Browsing Tag

tips

Blogging

Simple SEO tricks bloggers should know

December 1, 2015
Simple SEO Tricks

I have been blogging at Hello The Mushroom for the past few years and to be honest, for a long time I’ve always heard things get thrown around about SEO all the time. “What is SEO? What can it do for you and your blog? Does it really work?”. Who hasn’t seen these floating around the internet or wondered about it themselves?

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London

Top 11 things to do in West London

May 26, 2015
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No matter who you are or where you come from – London is the centre of all professions, faiths and orientations. Be sure that here you will find a place that would be perfect for you. Fate has landed me in the western part of the city and I keep complaining to my friends that the most exciting things always happen in the East.

No matter what you are interested in: the coolest places to live in London, the best universities or postgraduate accommodation London, the best places for young professionals, the most beautiful parts of London – you will find everything in this wonderful city. But if you stay in its western part, here are the top 11 things you need to do without fail.

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Lifestyle

My 7 Top Tips for Staying Warm This Winter

December 17, 2014

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As we are bracing ourselves for Winter, I am putting together a list of my tips to staying warm in this cold, cold season. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s been a learning process, adapting to the cold temperatures in the UK and I’ve learned a few things in these last 4 years. There is nothing worse than having to leave the house and find that you’re not wearing the appropriate clothes.

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Uncategorized

Burning out – and how I’m avoiding it

August 21, 2014

Lately life has been soo busy, that I’m seriously in need of a break… I wake up every morning feeling like I haven’t slept. I spend whole days feeling drained and with no energy, with difficulty concentrating. All I do is complain that I feel tired, which is not good for me nor for my friends, who are probably sick of listening to me by now.

I’m so tired that I started thinking where can I cut down on activities that can generate anxiety and pressure? I questioned all the involvement in social media. Is it really worth the energy investment? Sometimes I feel like quitting Facebook altogether, so when I read this article on Molly Crabapple on Wired, this bit hit home:

“Twitter is the place where we crack jokes with our friends and where we see oppression, sorrow and war,” she continues, adding that she sometimes wonders if humans are equipped to cope with seeing this much suffering. It’s important to remember that having us constantly distracted and traumatised is a great plan for businesses, but it’s not so good for us.

It doesn’t mean that she would avoid or regret the internet though, she believes. Online life is not inherently false,” she says, just as “the real world is not inherently true”. “Burnout is real and we are not meant to consume all the knowledge in the world. We will always lose if we attempt to match the internet’s pace.”

So that’s it. I’m giving myself a break. I’ll still be blogging and checking FB every now and then but I need to stop checking social media obsessively. It’s not going anywhere so might as well just leave it alone.

I’m simplifying my life. Not entirely sure how yet, but I recently read that one is only capable of  making a certain amount of decisions every day. If I waste all my decision making energy every day before I even leave the house, it’s bound to leave me feeling stressed for the rest of the day. Deciding what to wear the previous day might help, as well as leaving my bag packed.

I have to learn to say no. Say no to activities, to nights out, to meeting with people. Seriously, I love all this but if I can’t function because I haven’t given myself enough downtime, this has got to stop. Living in London can be exhausting and there’s always something happening, so it is easy to end up doing too much because, FOMO.

I’m reading more books. Since I moved to London I already finished reading a couple of books. My shelves are full of books I haven’t read yet, now that I take the tube to some places I managed to start getting through them. All I need to do now is leave the computer alone and just relax with a book and a cuppa when I’m at home.

Getting back into yoga. If I spend more time at home, I will be able to start doing yoga again, which as we all know is beneficial in so many ways.

Eat more greens (especially brocolli). Eating healthily might also help. I’ve recently become addicted to avocado, which is a good thing to be addicted to, if I may say so.

Reduce alcohol intake. Having a cheeky pint every now and then or a glass of wine is ok, but not every day. Especially when you feel like you NEED it to relax.

Taking a day off to not do anything. that’s what I’m doing next week. Just staying home, taking naps and relaxing.

So these are a few of my things I’m doing. Do you have any other suggestions? Drop me a line!

Uncategorized

Travelling by train in the UK – some tips

June 5, 2014

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Are you thinking of taking the train somewhere?  I think about it all the time… I usually say that the best feature about Grantham is the train station! I take it to go to the airports or to just go somewhere else in the country. I ride the train frequently… it’s my life line to the rest of the world. As such, I’ve learned a few tricks on how to navigate it. 

Buying the tickets

  • Try to get them in advance, as much as possible. Check the thetrainline.co.uk for prices and just to make sure you are getting the best deal, also check the train company’s own website, as that might save you at least the booking fee. Alternatively, try Take The Train as it will spot the cheapest ones for you straight away.
  • If you find that your trip is way too expensive, try buying separate tickets for the different parts of the journey. It sounds weird but it works in some situations – for example: a ticket from Grantham to London, during peak times can cost on average £86 or more. If you get a ticket to Peterborough at around the same time, it can cost you as little as £6 or £7, up to £11, depending on the train. If you then get another ticket from Peterborough to London, you can get it for £29 or £31 on average. It’s still not dirt cheap but it almost halves the cost of the initial ticket. It doesn’t make much sense why it is like this, but it’s worth trying. If you’re on iPhone, you might want to try the app Tickety Split (up until this date, I don’t think there is an alternative for Android, sadly). I’ve never used it (I’m on Android) but it does the ticket splitting for you. Check out what the MoneySavingExpert has to say about it. Needless to say, you should try and avoid peak times at all costs.
  • You can also try buying two separate singles, as it might work out cheaper than buying a return ticket. Unless, of course, you want to buy an open return.
  • Most train companies will offer a group discount for parties of 3 to 9 people. Check here before you buy as it might be worth it.

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Make yourself comfortable

  • Most inter-cities trains will have power sockets, so I always book the window seat. It might not be the best arrangement if you need the toilet, but I also avoid that as much as possible. At least you know that your phone won’t be out of juice by the time you arrive to your destination or if you’re on a very long trip, why not plug in your laptop or tablet and watch a movie?
  • When I take an early train (as is sometimes necessary, when catching flights) I also like to have my cushion handy, not just for the flight. As it’s early, most people will also be napping, so do the same!
  • When I’m not watching my pennies too closely, I actually like to buy a hot drink at the station, especially during those horrid grey and cold days. My favourite is the chai latte. Yum! Other than that, avoid buying food or drinks at the station – it’s usually a rip off.

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Don’t forget to mind the gap! Do you have any suggestions of your own?