organization

My Blogging Goals

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

I’ve been blogging on here since June of 2019, and I’d like to think that I’ve made a lot of progress, grown my blog a decent amount (not a ton, but more than I expected!) and come up with a lot of interesting content. That being said, I know this is only the beginning and I plan to keep blogging for a long time, so I thought it might be interesting if I shared my blogging goals with you all. Also, by writing them down and sending them out into the universe, hopefully they’ll come true. If you want to hear my goals for this blog or get inspired to set goals for your own blog, keep on reading!

Goal One: Figure out what my main “purpose” of this blog is, or determine some sort of genre/niche.

I’ve explored many different topics on this blog and tend to write about whatever I want or whatever pops into my head that week, which has been wonderful! It’s a great creative outlet, and I’ve enjoyed getting to see how people respond to the different types of content I’ve posted. However, I feel that as I’ve gained more readers, there may be a split in what people followed/came across my blog for. I don’t want to be disappointing people who came to my blog in search of a certain type of content, and then completely shift away from posting that type of content. Also, many expert bloggers suggest you have a specific niche or topic you blog about in order to connect with your audience. Right now, my blog is kind of just me in blog form, offering up any advice I have and discussing my high school adventures (that’s where the name came from!). I don’t want to limit myself to only writing posts centered around one topic, but I’d like to kind of narrow my focus so it’s easier to connect with you guys and help people find the content they’re looking for.

Goal Two: Make blog friends and find blogs similar to mine.

I’ve come across a few really cool blogs, and I tend to check out a lot of the people who end up liking my posts or following me (and I check out everyone who leaves a comment :)), but I haven’t interacted with other bloggers as much as I’d like to. I’d be interested in possibly doing a guest post exchange with people, and just meeting people who like to write about the same things I do, because that would obviously mean we have some things in common and would get along. Blogging is a form of social media, so I want to make my blog a more, well, social experience.

Goal Three: Figure out how to optimize my blog’s SEO/get people to be able to see my blog when they search stuff.

I have no idea if I worded this correctly or how to do this, but I know WordPress has tools that can help. I just want this blog to get more exposure since I work really hard on it and have enjoyed the slow, steady growth so far. I’m definitely not doing this to make money or to get famous as I know how unlikely that is and that wasn’t my intention in making a blog; I’ve created this blog as a safe, creative space to share my thoughts and hopefully some helpful advice. That being said, I want to make sure my thoughts and advice get seen, especially by people who are searching for content like mine! I have to figure out how to do this, but I’m sure some online research will do the trick.

Goal Four: Make my blog more aesthetically pleasing and organized, formatting-wise.

I have a basic layout and I haven’t experimented much with the things I can do with my blog page. I’d like to make it represent me and my content a little more. I’d also like to organize the different categories of posts I make better so it’s easier to navigate in case anyone’s confused (I know I would be) by all the different types of content I have on my page. Again, this is something I could probably figure out easily by doing some online research or just reading WordPress’s guides, but I’ve held off just because even once I know how to edit these things, I’m not sure where I want to go with it/how I want to customize my site.

Those are my four main blogging goals at the moment. I hope they inspire you fellow small (or medium, or large!) bloggers out there, or just gave you some insight into what I hope I can do with this blog in the near future. I highly recommend starting a blog even if you don’t know what you want to do with it- that’s what I did at first, and now it’s something I look forward to working on every week.

Brooke

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Reusable Notebook Review – Rocketbook

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I’m going to go more into-depth on my experience with a product that I received as a Christmas gift and had been wanting for a while: the Rocketbook reusable notebook. I found out about this product from a Buzzfeed video and I knew I wanted to try it because of it’s eco-friendliness and convenience. I’m a big planner and I like to write out basically my whole life on paper, so it would be a way to continue doing this without as much waste, but still getting the feeling of actually writing and not having to go fully digital. If you’re interested in getting this product or something similar, keep on reading!

In case you’re confused on what the Rocketbook is, it’s a notebook where the ink can be erased from the pages. In order to preserve whatever writing you have, there’s a QR code on each page that you scan using the Rocketbook app, and the contents of the page will be sent to your online destination of choice as a PDF or JPEG file. Once you’ve digitally saved the file, you wet the microfiber cloth that comes with the notebook and use it to erase the special pen ink from the pages- and repeat!

For specifics, I received the Letter size Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook in Deep Space Gray, purchased off of Amazon for $34.00 (I picked it out so I know the details ;)). When you receive the notebook, it also comes with a little instruction manual, an erasable Pilot Frixon pen in black, and a towel that erases the pen ink from the pages when dampened. The notebook is thirty pages. The instruction manual tells you to download the Rocketbook app from the App Store, and things get exciting from there.

The app comes with how-to videos in case you get confused on anything, but it will start with having you make an account and link it to an email and/or some sort of cloud. I linked mine to my main email account (a Gmail account) and the Google Drive that goes with it. There are 7 categories that you can connect to different destinations so you can organize where your files are going if you’re using one notebook for different subjects/purposes. Your scans will also be preserved in the app to look back on in case you lose track of them in whatever online file storage you sent them to.

I’ve really enjoyed using it so far- I don’t waste paper on simple to-do lists, and I can keep a lot of thoughts in one place. I don’t love the dot-grid since I tend to write crooked without structured lines, but it’s not a deal-breaker since I only use it for planning and creative writing. It would be bother me more if I used it for school and note-taking though. It definitely feels different than writing with a normal pen and normal paper, but it’s not different enough to be weird. I don’t think there’s much more to say about using it, but I’ll include some pictures to give you more of an idea!

Here’s the overview of a page- the inside cover has the seven categories’ images.
A close-up to give you an idea of how the pen writes!
The scan history screen in all its glory.

I hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know if you end up getting a Rocketbook or similar product and how your experience goes 🙂

Brooke

How I Organize My Closet (Before Renovation!)

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I have another organization and room-related post. If you’ve been around for a while, you might’ve read my posts about the recent bathroom renovations in my house. My parents found an independent contractor through a friend for the renovations, and they also wanted to get the closets in our house redone. The contractor offered to throw them into the price of our bathroom renovations as a small addition (aka a LOT cheaper than actual closet renovation companies) since we had already given them a lot of business. We’re working with them to determine what systems of organization (shelving vs. drawers, etc.) we want in the closets right now, but soon we’ll be back in renovation mode.

As part of my New Year’s cleaning last week, I also tried to go through my closet, clean it out, and reorganize some things. I figured it would be interesting to do a post on how I’ve kept it organized before the renovation, and I’ll make a similar post after it’s completed. My closet initially came with nothing but one hanging rod and a shelf at the top, so I’ve had to figure out my own little do-it-yourself ways to put some sort of structure in and organize everything. As a disclaimer, I also have a dresser and I keep my sneakers/everyday shoes lined up in a different part of my room, so it is a bit easier for me to keep my closet organized because of that.

On the left side of my closet, I keep most of my clothes in plastic drawers. The three-drawer container on the top is from Target, and the one on the bottom is from Target but not currently in stores. From top to bottom, here’s how I organize the drawers: one drawer for fuzzy socks and other cold-weather accessories, one for socks, bras, and underwear, one for all of my cheer outfits and other school spirit wear, one for non-jean shorts and non-jeans or sweatpants pants, one for jeans and sweatpants, and one for all my pajamas. On top of the first container, I have my current memory box which is about to be overflowing. I have all my skirts hanging and a bunch of extra pants hangers from Target, and all my rompers/dresses hanging. In the small open floor space next to my laundry basket, I keep my cheer shoes, slippers, my UGG boots, and my two pairs of dressy shoes/heels. On the top shelf, I have an extra shoebox (my next memory box!) and another pair of cheer shoes on top of it, next to… another pair of cheer shoes. I have my suitcase leaning against these.

On the right side of my closet, I keep my laundry basket on the ground next to two more sets of storage drawers from Target. From top to bottom, I have one drawer for long sleeve shirts, one for fancier shirts, one for my cuter t-shirts to wear to school, and one for all my shirts I’ve accumulated from volunteer events, cheer events, and other extracurriculars. I have the rest of my dresses hanging, and all of my jackets, along with a bunch of extra pants hangers and other hangers. On the top shelf, I have a bin from Target full of tote bags and Lululemon bags that I can use for various things to carry stuff around to school and friends’ houses. I also have a huge plastic bin from Target which is kind of my ultimate memory box. I have yearbooks, scrapbooks, my childhood stuffed animals, and anything I actually thought was important enough to save from when I was little.

I know it’s kind of basic, but I’m proud of how organized I’ve been able to keep things. If you have a similar closet situation, I highly recommend going to Target and finding some plastic bins and storage drawers to help organize your space as much as possible. They’re fairly inexpensive, which is why I ended up using them until now, and they’ve worked perfectly for the purpose I used them for. I’m excited to get my closet professionally redone so I can sort of design my own organization system, but you definitely don’t have to do that and spend a bunch of money to have a nice and organized space.

I hope this inspires you to organize your closet. If you guys were interested in this, definitely keep a lookout for my closet organization post-renovations post! I have no clue when renovation will start and end or when I’ll be able to post about it, but it will happen eventually 🙂

-Brooke

How to Declutter Your Electronics

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

I mentioned in my post a couple days ago that decluttering your electronic devices is an underrated form of organization, and that I would make a post specifically detailing it soon. Well, here it is! There’s probably tons of documents, apps, and other stuff on your phone that you’ve completely forgotten about and don’t need anymore. I highly recommend following these tips to clear out your phone and ~organize~ another part of your life, especially if you’re always running out of space on your devices.

  • Delete old text messages, notes, voice memos, and emails – These are all little documents you probably haven’t looked at in a long time and probably will never look at again. Unless someone has sent you something important or you have a few notes that are filled with important info, I would honestly clear most everything out. I feel like emails are the area where you’ll probably keep the most, because there’s a lot of important work/school stuff.
  • Delete pictures you don’t want (mainly screenshots) – Obviously don’t feel pressured to get rid of meaningful pictures you actually like, but I know personally I take tons of pictures of the homework for the day written on the board in school and other stuff like that and forget to delete them later, or screenshots of other school-related stuff from my teachers’ websites. Clear all these out unless you need them still.
  • Delete downloaded music you don’t want anymore – If you have a streaming service like Apple Music or Spotify, you’ll always be able to download them again later, but right now they’re taking up valuable space on your phone for no reason. Delete anything that you don’t remember what it is- that’s a good sign you don’t listen to it, and remove playlists you never listen to while you’re at it.
  • Delete apps you don’t use anymore – I find deleting games is a good thing to do since they’re relatively unused unless you’re on long car rides or flights and need something to do, and they take up a lot of space. Otherwise, just delete whatever else you don’t need.
  • Wipe down the screen/keyboard/etc. of the device – Time for the actual cleaning! There’s so many germs on our devices from using them all the time, so take a Clorox/disinfectant wipe and really clean off the surfaces.
  • Unfollow people you’re no longer interested in staying in touch with on social media – You can unfollow people’s old accounts they don’t use anymore, accounts you don’t like seeing, celebrities you don’t care about that much, and anyone else who you don’t feel attached to seeing their posts. I also recommend removing them from following you if they currently do, just so you don’t have to be attached to their account.
  • Delete old contacts – Approach this with caution since you never know when you’ll need to contact someone, but we all have those random numbers of people we never really knew from group chats we’d get put in… yeah, you can delete those.
  • Clear your search history and cookies – Not because you have anything to hide (if you do, that’s fine too), but because the website data actually takes up space. This is an easy way to free up a little bit of space, and you’ll stop getting all those creepy automatic fill-ins while browsing (nope, just me bothered by that?).
  • Change your wallpaper and password if necessary – This is totally optional, but it’s always nice to change it up! I like to change my wallpaper to a time that I’m currently missing- right now it’s the Amalfi Coast from my trip to Italy last summer. The water was so gorgeous.
  • Back up your device – Now that you have everything cleared out, you’ll want to preserve your phone/device how it is! Back your phone up to your computer and back your computer up to a hard drive.

I hope this helped any of you guys that wanted to clean out all the junk from your digital life! Since our devices are such a major part of our everyday life now, it’s just as important for them to be organized as our concrete workspaces.

Brooke