12 Ways Full-Time Employment Changed Me

18 July 2016

Harden, UK
For just over a year, I worked a basic 9 to 5 office job for one of the county’s biggest building societies. It was an eye-opening experience for me, not only because I learned to grow up and actually adult at life, but I also found that I had changed quite a lot, and for the better. I’ve always been a reserved person, but working in a large team of people, surrounded by hundreds of others, I have realised growing up isn’t the worst thing in the world.

#1 I developed a thicker skin
Naturally, I’m a very sensitive person, sometimes I don’t take well to criticism and there have been times in my life where I have just cried because things aren’t going my way. Well, that’s exactly what happened at my office job. It was my first real job and I cried almost every day for about three weeks. However, as time passed, I began to notice a change. As much as I hated my job and my manager hated me, I really didn’t care. Insults and digs didn’t bother me anymore and that has stayed with me today.

#2 Businesses aren’t all fair and proper
When I first started working, I was absolutely horrified at the way some people behaved. But I figured they would be punished or disciplined for their actions that were clearly against the rules set out to me on my first day. Well, it was quite the contrary. In fact, the managers were worse than the employees and for a company that deals with the finances and mortgages of other people, it didn’t sit well with me. It’s surprising to see how some of the biggest establishments in the country are not as pristine as they make out.

#3 Not everyone is going to like me
Not that I assume everyone I meet is going to fall in love with me and want to be my best friend, but I figured the human thing to do is be civil with the people you work with. Well, a whole year in employment taught me otherwise. In the office I worked in, if you didn’t like or get alone with someone, you made it clear. My manager wasn’t my biggest fan and this affected my colleagues’ view of me as well. I got to a point where I finally accepted, not everyone is nice, and not everyone will love me.

#4 It's okay to cry if you feel sad
As mentioned, I can be very sensitive so it’s not hard to get me to cry. However, I always felt bad for stressing out about my job and crying at work. Part of me wondered why no one else seemed as awkward as me. Of course, anxiety played an enormous role is my attitude to the job, but I was in a toxic environment for a year – it’s normal to feel down about it. Towards the end of the job, I just learned to get on with it, but this is a lesson it took me a while to get used to. And if I’m sad, yeah I’ll cry!
#5 Stand up for yourself!
Because I’m such a shy person, I just tend to adhere to authority, and as this 9 to 5 was my first job so I didn’t really know any better. My manager wasn’t the nicest person on Earth and often found that she was handing me jobs that were way out of my job description. This happens from time to time, and I’m happy to do it when needed, but cleaning a storage cupboard all day and refusing to give me any work when there is work to be done is a step too far. And so, one day I decided to say something and stand up! This made no difference In her attitude, but I feel much better than before.

#6 There’s always a positive
There have been many times in my life when all seems to be going wrong and there’s no up. However, working in full time employment has helped me to learn that bad days have a positive, even if I can’t see it until a week or a month later. It’s totally normal to feel down, but it’s really important to remember not to stay down. No matter how horrific a working situation got, I always forced myself to remember: “you can only go up from here”. 

#7 I find motivating myself easy
After working somewhere I called “hell” for a year, I have no problem doing many of the jobs I do today. For example, there are days where I really don’t want to blog – I just want to lay in bed at watch Parks & Rec all day while stuffing my face with mini marshmallows. Similarly, I currently work for two amazing charities, Clothing Solutions and Beaneezy (please give the Facebook pages a like if you can!), and sometimes don’t feel up to doing all the reporting and finance stuff, but then I remember: would I rather be here or at my old job? And now I have no problem motivating myself!

#8 It makes a great horror story
Telling people about my experience always leaves them with horrified expressions on their faces. I get the “how on Earth did you stay there for a year?!” question which always makes me laugh. In a way, I guess it’s like a (very weak) survivor story and because of my experience I feel like a much stronger person today. I’m able to face most challenges head on and prepare for the worst, rather than shrivel up in fear every time. 
#9 My skills were refined 
I’m quite the introvert so putting myself out there isn’t the easiest thing in the world. While working at the building society, I learned to improve my conversation and social skills because I spoke to so many different people every day. Working on a computer each day also helped me improve those skills, from touch typing to using keyboard shortcuts. I no longer work in customer services, but working in an investment department and talking to customers frequently gave me the confidence to speak to more people – a valuable skill!

#10 Hello confidence!
Before starting the job in Leeds, I was incredibly shy, awkward and weird around people I don’t know. Nowadays, I’m still the same shy weirdo but I don’t freak out or panic as much in a public situation. If someone talks to me, I don’t say the first thin my brain thinks of, I’m able to respond like a human and that shows an increase in confidence for me. Despite not being at a place where I can rock up to a photoshoot and pose like the next Tyra, I’m a lot more confident taking photos in public and speaking to new people. 

#11 I have a sense of ambition
I never thought of myself as an ambitious person. Honestly, I can be very lazy and occasionally find it difficult to get motivated. While working in the building society office, I learned I didn’t like my job. I just wasn’t enjoying any aspect at all, and didn’t look forward to each day. I know it’s normal for people to hate their jobs, but most the people in the office just stayed because they couldn’t be bothered to job hunt. On the other hand, I was the complete opposite – I hunted for jobs every single day and applied for hundreds, so maybe I do have the potential to strive for more. 

#12 I know how to use public transport/navigate rush hour
This is something I would have never known how to do unless I experienced it. If I went to London, I wouldn’t be as fearful of using a busy underground or bus station because I have experience using Leeds’ transport during the busiest hours of the day. When I first started, I didn’t know up from down; but towards the end, I turned into an employed zombie like many of the other strangers in suits, tutting at those who can’t swipe their travel card properly and hold up the queue. It’s a good understanding to have!

Have you ever worked full-time? Has it changed you?

Nutribuddy Weight Loss Kit | 14-Day Review

13 July 2016

Micklethwaite, UK
I was recently sent the Nutribuddy Weight Loss Kit* to try out, as I’ve been on the hunt for new but healthy ways to lose weight without resorting to extreme measures. I could say I’ve been on a diet for years, and struggled to see any major results. Although I’m not the same size I was four years ago, there’s still more weight I’d like to shed! Over time, I’ve learned that I really like smoothies, and it’s one of the only ways I can force myself to eat fruit on a regular basis, without feeling the burden of a strict diet.
The great thing about smoothies are that they’re so filling, and can replace certain meals during the day, especially if I don’t have the time to sit down and indulge. The Recipe Book by Nutribuddy became one of my favourite items from the kit, because it has such a wide variety of ideas and meals. There are simple meals in there, such as Cannellini beans with eggs and toast for breakfast or Moroccan lamb with apricots and almonds for lunch/dinner. Now one smoothie I have to share is the Mixed Berry Shake – oh my goodness it’s magical.
Ingredients: 30g Nutribuddy Sculpting Whey, 113g frozen berries, 113g fat-free strawberry yogurt, 30ml semi-skimmed milk, 7g porridge oats, 1 tsp agave (optional)
When I made this smoothie, it came out a little more like yogurt as it was pretty thick! Regardless, I absolutely loved it, and once I finished the entire cup, I couldn’t even think about eating any food until the next day. I went without the agave seeds, but loved the idea of porridge oats in a shake as this is something I’ve never tried before. Plus, it was an opportunity to use more for the Sculpting Whey which I loooovvvveeee the taste of.
Regarding the Hunger Fix and Multivitamin tablets, I saw a slight difference but nothing that was a total game changer. I believe this is down to only using them for about two weeks (when I remembered to take them), so I’m sure there would be much more improvement on top of my positive first impressions. My only struggle with the tablets is that they’re quite large, which is something I’m not used to as I don’t take pills that often.

As mentioned in my first impressions post, I like that the Little Book of Weight Loss is not just a flimsy leaflet full of images and captions. Inside, you’re pleasantly surprised by the amount of information on the products in the kit, as well as a Do’s and Don’ts section for the eating plan also featured inside. The book isn’t boring and full of textbook terminology which can also be quite common with weight loss kits. The Little Book of Weight Loss gives a sizeable amount of information concerning the Sculpting Whey (which I got in Vanilla) – a large bag of protein that can be added as an extra ingredient or used in the daily Whey shake (the perfect snack replacement)! I used this protein when making the banana and mango shake from the Recipe book.
Ingredients: 30g Nutribuddy Sculpting Whey, 1 medium mango, 1 banana, 500ml orange juice, 4 ice cubes
Luckily, this smoothie came out as a smoothie, and again was so filling. I think the 30g of Sculpting Whey helped immensely! When previously making smoothies with just fruit and juice or ice, I find that they are runny and end up feeling like a beverage I could drink alongside a meal. The texture was odd at first, as I’m not too keen on banana, but could totally live off mango. It took a minute to get used to, but the taste won me over, it’s a perfect solution to a hunger craving. I was drawn to the smoothies because they’re so quick and easy to make, and life has me on the go right now. This smoothie has idea to drink out of the Shaker Bottle which I usually use for the daily shake, but can also use for smoothie recipes I have tried out from the book. I’m happy the bottle is included in this set, because it’s a good but portable size and includes a metal spiral to helped to get rid of any lumps my blender missed.
I managed to lose around four pounds over the two weeks with Nutribuddy + exercise! 
Overall, I really like the Nutribuddy Weight Loss Kit and would recommend it, especially for the Recipe Book and Sculpting Whey. The delivery was shipped in great time, and the resealable bags are a good size for the price. I received the 14-day supply kit, and still have plenty left to use so I think the price is certainly worth the product. If you’d like to know more about what you receive in the Weight Loss Kit, you can check out Nutribuddy’s Weight Loss Essentials page.

Have you tried Nutribuddy products before? What did you think?

This post is in collaboration with Nutribuddy. 

Bad Moods Are Healthy | Journal

10 July 2016

Ripon, UK
Today I woke up in a terrible mood. Not that I’m going to use up today’s post to rant about everything wrong right now (although I’m soooooo tempted to), but I’m actually sat here thinking about the fact that it’s been a while since I’ve been in a bad mood and I actually kind of like it. I’m always pretty happy and smiley, but today I could scream at someone and I’ve decided this is good for me.

Not that it’s inhuman to be perky all the time, but I’m a bit of a drama queen and having a good sulk helps me to stay grounded and sane. I might even listen to a really sad playlist and flounder around the house, whinging about the weather or cringing at daytime TV. Or I could just sit in silence and judge everyone on social media because they’re having an awesome day and mine sucks. In all honesty, some of my most productive work sessions have been when I’m super annoyed at something in a sulky mood. When I feel rubbish, watching Netflix for six hours straight isn’t as fun.

There are many people who write posts on how to beat a bad mood (myself included of course), but there are also huge positives to feeling negative – if that makes sense. My memory seems to work a lot better when I’m being stubborn or over dramatic. There could be some drama in my friendship group, and I don’t even need screenshots to help me out because I can suddenly remember anything and everything with minimal effort. I also have much better judgement when I’m being temperamental and tend to reach decisions much quicker which is a completely different story when I’m happy (my Tumblr name used to be “indecisiveyoung-soul” – what does that tell us?).

And as mentioned earlier, I work better when feeling short-tempered! I don’t know how it works, but if something during the day hasn’t gone the way I would like, I come home and write around three blogposts on whatever I can come up with. They may not be published straight away, but they’re still there. So if you ever hear me talking about a burst of creativity on Twitter, it’s usually because I have wanted to punch a wall at some point during my morning. With a solid stream of music playing and my focused mind, I can get absolutely loads done.


Of course we have to be careful a bad mood doesn’t turn into low mood, but I think the occasional strop is good for the brain and the body!
Image source: Tumblr

Hello Sunshine

7 July 2016

Eldwick, West Yorkshire
There’s something about the sunny weather that makes everything better. I could be in the worst mood, one of those days where everything is going wrong, but a little bit of sun makes the mood a lot less destructive and I can actually think clearly – maybe even smile a little bit. I love sitting in the sun, absorbing rays and just taking everything in. Despite the hay fever, I find summer quite relaxing and it’s becoming my new favourite season. This year, I wanted to try adding more colours in my wardrobe, and one colour I haven’t worn in a very long time is yellow.
I don’t like loads of attention on me, which is strange to say seen as though I stand in pathways and take photos of my outfit to be published on the internet. Still, I really don’t like a lot of eyes on me, and find that wearing darker colours puts that aspect of anxiety at ease. For me, wearing yellow means more attention. It’s naturally an eye-catching colour, no matter what the shade and is one I used to actively avoid. I think yellow goes pretty well with my skin tone, well I’m hoping it does because I kinda like it now. This yellow cold shoulder top was bought from Tesco back when they had the F&F website. I was on a mission to brighten up my look, but didn’t want to spend £300 on a t-shirt. This top was only £12 at the time (sadly it’s out of stock, I haven’t seen it since) and it’s made really well. The quality of the fabrics is really good, it’s not just two pieces of polyester thrown together. It has a strong lining to ensure the shirt isn’t seen-through, and adjustable straps. I was actually quite surprised because Tesco isn’t known for being the hottest clothing store on the high street – it’s where I go to buy my favourite cereal.

I was hesitant on keeping the top because it is very bright, and seems to get brighter in sunlight; but then I was reminded that’s exactly the reason I need it. It becomes the subject and centre of an outfit with minimal effort, and is remarkably easy to dress around. I used to think bright colours were a no no for me, but maybe it’s something I need to be a lot more open to.

Top: TESCO (similar)
Jeans: NEW LOOK
Shoes: CONVERSE
Bag: TOPSHOP (sold out…boo! similar)

Sunglasses: NEXT

Possibly the Worst Tuesday Ever | Journal

3 July 2016

Otley, West Yorkshire
I’ve had a lot of bad days, a lot of days that include nothing but bad luck and zero sunshine. Last Tuesday was one of those days for me, and it was already an incredibly strange week. When I write journal posts, it’s usually to tell blog readers about the super weird experiences I have had or anxiety-ridden events I have visited. But today, today was just bad luck and hopefully it will make your day a little bit better.

First of all, I was having a bad week. Monday resulted in me complaining to New Look after one of their delivery men made extremely disgusting racial comments to me and my friend. And not just the casual out of taste joke, a deliberate jab which we had to drive away from as he followed us around. Then, on Tuesday morning my friend and I decided to go for a nice walk as the weather was supposed to pick up. What happened? Oh well it absolutely threw it down. Not just a little drizzle, like your average summer shower; the heavens opened and we were drenched within 5 minutes. After warming up and attempting to dry off in the car (which didn’t start to well, but we’ll get to that later), we went for a coffee. Unfortunately, we were’nt able to drink anything because the shop we visited had a broken machine (basically like every milkshake machine and every McDonald’s) and very little to offer in the bakery. So by 12pm, we were cold, wet and starving.

After heading back to the car, we got in, my friend turned the key which resulted in… nothing. Nothing. The car, a Toyota Aygo, would not turn on or make a single noise. The battery worked, as the lights, wipers and radio worked, but the engine made no noise, no matter how hard you turned the key. My friend called her cousin, who took half an hour to reach us and tried to bump start the car. After pushing the little silver vehicle down the road with no success, we drove in his car, to his mother’s house (bear in mind I had never met my friend’s cousin or his mum) so he could get his jump cables from his friend’s car to restart my friend’s car. If you’re lost at this point, don’t worry about it.
So we return to my friend’s stranded car, and try the jump cables (it’s still raining pretty badly). With zero luck, the car doesn’t even flicker, and we know it’s gone. A good thing to remember is that my friend is a self-employed hairdresser and had six clients that afternoon, and I had to get to work as soon as possible with an enormous project to finish for the trustees by the end of the day. My friend’s cousin confirmed the reason the car isn’t starting is because the starter motor has shut down… packed in… completely gone. After a forty-five minute phone conversation, breakdown agreed to pick up the car (for a ridiculous price) and take it to a garage who could fix it. Now the only thing to solve was how I was going to get to work and how my friend was going to travel to each of her clients.
Her cousin amazingly planned to drop us both everywhere, but that wouldn’t make sense so he had to drive us back to his mum’s house (still strangers to me!) and we took his mum’s car and I was dropped at the nearest bus station and my friend continued on to her clients. The story doesn’t end yet! My bus was 20 minutes late, and I was still slightly damp and certainly not dressed for the freezing weather. Once the Leeds-bound bus arrived, it broke down fifteen minutes into the journey – in the middle of nowhere. To make the day worse, a miniature fight broke out on the bus over the decision to keep the windows open or closed. That’s a loud discussion I decided to stay out of and just did the whole my-headphones-are-in-and-I’m-not-here thing to avoid drama. Eventually, I convinced the bus driver to let me off the bus, apparently something that’s not allowed, and I walked about an hour to work.

By almost 3pm, I got to work and at my desk (still a little wet through) and managed to spill an entire cup of tea across the keyboard. Once I got home, I changed right in my onsie and settled down to watch my favourite series, Once Upon A Time, only to have the power cut out in my entire area for the next five hours. Ugh.


So I think it’s safe to say I literally had the worst Tuesday ever
[Image credit: 1, 2]
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