ideas – What's In My Wonderland?

Study Tips and Techniques.

I’ve started studying again. After spending 4 years straight in College after High School, I told myself I wouldn’t ever study again. I was wrong. Now that I am studying again, I thought I’d share some tips and techniques about studying and show you some things I find really useful to use whilst I study. These are actually the same techniques I use whilst blogging. I hope you find this post useful and most of all good luck with your studying!

Things I use –

Note Flags

I never fully understood how useful these were until around 2 years ago. If you have textbooks in your course then I suggest you make note flags your best friend. You can use note flags to note out certain pages or passages in your textbook, a bit like a bookmark or even to remind you to read over it later. The best part is that they are colourful so you could even colour code your work for different sections.

Buy note flags on Amazon here. (Affiliate link)

Highlighters

When I read over a passage that I know I will need to remember I will highlight the keywords. Not the whole passage, just the bits that are the most important! This will make them easier to re-read over and hopefully make it stand out enough that it sticks in your brain. I actually use my pastel Tombow pens to highlight as I prefer the colours, I think some of the generic neon highlighters can give you a headache. I also like that you can control the brush stroke on the Tombow pens and you can also use the smaller brush to underline.

Buy Tombow Dual Brush Pastel from Amazon here. (Affiliate Link)

Notebooks

Notebooks are useful for many things, but I recommend buying a new one when you start a new course or a new project. This will help you keep all of your work in one place if you reuse a notebook you may find you have pointless things in your notebook that doesn’t relate to what you are working on. This can be a distraction, so I would recommend avoiding this.

Techniques I use –

Forest: Stay Focused App

I cannot recommend this app enough! The Forest: Stay Focused app is available on the App Store (iPhone) and on the Play Store (Android). The Forest app tries to help you stay on task by making you select the time you wish to stay focused for and then it will plant a tree in your forest if you leave the app your tree will die. So unless you want a forest of diseased trees, you will stay off your phone.

Tidy the work area

If you are in a messy work area you may find it easier to lose focus. I will always clean the surrounding area of where I intend to study, this also minimizes stuff of your to-do list, which may also help.

Change it up.

What I mean by this is that I always find it incredibly difficult to stay focused if I work in the same place for a few days, so I will change my surrounding every now and then. I do have a home office but I will sometimes work in my living room or in the bedroom.

Plan ahead.

Make yourself a studying schedule and follow it, work out what other commitments you have during the week and try to plan study blocks in there. This will make it easier to follow and commit to. I always feel like once I’ve written it down that it’s now ‘set in stone’ and I am more likely to follow it.

Take breaks.

Make sure you take regular breaks during your study time especially if you are in front of a screen, it can be really bad for your eyes and your physical health sitting down for too long. Get up and stretch your legs, maybe even go for a short walk in outdoors and get some fresh air. You may feel like you come back with a better attitude towards your work.

Reward yourself.

Not always do you feel completely satisfied with simply finishing the task at hand, sometimes you may need that extra reward as motivation to complete the task, the reward doesn’t have to be big, it just has to be enough to motivate you and to make you feel good about achieving the goal that you had set.

And that is all of my study tips for you today! I hope you have enjoyed this post and that it will help you out with getting your work done. I may update this post after I finish my course in case I have new tips and techniques that I have left out! If you have any more suggestions, leave them in the comments!

The Anxiety Crisis Kit – Mental Health Awareness Week 2019 (2/7)

Today I’d like to talk about ‘Personal Crisis Survival kits’ and how you can make your own. I took some idea’s from other crisis kits and made one more specialized to my own needs. I chose Anxiety specifically because I am a sufferer and I feel like this may help other people who are suffering.

Read on for a special giveaway at the end.

The idea of this kit is that you can find some calm during the storm. I plan on using my Anxiety Crisis box when I am having a panic or anxiety attack or when I am feeling low mood caused by my anxiety. The idea is that the box is filled with things that you find calming, this post is just filled with my suggestions on what helps me.

Find a box that is big enough to fit all of your items in but small enough to take out with you if need be. You could also use a bag which fits these items in keeping them together in one place. If you do decide to use a box why not decorate it? I did, I love using different bits of scrap patterned paper to create a beautiful unique box.

Headphones and MP3 player.

I have filled an entire MP3 player full of songs that make me happy! I find music to be very calming and it provokes a positive emotion if I play particular songs. Sometimes I find listening to music on my phone more complicated as I find myself on Social Media instead of actually enjoying the music. On my MP3 player, all of the songs have been well thought out, so that I will only progress after listening to them.

Favourite snack.

This item may be a bit trickier as you may have to replace the one in your box depending on how often or how little you are going to use this box. For me, when I am having a panic attack I often feel nauseous, and occasionally snacking at a piece of food can make the nausea feeling subside.

Aromatherapy – Essential Oils or A Candle.

Aromatherapy is one of the most useful and interesting things I have ever come across. It helps your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

Of course, I wouldn’t mind if you chose to buy one of my candles! (Wink, Wink Hyperlink)

Miscellaneous Fidget Toys

I find having something to do can be beneficial as it will help concentrate the mind and it also opens up your sense of touch. Whether you want to use a fidget spinner, stress ball, Rubix cube, etc find something that suits you and your needs.

Photographs or Motivating Messages

Pick out some photographs which make you feel calm or relaxed to look through whilst you are feeling low. Get some close friends or family to write you a note, alternatively, you could google motivating messages and scribe these down to read over.

Pressure Points

So I know this isn’t technically something you can put into your box, but it is something you could print off and place inside your box to try. I’ve been looking into this for a while now and fortunately enough I haven’t felt the need to try it out myself yet but when I do, I may write a post elaborating more on the subject.

The Anxiety Journal

I recently purchased The Anxiety Journal which is being widely talked about, I will be writing a review about The Anxiety Journal in the future so you can keep a look out for that too!

Available in Paperback or Kindle here. (Affiliate Link)

If any of you do decide to make your own please don’t forget to share it with me. You can contact me via any of my social media pages, I’d love to see what else you decide to put into your box and if and how it helped you.

Useful Links

https://www.healthline.com/health/pressure-points-for-anxiety#heavenly-gate

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/#.XNBijth7mM8

https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/

https://www.mqmentalhealth.org/mental-health/conditions/anxiety

https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/overcome-fear-anxiety

If you are struggling with your mental health, there are people out there who can help you! Don’t be afraid to speak out, and of course, if you are wanting to chat, I am always free to do so, you can email me at whatsinmywonderland@gmail.com or contact me via my social media pages.

GIVEAWAY!

I’d like to give away a completely customized candle for your Anxiety Crisis Kit!

24 scents to choose from! (20 of them aren’t even available on the shop yet!)

And a choice of 12 different colours. You could do a block colour or a multicoloured candle like I have chosen.

All you have to do to enter is to follow this link!

I have wrote a blog post for everyday of the week for Mental Health Awareness week, each day covering a different topic. Tommorow’s blog post is now available here.

The Topic is: Understanding Mental Health

Blog Planning

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Blog Planning and how I find it incredibly difficult sometimes to plan or even to find a planner that suits me. After weeks of trying out different things, I decided to take the plunge and try to design some of my own blog planning templates. I love planners, journals and notebooks but not only do I want them to be practical I also want them to look nice.

And that is what I have created for you all, something that is useful, practical and looks beautiful!

My first design is a monthly planner, completely unnumbered so it can be used in whichever month. The idea of my blog planning sheets is that you are able to colour them and customize them yourself to suit your needs.

The second design is a social media planner for a whole week as I find it can be hard to keep up with my social media commitments of the week. The blank space is just the right size for social media commitments and small reminders such as ‘post on Instagram’ or ‘Upload my latest post’ etc.

The last of my designs is a space just for ideas, I am one of those people that link to doodle and colour whilst trying to get my ideas on paper, the idea is that you have enough space to sketch out all of your ideas on one page.

If you wish you access my designs, I am selling them at the price of a coffee. You will receive all 3 designs to download and print and of course, once you have them downloaded you can print as many as you want off!

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/l/doSqnQjmf

If you follow the link you will be asked to put your payment in and then you will receive a link to a Dropbox folder containing the 3 designs.

I am working on a few more designs too! If you choose to purchase, please use my hashtag #whatsinmywonderland on Instagram so I can see all your beautiful planning sheets!

How to stay Organised – Blogging Edition

I’ve been blogging for over a year now and during that time one of my ‘bad habits’ has become organising. Obviously, I try to be as organised as I can, but of course, sometimes, it just doesn’t work. I have so many notebooks and diaries etc. I feel like it can be hard to find the perfect one that suits you. I just love blog planners and I have tried out 3 different types in my short time blogging, and I’ve realised it’s about finding the one that suits you.

I’m going to start this post by sharing some of the things I use when planning. And then give you some of my best tips on how I stay organised.

This year I’m using:

The Boss Blog Planner: £10.49

I love this blog planner because it is unmarked, meaning it doesn’t matter what time of the year it is, you can adapt it to fit your needs. It has pages at the beginning to help you plan what you want out of the year ahead. There are pages for ideas, calendars, statistics and post plans.

Click on the photo to purchase via Amazon! (Affiliate)

Dot Grid Journal: £4.99

I love this bullet journal because it is simple, small and cheap. As my first bullet journal, I didn’t want to spend loads of money on a journal that I may or may not use. I like the size of it, it fits in all of my bags, which means I can take it anywhere with me.

Click on the photo to purchase via Amazon! (Affiliate)

The Mindfulness Colouring Diary by Emma Farrarons: £4.49

I absolutely love the illustrations in this diary, because there is only 1 design per week it makes it easy to keep up with it. Every design is different meaning you have a new design to colour each week.

Click on the photo to purchase via Amazon! (Affiliate)

1. Notebooks, Notebooks and more notebooks…

So I’m a strong believer that my notebooks help me stay organised and each one of them has a different purpose. Rather than cram all of my ideas all together in one notebook, I have designated a notebook for each. This helps me separate like-minded ideas and not have to shuffle through pages of uncategorized ideas.

I use 17 notebooks to capture my ideas, that’s not even an over exaggeration. I actually went and counted them all when I saw this question. (I HAVE A PROBLEM!) I love to write my idea’s out the minute they happen so I tend to always take a notebook out with me. 📕📗#bloghour

— 𝔾𝕖 | 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕞𝕪𝕨𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 (@WIMWonderland) February 5, 2019

2. Every day I make a to-do list for the next day.

This may seem like a chore to some of you, but it’s really not. As a blogger, it does take up a lot of your time, even when you are not blogging you are still doing something behind the scenes for your blog. My to-do list isn’t just for my blog, I make a to-do list of everything I’d like to accomplish in that day including housework and my personal life. This way I don’t feel bombarded by my blogging tasks and I can split my day up so I’m not sat in front of my computer for too long. I use the App Wunderlist which is available on the Play Store (Android) and the App Store (iPhone).

3. Plan in advance.

I mean I know that sounds very vague but what I mean by this is, give yourself an easier time by making sure you have content already made. I have a lot of unpublished posts in my drafts that are ready to publish so if there is ever a point that I need a break or I have to take a break, I can schedule these posts so even when I am not blogging, the rest of you think I am. Most blogging sites will give you this option to schedule and Facebook also has this feature.

View this post on Instagram

It's February 1st. 💞 I designed my new monthly overview for my bullet journal with my new @tombow_uk dual brush pens. I loved them so much I ordered the pastel set too! Bullet journaling is as simple or as complicated as you make it but it really works.📚 #whatsinmywonderland #tombowuk #tombow #calligraphy #february #bulletjournal #wirralbloggers #wirralblogger

A post shared by 𝔾𝕖𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕒 | 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕣 (@whatsinmywonderland) on Feb 1, 2019 at 2:06am PST

4. Make sure everything has its own home!

This is really important because when you’re working from home, the last thing you want to happen is losing something. Make sure all of the materials you need for blogging are in one place and keep them organised in folders, drawers or files.

I recently finished watching ‘Tidying up with Marie Kondo’ on Netflix and it has changed my life if you haven’t already I recommend you watch it. Now that I am happier with my home I feel like I am happier working from home.

5. Don’t let thing’s pile up.

With a positive mindset, you will be able to change that ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ to ‘I’m going to do it right now’. By far one of the best things I have done is change my mindset on how I look at things. By doing things right away, I limit the number of tasks I have for the next day and maximize my productivity. When an idea strikes I now have the flexibility to act on it straight away.

6. Designate a working area.

This is a very important step especially if you are working from home, by designating a work area you will be able to differentiate between work and leisure. I’m very fortunate to have a study in my home but that’s not the case for everyone. When picking a work area it needs to be somewhere where you feel relaxed but also somewhere not piled with distractions. Make sure your area is entirely for you and all of the things you need are there.

I hope these tips can help you all on your blogging journey! I’ll be back soon with another Author Interview and book review for you all. I hope you are having a wonderful February.

DIY – How I make Memory Boxes.

I’m a very sentimental person, cannot help myself I keep almost everything, train ticket’s bus tickets, cards (every occasion) etc etc. I love to create a small place where I can relive my memories and I have made many for my daughter. You may remember back in March my little girl’s Alice in Wonderland themed 3rd Birthday Party.

Here I am going to show you how I made her memory box for this. I used a shoe box for my box, you can buy a box if you want but I like to reuse stuff. #savetheplanet I liked this box because it was mostly plain. I kept everything from Amelia’s party including decoration’s so I could theme the box around the party.

To start I used the table cover, cut it to the size of the box to make the bottom of the box look less plain, you could also use wrapping paper. On the front of the box, I cut out Alice from a napkin, stuck on a cupcake topper and a sign we used inside the house. I hand wrote on what the event so everyone know’s what this memory box is for.

I stuck some of the leftover gift tag’s around the sides of the box and hand wrote a message with a picture of Alice cut out from a plastic cup.

And finally I filled the box with all the thing’s I wanted to store from the event, the door handle I made, paper flowers, cards, photo book, some of the table decorations and keepsafe’s I had made for her.

You could literally fill this box with absouletly anything. You could even just make photo box, cut out photograph’s and design the box solomely on that.

This was so super easy to make and it will be nice to look back on for years to come. You could make one of these as a gift for someone for Christmas. It reuses things and store’s those precious memories. I actually made this back in April, I actually totally forgotten about it until I found the photo’s I had taken.

I hope you enjoyed this small DIY post!

How to Break the Cycle of Procrastination

It is so easy to get stuck in a cycle of doing the same things day in day out and not achieving the things you want to do. For me, this is blogging. I’ve spent the past 26 days wanting to write and failing miserably to do so. I have made a step by step instruction for myself to help get out of this terrible routine of not accomplishing what I want. You can apply this to any aspect of your life; career, hobby, breaking bad habits, etc.

1. Realising you are stuck and need a change.

Once you are aware of the problem you are so much more likely to figure out a way to change. The only way you’re going to make a change is by wanting a change.

2.Have an end goal.

Know what your end result is. Is there someone who does this who you aspire to be like? Is there something you wish to gain out of doing this? Make a Pinterest board of your end goal, or make a physical mood board tohelp yourself remember why you are doing it.

Here is a motivational board I have on Instagram of thing’s I want and things that inspire me to carry on. Follow me on Pinterest here. Make both long-terms (bigger goals) and short-term (smaller goals) work towards each small goal before taking on a bigger one.

3. Start making small steps.

Whatever it is you are wanting to achieve is not going to be overnight. You have to work for it and not give up when thing’s get hard. If your goal is to learn to drive, book your first lesson and you are already making a start towards. Set small goals don’t push yourself to have the end product straight away. Be realistic and try to not overwhelm yourself with so much at one time.

4. Remember to reward your small accomplishments.

If you make a small step towards your end goal, you should always reward or treat yourself. Whether it be a small treat like having a break and doing something else or buying something you’ve been wanting for a long time.

5. Stay motivated and keep trying.

Always stay motivated, remember the end goal and thrive to succeed. Use YouTube, books, blogs, etc to find help if you are struggling to reach your goal. Find like-minded people who have similar goals to you. Even if you don’t succeed on the first attempt try again. Keep thinking of small ways to improve and don’t give up.

6. Thrive.

The easiest step is to thrive. Enjoy what it is you are doing and you will thrive. Praise yourself often for getting out of that cycle and doing what it is you wanted to do.

I hope you enjoy this small blog post. This post for me was taking step 3 and making a small step into stopping procrastinating and to start writing! I hope this helps some other people struggling to break the cycle and stay motivated. Thank you all for your continued support. Don’t forget to like my Facebook page and my Instagram!

Summer is coming!

The summer holidays are only a few days away now, here in the UK, we’ve been hit by a massive heatwave. All of the flowers I planted in my garden are basically dead, all of the UK’s Fans have become a rare species to buy and lastly, my family are melting. It’s hard to have fun when you’re too hot. And if you are like me then you are sick of trying to find ways too cool down and not be bored.

Amelia is now obsessed with Ice Lolly’s (who isn’t) and we have been making some of own I thought I would share the recipe I have tried and love.

Summer Berry Ice Lollies

Ingredients –

Blackberries, Rasberries and blueberries.
Honey.
Yoghurt.

To make –

I recommend freezing these ingredients before use.
Mix all the fruit using a blender (or smoothie machine) adding the yoghurt bit by bit.
Once you have mixed this add a spoon of liquid honey before blending once more.
Leave in the freezer until frozen.

We loved these ice lollies, despite that they were slightly bitty. They just taste like a really cold frozen smoothie. My daughter loved helping make them and enjoyed eating something she had made herself. I’m sure your kids will too.

I have also tried freezing flavoured milk, this worked but I recommend buying full-fat milk to minimize the water separation, they just tasted like milk lollies, which I love.

We took a day just enjoying a good water fight, I’m so tempted to buy a water gun then I have to remind myself that I’m 21 years old.

I have never been a massive fan of water balloons but I found this to be such a fun thing to do when we’re stuck in the house trying to cool down. We filled a bucket and just went wild. We found it was a great fun and made us feel like big kids again, even the dog had fun. Until, of course, my boyfriend took it too far with his massive ego to win.

When planning this blog post and idea’s for us to try and cool down in the heat. I asked my boyfriend for suggestions and this is what he said, and I quote “Watch Frozen 9000 times and convince yourself you’re in the cold’. Now, I can’t guarantee this will work but you are more than welcome to be my guest and try.

I’ve been feeling very sorry for my husky Tishka this weather is just not meant for her which means a lot of after sunset walks cuddles and water.

The amount of dog hair in my house is just unbelievable due to her malting her winter coat.

We spent a lot of time sitting in the shade together and trying to enjoy some quality time.

I hope all your pets are enjoying the same, I can’t stress the importance of keeping your pets cool in this weather.

Since planning and writing this blog post, in England, we have had a few big rain showers which has brought some of my flower’s back to life and made the area around us a lot cooler and bearable again. I was more than happy to let Amelia go out and splash in those puddles like Peppa Pig. Something which I have never agreed to before. It was so much fun, and I have learned to reason with some of my 3 year old’s crazy ideas.

I recorded a time-lapse video of the process of tie-dying. You can watch that here on Youtube.

Please subscribe if you want to see more.

My bullet journal has finally arrived and I have been working on that and a post about that will be up soon and about yoga too if you’re interested.

I have had a lack of interaction from my followers lately, I would love to hear from you all, please message me and let me know if you would like me to post about anything specific.

Thank you all!