Reflecting On My Time Off (GCSEs) – Return Post

July 2, 2023July 2, 202316 Comments

Hello everyone it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to my blog! It’s so lovely to be writing for this blog again, I’ve genuinely missed the blogging community. Today, I thought it would only be fitting to write a constructive post regarding my perspective on my GCSEs (final secondary school public exams in the UK) and what reflections I have.

Even if you don’t do GCSEs, I’m sure you’ll be able to relate to some of these regardless of where you are situated. I’ve also shared how I plan to mitigate some of the problems I’ve come across in the future, so I’d love to discuss these in the comments. Let’s jump into it!

STRESS MANAGEMENT IS VITAL

During exams, there is obviously going to be a rise in stress levels. Hormones such as XYZ are fluctuating and can add to the pressure if you let it. This is why I’ve realised that in order to maintain a good mindset during exams, stress management is vital – this will help to ensure good grades too.

Stress management refers to taking an active step back from your work and focusing on something else. It can be something as simple as reading a book, I got through an entire book during my exam season through frequent breaks! (If you’re not a reader, you could play sport, meet a friend etc) Not only is this a great distraction, but you’re still using your time constructively – and this can help to increase endorphins or serotonin which can ultimately lead to success

I will say, in my personal experience, it takes a lot of practice to determine what stress management methods work for you as well as how and when to apply them. So if you have mock exams, or non formal exams, it’s a good time to test the waters.

AN INEVITABILITY OF LOWS

Exam season can be one of the most overwhelming times in a young persons life. It’s a large chunk of time where there’s a heavy weight on your shoulders and you have this immense pressure; from expectations to the determination future plans. There are always going to be periods of highs and lows in every situation, including these exams!

I know that it can be very easy to self – blame, you may feel that you haven’t done the best preparation. Yet, an important thing to note is that there are many uncontrollable factors when it comes to exams. You don’t know what topics could come up, or you may have personal issues that can lead to difficulty studying. I experienced this first-hand a few weeks ago after an exam, and I was frustrated with myself. But at the end of the day, I thought that I had done enough leading up

Whatever the issue may be, I think that it’s important to acknowledge that lows are going to come whenever you enter a period of stress. The important thing is to understand that it’s not always your fault and that all you can do is prepare to the best of your ability. Of course, I believe it’s important to then finish your exam period by addressing the lows constructively – understanding what went wrong in your role, and how you’ll change for next time.

CRAVING ACADEMIC VALIDATION

As many of you know, I have spoken about this topic previously on my blog – because academic validation is something that I, and many of you, have struggled with. Exams – particularly major ones – can often feel like the only thing that matters, we truly feel that it determines our worth.

And honestly, for me personally, if I don’t do well I know that I can have a tendency to ponder over it and think about everything I regret over the commencing days.

Something that’s helped me over this exam period has been having options. If your exams are determining something to do with your future, make sure you have measures in place to provide a level of comfort. Having something such as a backup school can put your mind, and the pressure, at ease. Almost providing a ‘safety net’ which can keep a craving of validation at bay.

Thank you so much for reading this post. I really enjoyed writing this and am thrilled to be back blogging! I’d love to hear how you have all been, let’s catch up on the comments!

You want to see more of me and get exclusive updates on my blog? Well check out my socials!
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Have a lovely day!

The Art Of Romanticising Your Life

February 12, 2023February 5, 20233 Comments

Hello everyone it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to my blog! Today’s topic is going to be on something super interesting which is focusing on the idea of romanticising. I’m sure many of you have heard the phrase ‘You have to start romanticizing your life’ It’s been going viral, particularly in the last few years – so today I want to break down exactly what it is, how it can be done, and more. Let’s jump into it!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ROMANTICISE?

To talk about something in a way that makes it sound better than it really is, or to believe that something is better than it really is
CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY

Above is an official definition of what it means to romanticise, and to me, I think hope and belief are at the core of all of it. Romanticising is built off of your mindset – you have to genuinely believe that your life is incredible, because that can help to make it progress and bloom even further! If you think of your life being amazing now, then you know it can be in the future as well and you’ll always remember to live in the moment!

HOW IT’S MAINSTREAM PROMINENCE BEGAN

The idea of romanticising your life actually originated off of Tiktok, when user Ashley Ward posted a video with her voiceover, urging her followers to romanticise their lives. It went viral, and eventually everyone began to use that sound and romanticise their pictures and videos.

Eventually, it grew so big that it no longer was just something for social media – but rather a way of life for some people. People have taken it off of the app, to their reality. It’s now known as thinking of yourself as the main character in your own life. Thinking of yourself like this ensures that you pay attention to yourself, your life now – and most importantly, appreciate everything and want to build your life further.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING TO ROMANTICISE THEIR LIVES?

There are so many methods that people are using to actually look at their life so much more beautifully. One of them being just appreciating the small things. Maybe a beautiful sunrise, or laughter with friends. It could honestly be anything. Remember, the whole idea of this romanticism is to capture ‘main character’ energy and that means finding your casual magic in life.

Also, romanticising your life has also been associated with aesthetics a lot recently. Making everything aesthetically pleasing is also a form of romanticism as it makes you more motivated to achieve something, and emphasises your importance and what you have to be lucky for. People tend to use this method for more chore-like activities such as studying! I’m sure you’ll all be familiar with the study TikToks associated with this sound!

Other simple things you can do are visit a new location, listen to music, go out with friends & more!

DOES IT ACTUALLY WORK?

Many people have found a lot of success in the idea of romanticising life – it can fuel motivation, happiness and more! Ultimately, a lot of people have seen it as a form of mindfulness. Mindfulness is having a full awareness of your life – and romanticising it allows you to have focus on the little things and give you that extra boost of life as you go about your daily activities!

However, there is another perspective to be aware of. I think it’s worth mentioning that you have to be very careful of how you carry this out. Sometimes, an oversaturated amount of romanticism can be very damaging to yourself and other people. For yourself, it can cause a little bit of delusion – because remember you have to be realistic so that you can plan accordingly. Too much optimism can be a risk – so remember to just limit yourself. For others, it can be upsetting, or maybe even spark some slight envy if you’re sharing something you wish they had.

Overall, I think romanticising your life can be a great tool to build your blocks for a great future. Using this technique wisely can bring great results!

Thank you so much for reading this post, it was really thought-provoking to put together, so let me know in the comments what your thoughts are!

You want to see more of me and get exclusive updates on my blog? Well check out my socials!
Instagram – For exclusive updates on posts
Goodreads – You can see any books I’ve read or even recommend me one!
Contact Me if you would like to collaborate or have any other inquiries
Any suggestions or feel like chatting? Comment down below!

Have a lovely day!

How You Can Make Yourself A Priority When You Feel Like You Can’t

February 5, 2023January 29, 202317 Comments

Hello everyone it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to my blog! I feel like as we are now in the second month in the new year, we feel like we’re continuously working – because are new goals are still somewhat fresh. And recently, I’ve been working a lot to the point where I literally can’t find time to prioritise myself. So today, I want to share what I’m trying to make myself a priority – let’s jump into it!

Take On Something New That Can Uplift You

Normally when you want to give yourself some time to relax, you’ll usually take on a hobby that you already have. While that is helpful, I feel that sometimes I’ll just be so used to that hobby that my mind will still fixate on something work-related. So instead, try and take up a new hobby so that you’re actually distracting yourself, but also try and find one that doesn’t take too much energy to set up, has any costs etc.

That way you’re distracted but also not over complicating it. One thing that I tried was running, honestly I’m not much of a runner – but it was nice to do something very out-of-character for me. I may try it again, but I’d bring someone along with me to help!

Use Your Weekends In The Way You Want To

I feel like with the rise of working from home and online work, weekends are becoming oversaturated with work aswell – and they’re becoming really underrated for their actual purpose – the end of the week!

And of course, we have to take into consideration that the demand for work is a lot higher these days. So, what I tend to do is take one day of the weekend strictly for relaxation purposes. I don’t do any actual work unless its completely necessary. Then, I use the other day to catch up on anything I missed throughout the week. The key is catch up – so you can still spend the rest of the day taking a break too and ensuring that you’re a prioity rather than your work.

Let Someone In On Your Plan & Tell Them To Hold You To Account

For anyone who feels like they’re overworking, this may feel like something you don’t even have to do because someone will be telling you to take your breaks. Sometimes, when you’re so invested in your work, you forget to just take a step back and remember that the most important thing is : your wellbeing.

So when you do get pulled away from work, take that as a signal to go try out your new hobby, or make plans for the weekend so that you can make sure that you are your priority!

Thank you so much for reading this blog post, I know it was a short one – but I hope it was concise and to the point!

Have a great week!

Ensuring Our Resolutions Stick Throughout The Rest Of The Year

January 29, 2023January 26, 20231 Comment

Hello everyone it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to the blog! So, I feel like January has gone in the blink the eye, we are already in the last few days. Of course, most people made new years resolutions at the start of the year – and inevitably most of us have forgotten about them! When I looked back at mine, I couldn’t believe what I pledged, and how little I had done. So today, I want to write about what changes I’ve made to keep them alive for the rest of the year. Let’s jump into it!

Increase The Specificity

When I looked back at the note on my phone with all the improvements I wanted to make this year, I realised that a lot of them were not specific at all. I know that sometimes being specific can be very constricting, but being too general can actually cause you to just never act on the goal. For example, if your goal is just to help around the house – there’s no specific action that you’ve actually implemented for yourself.

So, what I did was ask myself, ‘How?’ which is a great way to actually make actionable goals because you know exactly what you need to do!

Write Out/Change Your ‘Why’

If you haven’t done so already, a why is definitely something you need to add alongside your goals. It keeps you engaged with your goals but also allows you to think of your goal in the bigger picture, which can make it more important and more likely to act on it because you’ve justified the need for that goal.

And if you already have the why, then check to see if it’s still relevant – you’ll be surprised how much your priorities can change within the span of a month. So, changing them can actually be super beneficial. For me, I know I had to tweak the why of all of my goals. And honestly, it really revamps your motivation – so I’m not surprised if I end up doing this monthly.

Allow Them To Be Able To Adapt To Change Again

Again, this kind of links to the previous point but, you have to be open to change to find some peace from your new years resolutions.

Whether it means changing the overarching concept of the goal, or something else, having them open to flexibility is key to helping achieve them. And I’m planning to continue doing this for the rest of the year.

Thank you so much for reading this post, I really hope it was helpful – let me know in the comments if you have any other suggestions!

Have a great day!

Utilising Success To Help You Progress Further

January 26, 2023January 22, 20238 Comments

Hello everyone, it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to my blog! Today’s post is going to be on a really universal topic, which is success. Success is something that everyone has a very different perspective of – success is a positive thing, and today I want to write about how we can utilise it to constructively progress in life. Let’s jump into it!

Figuring Out What Success Looks Like To You

So before thinking about any actual progression, you need to identify what your success actually is – so that you are able to identify what you want to grow to next. Success is extremely subjective; it can be seen in any aspect of life, and different people take it to be something different.

Academically, success to one person may be an A+, but their friend may see a B as success. Socially, someone who has a large group of friends may see that as success, but somebody who has a few very close fiends may also see that as success. But that’s okay, nobody really needs to know your meaning except you, because you’re going to use it to further your individual growth.

When I spoke to productivity expert Grace Marshall, she mentioned a very valuable point about success being what you’re doing rather than the outcome. So remember to also take the work that you’ve done leading up to it, into consideration.

Scale Your Recent Achievement Further

Now, when it comes to actually tangibly growing from your success – scaling up is a massive part to this. It allows your projected progression to be realistic, but also ambitious – which is vital to any form of success. When I talk about scaling, it’s just a version of success that you already have – but bigger.

If we’re using the academic example, you may get very high grades in high school – but by scaling up, you want to get the same grades in university.

Don’t get me wrong, scaling does put you on a whole new level. But, because you’re scaling from something you’ve already achieved, you have those transferable methods and techniques to be able to reach success again. And even that is a success in itself – remember it’s also what you do!

Evaluate The Part of Success That Needs Improvement

Now, here is the part that’s really going to help you reach the next level – finding any part of your success that needed to be improved on. Of course, you need to celebrate your wins – that is vital to positivity. But once you’ve done this, take time to reflect and see where you could’ve been even better.

I think an academic example is a great one to back this point up, if you have a small quiz that you got 90$% on, find the 10% that you got wrong so that you can study that again – this way, the next time you have a bigger test (with higher stakes) you’ll do better on that topic, furthering your success!

And eventually, you can keep doing this further and further until you’ve reached the success you want in the highest of stakes possible, because you’ve constantly been improving.

Thank you so much for reading this post, this post is honestly for myself more than anyone – so let me know in the comments if you have any more advice for utilising your success!

Have a lovely rest of the week!

Exploring The Harsh Reality Of Hustle Culture

January 12, 2023January 8, 20237 Comments

Hello everyone, welcome or welcome back to my blog! Today, I wanted to write about a topic which, to me, has some sort of presence in everyone’s life – especially where we are now as a society. Hustle culture has been becoming much more prevalent over the last few years, particularly though the media, your friends etc. But there’s a harsh reality behind hustle culture which I want to explore today. Let’s jump into it!

THE BEGINNINGS OF HUSTLE CULTURE

Hustle Culture has been around for longer than we could’ve thought of, but only recently has it been building back up again, especially amongst Gen Z – and people want to do something about it. Hustle Culture is exactly what it sounds like: always hustling. People who follow this culture pride themselves on living a work-focused life and always being on the grind, without any breaks or rest.

When you initially hear this, I’m sure some people would be impressed. On the surface, these people are working hard, they’re building their futures and dream lives. But, as people have examined this further, things may not be as picture-perfect as they seem.

The key problem with hustle culture is that it’s no longer voluntary, it’s become a necessity for new employees to retain their jobs, and most importantly for survival. There’s been a rapid increase in stress surrounding with finances or a person’s livelihood, simply making hustle culture a must. What started out as an innocent way of promoting some hard work, has turned into a vital habit that inevitably will lead to burnout and other problems.

This was seen back in 2008, when the recession forced tired employees to continue working for a stable life. Now, post-covid there’s another cost of living, and we’re seeing this cycle repeat itself once again. Something has to change.

WHAT’S BEEN A CATALYST FOR IT’S PREVALENCE?

Apart from the economic climate, hustle culture has still been relevant in our society; and social media plays a huge role in that. A major part of social media nowadays is content creation and influencer-culture. As influencers and creators share their daily lives and how they spend their time, there’s a small but consistent sense of incompetency that can build up amongst their followers. There’s even more questioning of one’s self amongst Gen Z, ‘If they’re working, then why aren’t I?’ This content can foster envy rather then support, leading everyone to believe they must work just like their favourite creator.

There’s no harm in showing a daily routine, but the problem arises when people don’t show their breaks or their downtime. If someone only posts themselves doing work, of course they’re going to want it to be romanticised as it’s going on social media, but that choice influences others to think it’s perfectly acceptable to be working until the brink of burnout.

That rest you take in life is just as important in order to reach your goals and achieve your dreams. Of course, social media is only a highlight reel – and nobody can be expected to show every part of their life. It may be that this specific influencer doesn’t take breaks, so they’re only showing exactly what they do. But that’s exactly it: the harsh reality of hustle culture. In order for this lifestyle to be seen as toxic, someone has to start showing the authenticity behind it.

So ask yourself this, if someone with a large platform always posts themselves on the grind, how is that going to look to their followers who may be of a similar age and don’t think they’re doing enough?

THE CONSEQUENCES OF HUSTLE CULTURE

The lifestyle of constantly hustling will inevitably lead to many repercussions. As hustle culture is increasingly promoted: people continuously work to make ends meet, and attempt to live up to the societal standards. Burnout is bound to be on the rise, while employee’s wellbeing simultaneously deteriorates. A study found that new young employees have said that only 7% of them have never felt stress or overwhelmed, compared to 30% for older people.

Despite the increased working levels, hustle culture even negatively effects employers. with a continuation of work at home, and a lack of necessary breaks – employees overall productivity levels are have actually seemed to decline in the workplace because they’re overworking themselves and haven’t given themselves any time to rejuvenate before they next have to work again. So, when they do work again, they’ve lost focus, and are more prone to making mistakes. As they overwork themselves again to attempt to fix them, it just becomes and endless, draining cycle.

Even statistics can prove this, in the UK around half a million people are stressed because of their jobs. The sad part is that now it’s so difficult to find a solution. We can’t pinpoint if it’s wanting to live up to expectations, or they’ve actually overworked themselves or any other cause! And in this crisis, working (in some sectors more than others) is essential, not just personally but also nationally. Raising pressure levels further, especially for young people who know that they are the future and ones who need to find the answers. The Mental Health Foundation found that 60% of young people were unable to cope due to the pressure of succeeding.

BREAKING DOWN THE TOXIC CYCLE

So when it truly comes down to it, how can we promote rest, change societal expectations and help young people cope in the current economic situation?

To me, I’d love to see more encouragement of downtime. I think we are slowly starting to see it, but I’d like to see more creators and even employers just acknowledge that with hard work also comes rest. Giving people that choice really allows them to see the contrast of no rest, and the benefits of it. Allowing them to perform their best – and hopefully discourage the cycle from repeating again in the future.

This could be through providing breaks to employees at work, or an influencer showing how they relax when they’re not doing work. These are known as Break Culture and this lifestyle is definitely a good direction to go in.

Something a lot of people have realised, is that to break the pattern they have to be direct. Not just with the people around them, but also with themselves. What this means is building an understanding with yourself to know when it’s time to stop, and identifying if burnout is there. If it is, then it’s time to be upfront with people around you regarding rest and prioritising yourself.

So guys, those are my thoughts on hustle culture. Of course, the ending was a bit more constructive and solution-based as I try to do in all my posts. If you want to see my sources, then you’ll find them linked in the most relevant part of the post. Thank you so much for reading, if you have any thoughts on this lifestyle, then please do share in the comments!

Have an amazing year!

Setting Our 2023 Goals With A Fresh Lens

January 1, 2023January 1, 202320 Comments

Hello everyone, welcome or welcome back to my blog – and welcome to 2023! It feels so crazy that we are already in a new year, I thought that 2022 went so fast. I’m hoping you guys did something fun to celebrate the new year, I watched the fireworks display on TV with my family! Anyway, now that we are in 2023, it’s time to look at the new year with a fresh mindset and to set some new goals. These goals are quite general, meaning you could use them too, but also personal at the same time. Today, I’ll be sharing my new goals – but also how I’m planning on achieving them. Let’s jump into it!

What Do I Mean By A ‘Fresh Lens’?

When referring to a ‘fresh lens’, what I truly mean is a new, unbiased perspective on everything. When it comes to goals, new years ones especially, we tend to just focus on what happened last year. This frequently leaves myself thinking if something went badly last year, then how am I supposed to do better at that same thing this year? But, that’s the purpose of the fresh lens – forgetting about what happened in the past and treating your new goals like a clean slate.

2022 is in the past, so no matter how you did on your goals last year – don’t let that influence what you achieve this year! When you do that, you will honestly surprise yourself with what you can achieve once all your past or subconscious expectations have been forgotten about.

1 – Being Content With Change

This first goal is applicable to everyone in some way, there’s always going to be some level of change that everyone experiences in a year, and it’s important to be upfront about it from the beginning so you aren’t caught off-guard if it does come around, and you’re aware on how you can process it.

For myself, I’ve already known that this was going to be a year of change for me. I’ll be taking public exams which determine the school I go to in my next academic year. I know it’s change that I want, but there’s no doubt that it’s going to be hard since it will change so many parts of my life. Alongside this, there are other things I hope to do this year which will change me in some ways and albeit the outward excitement, I know that I may find it hard to adjust.

Therefore, I’ve decided that I’ll be focusing on gratitude whenever I feel uncomfortable with change. Even though I’ll be in new situations, I know how lucky I’ll be to have a variety of opportunities. And even more simply, I’ll have my family, friends and support to help me through it! Even if your scenario of change is in the worst way possible, try to think of the simple things you do have, and hopefully it can be helpful.

2 – Giving Myself Some ‘Breathing Room’

When I refer to ‘breathing room’ I’m essentially giving myself some space in terms of my goals. It means, I’m not constricting myself to one specific number or target, and be more general with any quantitative goals that I do want to set for myself.

Meaning anything along the lines of academic grades or blog followers (to name a few) will be approached more generally rather than specifically. Instead of saying to myself, ‘I want to get the highest grade possible’, I’ll set myself the goal of ‘Raising my grade by one level.’ That way, I’m not burning myself out, but there will still be a level of improvement and my goal will be more likely to have been achieved by the end of the year.

‘Breathing room’ will prevent me from being upset with myself if I don’t feel like I’m good enough at the end of the year, and also allow me to better myself, leaving me with something to actually show for the hard work I’ve put in – even if it’s not numerical, I know I’ve done well!

3 – Spend More Time Planning Consistently

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, then you will be very familiar with the fact that I am a planner and that planning really helps me to properly organise myself. I tend to really start the year out well with my planning, but as I approach the end of the year, I simply just stop planning. Maybe it’s the part of me that wants to switch off at the end of the year – but I know that it really affects my productivity.

So, I want to try and take simple steps to make my planning much easier this year so it can be a consistent thing. I’m planning to use online platforms such as Google Calendar to make life as simply as possible. And also getting a pre-made planner so that I don’t have to waste time making my own spreads, which I think was a reason that I avoid planning at the end of the year!

Thank you all so much for reading this post, I really enjoyed writing it – and I hope it can help you guys choose goals to make best starts of the year possible!

Have an amazing year!

Working Too Hard? Here’s How You Can Avoid Burnout Approaching The Holiday Season

December 4, 2022December 4, 202214 Comments

Hello everyone it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to my blog! I can’t believe that it’s already December, I feel like the year has gone so fast – but I love that we’re approaching a festive time of year. This is a time of positivity, where you should solely focus on relaxing and spending time with the people you love. I do know that sometimes this can be very difficult, so today I want to share what’s worked for me when I try to avoid burnout close to the holiday season, so that I can still be somewhat productive and work if I need to, while also using the time off to actually rejuvenate. Let’s jump into it!

Identifying Burnout

I think there’s a large difference between working hard and being in burnout, but surprisingly it’s hard to identify burnout for yourself. The World Health Organisation definition is:

Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualised as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed
WHO

This is a very complicated definition, but to me burnout is overworking yourself to the capacity where you lose yourself in the tasks, and you start to experience physical and mental consequences because of this. When I spoke with productivity expert Grace Marshall, she made the very valid point that, ‘you never feel like you’re enough, there’s always more we can be doing.’ This feeling is continuous and this constant cycle is a huge factor when it comes to burnout.

1 – Timeblock Your Tasks

As the definition stated, tine management is a leading cause of burnout for so many people. And it’s completely understandable – because sometimes you can just be so overwhelmed with what you have to do. And simultaneously, during the holiday season, the last thing you want to be doing is planning, because you just want to do everything on your own schedule. But, actively taking the time to plan your days means that you can delegate your tasks between days so that you have less to do daily. And, you can go even more specific and choose when you’ll do each task. You’ll be able to decide whether you should do the large jobs first, or work your way up to them (it’s your preference!)

Timeblocking is also very specific because you’re looking at your break cumulatively meaning that you can account for your other plans, or just add in time where you do nothing! And that’s completely valid because you would have already planned to get everything done on other days. Or, just at another time on the same day. You can choose just to time block days or narrow your focus down to what you’ll do every hour of every day.

Whatever you decide (timeblocking is so versatile) you can ensure that you get all your tasks done while also making sure that you don’t overwork yourself if random days are more saturated with work than others! Your workload will be spread at your comfort.

2 – Assign Yourself Some Absolute Rest Days

Your period of time off is usually always centred around a specific holiday such as Christmas or even New Years. Well, use those dates as guidance as to when you should take 100% of the day off and do absolutely nothing! Don’t get me wrong, in this time you may still need to do work tasks, or homework etc. But, to ensure that you don’t hit a work block or get to burnout, make sure you take a few days off and use the entirety to just switch off your work or school brain.

Also, you don’t necessarily have to celebrate the event – your rest day doesn’t even have to be on an event day! Just pick a random day to switch off and simply enjoy your time relaxing!

3 – Temporarily Remove Any Reminders Of Work You Have

Of course you still may have to work, but on the days where you feel quite tired, or even on one of your absolute rest days, just remove any reminder of the work you have. Honestly, just temporarily storing your work in a cupboard or draw will allow you to focus your attention on something else rather than just thinking about the work sitting on your desk and how you may have to do it. Some people even delete their email app off of their phone if they find they keep thinking about responses!

Remember, your time off from school or work is something to be treasured – even if you still have to be a little bit productive. Hopefully, just changing the location of your work can give your mind the break it deserves.

I hope this proves to be useful to you all as we enter the holiday period, remember you deserve some rest! Thank you so much for reading, let me know in the comments if you have any other advice for avoiding burnout.

Have an amazing day!

I’m Back! + Life / Blog Update

November 24, 2022November 20, 202215 Comments

Hello everyone it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to Zainab Chats! It feels so rewarding to finally be able to type this again. In case you didn’t know, I’ve been on a two week break from blogging in order to focus on my mock exams for school. And I’m happy to say, I thought they went really well – and now I’m able to come back to the blog! So today, I went to share with you updates on my blog, and what I’m hoping to do with this blog for the future. Let’s jump into it!

Mock Exams & Results

First of all, let’s talk about my exams. Thankfully, they went much smoother than I anticipated them to be. As you guys know, I do put a lot of pressure on myself to do well, but a lot of the time it does backfire – and I was worried it would happen this time around. But thankfully, it didn’t. And the key to this, for me, was to allow myself to work through my processes uninterrupted. Instead of thinking I couldn’t do something, I encouraged myself. For once, this actually eased my nerves which I think was what helped me be calm, which again I did not expect!

I have not received my results yet, I get them back in a couple of weeks. Once I do, I want to write some posts on coping with exam nerves and stress! It’s honestly been a journey for me, and I think I’m finally starting to understand myself and make it better – so I’d love to share more of my experiences with you guys.

Reading & Book Reviews

In a strange turn of events, I’ve been reading so much more! Don’t get me wrong, before my break I would read every now and again – but it had to be a book I utterly loved. Otherwise, I would’ve much rather watched something on Netflix. But, I kept finding myself turning to books and making frequent trips to the library to get new ones. And I’m living for this! I’m still in my usual thriller and romance genres, but I’m thinking of expanding to more varied genres!

I’m going to try and post some reviews of the books I’ve read. In the meanwhile, you can go to my Goodreads to see what I’ve read recently. I actually finished my 2022 reading challenge!

More Collaborations

One of the things I used to do in my early days of blogging was collaborations, and I loved connecting in that way! But recently, I have not been doing this – and I want to try and do more posts with you guys involved. I actually have a collaboration scheduled for my next post which I’m really excited about! I’d love to do school related posts, opinion pieces, etc. So, do feel free to reach out if you want to collaborate!

In terms of interviews, I’ll obviously keep trying to get people on that will be beneficial for you guys! It’s very difficult, but I’m doing my best. One thing is, I’d like to invite more people on who are involved in current affairs – I think it would be informative for us to listen to. So, I’ll try and work on that too!

The Types Of Writing I’d Like To Post

Leading on from the last point, the type of posts I really want to write now are going to be focusing on the quality of my work as well. I really want to write and give my opinions on things happening in the world – while also keeping to the core of what this blog is all about: Positivity! Let me know what kind of posts you’d like to see.

Thank you so much for reading this post, I really hope you all enjoyed it! Let’s catch up – let me know in the comments how you’ve been.

Have a great week!

Learning To Break Down The Stigma Of Failure

October 30, 2022October 30, 20228 Comments

Hello everyone it’s Zainab here, welcome or welcome back to my blog! Today’s post is going to be about a topic that I struggle quite a bit with – and I’ve spoken to a lot of you guys about it to. Failure is something a lot of people go through in life, and I won’t lie – it scares me a lot. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to ask myself why I feel this way. So today, I’m going to be addressing the idea of failure and thoughts around it. Also this post was inspired by Anita Ezema, so do check out her post. Let’s jump into it!

Why Is There Such A Big Fear Of Failure?

When I was looking into the idea of failure for this blog post, I honestly didn’t know where to start. Personally, I’ve always seen failure as a negative thing – and I know a lot of people who think the same, and I am still wondering why we have this perception of failure to begin with. But, I started thinking – maybe it’s just naturally how we are. As human beings, we have the innate feeling of wanting to go towards safety and comfort. And failure is definitely not the most comforting thing in the world.

I do also believe there’s external factors that come into play though. I mean, in everything you do you want to succeed. I’m not aware of many people who set out to do something to fail. And throughout our lives, we’re always told to do well and try our best; and rightly so. But, I think this creates a subconscious fear of failure.

So achieving anything but success is obviously going to affect us subconsciously from what we’re told in life, and how we are as humans. However, I think the problem starts when we start to fear failure – which I’ll be honest, I’ve felt numerous times in my life.

Utilising Failure

Once I figured out the cause, I really wanted to look into the positive side of failure (as you guys know, I’m also trying to be a positive realist – so this was very important to me!) And what I came to realise is failure helps you grow. If you fail in something, you can use that to help you make improvements – or decide to take a step in a different direction that you’re better at. The key thing I’m trying to realise is that fear can help you navigate your next direction in life.

Will Smith actually posted his perspective of failure on his Instagram (embedded below) and at the time of first being told about it, I didn’t really listen. But now that I’m older, I’ve looked back at it – and it’s really changed my perspective! He said that you can take failure as a lesson, and that he needed it in order to be successful. And that was so comforting to hear.

It’s quite universal as you can take it for all aspects of life, whether it’s learning lessons in your personal life, or improving your school grade from past failures. Failure is vital – it may seem like the worst thing at the time (trust me, I’ve been there) but I promise you, the feeling of inadequacy does get better – and you can use the failure to help better yourself for the future!

How Can We Change Our Way Of Thinking About Failure

When I think about this, I won’t lie it’s very difficult – because I know how much it feels like our brains are automatically wired to detest failure and crave success. While, yes, we should obviously strive for success, it’s important we find a way to change our relationship with failure.

The way I’m trying to do this is by changing my perception on what it means. Instead of thinking of failing a test as a horrible thing, I’ll think that it’s a chance to get a new place to start revising and going over. Again, I know the difficulty of this – I find it so challenging to do this – but it can be so beneficial once you manage this.

I’m going to try and think of each encounter with failure as a cumulative stepping stone to success. And I think with this mindset, I can change how I think about failure and utilise this to produce overall improvements in mine, and your, life!

Thank you so much for reading this post, looking into it and writing it was a really eye opening experience for me. I’m about to go into some difficult exams soon so I’m going to try and use this mindset if anything goes wrong! Let me know in the comments your perception of success.

Have a great week!