Sunday Funday – Guess Who’s Back?!!!

I’m finally back online after a few weeks without internet!  My phone is fixed and I’m so glad to be blogging again!  These past few weeks without a fully functioning phone and internet have been crazy and made me realise how much I rely on the internet for even the smallest of things, from checking the weather, staying in contact with friends on WhatsApp or online to even checking in with my parents, reading blog posts, sharing photo and even gaming or designing things.  Being without any proper means of contact or “entertainment” has made me realise that, perhaps, I have a bit of an unhealthy relationship with my phone and the internet itself.

Being away from the internet made me think about how I use the internet and how things were in the past, before the internet.  I love blogging and really missed that, and I missed being able to use my design software that is internet-based to create any designs and I missed being able to find tv shows or films to watch on NetFlix, it amazes me that with so many different channels on Freeview that there is so little that is worth sitting and watching!

I would love to say that I had done something really productive with my time away from the internet, and I probably would have if the weather had been better, but I have been spending a lot of my time listening to all of the audiobooks I had downloaded, sorting out bills and finances, taking some extra long baths, doodling and taking naps!  I did have a visit from a guy to fix the windows in my house, they have been letting in an awful draft every time the wind blows or when it gets cold (which is pretty constant since its winter here!), seems that the windows hadn’t been fitted properly and the bit of frame that holds the glass in place hadn’t been secured or clipped into place properly so all of my heating was going out of the house.  Now it has been fixed I have noticed a huge difference in the warmth of the house, especially in the mornings and when I get home from work.

What have you all been up to?  What have I missed?  I’d love to know all about your last few weeks so let me know in the comments!  Also, leave me a link for a blog post of yours that you have been proud of this month!

Sunday Funday – Social Media Strategies

I have decided that going forward I want to be more active on social media and have been thinking about how I currently use (or not) the social media platforms that I already have.  The social media platforms that I have accounts with and how I use them currently are

• Instagram – I share the odd photo of things I am doing
• Blog Facebook and Facebook Group – My blog Facebook is linked to WordPress and my Instagram which automatically post to that page and the Facebook Group is currently a bit dead.
• Pinterest – I literally just search for things and save them to boards.
• Twitter – This is linked to WordPress and my posts get automatically shared when they are published.

I want to get active on social media rather than just let WordPress share my posts so I have been thinking of strategies that I can use to grow my social media a bit.  Here’s what I have come up with…

Instagram

I am going to try to post a lot more content than I do already.  Instagram is all about images and I want to make this the platform for me to share little snapshots of my day and things I am doing, cute picture and quotes.

Blog Facebook

I am thinking about using my blog Facebook group to interact with my readers and ask questions, get feedback and share blog-related thoughts.

Facebook Group

I created the group (Bloggers Brew) so I could engage with other bloggers and create a community of like-minded people who can help and support each other.  I am not really sure how I am going to get the group up and running properly but am going to start by inviting my readers to come and join by clicking the link above.  I’d like this to be a community where we can share hints, tips, advice and ask questions as well as share our latest blog links.

Pinterest

I still have no idea what to do with Pinterest so the first thing I want to do is to learn a bit more about the site and start pinning my content on there.  I have been listening to a few different podcasts and reading about Pinterest and have heard that bloggers can get a lot of traffic through this platform so I’m guessing that most people use Pinterest in a different way than I do!  I do occasionally click on the links to read about things but for me, the platform is to look at and save pictures.

Twitter

I have already made a start on the strategy I am using for this platform, I call it the 4-3-2-1 method which is

• 4 comments on 4 different tweets
• 3 re-tweets
• 2 website or blog shares (other peoples)
• 1 blog share of my own

I’d also like to start joining in with conversations that happen during the week, especially ones centred around blogging!

Do you have any strategies that you are working on this year?  Or any ideas about how to use social media platforms to get the most out of them?  I’d love to hear your views and ideas in the comments!

Sunday Funday – Looking Back

It’s now 2020 and the start of a new decade, a whole 10 years have passed since 2010 and I am still struggling to comprehend where the last 10 years has gone!  And even though it seems to have passed by quickly, 10 years is a really long time when you think about it.  36500 days, 876,000 hours, 52,560,000 minutes, and there is so much that has happened in that time globally, locally and personally.

I’m sure, wherever you are, you will have seen some of the news highlights of the past 10 years, whether it be celebrity news, economy, business or any other kind of news.  Seeing these changes has made me think about my life over the past 10 years and things that have happened to me in that time so today I am sharing my “Decade of Highlights”.

• I was made redundant
• My brother and sister in law got married
• I passed my driving test
• I got accepted onto my Foundation Degree course in uni
• I became an auntie
• I worked 3 jobs in one go to fund myself through uni
• I passed my Foundation Degree and was accepted onto my BA (Hons Degree)
• I handed my notice in on 3 different jobs for different reasons
• I undertook a Nail Technologies course and passed
• I moved into my own home
• I got a full time, permanent job
• I got a dog
• I attended a ton of festivals all over the UK
• I got back in touch with old friends
• I started my blog
• I learned so many new skills that would be hard to even list
• I overcame fears
• I got diagnosed with Aspergers
• I have begun to understand myself

There are so many small things that have happened too but there really are too many to list, but the biggest thing that has happened is that I started 2010 with no real idea of what I wanted to do and have ended it, and begun 2020, with a solid idea of what I want to do and a plan of how I can achieve my goals!  Hopefully, this coming decade will be the decade where all my dreams come true!

What are some of your highlights of the last decade?  I’d love to hear in the comments!