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

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

WHY MOOD BOARDS ROCK ⚡️

Printed Photos: Pinterest

Cosmetic Bag: Tally Weijl

Headphones: Apple

Notebook: Moleskine

Sunglasses, Rings, Eyeshadows: H&M

Cosmetic bag: Tally Weijl

Nail Polishes: Golden Rose Cosmetics USA

Lipsticks: Essense Cosmetics USA

Mood boards! Yes, one of my favorite things and something I promised to write a post about. I love mood boards, I create ones pretty often, I always have a monthly one and I love to share them on social media because they are just so cool!

My favorite place for inspiration is ...(drumroll) the Internet! :D, especially Pinterest. It's a very organized and high quality content website and it's really easy to get lost there scrolling through beautiful pictures board after board.

I basically create 3 types of mood boards.

#1 Monthly mood boards: According to the season, upcoming holidays, my mood or what projects I'm currently working on, I choose up to 10 photos that I feel represent the vibe of the month. They mights be photographs, works of art, abstract drawings ot patterns etc. I often also include some fave quotes and song lyrics, album covers and movie/video screencaps.

#2 Themed mood boards: These are actually my fave because I'm one of those people who have lots of hobbies and interest in various areas so I often feel inspired by random different things. That's why I choose a simple theme for my mood board: a color, aesthetic, art or music genre , some fave brands, artist or time period etc. This allows me to combine really different images and make the mood board interesting. And right after I've chosen my theme I go searching for the most expressive images that represent it and I think would look good next to each other.

#3 'Current mood' mood boards: A lovely idea that I'm happy I came up with I think a few years ago. You know how sometimes a new trend comes along and everybody loves it for a few months? Or sometimes you are in a period of loving a definite singer or band and listening to their music on repeat? This is a great chance for creating a 'current mood' mood board including all those things that are exclusive inspiring and exciting for you right now.

How it's done: a.k.a. The practical DIY part

I think it's best to have the photos printed because what our brains love the most and find the most impressive is 'touchable' images. You can just print them and cut each one out so that you can organize them on a wall near your desk/work space. You could also hook them on a string/strings and turn them into decor pieces. Or you can create a photo collage to print and frame. There are many useful apps, programs and websites for that - plus even Word can do the job for you if you're not into working with new software. Cool thing is you can also use this photo collage as a wallpaper for your phone, tablet or computer. Thus you'll be able to bring inspiration everywhere.

– Nicole