In the pines, in the pines

Where the sun don’t shine

Oh, hello, blue dress of my dreams. You know sometimes you stumble across a piece of clothing that you just completely love, adore and cherish? For me, it’s this dress. Completely different to anything else I own and in a shade of blue that makes even the sky look not so amazing. At first I thought it might be a little too long, but I actually have grown to love this length. Just above the ankle which leaves enough on show to be able to wear some casual sandals or a glitzy heel without them being hidden. It has almost-seventies styled oversized sleeves and an elastic waist, which nips in at all the right places. Dreamy, Closet London, just dreamy.

I decided to keep the styling simple, opting for a black fedora and my trusty black gladiator sandals. I popped on my new favourite bracelet, which is very simple yet full of meaning. This is from the ChloBo Luna collection and I love all of their designs, each charm having it’s own special meaning. Mine is the hamsa hand charm, which is a protective sign, bringing happiness, luck, health & good fortune. I’m holding out for a lottery win, so I’ll keep you updated 😉

So recently I have been super busy with blog related life stuff. I’ve been putting so much time into blog shoots and filming, but I absolutely love it – working until 1am is my new routine, and it’s actually alright! Myself and Chris head on out most weekends to shoot which is perfect now the weather is improving and we’re left with longer evenings. It’s amazing how working for yourself is a lot more work, but a whole lot more enjoyable. Anyway, I know that so many people are self-employed, or at least hoping to be, so I thought I’d pop some tips on working for yourself in this post… so keep reading!

I’M WEARING:  DRESS*  |  HAT  |  SHOES  |  BRACELET*

Photography – chris@alotofbradshaw.com

BLOGGING FULL TIME TIPS

If you’ve been reading Tiny Twisst for a little while you’ll remember my post a few years back explaining how I had moved home from London and started blogging full time. Back then it was a bit of a new thing and there were definitely a lot less people in the blogging industry. Things have changed and now it’s a very saturated market, but it’s also brilliant and creates careers for a lot of people – including myself!

Blogging full time is my dream come true and something I didn’t even think was possible. However, working for yourself aka “being self employed” can also be very different when you have been used to a 9-5 for a long time. Working for yourself involves longer hours, discipline and a lot more brain power.. so here are some tips I’ve picked up along the way…

Register as Self Employed

This one is pretty obvious, but it’s something we’re never really taught at school (annoyingly) and have to just learn for ourselves. If you’re thinking about making blogging your full-time job, you’ll need to register as self employed. This basically means that everything is in your hands, which sadly means you have to sort out your own tax return! When it comes to tax, I have found it massively helps to be organised. If you get paid work through log the date, company, amount and put some aside for tax as soon as you get it. You’ll be expected to submit this once a year. Also keep any receipts such as fuel, train tickets and so on as you can submit these too. If you’re worried you can always get an accountant to help you out, which is what I did – they will charge you a fee but it might put your mind at ease.

Have a back up plan

Obviously, any form of self employment can be daunting. You’re out there in the big world without a regular income – some months can be great and some not so much. It always helps to have a back up plan. It doesn’t mean you have to use it but it definitely helps to know it’s there, and will help in times of needs. A lot of bloggers have other interests, such as design and writing which can help earn a little extra income. It’s all about building your own empire.

Get up, get dressed

I’m the first to admit that working from my little office at home makes the temptation for longer lay-ins and PJ days super easy. However, this is not good for productivity and it has very quickly become my routine to get up early(ish) and get dressed! I usually try to start work at 9am, getting all my mundane life jobs done & dusted before hand, so that I’m not distracted! I also get dressed… sure enough it’s usually leggings and a t-shirt, but that still beats my dressing gown. There’s something about starting the day right that leaves me filling it up with work, work, work!

Get used to flexi-hours

Blogging full time is never going to be a weekday 9-5 job. First and foremost, I find that replying to my emails in the evening is a lot easier – purely for the fact that I can get it done without replies interrupting my flow. Secondly, if you do YouTube you’ll know that upload days can fall on the weekends, so a lot of the time my weekend is spent tying up any loose ends on my videos. However, I can go for a coffee in the morning with my Mum and know that I will just make up the work in the evening. Flexi hours can take some getting used to but working until 1am is when I’m most productive, so I guess it’s something you get used to & might even prefer.