Monday motivation 101

motivation 101

ideas how to start the week best

идеи как да започнете седмицата добре

Здравейте и честит понеделник <3 Започва нова седмица - значи е време за нови възможности, шансове за чудесни случки и приключени…но и идват много нови задачии отговорности.

Аа да сте фокусирани, позитивно настроени и готови да се справите с всичко, реших да ви споделя любимите ми практики за мотивиране. Надявам се да са полезни и за вас и ви желая прекрасна седмица!

1. Припомнете си любими цитати - отделете 10 минути да прочетете вдъхновяващи цитати от автори или известни личности, на които се възхищавате. Аз например съм си запазили някои любими фрази в Pinterest board, както и в галерията на телефона си, за да са ми винаги под ръка. Но може да закачите принтове с цитати на стената или да си ги запишете в бележника, който ползвате ежедневно, няма значение, важното е да си препрочитате цитатите всеки понеделник или дори всеки ден.

2. Медитация или йога практика - за мен няма по-добър начин да си в кондиция през деня от това да направиш кратка медитация и дори да я съчетаеш с лека йога практика. Така имаш малко време за себе си , да помислиш, да дадеш почивка на ума си и да се фокусираш какво ти предстои през деня.

3. Направете си простичък to do list със задачи. Списъците със задачи са много полезни, но могат да са и малко измамни, ако сте прекалено амбициозни, като мен например :D Затова не добавяйте в списъка всичко, което ви хрумне или ви се иска да можехте да свършите за един ден, поставете си реалистични цели и планирайте времето за всяка задача, като не забравите да си сложите и време за почивка. <3

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Hello and happy Monday <3 A new weeks is starting - so it’s time for new opportunities, chances for great things to happen and adventures to take place…but also there are lots of new tasks and responsibilities.

So in order to stay focused, positive and ready to deal with everything, I decided to share my go-to motivation tips. Hope these will inspire you as well and I’m wishing you all a great week!

1. Review some fave inspo quotes - take 10 minutes to check out some really inspiring words by authors or celebrities you admire. Personally I have some my faves saved in a Pinterest board and a folder in my Phone Gallery so I can access them easily. But you might hang quote prints on your wall or write them on a page in your journal, doesnt matter where but make sure you read through them each Monday or even every day.

2. Meditation or yoga technique - I think that’s the best way to stay alligned than engaging with a short meditation practice or even combine it with some yoga. It’s a great self care time when you can think, give your mind a break and focus on the upcoming events for the day.

3. Make a simple to do list. to do lists are very useful but can be kinda tricky especially if you’re very ambitious like me :D So don’t put everything that comes to mind or everything you wish you could do in a day in your list, set realistic goals and plan time blocks for every activity including breaks. <3

The failproof Christmas gift guide

Buying Christmas presents can sometimes be a big adventure and may include lotsof time of pondering what where and how to get someone. It’s often kinda easy to buy presents for our closest people because we know them very well and because they sometimes give us small hints on what they currently want or need. ❤️
But things get more complicated when it comes to getting presents for people in our more broad circle because it can be pretty hard to determine what exactly they would like..

And for such cases I have prepared for you a small failproof gift guide with some evergreen ideas that will help you never fail in choosing a present. It’s important and clever to base our present idea on something we are sure the person likes so we know we’ll find a present for their specific taste. However, you have some freedom to get creative when choosing the present after we have determined together the right theme or topic for it. that’s why you may use this guide as many times as needed without any chance of getting everyone kinda the same present ever.

Fandom gift

the most useful information when choosinf a present fot someone - are they in any fandom. If we know that the person is a huge huge fan of anything, then we can be sure that a themed present would be a great choice and would surely make them very happy. Everything from Harry Potter, Lord of the rings, Star wars or definite comic book character such as Batman or Spiderman - gives you a vast choice of various merch items so you can choose the dream present.

My two examples include a Harry Potter themed present - the book Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, muggle-worthy socks from the official merch and a gold necklace. While I used an average necklace you may spice up the present by opting for a gold snitch one or one of the houses’ symbol. My second present set includes a Funko POP! keyholder that I got as a present and another one that I spend lots of time looking for after seeing the design online. Unfortunately, Harley merch specifically is pretty hard to find in physical stores even after all the hype around Suicide squad and Birds of prey, and it’s often immediately sold out so my advice is to search for products mainly online.

Favorite brand

a favorite brand can also be a great hint for choosing a present because when someone recommends or mentions they love a brand, it’s almost sure that they would love almost any product by the brand. If you’ve been shopping together or had the person tell you about a fave purchase of theirs - that’s a failproof way to know they like the brand and would like your present.
For example last year I purchased products by my favorite illustrator Valfre, waited awhile for them to arrive from the USA and they are still one of my favorite items ever,

the Valfre brand is created by an artist who creates all her design and they are always unique, extravagant and include her representative character and art style.

A person’s fave brand may be anything - from a celebrity or artist, designer or a simply a big famous brand,

Game

This category includes everything from board games, card decks, dares games or drink games for nights with friends. My example includes my forever fave art challenge book Wreck this Journal by Keri Smith and two items from a fave brand of me and many friends - The school of life, which works for popularizing phycology for massive audiences and offers books and such interesting games about getting to know better yourself and the people around you. These games are very interesting but only suitable only for a person with interests on these topics. However, as a generic game gift I would advice you to choose a Monopoly or Dixit game, and if you want to be a bit more creative - you may pick a themed edition - for exampe in collaboration with F.r.i.e.n.d.s. the series or some other fandom.

Art present

It may be both super easy or super hard to find a suitable present for an artsy person. that’s why I suggest you opt items by their favorite fellow artists or art brands so you can be sure the present is a good decision.. One stroll around an art bazaar together can give you lots of hints and you will no longer wonder what they would like best.

My present examples include all Bulgarian brands and these are ones I really really like. I included artworks by my fave artist Missmetoday, handmade flower design earrings and rings by the brand By Larissa jewelry, watermelon earring by Mihha and art stickers by Adriana Yankova.

Of course you can always get them some art supplies but it’s kinda hard if you’re not well informed on what products exactly they use and you will surely know whether you can or not make pick such a present for them. If you sure know the person uses Moleskine or Copic markers, you’re all set.. A smart choice would be to get them a voucher for an art supplies store or website so they can choose what products to get themselves. It seems like a not very personal present at first but if you think more about it - it could be a really great present that they would highly value and surely like.

Personally, I have received voucher presents a few times and I really liked them because I used to to get some useful items I need and really like.

I hope my present ideas would be useful and will help you make someone a greatly chosen present Happy holidays!

- Nicole

5 ideas for a great morning routine

Mornings are kinda the most important part of the day because they set the whole mood and dynamic for the day ahead. So making sure you organise your time and activities after you wake up is basically the key to having a successful and fulfilling day.

That’s why I’m giving you 5 ideas based on what I usually do my best to do in the morning that have proven to make my days better.

Don’t sleep in

No matter how tempting it’s not gonna get you off to a good start. You’ll end up not much more refreshed but already pressured and in a hurry if not even late…even if you’re really sleepy better put effort and create a habit of jumping out the bed and simply having some spare coffee minutes later. 

Take care of skincare

No matter what - we don’t sleep with make up on. That’s about rule one, but there are many more rules when it comes to quality skincare. Anyway it’s most important to not skip it or forget about it even on a hasty morning. It’s one of the things that take consistency and have long term positive effects and who doesn’t want that. 

Don’t entirely skip nutrition

So many people skip any nutrients in the morning and I am getting more and more convinced in time that it’s not a good idea. Sooner or later it influences your overall meal plan and energy levels. So no matter if you opt for breakfast or just a cappuccino, my advice is to make sure you get yourself a little something. It’ll start off your body for the day. 

Get inspired

Starting the day in a good mood is crucial for how it’s gonna go. So no matter if you choose to listen to music, flip through a favourite book or just get creative with accessorising - make sure you let your mind go into a beautiful direction.

Dress it up

Although I don’t really agree that you can never be overdressed and my motto is kinda more about wearing the right thing for the right occasion, treating yourself to a good outfit is a great day starter. No matter what style or aesthetic, putting together an outfit that makes you both feel and look good will sure add up to a successful morning. They’ll make you enjoy the day more and make you feel more confident.

Productivity 101: 5 ideas how to be more productive

How to manage your to-do list and be more productive?

It’s March already and it seems like it’s officially time to be feeling accomplished in 2021. And after a tough 2020 and so many things we just couldn’t do, no we have a great opportunity to put some work into finalizing all pending projects and then celebrating all these achievements. I currently have both work and personal to-do lists for the month consisting of about a 100 pretty complex tasks each (everything from purchsing furniture, great amount of additional tasks at work, preparing big scale print orders for my illustration brand etc.) and it’s been so busy ever since the start of the year.

So I found myself using all ideas, resources, advice and books I could in order to do it all succesfully, stay calm and have great results I’ll be proud of. I conducted a couple of experiements with my schedule and habits to discover what works best, I tested some popular tricks and techniques to tell you if they really are useful and I have gathered all facts here to share with you and to help you with your tasks and productivity.

1. limit distractions

It sounds simple but it’s actually not because you might easily get caught up in a complex task with many subtasks and find yourself not knowing where to start or you could jut start procrastinating distracted by emails, social media, a convo with a friend etc. Just DON’T! - don’t let it happen because it would ruin your schedule and today’s the best opportunity to give up on those bad habits. If it’s really hard for you to focus maybe try using the Microsoft Focus plan or the Pomodoro app based on the popular productivity technique or even a handwritten journal where you can enjoy crossing out items off your to-do list. It’s impotant to focus on one task at a time until you finish it or at least make some significant progress on it.

Curiousity can also be a distraction - for example I often find myself interested into new topics or names dropped - of a brand, person, movie etc. I am just very curious and really pile up lots of research ideas in my mind. And I’ve recently found out that researching new things really pumps me up so I decided to make small reseach my go-to first task that would work like a good dopamine booster and motivate me to deal with the other tasks throughout the day. In fact it’s all about finding the best producitvity tricks that work for yourself. Ever wondered what sriracha is or what movies’s got the most Oscars awards ever, now’s your time to research. Take 5 minutes for this then start your focused work time.

2. give yourself rewards

We don’t talk enough about quality breaks and why they are crucial. A 10 minute break can help you accomplish two hours worth of work in about only one hour. Trust me and give it a try to find proof yourself.

We have all read about it and been told mulitple times by friends and family that we should make sure to limit screen time, take breaks, go get some fresh air etc.…but we still seem to forget it sometimes. Please do not forget. They key to productivity is a balanced day, not being too busy and there’s plenty of research on the topic in so many scientific articles.

Make sure to take some spare minutes for a coffee, snack, dancing along to a fave tune, playing an instrument or doing some pushups - whatever you want. It will help you feel better and recharge you for a new set of tasks.

3. write it down

Declutter and get rid of all old to-do lists, notes or any desk mess. Spend a quality half an hour (only half an hour! you shouldn’t turn this into a chance to procrastinate) prioritizing your tasks and make sure you’re left with only one to-do list - it’s a lot easier to progress this way. Writing tasks on sticky notes every day or piling up various to-do lists will not help you in any way. For example I once found myself with so many tasks that my to-do list was literally giant, foldable and consisting of 3 pieces of paper. But it’s okay, we start with task one and go on until everything is done. :)

4. have a dream map

That’s a very useful long-term approach. I recently created my dream map and I should confess that it is a real game changer. It helps you stay focused in the long term and remind yourself what your big goals are so that you stay motivated to do your day-to-day tasks that will bring you closer to success in those areas. The whole process of rethinking your goals, making desicions and re-affirming your belief that all is possible can really help you and give you some positive energy to invest in even the dullest of tasks.

My dream map is from Dari from Dflowlab и Pop art portrety and I’ve shared my whole experience creating it in this article together with some more pictures.

5. just do it

Nike said it well - now just do it.

Start with the smallest and simplest tasks, break down the bigger ones in small ones and just go. You know your priorities, most important and favourite tasks - yes! you do! And if you’re trying to tell me you don’t, you’re just trying to procrastinate again. Just think of a random task you’ve been putting off and really hate - now go do it, just like that, eat the frog first. Then comes the next one, it’s that simple. Usually the hardest thing is to start, that’s the trick - there’s no trick. :)

Thank you for reading, hope my advise will be useful and you’ll really level up your productivity game.

- Nicole