IN RETURN FOR A FREE PRODUCT

Blogging as a career is pretty new, blogging in general however isn't, people have been writing online since online existed, it's only now with the rising popularity of social media that companies see the worth and influence that people online can have. I love this being my job, it's truly one of the best choices I made, but it doesn't come without it's pitfalls and annoyances, just like every other career. For me and I'd put a lot of money on it being an issue for many other bloggers too, is people and brands acting dismissive of your worth, it's not that they don't know because they do - that's why they're contacting you, but it's simply having the ignorance to think you wont realise what they're trying to do. Free products. If I had a tenner for every time I'm asked if I can do something 'in return for a free XYZ' it drives me up the wall, the statement itself is so incredibly contradictory yet it's somehow still probably one of the most common amongst my inbox.

WHAT I WISH I'D KNOW ABOUT BLOGGING

When you start blogging it's so difficult to wade through all of the should's and should not's to find exactly what you need to focus on. If you're looking to make money from this, then that's a whole other kettle of fish. I think a lot of bloggers that are fortunate enough to use blogging as a means of income today didn't really start out for that reason, we didn't know the career possibilities and thus it's all been a bit of a learning curve. Things are a little different now, with the blogging market becoming more and more saturated with each day, it's definitely harder than ever to be seen, though I'm sure that will only continue as more realise you can make money in what a lot of us define as a hobby.

LOGGING OFF VS LOGGING OUT

It's no secret that I am all aboard the train of having time away from social media, ironically that now it's a large part of my job, I'm more aware than ever on how it can affect day to day life and just how incredibly important it is to differentiate between work and home. Which when your job can be accessed through your mobile, it means putting down the phone and closing down the apps for a while. Iphones now have the delightful feature so we can see just how much time we're using, or wasting depending how you want to look at it, and in what places. Obviously for me Instagram was the biggest culprit when I first started reading into the numbers last year and it's easy to see why, with a simple click of the little icon you can get lost in a world of metro tiles and idealistic quotes, it's very easy to see the highlights of everyone else's lives and compare it to the reality of your own.

WHAT THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS TAUGHT ME

We're officially in September and with Noahs' first day at school mere days away, I wanted to reflect on the six weeks holiday as a whole. Initially when they rolled around I was thankful, Noah before now was attending school on a part time basis every afternoon (a strange set-up that any child who turned four before December last year was able to do) and whilst he loved school it was really disruptive every day going back and forth four times. I craved the holidays. But as they came closer the realisation that it'd be me and the boys flying solo for 95% of the time was in truth, a little intimidating - they fight like cat and dog at the minute and I didn't want to end the month of August being able to add referee to my CV.

WORKING FROM HOME IN THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

I'm always going to be one to scream from the rooftops all of the benefits that come with working from home, but of course with the perks come the pitfalls too - of which they are plentiful, believe me. Yet during the summer holidays this year, I've realised just how truly lucky I am to be working from home. Sure it's been difficult at times, and not having the most reliable childcare situation has meant a lot (and I mean A LOT) of super late nights, but it's also meant I'm home with my kids and whilst a lack of sleep is apparent, there are so many other issues we've managed to avoid that had I been still in my 9-5 job out of the house, we would of had to face.

BLOGS ARE DYING? I DON'T THINK SO

This month, more than any previously, I've seen the debate on whether blogs are dying and losing their value, constantly. It's across social media, magazines are declaring it and almost every other form of printed news. As a blogger, I'm obviously from a biased standpoint no matter how rationale I try to be about the situation and can't give a fully unclouded view. Would I be wrong to suggest this may be an age thing, that people of older generation aren't turning towards online because they were reared in a world in which it didn't exist for so long? I have to say that I think newspapers and magazines have vested interests by trying to play down how influential bloggers are now. Millennials undoubtedly turn towards online activity to get the fix that print once provided and I do think that the written publications are threatened by this, it's a scary thought for them. They can't provide the raw honesty that bloggers can and it's something that I think sets us above them by a large mile.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LOGGING OFF

So much of our lives is online these days, social media has a very clever way (it's in the name after all) of making you feel like you're being social, when you're usually doing the exact opposite. I don't need to interact with half of my family, because I can read what they're up to online by scrolling through their photos or commenting on their status updates. It's so easy to think that you've 'caught up' with someone, when in reality you read a few tweets or watched an Instagram story. I am guilty of this, without a doubt and whilst social media and the online world has an unfathomable amount of perks, it has it's pitfalls too and this is definitely one of them.

FINDING THE BALANCE

It's been three whole months that I began working from home and it became apparent really quickly just how hard it is to separate working life from, the rest of my life. Before Babies and Beauty became my full time job, I worked in a nursery, out of the home and it allowed me to shift into a complete different head space when I popped my uniform on. For all of the perks being self employed has, the ability to define work time vs me time isn't one of them and it's something that's taken me a whole twelve weeks to find my balance in that spectrum. I've dabbled at either end, but I think I'm finally settling somewhere in the middle.

BLOG TIPS: HOW TO GET BLOG WORK

Everyone's first question when they realise blogging can be a career is 'How do you earn money?'. Realistically nobody is paying me to sit here and write my inner thoughts every day, as lovely as that would be. I don't have a set wage and the money I earn completely varies dependant on an unlimited amount of things, but the point is still there, bloggers do get paid. At least the those who are making a job of it. The question remains the same, how? How do bloggers earn money, how do you find paid work, does paid work find you?

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Last week was pretty manic, seems a little strange as we're actually on half term now, so in theory it should be much crazier this week as opposed to last but thankfully John is off a couple of days this week to help man the fort. I can't really put my finger on what exactly it was that sent us on a hectic spiral, but it felt as though I always had something I needed to be doing, that I wasn't managing to do. Or that plans weren't going how they should and it would send our whole day off kilter. Thankfully one advantage of a busy week, is a fast week and the weekend was around before I even had time to think what day it was. Along with the weekend came sunshine, and I must admit it had me longing for the spring and summer months.

GETTING ORGANISED WITH AO

It's the New Year and we're all doing what we can to be the best version of ourselves, I'm no exception. I've spoke about everything I want to be more of in 2018 and it's time to start sharing exactly how I'm achieving those targets, it's all well and good having the thought there but actions speak louder than words. Now I'm working from home I really had to have a solid schedule in place, which days are my 'Mummy' days and which are working, as well as factoring in all the day to day mundane jobs like housework, washing and the boys too-ing and fro-ing from childcare. Having a set routine is paramount to making this work for us all, the last thing I want is lines being blurred and not knowing where any of us stand - organisation is key.

16 GOALS FOR 2018

Ok so I failed at the first hurdle, I can't even think of eighteen things I want to commit to this year, but I'm hoping that by stopping when I really couldn't wrack my brains anymore, might mean I'll actually stick to these as opposed to just thinking of things for the sake of a post. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about resolutions, 'new year, new me' and all of that jazz that comes at the start of a new year. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is a better time to line out what you want to achieve, but something about resolutions feels a little bit daunting - nobody wants to fail do they? I'm not exactly the most committed person, I can barely stick to a skincare routine for longer than a week never mind something that's going to take actual thought, hard work and determination. But, I'm willing to try and though I'm not opting for resolutions this year, I am following in the footsteps of the beautiful Alex and listing out my 16 goals, for 2018.

MY TOP TIPS FOR WORKING MUMS

Juggling work life and babies is hard, it really is and anyone who says different is either telling big porkies, or just has their shit together in a big way. Neither of those are me, I work 32 hours a week thankfully as I managed to reduce from five to four days, but that doesn't mean my mornings run smoothly and I come home from work all calm and collected - far from it. But given the fact this is my second time around the block with returning from maternity leave, and I have been a working mother now for almost four years, I've learnt a few tricks of the trade so to speak along the way.