Back To University Goals Revisited

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but tomorrow I start my final year of university. MY FINAL YEAR! I really don't know where the time has gone, and I just know this year is going to go just as fast, if not faster than the previous two years combined. This time last year I set myself a few goals for what I wanted to achieve over my second year, and seeing as I start back tomorrow I thought this be the perfect time to reflect on my progress and set myself some more goals for the year ahead. Last year the majority of my goals focused around being more prepared for assignments, and not spending all my money on ASOS. I can honestly say that I achieved all of last years goals (even if I wasn't as successful with the ASOS one); I started all my assignments in good time, I started revising for my exams months in advance, and I looked a lot less homeless and didn't turn up to any of my lecturers with sopping wet hair. As for this year, I want to set some serious goals because the level of my success determines whether I graduate with a First or with a 2:1. 

Keep organised // I mentioned last year that I wanted to be more organised and I'd really like to carry this through into this year. It's amazing how more productive you can be if you actually know what you're supposed to be doing. I've repurchased the Busy B academic diary, and I'm ridiculously excited to write in all my assignments and things as it helped keep me nice and organised last year! 

Take breaks // Remember at the start of this year when I took a break from blogging? Well that was all due to the stress caused from my first semester back last year. As the year went on I found ways to cope with my stress, and I've learnt the hard way that it is important to take regular breaks. I need to remember this for the year ahead as I have a feeling that this is going to be the most stressful year of my life! #bringiton

Remember the end goal // Since I was first introduced to the idea of going to university I have wanted to graduate with a First class degree. I managed to get through first year with a good 2:1 without even trying (ok there was some trying), and last year I averaged at 68.5% which was 4% higher than the year before. As long as I try my hardest this year and pull out all the stops, I am in with a serious chance of scraping through university with a First class honours degree!

Statistics // Last year I developed some sort of crazy understanding of statistics and it made my life so much easier (hello 95% in my statistics exam)! I hope to be able to keep this up because I'll need that knowledge for my major research project!! So my plan is to keep on top of all my recommended reading because I have definitely noticed the benefits to actually doing it. 

Eat well & exercise // My university geniusly added a Starbucks near the main entrance last year, and sometimes it was just too hard to resist a venti hot chocolate with cream. And although I usually workout most mornings before uni, I felt quite guilty for the amount of times I got a Starbucks just for the sake of getting one. So for this year I plan to carry on exercising regularly (once my ankle permits obvs), and to maybe get back on track with my 'diet'. 

Have you got any goals for the year ahead?

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Happy New Year and Blog Goals For 2016

Happy New Year!

I wanted to do a post like this last year, but I had no idea what to say, where I wanted by blog to go, or even if I would continue running a blog! My only goal was to reach 100 followers by the end of the year and I soon managed and surpassed that!  I didn't really expect to carry on with my blog, with university getting in the way, but I'm still here over 18 months later! The last year has been so amazing. My blog has blossomed and improved in so many ways. Some of the biggest highlights of my year have been blog related. Reaching 1500 followers on my blog, getting shortlisted for an award, and getting shortlisted for a bloody award!!!  I've loved getting to talk to like-minded people, being asked to attend events (if only for the free cocktails!), and being offered some incredible opportunities! As my blog is starting to get off the ground, I thought I'd start off the year with some simple business cards and a custom domain. I finally bitten the bullet and purchased myself a domain name as I'd been toying with the idea of a custom domain name for well over a year and it became set in stone around October?

With this air of change, the blogging community has become such a big part of my life, and I've found myself making little goals and targets over the last couple of weeks or so. So of course I had to share them on my little corner of the internet - and here is what I want to do and achieve with my blog over the next 12 months…

Engage more: Engagement is extremely important to me. I've always made sure I engage with my readers by replying to my comments and tweets, checking out any links left behind, and just generally trying my best to engage with you all. Tacking into account how much my own comments mean to me, I want to do the same for others and show my support. I've been pretty rubbish at letting other bloggers know that I bloody adore them so hopefully I'm going to up my game this year!

Be more creative: Although I'm generally pretty happy with my blog images, from time to time I get a bit bored. Back in August I started to really push myself, and for a while I was really happy, buttttt as always - I'm starting to get a little bored. I want to try and mix up my backgrounds and fall in love with photography again! Over the last month of so you may have noticed a couple of portrait shots, which I haven't really included in blog since I first started over a year and half ago. I would love to invest in some new camera equipment - maybe a new lens and a fancy af studio light, but they are on the expensive side, so I'll try and see what my budget is. 

Go out of my comfort zone: I hate meeting new people. Hate. It. It's just something I've always tried to avoid. I dread to think how many blogging events I turned down because I was terrified of meeting people I didn't know! But from this moment on, I want to try and make more of an effort with meeting up with my blogger friends! I was so proud of myself for turning up to the Bloggers Blog Awards and Rhianna's Xmas Meet, when I felt so anxious (and actually physically sick). I mean even my best friends started out as a stranger to me in the first place!

Find new blogs to read: Even though I'm constantly on the hunt for new blogs to follow, I find it pretty difficult to find ones that I've not heard about before. Even when Bloglovin tried (and kinda failed) to promote 'undiscovered' bloggers. This is why 'share the love' style posts are so important as it can give some undiscovered little gems the chance to be 'found'. So if you've got any blogs you love then please share them in the comments below!

Gain more followers: Cliché I know, but I'd really like to get up to 2000 followers this year. Although that sounds like a huge target (to me it does anyway), it is less than a third of what I gained over the last year - and hopefully my blog will continue to grow it's following this coming year.

Build up a backlog of posts: Over the last months my backlog of backup posts has completely diminished. I had all my posts planned, but I kept finding myself writing them the night before they were due to go up - in some cases even mere hours before they should have been published. This totally isn't like me and I have been finding it hard to just sit down and write. Occasionally, the planned posts have been written but there have been no photos to go up alongside them (due to bad lighting), so I've had to use a backup. Meaning I need to get myself sorted at plan ahead again!

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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Back To University Goals

Hello friends! I honestly can't believe that I start my second year of university tomorrow! Seems like only two minutes since I was lugging all my boxes and suitcases around halls of residence! How time flies ey! I'm currently running round like a headless chicken making sure I have everything ready for the new academic year. Pens. Check. Paper. Check. My mind. Not check! As I've been frantically running here there and everywhere, I've been reflecting on last year and I've decided that I really want to push myself over the next academic year. 

Be more organised

I know this is a bit cliche, but I really do want to up my organisational game. I wasn't too bad last year, but currently I seem to be busier than ever and I want to make sure that I can manage my time effectively. I bought a brilliant diary/planner from BusyB (via Amazon) that handily prints each week twice so you can have a separate planner for home/personal and one for work/school, college, uni! I was given a planner last year from my tutor, but I think the only time I opened it was to write my name in it!! It was so ugly which definitely didn't make me want to write in it!

Try and spend less of my student loan on ASOS

I dread to think how much money (and time!) I spent on ASOS last year. I just love shopping! I am trying to cut back on the spending a little bit though this year so I have plenty of money to travel around seeing my besties up and down the country! We really want to go away together in the summer too, so hopefully we have enough money to get that organised! 

Dress less like a homeless person to lectures

This one actually made me laugh when I thought about it. If I look back at any photos from last year, I literally looked like I had walked straight out of bed and into a lecture theatre. Considering the (probably) substantial amount of money I spent on ASOS last year, I think I could maybe look a bit more put together during my second year! 

Prepare for assignments better

Don't mistake me for one of those people that starting writing their assignments and essays the night before. NEVER WOULD I DO THAT. And no that isn't sarcasm. I was pretty good with it last year and always made sure I had everything submitted at least a couple of days before the due date. But this year I want to make sure that I plan and structure my work better in order to help me gain extra marks. I found that the work that I planned out and understood better always got Firsts, SO I MUST ACHIEVE THIS ALL THE TIME!

Try and go out more

Last year I was about as sociable as…. well a very unsociable person. I've been getting a lot better of the last couple of months. Pushing myself to go places I wouldn't usually give a second thought about. Like I don't tend to go in bars and clubs. But I went to Revolution the other week for their relaunch party. I was soooo surprised at myself! 

Actually revise for my exams

Last year, dare I say it, I started revising for my exams the night before. What was wrong with me? I've never been that sort of person!! I just had so many assignments due in at the same time and I even had one that was due whilst I was sat in the exam hall!! I think I figured that I could always resit the exams, which isn't the best mindset at all! 

Are any of you lovely lot heading back to university? Or even starting your first year? What do you hope to accomplish? 

Thanks for reading!

Love Charlotte x

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