Amble Through The Brambles #1

I decided that, as a writer, I should probably share my thoughts and processes as a freelance content writer. Who knows, maybe one or two of you out there might find my ramblings somewhat useful and insightful.

I’ll be sharing a few marketing tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the last week every Sunday morning, something random in my life that made me laugh (because let’s face it we need more laughter right now, and besides sending my sister (hi hi Nicole!) work-from-home related memes taking the absolute pistachio), my current read, a marketing tool fave, freelancing lesson learned, productivity hack (who doesn’t love a good life hack that they’re never going to use), and lots more!

And given the current state of affairs we’re in, why not document it. So let this be a diary, journal and tips and tricks notebook of sorts for both you and me.

Then the name….. kind of goes with the given times? We’re all bumbling and ambling along right now because we’ve NO CHOICE but to slow down, which is great! But it’s like we’re wading through shit kind of. Pig shit at that, the real naaaasty stuff. Smelly, intoxicating, vile.

I couldn’t exactly name my weekly series “wading through shit”. Because it isn’t all horseflies. There’s a lot to be rediscovered during this downtime.

I figure when we (hopefully) eventually get through this, it’ll still be nice to reflect on what I ambled through in the previous week. Rather than wade and swallow the flies.

What does the perfect Sunday mornin’ look like to you?

Poolside chilling with cocktail in hand, cosied up by the fire with coffee to hand, or Carrie Bradshaw-esque typing inside her ginormous New York city apartment?

I’ll let you decide where I’m writing from this morning!

This past week I’ve not only been ambling along, I’ve literally been running wild through the thicket. What with the weather and a virtual 10k coming up, I’ve felt the urge to just get out and don the running shoes again. It’s a love/hate relationship.

Yesterday evening my friends and I jumped on a video call. No, we don’t call it Facetime because we don’t all have iPhones (sorry Rach!) so we stuck with good ol’ messenger. Do people even use that for video call anymore?!

There’s nothing quite like jumping on a call and watching your friends fall asleep with their eyes open right in front of you. Riveting, truly. Hi Rach, Laura 🙂 If you need a laugh, call your (funny) friends, I promise you it WILL cheer you up.

A tool that I recently discovered and will most definitely be adding to my marketing box of tricks is Hatchful Logos, a free online logo generating tool designed by Shopify. I’m in the process of creating a new service and must update my website to reflect it, so may well be checking out new logos too.

Hatchful Logos are great for new freelancers or those who need to quickly refreshen their brand look. Why not check it out, even if it’s just for inspiration.

This past week has been a funny one in terms of the ups and downs in that I’ve found it to be the most manageable of all weeks. Probably because I am now back home and out of self-isolation and all that craic. #RoutineRocks But it wasn’t without a few kerfuffles (would I even be a freelancer if it wasn’t?!).

Or maybe it’s just my cycle (more on that later!).

It’s important as a freelancer, no matter what industry you’re in; software development, web design, copywriting, social media management, or in my case content writing, to dip into a new niche. It’s equally important to know when to draw the line in that new niche too.

This week I wrote in a new niche, found it challenging and didn’t enjoy the thought processes that went with it. Which is great! It’s important to try new writing and work pursuits because you’d never know what you might excel at or what isn’t for you.

It was a great learning experience, but back to my B2B roots I shall go!

I read a Marian Keyes email newsletter the other day, where she mentioned some self-care tips during these weeeeeird, unprecedented, strange, unusual, unfamiliar, grief-stricken times. What other adjectives have you used to describe current world events?!

Anyway, at the end of her list she said if all else fails, read a book!

And she is so right.

I appreciate that actually forcing yourself to sit on the couch, away from digital devices and opening the cover is difficult.

It can be hard to switch off.

So make it easy for yourself.

Make a tea or coffee (or wine, who am I to judge!) and pick a book you know you’re going to enjoy.

It doesn’t have to be the latest self-help on the shelf, it can be a crime thriller you know you’ll love.

Throw on your cosiest comfy clothes, grab a blanket, and hunker down. I promise once you start a solid read, you’ll become engrossed in this new world and will forget your worries and fears, at least for half an hour.

Reading a good book is like doing exercise that you enjoy, there will be times when you’re not in the mood even though you know it won’t be that bad, and you’ll finish it feeling much better than when you started! Moral of the story, pick a good book 🙂 (the same goes for exercise, don’t do stuff you don’t enjoy!)

I’m going to mention HoRMoNeS in this blog post because I think it’s an important conversation freelance women need to have more of. You know, making the most of this time, not from a work-from-home and down time perspective, but a menstrual cycle perspective.

This is day 8 of my cycle and I am feeling productive AF!

In the work sense, not in the reproductive sense 🙂

It’s a shame but as a freelancing female, I hardly ever hear anyone talk about how our cycle affects our productivity based on different times of the month.

It is a thing!

This is a conversation I want to start having more of with women, and definitely something I want to read more about.

I keep telling myself when I finish all the physical books on the shelf in my room, only then will I buy a Kindle and buy the rest of my books as ebooks.

Despite this, I am tempted to invest in The Vagina Bible (although it bugs me that it’s not called the vulva bible, but that’s a conversation for another week).

I might take a leaf out of the Forbes article above and start tracking my menstrual cycle to see my mood peaks and troughs.

If it helps discover when I’m most productive and cranky, then why not.

Speaking of books!

I just finished Eat and Run by Scott Jurek. Thank you Kevin for gifting this to me! When I first started reading it I found it a little wishy-washy in that he was describing how he felt in the middle of a hot desert during a 100mile + endurance race, almost transcending his own body.

I persisted, probably because every couple of pages Scott details the most delicious vegan recipes.

I’d encourage everyone to read this! Not just runners; for it shows just how capable the mind is of pushing waaay past boundaries and physical pain.

I’ve also partially tried the soy mince san carne, one of the recipes in the book and I concur, it is deeeelicious!

 It also brought with it some thoughts on the complexities that I’d probably face as a woman running. If I wanted to started ultramarathon training now, how would I even go about that? How would a woman train as a more seasoned runner in her thirties?

Next to add to the Kindle wishlist: female endurance athlete books. If you know of any, HMU!

OK, I think I’ve written enough for this week.

I’m going to leave you all with a simple quote which I think is especially important at the moment: Done is better than perfect.

True, there is no time like the present to get started on stuff. But then again, it’s also ok to rest.

If you do have to work from home and you’re feeling the pressure to get everything finished to perfection when you really CBA and don’t have the mental energy, remember that done is better than perfect. 🙂

See you all next week, don’t forget to go for that amble through the brambles too!