Author: tracydee

Educator and entrepreneur. Millennial living life to its fullest. Growing, learning, and sharing.
Posted in Uncategorized

Important Things I Learned From Time Blocking My Schedule

Posted on by tracydee

time blocking can be an effective time management strategy

There was a period of about 3-4 months when my schedule was extremely busy. I was juggling three different jobs and my own school work. Not to mention, it was the middle of a pandemic and I was packing up my personal belongings to move to a different state as well. I’m usually very good about managing my time using Google calendar and my to-do lists, but I knew I needed something extra if I was going to make sure everything got done.

I did some research on time blocking and adapted it to fit my needs. How many people approach time blocking is to keep a consistent schedule and do similar tasks in that block. For example:

7am-9am – Morning routine/family

9am-11am – Emails/meetings

11am-1pm – Lunch/ light to-do list items

1pm-3pm – Projects/deep thinking

3pm-5pm – Meetings/weekly planning

And so on. It could change daily or be a set weekly routine that someone follows.

I took this idea and combined it with keeping a calendar to schedule out everything that I had to do for the week and I did this every week. I color coded it by the job or task. Here is an example of one of my weeks.

time blocking

As you can see, I worked quite a bit during that time. Thankfully, my schedule is a little bit lighter now so I don’t have to schedule so strict. However, this method really worked for me when I was juggling a lot of things all at once. The blue was my personal time to do whatever tasks or downtime I needed. I should mention I worked from home through all of this so it was easy to switch between jobs because it was often just a browser or device switch.

I certainly took breaks to get water, coffee, and use the bathroom. I followed good protocol to stand up at least once per hour and rest my eyes from the screen every 20 minutes. So while I didn’t follow this schedule every week to the exact second, I stuck to it pretty closely, and it really helped me accomplish everything without feeling overwhelmed. Every day, I prioritized the tasks that needed to be done that day and followed through on those items to the best extent possible. I had a weekly accountability call with a friend on Sundays to discuss our goals for the week and keep us focused.

Another thing that helped was scheduling times to check my email. Many days I have email open in the background and respond as messages come in if I’m not too busy. However, on days or weeks when I know I will be very busy working on projects, reports, and meetings, I schedule checking email into my calendar. That way, I have the tab closed so it’s not distracting me from my work, but I know I’ll get to it because I’ve prioritized time to deal with it.

I will definitely use this method again during busy seasons of my life!

Posted in Time Management, Work From Home

What I Learned From Time Blocking My Schedule

Posted on by tracydee

There was a period of about 3-4 months when my schedule was extremely busy. I was juggling three different jobs and my own school work. Not to mention, it was the middle of a pandemic and I was packing up my personal belongings to move to a different state as well. I’m usually very good about managing my time using Google calendar and my to-do lists, but I knew I needed something extra if I was going to make sure everything got done.

I did some research on time blocking and adapted it to fit my needs. How many people approach time blocking is to keep a consistent schedule and do similar tasks in that block. For example:

7am-9am – Morning routine/family

9am-11am – Emails/meetings

11am-1pm – Lunch/ light to-do list items

1pm-3pm – Projects/deep thinking

3pm-5pm – Meetings/weekly planning

And so on. It could change daily or be a set weekly routine that someone follows.

I took this idea and combined it with keeping a calendar to schedule out everything that I had to do for the week and I did this every week. I color coded it by the job or task. Here is an example of one of my weeks.

As you can see, I worked quite a bit during that time. Thankfully, my schedule is a little bit lighter now so I don’t have to schedule so strict. However, this method really worked for me when I was juggling a lot of things all at once. The blue was my personal time to do whatever tasks or downtime I needed. I should mention I worked from home through all of this so it was easy to switch between jobs because it was often just a browser or device switch.

I certainly took breaks to get water, coffee, and use the bathroom. I followed good protocol to stand up at least once per hour and rest my eyes from the screen every 20 minutes. So while I didn’t follow this schedule every week to the exact second, I stuck to it pretty closely, and it really helped me accomplish everything without feeling overwhelmed. Every day, I prioritized the tasks that needed to be done that day and followed through on those items to the best extent possible. I had a weekly accountability call with a friend on Sundays to discuss our goals for the week and keep us focused.

Another thing that helped was scheduling times to check my email. Many days I have email open in the background and respond as messages come in if I’m not too busy. However, on days or weeks when I know I will be very busy working on projects, reports, and meetings, I schedule checking email into my calendar. That way, I have the tab closed so it’s not distracting me from my work, but I know I’ll get to it because I’ve prioritized time to deal with it.

I will definitely use this method again during busy seasons of my life!

Posted in Uncategorized

4 Things I Learned About Starting a New Blog

Posted on by tracydee

Starting a new blog is hard work

I wanted to start this blog to share information about what I already know and what I’m learning as well as create a potential outlet for passive income in the future. What I’m finding is that I enjoy writing posts and learning about the technical side of building a website and this really could be more than a side passion if I put my mind to it.

So, one of the things I’m learning is actually how to get this blog going in the first place to build it into something meaningful. I’ve done research by watching YouTube videos and being an expert Googler, but there are still some things that I’m working on. Here are some things that I learned so far:

1. Building Traffic – difference between views and likes

I’m using WordPress premium as my hosting platform. Now that I have about 20 posts on the blog, I’m getting consistent notifications about likes on my posts, which is very exciting. I thought that would immediately translate into more views, but that is not the case. So of course, I Googled it to find out what was going on.

It turns out that most of my readers are viewing the posts through WordPress Reader and liking it there and not actually clicking on the blog itself. So even though the posts are being liked, I’m not getting very many views. Therefore, I need to figure out how to get people to click on the blog and read other content.

2. Building Traffic – Advertising

Now, I’m thinking how do I even let people know about the blog in the first place? I’ve mostly been using Pinterest and creating pins using Canva. I experimented with Pinterest Ads, but it was too expensive and I didn’t get enough clicks to make it worth my while yet. Here is an example of a pin I made for one of my blog posts. I’m considering starting a Twitter account to post tips of the day and drive traffic from there.

starting a new blog

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This is probably the part I still have the most to learn about. The actual building of the site came pretty easily to me since I’ve had to build sites for school projects before. There are a number of websites that let you search for keywords, but the biggest piece of advice I’ve found is to search for long-tail keywords that have lower competition. This is called search engine optimization.

So, perhaps it’s being searched 1,000 times a month, but there aren’t many articles written about that particular topic. Turns out the types of things I like to write about are wildly popular and written about all the time. This is definitely an area of improvement that I’ll keep learning about it and working on for future posts. Perhaps I’ll take an SEO course to help improve my knowledge. It’s something I wish I knew earlier about starting a new blog.

4. Revenue – making money from the blog

One of the reasons of starting a new blog is to make passive income. I’ve watched tons of YouTube videos and read other blog posts to try and figure this one out. It seems you need a combination of advertising, affiliate links, sponsored ads, and even your own personalized premium content. Well, I certainly have lots of ideas and things in the works, but it’s not going to happen overnight. So, for now, I’m just utilizing the WordPress Ads that is built in to the site functions and some Amazon affiliate links.

For transparency, my site ran about 450 ads in February and it generated a revenue of $0.04 and about 1000 ads in March for a revenue of $0.01. Obviously, I was disappointed with the lower number this month even with higher views, so I searched what could be going on. It seems that advertisers might be bidding lower prices for space and my content just hasn’t had enough time to saturate. That’s okay. I actually have a 15-18 month plan in place and this is just the start.

I wanted to share some of the things I’m learning about starting a new blog here with you in this post. Feel free to drop a comment with any tips you have. Let’s help each other!

Posted in Blogging, Personal Skills

What I’m Learning About Starting a Blog in 2021

Posted on by tracydee

I wanted to start this blog to share information about what I already know and what I’m learning as well as create a potential outlet for passive income in the future. What I’m finding is that I enjoy writing posts and learning about the technical side of building a website and this really could be more than a side passion if I put my mind to it. So, one of the things I’m learning is actually how to get this blog going in the first place to build it into something meaningful. I’ve done research by watching YouTube videos and being an expert Googler, but there are still some things that I’m working on. Here are some things that I learned so far:

1. Building Traffic – difference between views and likes

I’m using WordPress premium as my hosting platform. Now that I have about 20 posts on the blog, I’m getting consistent notifications about likes on my posts, which is very exciting. I thought that would immediately translate into more views, but that is not the case. So of course, I Googled it to find out what was going on. It turns on out that most of my readers are viewing the posts through WordPress Reader and liking it there and not actually clicking on the blog itself. So even though the posts are being liked, I’m not getting very many views.

2. Building Traffic – Advertising

Now, I’m thinking how do I even let people know about the blog in the first place? I’ve mostly been using Pinterest and creating pins using Canva. I experimented with Pinterest Ads, but it was too expensive and I didn’t get enough clicks to make it worth my while yet. Here is an example of a pin I made for one of my blog posts. I’m considering starting a Twitter account to post tips of the day and drive traffic from there.

3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

This is probably the part I still have the most to learn about. The actual building of the site came pretty easily to me since I’ve had to build sites for school projects before. There are a number of websites that let you search for keywords, but the biggest piece of advice I’ve found is to search for long tail keywords that have lower competition. So, perhaps it’s being search 1,000 times a month, but there aren’t many articles written about that particular topic. Turns out the types of things I like to write about are wildly popular and written about all the time. This is definitely an area of improvement that I’ll keep learning about it and working on for future posts.

4. Revenue – making money from the blog

I’ve watched tons of YouTube videos and read other blog posts to try and figure this one out. It seems you need a combination of advertising, affiliate links, sponsored ads, and even your own personalized premium content. Well, I certainly have lots of ideas and things in the works, but it’s not going to happen overnight. So, for now I’m just utilizing the WordPress Ads that is built in to the site functions and some Amazon affiliate links. For transparency, my site ran about 450 ads in February and it generated a revenue of $0.04 and about 1000 ads in March for a revenue of $0.01. Obviously, I was disappointed with the lower number this month even with higher views, so I searched what could be going on. It seems that advertisers might be bidding lower prices for space and my content just hasn’t had enough time to saturate. That’s okay. I actually have a 15-18 month plan in place and this is just the start.

I wanted to share some of the things I’m learning about building a blog here with you in this post. Feel free to drop a comment with any tips you have. Let’s help each other!

Posted in Uncategorized

I love my Ipsy subscription!

Posted on by tracydee

I have had an Ipsy subscription for years

To save money, I have been trying to cut down on monthly subscription packages. Honestly, I’m quite a fan of these options because I do feel like they save me money in the long run for the things I use on a regular basis. I did cancel my subscription to Fabletics and Shoedazzle after enjoying them for years. However, I’m not yet willing to part with my subscription to Ipsy.

I used to get the glam bag every month, but now I use the every other month feature. This is helpful because I still get to enjoy the perks without having to spend the money each month. For $12 every other month I get 5 different sample items based on my beauty profile.

I’m not a huge makeup buff, and I think that’s why I love it so much. I get to try new products and see which things I like without having to invest a lot of money on makeup. So, for me, this is enough to keep my supply going for the year.

The makeup also comes in a cute little bag. I have a box of re-gift items where I store things and so I use the bags to give people and put jewelry in them or little candles for birthdays. So, not only am I getting to try out makeup, but I get a little item to gift someone else each time I order.

Another great thing about Ipsy is that you can choose which types of products you’d like to receive. You can add nail polish, perfume, and skin care items.

I will share two of my favorite recent products here. This Illamasqua foundation is one of the best ones that I’ve received in my Ipsy bags. I don’t usually wear foundation, but this was lightweight and blended in really nicely.

I love my Kiss and Smink matte creme lip crayon. I actually ordered a second one. I couldn’t believe the amazing deal I got on this for being a member of Ipsy.

So, no, I’m not a paid sponsor of Ipsy, but I do love the products and the concept and have been a loyal customer for years.

What are you waiting for? Get your Ipsy subscription today! So you can check out Ipsy here if you want to learn more!

Posted in Lifestyle

Why I have subscribed to Ipsy for years

Posted on by tracydee

To save money, I have been trying to cut down on monthly subscription packages. Honestly, I’m quite a fan of these options because I do feel like they save me money in the longer run for the things I use on a regular basis. I did cancel my subscription to Fabletics and Shoedazzle after enjoying them for years. However, I’m not yet willing to part with my subscription to Ipsy.

I used to get the glam bag every month, but now I use the every other month feature. This is helpful because I still get to enjoy the perks without having to spend the money each month. For $12 every other month I get 5 different sample items based on my beauty profile.

I’m not a huge makeup buff, and I think that’s why I love it so much. I get to try new products and see which things I like without having to invest a lot of money on makeup. So, for me, this is enough to keep my supply going for the year.

The makeup also comes in a cute little bag. I have a box of re-gift items where I store things and so I use the bags to give people and put jewelry in them or little candles for birthdays. So, not only am I getting to try out makeup, but I get a little item to gift someone else each time I order.

Another great thing about Ipsy is that you can choose which types of products you’d like to receive. You can add nail polish, perfume, and skin care items.

I will share two of my favorite recent products here. This Illamasqua foundation is one of the best ones that I’ve received in my Ipsy bags. I don’t usually wear foundation, but this was lightweight and blended in really nicely.

I love my Kiss and Smink matte creme lip crayon. I actually ordered a second one. I couldn’t believe the amazing deal I got on this for being a member of Ipsy.

So, no, I’m not a paid sponsor of Ipsy, but I do love the products and the concept and have been a loyal customer for years. So you can check out Ipsy here if you want to learn more!

Posted in Uncategorized

4 Useful iPad Pro Accessories and Why I Love my Ipad Pro

Posted on by tracydee

I bought an iPad in January 2021 and I’m so excited to continue learning cool apps and features to best utilize all it has to offer. Apple’s iPad sales witnessed an impressive 57% surge in 2020, as reported by TabletFeast.com, highlighting the significance of accessories in enhancing the user experience.

I will do another post about the apps I use on the iPad, but I wanted to share some of the accessories I have and what I’m thinking about purchasing. Additionally, here is a YouTube video describing some of my favorite features of my iPad.

And if you like writing on paper, check out this amazing screen protector that makes it feel like you are writing on a notebook.

  1. Cover – This cover is nice because it is lightweight, has space for the Apple Pencil, and stands up with the little triangle fold at the bottom. I chose the violet color and so far, it has worked out great for me.
  1. Paperlike screen protector– This sticky screen protector actually makes it feel like you’re writing on paper with the Apple pencil. It still has the touchscreen capability and gives you the notebook feel.

Other iPad Pro Accessories I’m Considering

  1. Bluetooth keyboard with iPad stand – right now I have an external keyboard and mouse that I use with my laptop stand, but I’m considering getting this all-in-one keyboard iPad stand.
  1. Apple Pencil case – I’m not sure if I want to get the case because I don’t know if it will fit in the charging dock on the iPad without having to take the case off each time. So, I’m holding off on this purchase for now.

What are your suggestions on other helpful iPad Pro accessories? I’d love to hear them!

Posted in Technology Tips

My iPad Pro Accessories

Posted on by tracydee

I bought an iPad in January and I’m so excited to continue learning cool apps and features to best utilize all it has to offer. I will do another post about the apps I use on the iPad, but I wanted to share some of the accessories I have and what I’m thinking about purchasing.

  1. Cover – This cover is nice because it is lightweight, has space for the Apple Pencil, and stands up with the little triangle fold at the bottom. I chose the violet color and so far, it has worked out great for me.
  2. Paperfeel screen protector – This sticky screen protector actually makes it feel like you’re writing on paper with the Apple pencil. It still has the touchscreen capability and even helps to suppress sunlight.

What I’m thinking about buying:

  1. Bluetooth keyboard with iPad stand – right now I have an external keyboard and mouse that I use with my laptop stand, but I’m considering getting this all in one keyboard iPad stand.
  2. Apple Pencil case – I’m not sure if I want to get the case because I don’t know if it will fit in the charging dock on the iPad without having to take the case off each time. So, I’m holding off on this purchase for now.

What are your suggestions? I’d love to hear them!

Note: Links are affiliate links associated with possible commission.

Posted in Uncategorized

HP Instant Ink can help you solve your at home printing issues right away

Posted on by tracydee

HP Instant Ink is really cool. I was having a conversation with my friend today and she was complaining about having to go buy ink for her printer. She needed to print some things for work but had just run out of ink. Well, I solved this issue years ago.

The great thing about HP Instant Ink is that with the subscription I never have to go to the store to buy ink. It’s connected to my wireless HP Envy printer. It knows when my ink is running low and mails it to me. I am then able to mail my blank ink cartridges back for recycling free of charge.

I started using HP Instant Ink in 2016. The first plan I chose was $9.99/month for 300 pages, which is the frequent printing plan, which is now $11.99/month. The great thing is that I’m able to monitor my usage each month and change my subscription accordingly. So, now my subscription is for $2.99/month for up to 50 pages. This is due to a concerted effort to move to digital preservation whenever possible.

HP Instant Ink
Photo by ANTONI SHKRABA on Pexels.com

The whole process is so easy and automated. If I need to print more, I can increase my subscription pages or if I need to print less, I can reduce it. My online account shows exactly how many pages a month I am printing.

I highly recommend getting an HP printer and checking out HP Instant Ink!

Note: Links are affiliate links and could earn a commission.

Posted in Technology Tips, Work From Home

Do you still go to the store to buy ink for your printer?

Posted on by tracydee

I was having a conversation with my friend today and she was complaining about having to go buy ink for her printer. She needed to print some things for work, but had just run out of ink. Well, I solved this issue years ago.

I started using HP Instant Ink in 2016. The first plan I chose was $9.99/month for 300 pages, which is the frequent printing plan, which is now $11.99/month. The great thing is that I’m able to monitor my usage each month and change my subscription accordingly. So, now my subscription is for $2.99/month for up to 50 pages. This is due to a concerted effort to move to digital preservation whenever possible.

The great thing about HP Instant Ink is that with the subscription I never have to go to the store to buy ink. It’s connected to my wireless HP Envy printer. It knows when my ink is running low and mails it to me. I am then able to mail my blank ink cartridges back for recycling free of charge.

The whole process is so easy and automated. If I need to print more, I can increase my subscription pages or if I need to print less, I can reduce it. My online account shows exactly how many pages a month I am printing.

I highly recommend getting an HP printer and checking out HP Instant Ink!

Note: Links are affiliate links and could earn a commission.