Inspiration – Page 6

Finding the Time to Blog When You Have a Full-Time Job

March 22, 2014Inspiration, Life, Thinking1 Comment

For a while, I was just living the freelance life and underemployed. That meant hours were flexible and I had a lot of free time to do whatever I wanted when I was between projects. My blogs and sites were active and fruitful.

Recently, I have obtained work that is more time consuming and has unpredictable office hours. This made it more difficult to schedule time in advance to blog, because time seemed like a scarce luxury. Obviously since there are still posts churning out on all my content streams, I have found ways to adjust to this new transition. Here are some tips:

Find out what your internet policy is at work. This is an important first step if you want to blog at work (during downtimes/breaks of course). Some companies don’t allow you to use internet services outside of work purposes and you must abide by those rules. Personally, I don’t blog at work because I have way too many other things to be doing so the next few steps are more useful.

Schedule Content in Advance. To keep my music blog alive and active, I schedule a lot of content in advance. There’s always a period of time where I’m like OKAY LET’S SIT DOWN AND BLOG on weekends or evenings and I churn out a bunch of content and schedule them over the next few days. This works better for posts that aren’t particularly time sensitive.

Carry a notebook. I always have a notebook in the vicinity to brainstorm things I want to write about the moment they come up.

Find inspiration everywhere. This applies most when it’s a personal blog and therefore you can post whatever you want – food, photos, projects, inspiration, thoughts. The blog is about YOU after all. Life changes constantly, and there are tons of exciting and thought-provoking things to write about at every corner.

Take advantage of your Smartphone. By now, most people have a smartphone. Whether, it’s an Android or an iPhone, there is a wealth of apps that sync to the cloud. There’s even a WordPress app on both platforms. These can be great for long commutes. Personally, I use OneNote on my iPhone because it syncs with the version on my laptop. I draft a lot of posts while on the train. In fact, this one was partially written on a commute.

Don’t stop. The moment you stop actively blogging for a while, it becomes tough to start again as each day passes. It’s all about finding new ways to fit writing into a new schedule. Sometimes when you have a free half hour, you just have to make yourself sit down and write. It’s totally possible, you just have to stop giving yourself excuses and do it.

I originally published this post on Medium.

Ride the Tempo on CBC Music!

March 7, 2014Inspiration, Life, Music, Social MediaLeave a Comment

Today my music blog Ride the Tempo was featured in CBC’s list of “Canadian Music Blogs You Need to be Reading”. Normally I don’t care for lists but CBC was one of the early outlets that got me caring about Canadian music and influenced me to change the blog’s format to focus entirely on it. It was actually a difficult decision to make. Canadian music is not as popular or hit-generating as some of the bigger indie artists out there. Blogs that write about everything get a lot more hits, and return generate more ad-revenue.

I don’t blog because I think I’ll one day get rich off of it. I love exploring the Canadian music landscape. I care about it and will continue to do so.

Reflecting on Freewriting 1000 Words A Day

February 5, 2014Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

Back in November of 2013, I stumbled on an article on Medium that talked about making a habit of writing 1000 words a day. Around the same time, I also started to freewrite 1000 words a day and did so for the past few months. Most of it was total freewrite, so any words that came to my fingers or the dreams and thoughts that went through my head.

Some became album reviews, blog posts, tweets and Facebook statuses. The majority were rubbish. I started each morning with the exercise, not ceasing until I had indeed reached at least 1000 words. In the end, it became exhausting. I ran out of things to write and it became repetitive. I also often found myself ruminating in negative thoughts over and over. Sometimes it would take up the entire morning and would leave me with little energy to do anything else (though I think that partially has to do with winter SADS). The quality and my enthusiasm for the exercise had plummeted. I didn’t want to write to fill a quota any longer.

That doesn’t mean I’ll stop writing, hell I’m writing this blog post right now. However, like I said in my New Years Resolutions vlog, I don’t want to set strict guidelines for myself that will make me hate things that I normally enjoy. I’ll remain living in the moment and writing the second inspiration hits, like 11pm right now. I’m sure the 1000 word writing challenge can be helpful and useful to some, but it isn’t for me!

My Resolution This Year is to Have None

January 5, 2014Inspiration, LifeLeave a Comment

In the past I’ve written so many post about resolutions and things like that but this year I am going to have none. I made the Vlog below to talk about why.

The Hypocrisy Behind Goldie Blox

November 28, 2013February 21, 2016Inspiration, Lego/Building, LifeLeave a Comment

This post has nothing to do with the copyright case regarding Goldie Blox’s parody of Beastie Boys’ “Girls” in their most recent ad campaign. This new toy line called Goldie Blox has become increasingly popular due to its marketing as a smart toy for girls. However, it fails to see that they are the very problem that they are seemingly trying to fix.

The company’s aim is to “disrupt the pink isle and inspire the future generation of female engineers”. However, if you look at their product line, everything remains in the stereotypical girlish colours of pink and purple, continuing the notion that these are the only toys for our little girls. I am by no means a self-identified feminist (or even a parent) but I do believe in the fact that little girls (and boys) should be exposed to different toys as a child.

I never was the one to play with dolls, I thought they were boring. As a child, I loved to play with what was considered boys toys: Lego, K’nex, video games. I was made fun of in school at an early age for having the “wrong” toys (like a Thomas the Tank Engine train set) . The girls didn’t want to be my friends because I owned few Barbies and didn’t want to play Mystery Date. I hung out with the boys and discovered things like NES and Pokemon cards. For Christmas one year I asked for that machine where you could make your own edible gummy creatures, except I received the one that made dolls.

Though everyone may have their own style of parenting and beliefs, I will show my future child that they don’t have to follow the conventions of society. They don’t have to choose the pink or the blue toys. I believe that if we want our children to grow up to be engineers, scientists and creative people than it starts from the parents, not the toys we buy them.

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I originally published this post on Medium

When All Else Fails, Hit It

October 9, 2013Inspiration, Life, Technology, Video GamesLeave a Comment

Recently, I dug my original Nintendo Entertainment System out of the closet because I wanted to experience the nostalgia of old games once again. Like all old NES systems, I was cursed with the infamous flashing blue screen.

I Google the problem on the internet. I cleaned my games with alcohol and a Q tip. I took the system apart and attempted to repair the 72 prong connector. None of this worked, the blue screen still flashed.

Then I decided to use the method that made the least sense. I hit it. I gave the system a smack and lo and behold, Mario 3’s curtains appeared on the screen. Sometimes what works is not always what can be easily explained.

I think it’s an interesting life lesson to live by. The road we choose may not always be the most logical, but they may lead to something awesome. The answer to problems might require thinking outside of the box (or in this case hitting the box). However, giving up should never be the conclusion.

What’s Your Evil Plan?

September 20, 2013Books, Business, Entertainment, Inspiration, ThinkingLeave a Comment

“Evil Plans- Having Fun on the Road to World Domination” is a cleverly titled book from comic writer and entrepreneur Hugh MacLeod. In fact, I actually discovered the book because it was sitting in the discount book section at Chapters and it sounded both adorable and intriguing.

To those unfamiliar, MacLeod is the artist behind gapingvoid.com. He creates original art for businesses in hopes to spark creativity, not sit in the background like the majority of mountain-climbing motivational posters.

In Evil Plans, he encourages those who are unhappy in their careers to take the risk of leaving and to figure out their life calling aka “evil plan”. The book is written in short chapters, or tips which are then elaborated on with examples and anecdotes. Oh and of course MacLeod’s signature comics.

I think my favourite tip by far was:

“Don’t worry if you don’t know absolutely everything before starting out.”

It’s something many of people struggle with (I know I do) when changing career paths, or starting their own businesses. However as MacLeod states later in the chapter,

“Interesting destinies rarely come from just reading the instruction manual.”

We may not be the most skilled or talented in whatever it is that we enjoy doing, but it doesn’t validate whether we’re able to do those things. The choice we can make is to find something that matters to us and well, just do it.

What is your evil plan?

The Art of War For Writers

September 3, 2013Books, InspirationLeave a Comment

I’ve never really considered myself to be a writer. I sort of just fell in to it through blogging. I’m continually growing, finding my style and turning to others for inspiration. I read obsessively about anything and everything.

I picked up The Art of War for Writers, mostly because it would look awesome on my someday office desk. It wasn’t until recently that I picked it up and read it.

The little reference book by James Scott Bell focuses mostly on novel writing but a lot of it can be applied to other circumstances. Like the title of the book hints, it compares writing a novel and getting it published to fighting in a war.

There are three sections in the book. Reconnaissance deals with the mental game of writing. This was probably my least favourite section as I found it obvious and fluffy. It might be a proper push for those who are afraid to write in fear of judgment. As a blogger, I feel like this fear is close to non-existent or I wouldn’t be a very good blogger.

The Tactics, the most resourceful section, is loaded with tips to improve as a novel writer, many of which can be translated into writing in general. One of my favourites tips is when you have writers block, call on a word and its cousins (synonyms or related words). They can strangely open you up to new pathways.

The final section is Strategy, where Bell gives tips on entering the publishing world including finding the right agents.

The book reads a lot like a series of 78 short blog posts. They get the point across and there are plenty of examples from existing fiction. I recommend this book to any writers (not just fiction) looking for quick tidbits of inspiration. Bonus, the book has a lovely design.

The Power of Habit

July 3, 2013July 3, 2013Books, Business, Inspiration, Life, ThinkingLeave a Comment

In The Power of Habit, Chris Duhigg looks at how the smallest act of habit can have a huge impact on our lives. It also delves into how businesses build marketing plans around our studied human habits. For example, when you walk into a grocery store the first thing you see are fruits and vegetables. They are purposely arranged this way so that we will buy healthy things first and can later convince ourselves to buy junk food.

He also looked into how Febreeze began from failure to a now conscious habit as well as how Target knows what you want to buy, before you even do. There’s plenty of unlikely anecdotes from Starbucks to Martin Luther King Jr and the Indianapolis Colts.

At the end of the book, there’s an appendix that teaches the reader how to integrate some new habits in their lives. There are 4 overall steps:

Identify the Routine – Look at any bad habits you want to change or a good habit you want to add in your life
Experiment With Rewards – Why did you do the bad habit? Did it give some type of satisfaction? Identify how to gain that sensation another way, or to replace it with another reward.
Isolate the Cue – What makes you keep up the habit? Perhaps a friend? Location or time of day? State of mind (ex bored)?
Have A Plan – figure out exactly how you are going to rid a bad habit or add a good one. When will you start?

The Time I Met Johnny Cupcakes

June 28, 2013July 30, 2013Business, Design, Fashion, Inspiration, Thinking1 Comment

I’m 25 so I’ve already sat through many lectures as a university student, college student and the conferences of music festival. By far the most inspirational has been Johnny Cupcakes‘ talk during Toronto’s NXNE. I could be biased because I am a huge fan of the T-shirts myself and it has become a large part of my own personal branding. However, I’ve seen a lot of my favourite bands, labels and companies speak over the years and few have come close to being so memorable, not to mention hilarious.

I had not planned to go to many panels this year during NXNE. I didn’t even look at the schedule. I thought I would need the sleep or extra time to edit photos. However, I ran into @plafleur and she had saved me this Johnny Cupcakes history booklet she found on the ground. Apparently it was in all the delegate bags (with exception to the media ones). I then looked at the program and discovered THE Johnny Cupcakes was doing a panel. Of course I HAD to go.

I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve done festival conferences before and most panels just say what everyone else is saying (THE CLOUD IS THE FUTURE etc etc) or gloss over fancy points. Johnny Earle aka Johnny Cupcakes taught us to think outside the box, and showed us examples of how he has integrated this philosophy with his brand.

Johnny Cupcakes and I! — Johnny Cupcakes making his signature face and I!

Johnny began by telling us his history. He told us how at a young age he tried to make money in different ways such as selling his father’s tools at yard sales (he got in trouble of course) and selling candy, lemonade, whoopee cushions and yearbooks. The name Johnny Cupcakes was something random that co-workers at Newbury Comics had given him. He played with the idea and that’s how the shirts were born. He began selling these shirts to friends and it spread by word of mouth.

Johnny Cupcakes now has stores in Boston, LA, London and of course online, where they ship internationally. The stores all look like bakeries and smell like frosting. Everyday somebody walks in mistaking it for a place that sells food. Delivered packages look like presents and often come with trading cards. You’re meant to be treated like it’s your birthday. Johnny had set out to sell more than just cupcakes. He wanted to give people an experience and it’s a huge reason why he has been so successful. In fact, he even gave the audience members a glimpse of the experience. At the end of the lecture, he told us he had put little gifts under our chairs. When we reached down there was a little packet of stickers, buttons, candy and a trading card. He had even gone to the trouble of making sure we each had different trading cards so that we could trade with our neighbours. After the lecture, he hung around and took pictures with fans old and new.

There was candy, but I got hungry that week and ate it

Anyways, I had written down a lot of the things Johnny said in a notebook but I lost said notebook on the streets of Toronto. It was later picked up by some American musician who brought it home with them. Long story. Here are a few important points I did remember about entrepreneurship and about life:

– Building a brand is hard work, Johnny Cupcakes mentioned that he doesn’t do drugs, drink or play video games. He had put all his energy on video games. He even hired his family to help.
– Connecting with people is important. When he sold things growing up he always went back to the people who had purchased something form him once. Then when he started making T-shirts it was their word of mouth that got things started.
– Small details make a big difference. If you buy a Johnny Cupcakes the tag is an oven mitt. Online boxes are patterned and in-store ones look like cupcake boxes.
– Name 10 things that make you unique. It’s good thing to brainstorm for both job hunters and brands.
– Weird is Good. It gets people talking. Johnny Cupcakes has sold breakfast themed t-shirts with breakfast, put shirts inside icing jars and much more.
– Make things exclusive and limited edition because people like what nobody else has. Johnny had declined offers to mass produce his shirts because he didn’t want to be another fast fad like Ed Hardy T-shirts.

and most importantly: