lifestyle Archives – Blogger & The Geek

Suffering with a Busy Mind

It’s 23:45, you are propped up in bed with two pillows, a peppermint tea and you’re rattling away on your laptop; trying to clear the backlog of emails, finish off that report for work or trying to type out that last of that blog post.

Sound familiar?

It’s a regular scenario for me. Most evenings, you’ll easily find me camped out on the sofa or in my bed tapping away on my laptop. I work a full time job and work on my blog most nights until around midnight, to be up again at 7am the next day for another day of working in the world of programme management. You think I would be exhausted; ready to welcome sleep but a lot of the time, it’s a different story

My 2018 Travel Plans

Lifestyle Travel

Can you believe it’s 2018 already?

I’ve been waiting for a long, long time to write that sentence and for it to be actually here. 2018 – the year of marriage and also, it means my favourite item is back – my passport. I am eagerly awaiting sending off my passport application to be valid on our wedding day in my new name. I can’t freaking wait.

I spent the latter half of 2017 thinking how many trips can I squeeze into my annual leave. It turns out that I can get a few in and I’m so happy that 2018 will be travel filled.

How I’m Keeping that Buzzed Feeling

Lifestyle

You may have noticed that it’s been extremely quiet on Blogger & The Geek over the past year or so. I’m finally starting to feel more buzzed, more refreshed and positive about the year ahead.

This past week has been my first week off since August 2017. My last week off before then was when I was nursing a broken arm last Christmas – and it’s taken me a long time to shake the feelings of sadness, doubt, loneliness and emptyness that I entered 2017 with.

I’ve really looked after my time over this week off, although we spent a lot of time with family and living on the M6, I ensured I slept all the times I needed too, bossed my to do list every day, kept the house tidy, enjoyed the carby Christmas foods but mixed it back with my usual diet, drank enough cider for a small army to live and just enjoy not having to think about work or real life for a little while.

A Life Update

Lifestyle

Hey up pals.

It’s a Wednesday evening and I’ve finally started watching Sons of Anarchy. So far, I’m digging it – it’s a little bit dark and twisty and feels like something I can happily waste from now until December watching. It’s also freezing and I’m wrapped up in approximately 3 blankets and a dog to keep warm, as well with the laptop heat.

I realised I hadn’t really done a proper update on here recently. For the past few weeks, life has been a bit hectic and mental but in a strangely refreshing away. it’s a good kind of busy: a busy that is keeping me focused and pushing me towards the best version of me.

Clearing Out the Mental Block

Dog Lifestyle

If there is anything that helps my mental health and soul, it’s walking my dog surrounded by water.

I keep referring to this negative space I’ve been in recently, and I’m slowly coming out the other side. I’ve noticed I’m happiest when I’m out with Rufus and we’re somewhere different than our usual walking spots. There’s just something lovely seeing his nose twitch and getting all excited and sniffing all those new smells.

On a Sunday morning, I decided to head over to Priorslee Lakes with my camera and my hound. Priorslee is only a 20 minute drive away from my house and just on the outskirts of Telford in Shropshire. Just off Junction 4 on the M54, Priorslee has a huge lake and it’s the perfect dog walk and wildlife spot.

Why Everyone Should Read ‘Reasons to Stay Alive’ by Matt Haig

Lifestyle

At the beginning of the year I decided to stop using technology before bed. I am very guilty of being one of those people who’ll be on their phones right up until they fall asleep, and sometimes staying up until 2am on a work night falling down the rabbit hole of the internet. The thing is, I wasn’t even absorbing any useful information; it was just social media scrolling and finding out what people were doing in 2013. In order to save my eyes from even worst bags, I told myself that I’d stop using technology an hour before bed and start to relax in other ways.

Since graduating University, I forgot what it was like to read for fun. As a kid I was an avid book worm and I once read all the Harry Potter books in 5 days. I wanted to fall back in love with reading and the worlds that authors created. I’ve not only been reading books I’d usually pick up, I’ve been reading ones I would never have thought to pick.

If there’s any book I urge people to read, it is Reasons to Stay Alive* by Matt Haig. It’s been one of those books that I have had on my wish list for a while and it was only recently that I finally got round to purchasing it. My only regret is that I didn’t buy it sooner. Reasons to Stay Alive is a memoir written by Matt Haig who writes about his personal battle with depression and anxiety. It’s beautifully well crafted, extremely personal and my favourite thing about it is that Haig makes you feel less alone.

Defeating Being Overwhelmed

Lifestyle

At the grand old age of 26, I’d like to think I am in a position of where I can recognise my own moods and know what feeds my soul. I know that being outside going on adventures with Rufus is something that keeps my happiness levels brimming over, but, what happens when that stops working?

I have been in the strangest, saddest and darkest of moods for the past 2 months and y’know what? It’s been horrible. I have not known how to deal with it and I have never had my head filled with so much negative energy. I’ve never felt like I’ve had so many people questioning me, or having to question every single decision or thought I’ve made. I would have my 40 minutes a day where that I would spend after work playing fetch with Rufus and honestly, it kept me going. Seeing his happy little face bounding across the field made me feel that some decisions I were making were the right ones, but, I’d always have to go back to reality. Unfortunately, I couldn’t live on the field and lead a hermit lifestyle with Rufus.
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Blogger Burn Out

Lifestyle

Photography by Emma Bearman PhotographyThe blogging world seems to have been hit with this real negative slump. When browsing through my Twitter timeline everyone seems to have this negative, run down attitude; like we are all fighting the back end of a cold. I’m 100% guilty of it myself: questioning if I’m good enough for this tough community, thinking what do I write about, worrying about followers and numbers.If it’s not me worrying about the above; it’s other people. We’re all hit by the same bug; questioning our worth in this world, why we aren’t doing as well as this person or that blogger. Or why we feel that people don’t particularly like us online.

March’s 5 Happy Things

Uncategorized

Going to start this with a generic OMG it’s April!

Best thing about the month so far is that the new episode of Rick & Morty has come out. I won’t lie to you – we all did a little happy dance in the Blogger & The Geek household. Before I rush into April, I must say March was a pretty hectic and busy month with so many fab things happening. It was wonderful to have such a positive month and really welcome spring this year.

I thought April would be my day off month but I’ve had some great opportunities pop into my inbox. I’m off to press evening to review Noise at the middle of the month and also taste a few menus in Birmingham. It won’t be doing my waistline any favours but I’m seriously looking forward to it!

How to find time to rest in a busy life

Lifestyle

I’m guilty of living a life where my brain, myself and everything around me travels at 100mph. I am also one of those people who feels guilty when they aren’t busy. I pretty much live in a catch 22.

I often spend my time longing for the days where I can sit around and do nothing. The days where you get up, sit on your sofa and switch off your brain and just appreciate relaxing. The last few times I’ve tried to take these days, my mind has been plagued with guilt that I should be doing something else; housework, socializing. blogging, job hunting and everything else in between. We live in a time where being busy seems successful and that you’re achieving, but in reality, doing too much means burning out and exhaustion.

I’m trying to give half an hour a day where it’s purely me time. It isn’t enough, at all, but for someone who constantly books up weekends, is out on the week nights or working full time and then working on my blog in the evening, it’s enough to keep me going. Well, it’s enough to keep me going until I can embrace the lazy days.