What I Have Been Doing While in Lockdown

What I Have Been Doing While in Lockdown

I had a lot of travel content that I was planning on writing up for this blog but sharing it in the current climate feels a bit odd so I am saving it for future posts. Instead I thought I would share with you all what I have been doing to keep myself busy while lockdown has been enforced. Currently I am working from home so that is filling up most of my working days. That aside what I have been doing to keep myself entertained is:

1. Catching up on TV Shows
I watch a lot of TV generally it is one of my favourite hobbies, I love getting invested in a good programme. This extra time has helped me catch up on shows that I started watching but never finished as well as binge watching new shows. You can check out what I have been watching here.

The Best European Cities to Visit After Lockdown

The Best European Cities to Visit After Lockdown

I'm sure a lot of people like myself have had their travel plans this year cancelled or rearranged, this week I should have been sunning it up in Zadar in Croatia a trip which unfortunately could not be rearranged. 

To make myself feel better about this I have been looking back on past holiday photos and reminiscing over memories. I figured I would share with you some of my favourite cities that I have visited and that I would recommend visiting once lockdown is over and travel is a possibility again. After all we can only dream of destinations and plan for future trips currently!

My Tarot Deck Collection

My Tarot Deck Collection

A hobby I am fascinated in and working on improving is tarot card reading I own multiple tarot and oracle decks and have been learning the differing meanings of the major arcana cards and the four suits in the minor arcana. It is a hobby I am hoping to improve with continued practice and learning.

I wanted to share with you the different tarot and oracle  decks that I own and use starting with my tarot decks I have three different ones.

Rider-Waite Tarot

The one deck I am sure everyone has heard of is the Rider-Waite tarot deemed the perfect beginner's deck filled with the classic images that people associate with tarot, originally printed in 1910 with images designed by Pamela Colman Smith the deck comprises of 78 cards. The images represent each card well, a small booklet is provided with the deck but it does not provide vast detail on each card though I am sure with how simple the pictures depicted on the cards are they are easy to analyse from your own opinion with the basic knowledge of the meanings of the major arcana and the four suits. As stated previously this is a great deck for someone new to tarot who wants to begin learning a deck.

Game of Thrones Tarot

 I first saw this deck when I visited the Game of Thrones Touring Exhibition, as a massive fan of the show I was keen to add this deck to my collection. The drawings and imagery depicting each card is stunningly done and the characters used correspond with each card very well. These cards may be slightly harder to read than the Rider-Waite unless you already know the meanings but this deck does come with a more detailed guidebook with information on each card linked to the Game of Throne's plots. If you are a keen Game of Thrones fan and interested in learning tarot this would be a good deck for you.

The Light Seers Tarot

 Finally I have saved the best for last. This is the most recent deck I have bought but it is by far my favourite tarot deck! The 78-card tarot deck created by Chris-Anne reimagines the traditional style tarot in a more contemporary boho style using bright and detailed imagery to help explain the meanings of each card. I love how expressive the cards are and how well the characters are used in the imagery to help explain the meanings, this is a stunning collection for those whole like more colourful and bright imagery and detail in tarot decks.

Let me know are you a fan of tarot? If so what decks are in your collection?

Thanks for Reading!

Tips for Finishing a Dissertation at Distance Learning

Tips for Finishing a Dissertation at Distance Learning

Back in February I finally handed in my last assignment for my degree this was the one everyone dreads the Dissertation! Over the past 3 to 4 years I have been completing this degree while working full time and I can definitely say there have been some times when this has been a struggle and the burnout has been strong!

With the current situation alot of you I'm sure are finishing off your degrees or doing assignments at distance learning from home and I wanted to share with you some of my tips that helped me be productive when finishing off my dissertation.

1. Gather all your Research First

When completing my dissertation and all my assignments really I tended to gather all my research that I wanted to use first. I then used to identify all the quotes that could be useful to be included into the assignment based off of the question that I was trying to answer. I felt this saved me so much time when starting to write the assignments.

2. Create your References

When I would find a quote I would always create the full reference and add it onto the document then and there. This saved me so much time and meant that I didn't forget which text I had found the quote from or the page number.

3. Plan Your Time
I set aside certain days and evenings of the week purely for university work. I found this worked well for me as I had time for my personal life on the days when I was not doing university work. Sticking to a schedule is the best way to be productive and get work done by set deadlines.

4. Take Breaks

It is important if you have limited time in the week and can only work on weekends to take breaks. Grab a drink, some food, watch an episode of your favourite programme. This will help keep you motivated and clear your mind rather than working non-stop and feeling burnt out.

5. Change Your Workspace
Do your work in different places that suit you I found working in multiple places such as my computer room, the library or even at work helped change my headspace.

6. Keep in Contact
Keep in contact with your tutor, any questions you have e-mail and ask, contact over e-mail helps ensure you feel supported and ensure that you have some guidance that you are going in the right direction with the structure and content of your dissertation.

These are all the tips I feel that helped me and may help you while completing a dissertation at distance learning. Are you studying via distance learning? What do you feel helps you keep motivated and what tips do you have?

Thanks for Reading! 

Basic Banana Bread

Basic Banana Bread

Lockdown has given me far more time to bake than I normally would have and it seems like ABSOLUTELY everybody has baked banana bread at least once during this time! Having never made banana bread before I figured I would give it a go due to all the hype and the fact that I already had the ingredients ready at home. The recipe I followed was super simple and I figured I would share it with you:

How I'm Managing My Mental Health in Lockdown

How I'm Managing My Mental Health in Lockdown.

I'm sure the current situation surrounding lockdown over the last month has affected everyone's mental health in differing ways. During this time I have set myself many routines aimed to help and improve my mental health during all of this uncertainty and I thought I would share with you the routine tasks that have been helping me:

1. Exercising Everyday

Before Lockdown I was lucky if I found time to exercise twice a week, during this period with all the additional time I have forced myself to exercise in some way everyday be it going for a walk or following exercise videos on YouTube. I find even if I haven't been feeling the best that doing some form of exercise has always boosted my mood and made me feel better about my self image.

2. Reading 

I finally can read for joy again now my degree is complete, so this spare time and the kindle daily deals have given me chance to get stuck into some fiction. You can see what I have been reading in this post.

3. Baking

I have been practicing and perfecting a lot of baking recipes that I have never tried before such as banana bread (as who isn't baking that currently?) and brownies. The only problem with this one is I then have to eat all that I have baked!

4. Watching Movies/TV Shows

Catching up on the shows and films that I have not seen, either on Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney+. You can see what I have been watching recently here.

5. Practising Self-care

My self-care before lockdown was awful, I never left time for any extra pampering. So during this time I have made full use of face masks, practising with makeup, having baths to relax and finally sticking to a skincare routine.

These are all the tasks I have been doing to aid my mental wellbeing during this time. What have you all been doing to help your mental health during these strange times?

Thanks for Reading!