Making tiny changes…
I’ve been feeling so reflective lately, I’ve always been a bit of a dreamer and you can usually find me overthinking everything! I wanted to jot down some thoughts about where I am with my platforms, what I have planned for the future and where I hope to be heading from here on out.
Even after almost ten years (oh my god I am old) of posting on the internet, I still have wobbles about what I upload. In some ways I think that niggling anxiety is advantageous; it encourages me to go that little bit further. To question myself, to keep trying. I often take a step back to consider where I’m at and what I could be doing better, which really helps to keep me on track.
In a lot of ways, this has been an odd year for me; it should feel like my best year yet, but I think I’ve actually taken steps backwards – which is why the reflecting is beneficial.
KLV.com
This blog has always been my main gig – my first platform and my favourite to work on. For a while there though I lost my way with it. I lost my way with myself in some ways I suppose.
I want to get back to the easy posts I’ve always done, but I have a tendency to second guess myself and that’s where I go wrong.
Social media and blogging have taken on quite an editorial spin, and I often feel like I don’t really fit in – I love the effortlessness of blogs and I want to see more real life and less perfection.
Saying that, I think there’s space for everyone so if I want to keep going with a more laidback style, I totally should! I need to follow my instinct more, I’m realising now.
So with that in mind, I’m planning to post more often on here… but perhaps do less beefy posts – a couple of images, a paragraph or two of text. I love easy lifestyle reads, and I definitely need to get back to sharing more interiors posts, but I don’t redo my home all that often so I need to be more inventive with it. Not all content has to showcase new purchases!
I’m definitely stripping my platforms back a lot and thinking about what I loved about my channels a year ago; little wishlists, quick beauty updates and personal/advice posts are forever my faves to create!
YouTube
Oh, how I missed uploading videos! I took a break that was meant to last a few weeks, and it quickly turned in to a few months. Mortified.
I’m in a good place now, I love doing at-home vlogs regularly but up until recently I just didn’t have the time! As I said, it’s been a weird year.
In an ideal world, I would do weekly or bi-weekly vlogs that included little hauls, a bit of cooking, home updates, outfits etc. They’re the kind of videos I love to watch, and they seem to work best on my channel too.
YouTube can be incredibly disheartening, it’s so easy to get a couple of negative comments and feel like you need a break – and it’s the getting back in to it that’s the hardest!
I’ve noticed that a lot with me; if I have a break for whatever reason, I find it so difficult to get back in to the swing of things. Hopefully now I’ve learned that, I’ll be less inclined to leave time between uploads…
I’ve also noticed that the negativity will come no matter what you do, and I am guilty for watering myself down a lot so I don’t upset anyone. I don’t think how I am on the internet is my true self at times, I’m definitely more lively and sarcastic which I don’t think always translates well over the internet – especially that self-deprecating, Scottish sense of humour!
BUT, then I think… I’m always going to have people criticising what I do and how I am, so why not just be myself in the first place?!
This is similar to blogs in a way, because although Instagram has taken a very polished direction, I don’t think that’s always what people want. The effortless candid uploads are always the ones that do the best, and I think we all want to see a bit more life and personality in what our favourite bloggers upload.
I get in to the habit of taking a lot of my photos on my camera, but I think that’s taking away from what Instagram is all about; relaxed, fast uploads! Less thinking about the photo, less planning, more posting!
As for stories, I’ve been trying to do more videos and less photo uploads – I think this can be an extension or a substitute for vlogs. It’s more real, more fast paced, and more human. I actually prefer uploading and watching stories, I love those quick snippets of someones life.
My General Work Life
Up until recently I’ve been a one man band; I do my own photos (unless I can rope Jordan or a friend in to helping!), I was keeping on top of my emails, travelling, editing, planning, writing… everything. It was just such an incredible workload that I felt so overwhelmed and like not doing anything. That “where to even start?” feeling that makes every task feel immense.
I’ve reassessed my workload a little and come up with a bit more of a solid, no-fail plan – one that includes more delegating and less travelling! I realised that there was nothing to really gain from doing everything myself, and that handing over the smaller jobs (like emails and some of the technical tasks) means I’m now free to concentrate on my platforms, as well as planning and shooting content, keeping on top of posting and other commitments.
The quote “if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got” always comes to mind, because I feel like sometimes it’s hard to do more than what I’m already doing because there’s not enough hours in the day – on top of having downtime and dates with Jordan, seeing friends, having time away from screens…
It’s never been a goal of mine to be one of those forever busy people who gives their all to their work, I do believe in balance – but I also struggle to do more than just my basic everyday tasks at times!
Stepping back and checking yourself is key to moving forward I think, especially if you’re making small changes to the way you’re working a lot.
I also just love writing things down, it makes everything a little more “set in stone” for some reason.
