, I doubt I’d ever get onto any above basic level courses for the former, though learning to draw is something else I’d love to do!) I’d like to do some major charity work sometime, and part of me wants to give politics a go too!

I want to study theology, as I find religion fascinating. I’d also love to learn about anthropology and psychology – both subjects I’ve found appealing for years, yet dismissed in favour of what I saw at the time as more “useful” subjects.

I’d love to open a small publishing house.

Sometimes it almost breaks my heart to know that I may never be able to do all if any of these things, and all I can do is try my hardest to focus on one thing at a time, and not take on too many things at once. I keep working hard at the Law at the expense of my other interests in the knowledge that it’s better to to well at things one at a time, than take on everything at once and fail.

Does anybody else have this problem? How do you manage to juggle all your interests and ambitions?

There’s a chip on my shoulder, And it’s big as a boulder. With the chance I’ve been given, I’m gonna be driven as hell.

(“Chip on My Shoulder” from Legally Blonde: The Musical)

I’m a [...]]]> Photo Credit

There’s a chip on my shoulder,
And it’s big as a boulder.
With the chance I’ve been given,
I’m gonna be driven as hell.

(“Chip on My Shoulder” from Legally Blonde: The Musical)

I’m a law student who loves chick flicks and musicals, so naturally I’m super-excited that Legally Blonde: The Musical opens in London this December. Though as yet, I haven’t found anyone to go with (my other hates chick flicks and isn’t really into musicals) I’ve been watching lots of YouTube videos and even if I have to go alone, I’m determined to see it!

One big difference between the film and the musical is the character of Emmett, in the musical he is given a background story of growing up in poverty and having to finance his way through Law school by working two jobs as well as studying. The chip on his shoulder he has about his background and the fact that he has to work twice as hard as his classmates is what motivates him to achieve. He wants to earn enough to buy his mother a big house, to break the cycle of poverty by using the chance he has to elevate himself. Although Elle’s initial reaction is to exclaim “I’m sorry, but that sounds highly negative”, Emmett encourages her to find the chip on her shoulder and this gives her the determination she needs to succeed.

I’ve spoken briefly about the chip on my shoulder in my article for Little Flutters regarding my fears that relatives expected me to make very little of my life, and the determination to be independent that ignited in me from those indications. Whilst at some stages of my life this has had a slightly negative impact – I’ve avoided getting into relationships in the past for fear of becoming “needy” when part of a couple, for example, which can hardly be healthy – I think without that chip on my shoulder I wouldn’t be writing this. At several points in my academic and working career it would have been so much easier to just give up and move back in with my family, but if I’d done that I wouldn’t have become interested in writing my own blog (which stemmed from my dissertation on blog ranking sites), wouldn’t have met so many great people and, although life wouldn’t be such a financial struggle, I think my self-esteem would be far lower if I had to rely on my family for support still. Many people I know or have known in my time have been in similar situations, where the chip on their shoulder has given them the push they needed:

* The ex-housemate with to all intents and purposes the classic “evil stepmother” character in her father’s partner, who told her she would never make it at uni. She worked super-hard in response, graduated last year, has a great job and is highly successful.

* The guy who turned his failing degree around in a year due to a scary vision of the future painted for him by a friend’s calculations on how much money he would have wasted if he failed, and how much easier it would be to enter his dream career path if he had a degree.

With all the talk of positivity at the moment, sometimes I think we can forget the advantages that negative experiences can eventually afford us. Sometimes it takes a negative influence to really drive us to prove ourselves, to show our naysayers and the world in general that we can do great things.

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, as someone once said.

Do you have a chip on your shoulder that keeps you moving forward towards your goals?

Image by penguincakes

The response to the last Blogging Tools post was fabulously positive, so I have decided to make another detailing my current “research” and experiments in making a little money from this blog. As I have outlined [...]]]>

Image by penguincakes

The response to the last Blogging Tools post was fabulously positive, so I have decided to make another detailing my current “research” and experiments in making a little money from this blog. As I have outlined in previous posts, it does of course cost money to self-host a site with one’s own domain, so my decision to place adverts in various positions on the site was made with the intention, not of carving a living from blogging (I sadly lack the time that I would need to devote to blogging in order to have a chance at making that happen) but rather to try and make some of my hosting fees back, and hopefully break even. I’ve had quite a few questions about the ads I’ve placed on the site from other bloggers looking into trying to earn a bit of coffee money too, so I hope that this post is useful to you!

I have been experimenting with different ad placements and types on my blog, and each have their advantages and disadvantages. There is very little information available out there regarding the monetisation of low-traffic blogs, so I’ve had to pretty much go in blind, but the guidance on sites such as Problogger, although mostly tailored to higher-traffic sites, has been very useful in pointing me towards advert-publishing opportunities. In this post, I will be briefly describing the services I’ve used so far, how successful they were, and also why I chose not to use some other methods.

Google Adsense

Tackling the big one first, Google Adsense has been my second highest earner so far, and is by far the highest earning of the ads that pay by clicks and impressions. It seems to be the “industry standard” in blog advertising, most people who host ads on their blogs appear to use Adsense in some way. I have also been using the Smart Ads wordpress plugin to manage ads within posts.

Pros: The money adds up quite nicely when people click the ads, I am able to stop ads appearing which I don’t think are appropriate to my content and this is something I haven’t yet had to do, since Google’s system of serving ads due to keywords mentioned works pretty well. It’s also very versatile – there are lots of different ad types, shapes, sizes and colours, and they can be placed in all sorts of different positions.

Cons: Cashout is $100, so it’ll take me a long time to reach that, you get banned if you ask people to click your ads, and click frequency is completely unpredictable.

Image by heath_bar

Adgitize

Adgitize is an interesting one. As I understand it, advertisers’ ads are placed on all blogs showing the Adgitize widget. The money trickles in consistently but in small amounts. My current earnings are lower than on Adsense, but when (fingers crossed!) my traffic goes up a bit, I think it could be a good one for consistent payouts.

Pros: Low cashout amount, money added to your account every day, very simple to use, allows you to advertise your own blog on other users’ sites.

Cons: Earnings appear to be lower overall than Adsense, there have been some long periods of downtime, though I think this was a server problem which has now been solved.

Project Wonderful

I don’t even want to try and explain how Project Wonderful‘s advert bidding system works, so instead allow me to point you towards the explanation pages. It seems quite a complicated system, but it appears to work quite well! The payout is lower than both Adgitize and Adsense, but I have been directing what I earn as a publisher directly into buying ads instead of cashing out. If you advertise on pages with no minimum bid, you can end up getting quite a bit of very cheap or even free advertising!

I’ll report back at a later date on the effectiveness of using Project Wonderful as an advertising platform for promoting my own blog, currently I haven’t used that feature enough to make a valid judgement.

Pros: You get to approve each ad so you’re only advertising sites you like (you also have the option to auto-approve every ad if you like the minimum effort approach!), so far it’s a reasonably consistent source of money, and there’s the option to advertise with your earned funds.

Cons: Earnings are small compared to other sites.

Money4Banners

This one’s especially for us UK bloggers! Money4Banners is a great system where you receive £5 a month to display a banner on three static pages on your site. Mine are situated on “The Idea“, “The Blogger” and “Contact” pages. I have already received my sign-up bonus from them, paid through Paypal, so I know this one works!

Pros: Unobtrusive ads, a guaranteed monthly payout at a great rate for lower-traffic bloggers plus the opportunity to earn more through referrals.

Cons: However much traffic your site generates, you only get the £5 a month, so may not be worth it for the higher-traffic blogs.

Methods Not Yet Tried

Many blogs have a PayPal button, usually displayed as a “tip jar” or other such concept, with which readers can donate should they wish to. I make no judgement on those that do have these, however currently the majority of my readers (at least those who comment) are other bloggers who are probably trying to earn back their hosting fees too! I may put one up at some point, should I find that hosting fees become too high or I start getting a lot more non-blogger readers, but for now it seems unfair to ask for money from those who are in pretty much the same position as me! Besides, it is my hope to break even on advertising alone this year and that is all I set out to do.

I am currently working on a few bits and pieces in the hope of starting an Etsy shop (when I have the time to make enough pieces), so look out for that soon!

I have an Amazon Associates account, but I don’t want to put too much in the side-bars. I do have a few literary-inspired posts coming up however, so I am intending on placing Amazon links to buy any books I mention, within the relevant post. I will of course, report back on whether or not I have any success with this too!

I hope this post was of use to people, and not too long and “rambly”. Please let me know if you have any suggestions or other helpful hints for bloggers trying to earn back their hosting!

I have written before about how taking up my law course was the best decision I’d made in a very long time. My mother commented to me this week just gone that it was possibly the wrong time to have started, [...]]]> Image by jurvetson

I have written before about how taking up my law course was the best decision I’d made in a very long time. My mother commented to me this week just gone that it was possibly the wrong time to have started, since I’ve had to take out a loan in a very unstable financial climate. My response was that if I wasn’t doing the course, I’d feel like my career was going absolutely nowhere.

When choosing my a-levels (exams taken at age 18), I was fascinated by psychology (still am), but I didn’t bother choosing it as I was led to believe that there was no career in the subject, and that was what ultimately mattered. There was no point in taking it at a-level because obviously I had no intention of taking it at university, since it wasn’t a traditional, academic subject, according to many of the people around me at the time. I of course, now know this to be rubbish, but I do believe they had my best interests at heart. I therefore ended up choosing maths, chemistry, physics and biology, not because I wanted to, but because they seemed like sensible choices. (I later dropped biology for English, since I did far better than I expected to in my GCSE English exam at 16).

I know that because of that decision, I obtained lower grades than I should have done.

Image by John-Morgan

The same dilemma faced me when choosing my university subject. I started out studying Information Management and Computing, because I thought that a career in computers was a good idea. I’d wanted to do Law or English, but was encouraged to take an IT-based subject because Law was “too vocational if I wasn’t 100% sure yet” and English, again, had “no clear career path”.  I’m sure you know the rest of the story by now. I spent 2 years on the course, didn’t achieve the grades I thought myself capable of so transferred to Publishing with English, graduated with a 2:1 and am now converting to Law.

My point is that despite all the well-intentioned advice I was given, I still ended up studying first English and now Law. I also like to read about psychology and other such subjects as much as I can, and think that psychology could have been quite a beneficial subject to compliment legal studies. I wasn’t happy doing anything else, and thus, I didn’t achieve what I was capable of.

It has really struck me this last few weeks that I am really, truly on the right path now, the path I should have been on from the beginning.  Whilst I appreciate the help and advice that people have offered me, and I know their intentions were good, the path they urged me onto was not right for me and in my heart, I knew that.

In the interviews which I will begin to publish shortly, I asked what one piece of advice my interviewees would give my readers. Right now, my own piece of advice would be this: When it comes to the big decisions that will affect your future, consider the advice and wisdom of others because they can point out many things you may have missed. If you really feel that you must go against their advice for the sake of your own happiness then do not hesitate. Don’t let considerations such as future earnings and the “academic worth” of the subject change your mind, you will be happier in the long-term if you follow your heart.

There’s no point in earning a massive fortune if you’re miserable, better to live simply doing something that you love.

The photo is yet another cute little fellow that was tagged “eft” on Flickr, it’s a pretty hard topic to illustrate, I’d draw something but… I can’t.

Image by Neil Phillips

The photo is yet another cute little fellow that was tagged “eft” on Flickr, it’s a pretty hard topic to illustrate, I’d draw something but… I can’t.

So, my final impressions on EFT are good. My impression, from the way it worked for me, is that the physical effect of the tapping process on the entire body encourages a psychological effect. I think that because I feel more relaxed, clearer-headed, calmer and more centred because I have done the tapping, I feel better about the subject I tapped on. To explain, if for example, I’m worried about a piece of work I can’t move forward with and I use EFT concentrating on that piece of work and my desire to find some inspiration to get it done, because the tapping makes me feel physically calmer, it forces me to clear my head about the work and regain my focus. What I mean is, I do not believe it has a direct effect on whatever subject I’m tapping on, but in a roundabout way, it works. In the end, that’s what counts.

I would of course, love to hear others’ ideas of how it works!

I will definitely be continuing with EFT, I have found it works particularly well on confusion, worry and lack of motivation. It has helped me to get on with the task at hand on many occasions by allowing me to calm my racing thoughts and organise them, focusing on what I need to do. It’s also been great for insomnia, and as an added bonus all that water makes getting up the next morning if not easier, then certainly urgent! I would perhaps recommend a different course of action if you require a lie-in!

If you’ve been using EFT for the first time this month, how have you found it?

Do you ever feel like your life is a caffeine-fuelled blur of working, commuting and sleeping? Do you feel like you’re stuck in a bit of a rut that you can’t get out [...]]]> Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4

Do you ever feel like your life is a caffeine-fuelled blur of working, commuting and sleeping? Do you feel like you’re stuck in a bit of a rut that you can’t get out of? Because of this recession, I have made the decision not to look for a new job for a while. This was a difficult one to make. My job is neither well-paid, enjoyable, nor is it in any way relevant to my future career plans, but at the moment at least, it’s permanent and not going anywhere. Right now, unfortunately, that is what matters, if I were to find a wonderfully well-paid new job then be laid off a few weeks later due to the company losing money, I’d be done for, whereas here at least the company is still afloat and even if things do go bad, I’m not going to be caught by the “last in, first out” problem.

I am determined therefore, to look on the bright side of this. Rather than worry that I’m stuck in a dead-end and this job isn’t contributing to my career plans at all, I have realised it is, in a way. It’s giving me the time and financial stability to study the law, and the paid holiday time to get some experience. Even if the job itself is irrelevant, as a means to an end it’s perfectly adequate for now. I am now concentrating on making the best of the daily grind and ensuring that I get as much out of the experience as I can.

To that end, I would like to share some of the ways, big and small, that I am trying to make sure I don’t feel like I’m stuck in a rut, and in fact, living with as much sparkle as I am able!

* I will make the most of my commute. A lot of  my materials for law school are available as podcasts, which I will start listening to on my half hour trip (including walk to the bus stop) to work in the morning. When I’ve run out of those, I’ll listen to happy bright and cheerful music to wake me up and energise me for the day!

For more commuting ideas see: Tres Lola and The Glamourous Grad Student.

Image by droїd

* I will force myself to be a morning person! It will be easier said than done, but when I get home from work it takes a lot to make me productive. An hour or so of study and / or blogging in the morning so I have less to do in the evening will be a big help, and I’m sure this article will help me achieve this.

* I will use the time I do have more wisely. Instead of staring at the wall until my eyes glaze over in the quieter moments at work, I’ll use the time to improve my blog, or work out what I have to do that evening.

* If work starts to wear me down, I’ll improve it myself! Small things such as dressing a little flamboyantly, wearing glittery makeup, using coloured pens and interrogating my colleagues about their lives, it all helps to make the day more interesting!

* I will timetable my evenings – it may sound restrictive at first, but it will mean I’ll know I only need to work for a certain amount of time, or to the end of a certain task, then I can stop and have the rest of the time to myself.

* I will make an effort to punctuate my life with lovely things! Trips out, the odd celebratory cupcake when I finish a module, etc. Little things, but they can really make a difference!

* I will remember that this is not forever! Things will get better and for now, I’m in a much better position than most!

* I will of course, use EFT to combat all these feelings too!

Sometimes staying positive when the world appears to be going to Hell in a handbasket is hard, but at the end of the day, this is affecting us all, and I know if anything happened, I have a great support network. Even a job / lifestyle that seems terrible compared to what you’re used to or have had in the past can be built upon, in order to achieve a sparkling future!

How do you pull yourself out of a rut and stay positive?

Photo by Daveybot

Working 9 – 5 in a mundane generic office job can be disheartening at the best of times and downright depressing at the worst. Sometimes, the lucky few who actually enjoy their jobs just make it worse for the rest of us, for [...]]]>

Photo by Daveybot

Working 9 – 5 in a mundane generic office job can be disheartening at the best of times and downright depressing at the worst. Sometimes, the lucky few who actually enjoy their jobs just make it worse for the rest of us, for whom working in that particular office is about as far away from out career aspirations as it can get.

Still, at the end of the day, it’s a job, and a stable job at the moment is something to be cherished, whether or not it’s part of your career plan. So, whether you’re working whilst you establish your own business, until you make it as a writer / artist or simply because your chosen career has no vacancies at the moment, with my own boring office job in mind, here’s my guide to surviving some of the more frustrating features of office life!

The Repetition
Office jobs are often terribly repetitive. You’ll find yourself doing the same mundane tasks over and over again, all day, every day, which can drive even the most patient of people to despair! After a while however, these tasks become automatic, and you are free to let your mind wander. Take this time to make plans for the evening, think of new things to write, or replay the events of the weekend in your head. If your job involves talking to customers, take notice of their different accents, interesting names and the background noises in their homes or workplaces. I like to try and imagine what my customers look like, based on how they sound on the telephone.

Another thing I like to do is if I have to take notes, or check things off, I find using different coloured pens brightens up my day just a little!

The Office Gossip
I’m not talking here about the general office rumours but rather of that one person from whom they all seem to originate. Most workplaces have one, usually he or she seems to be everyone’s best friend, but their only topic of conversation seems to be everyone else’s lives. These people are often quite fun to chat to, and indeed, it can be entertaining listening to the gossip, however anything they say must be taken with a large helping of salt – much of it will be hearsay, some exaggerated and blown completely out of proportion, and it is important to remember that anything you may hear about yourself from this person may not be true either. If (s)he tells you someone’s talking about you, it’s probably not what it sounds like!

Stupid People
This makes me sound like a terrible snob, but I have very little patience for stupidity. That’s not to say I get impatient with anyone who’s not as intelligent as me, but when someone really doesn’t know what they’re doing, yet insists that they can do their job better than anyone else in the room, I just want to strangle them! There is a particular woman in my office who seemingly has no ability to learn from her mistakes. I can hear her telling the customers absolute rubbish, and talking down to them in a terribly patronising manner and it really makes me want to throw my in-tray at the back of her head at times! (disclaimer: I’m not really a violent person and would never throw pieces of office equipment really).

I have found the best way to deal with her is to point out her mistakes if there’s something that can be done about them, but otherwise just to leave her be and try to block it out. Her mistakes are not my responsibility, I have my own job to do.

Feeling Too Good For the Job
I’m not afraid to admit that I feel my talents and qualifications are wasted in the job I’m in. I see other colleagues who feel the same, but the ones who are happiest are those who simply get on with it. There’s no point in doing a bad job because you feel it’s beneath you, as one colleague does, because although you may not care if you lose the job, a reference refusal may severely hamper your chances of getting another and well, what’s the point of doing badly in an easy job? It just makes you look imcompetent.

I try to do the best job I can even though I’d much rather be in a job where I get to use my brain. I am comforted by the fact that I can at least then use the evenings to plan, study and write, instead of coming home intellectually exhausted.

The Drab Surroundings
Offices are generally ugly places, and the lower down on the career ladder your job is viewed as, the lower the priority redecorating your workspace seems to be. Peeling paint, greasy blue-tack marks, peculiar stains on the carpet you don’t even want to think about the origins of, these are all features of my office! All this dreary drab-ness can make you feel dreary and drab too.

To counteract this feeling, dress brightly and cheerfully, Bright colours in your clothing will give the office a little colour, especially if you can persuade others to do the same. Use colourful stationary! Pink post-its, glittery gel pens, these can make a huge difference if you’re a stationary junkie like me! If you’re allowed to personalise your workspace with photos etc. then do so as soon as possible. It’s amazing how much better it can make you feel having something or someone you care about to look at.

The Rubbish Wage
The bane of my life right now, I remind myself each time I get my payslip that I really don’t do much for the money! If you’re earning enough to live a comfortable life, without having to work to hard for it, then in our current financial climate you’re one of the lucky ones! With a bit of careful budgeting it’s amazing how far a small amount of money can go and indeed, when I get my pay I always try and buy myself something nice that’s also a huge bargain. Thus I find myself browsing eBay each month, which also kills the bordeom rather well!

My number one tip for surviving office life however, is to get to know your colleagues. Great people can make even the worst job in the world a little more bearable, and finding potential new friends is always good!

More Tips!

* Bring a notebook to work (I have a pink moleskine) to note down moments of inspiration and to make plans in.
* Drink tea, lots of tea!
* Hot Chocolate (yes, I’m slightly obsessed) can brighten up a cold winter day at work excellently!
* Wear fingerless gloves if you’re unlucky enough to work in a single-glazed office with inefficient heating like I do – they’ll keep your hands warm whilst allowing you to type easily.
* Keep a supply of lollipops in your desk, they’re great when you want a sugar fix that lasts a bit longer than ordinary sweets.
* Take a break from your computer screen once in a while, and get up for a wander to break up the day.
* Keep smiling – even if you fake it it’s apparently good for you!
* Remember that your job does not define you, and once the job market picks up again, you will end up with the career you want and deserve!