Taking More Time For Myself

This post is in collaboration with Prezzybox
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WORKING ON MYSELF, BY MYSELF, FOR MYSELF

[pipdig_right]Dissertation. Exams. Social events. Presentations. Nobody warns you how busy you’re going to be in third year…specifically in your last couple of terms of your entire university career. Honestly, I wasn’t prepared at all and while I only have 3 classes a week I still find myself struggling to do everything I want. My weekends are spent with Sam (something I always look forward to) while during the week I’m trying to finish my dissertation spoiler I’m nearly done and it’s due in a week, while attending my classes, maintain some sort of social life and trying to prep for a presentation next month. More often than not I will cancel social events at the moment to spend time alone in which to relax, have a pamper and just be alone. I recently wrote a post about Blogging As An Introvert, and the words I wrote ring truer every day, as my life gets more and more hectic I’m struggling to find time for myself.

From time to time I like to treat myself to quirky items to make cosy nights in more fun and instagramable. Prezzybox* is a great place to find such items. While a lot of their items are aimed at gifts to be given to someone else…who says you can’t treat yourself to a Diamond glass set* in order to drink whisky out of and forget your stresses. Something I’m guilty of doing at least once a week…plus a decent size glass of whisky helps me sleep like an absolute baby without the fear of the fire alarm going off at 3 am .

I personally think it’s important to treat and reward yourself from time to time…although I maybe have too much of the ‘treat yo self’ mentality at the moment. Fingers crossed it passes or I’m going to broke in no time at all.
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IT’S JUST ME, MYSELF AND I

[pipdig_left][/pipdig_left] [pipdig_right] [/pipdig_right] [pipdig_padded_text] While my workload at uni may be starting to go down, the number of social events I have upcoming is increasing. Don’t get me wrong I absolutely adore attending events and spending time with friends, but I need to find the perfect balance to have some alone time. I’ve always embraced my own company (except maybe when I was suffering from bad depression and didn’t like being alone with my thoughts) there’s nothing better than a cosy night in watching your favourite film (mine’s Labyrinth). The same goes for shopping, while I love a good girly day of hitting the shops, I can often find it stressful and something I’d much rather do alone or online. At least that way I don’t feel like I’m holding anyone up if I want to go and try on a ton of items only to decide I don’t like any of them. Something that happens all too often.

I recently read I’m dedicating more time to being alone and I’m excited by Chloe Plumstead. Everything she wrote really hit home, I love understated days of just doing whatever my heart desires; whether that’s napping for hours on end, reading a new book, baking brownies or just scrolling through my phone. When I want to have a movie night I like to be slightly extra and use this Movie Night In Set* it just feels that little bit more special than just sticking on a film and calling it a movie night. Plus a movie night in costs a hell of a lot less than attending an event…I’m one of those people that hates wearing an outfit more than once (especially to blogging events).
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When it comes to things I find relaxing, I honestly love photography so much…and while I love shooting specific things I don’t think anything will beat just point the camera and shooting. I’m also trying to get back into flat lays, starting with buying new backgrounds and new props (this Gold Love Letters* is a perfect example). Afterall, if I’m going to continue enjoying blogging for myself opposed to producing what others want to see (obviously I take suggestions into mind) then I need to be 100% happy with everything I produce. I’ve recently stopped posting on Instagram quite so much, I’ve lost motivation towards the app and while it does hurt to see my follower count go down, there’s no point in posting images I don’t love.

There isn’t any one particular activity in which I will always do alone (other than maybe blog post writing), since it is always nice to mix it up and try different things. One day I may want to go out for dinner alone, the next I might just want to sit in a binge watch a program and another I might want to spend all evening working on my bullet journal. The possibilities are endless, and that’s the great thing about dedicating time for yourself, nobody can dictate what you do, you don’t have to compromise with anyone on plans and you only have to spend money if you want to. Putting yourself first should always be a priority.

Once upon a time, I was terrified of going into a restaurant and saying the words ‘table for one’ in fear of being judged as a loner with friends which would be considered true to an extent. In reality, though, nobody cares and if they do say something or you overhear remarks then who cares, at least you’re confident in yourself to spend time alone in your own company. The same went for shopping until I realised it’s a hell of a lot less stressful to go shopping alone than it is with a big group of friends (although teen movies will make us think differently)
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Photography

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All photos within this post were taken by my myself on my Olympus Pen E-PL7 in natural lighting. They were then edited on Photoshop CC 2015 and VSCO.
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