19 Things In 19 Years

So today is my 19th birthday *yay*! I feel like 19 is a bit of a funny one; you've done all of the big celebrations that come with your 18th, and you have a while to wait until the big 2-1. With that in mind I don't have huge plans to celebrate this year, just a nice meal with my family and a night out in town with my friends. But I thought I'd begin my last year as teenager by sharing 19 lessons I have learnt in my 19 years on this earth. I'm certainly not saying that I have all the worlds wisdom, but these are just a few snippets I've discovered along my journey so far. Here goes...

1. Not taking the easy option pays off in the long term
2. Experiences are more valuable than possessions
3. Worrying changes nothing
4. Death doesn't care who you are
5. People change
6. There comes a point when you realise the way your parents built you isn't enough - and they don't ALWAYS know best
7. Regret is almost entirely pointless
8. Time heals
9. Pain often leads to the biggest growth 
10. Politeness is important, and it always gets rewarded
11. Forgiving people makes you feel lighter 

12. The way things are right now is not the way they will always be

13. Not everybody will understand the value in art
14. There is no shame in enjoying your own company
15. There will always be somebody who doesn't like you, so you might as well be yourself
16. Stepping outside your comfort zone is a good thing
17. Everything seems worse at night
18. Your school years are NOT the best of your life
19. Empathy is a very valuable tool

Do you agree or disagree with anything on my list? And what lessons have you learnt in your life so far?
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15 Things To Do Every Day To Stay Creative In 2015

Staying creative is a bit like an athlete keeping themselves in shape. If you stop training, like an athletes fitness level, your creativity will gradually slump back to square one. Maintaining your creativity takes work and requires a conscious effort. So I thought I would devise a list of 15 things you should do every day try and have a go at doing every day in 2015 to keep your creative juices flowing throughout the year ahead.

 1. Stop trying to please everyone

2. Write on non-lined paper

3. Check for new upcoming exhibitions and events (and arrange to go!) 

4. Walk a different route 

5. Join forces 

6. Drop everything and sketch right now
7. Stop trying to be a great artist
8. Make lots of mistakes
9. Take praise well
10. Take criticism well
11. Stop scrolling
12. Read the news
13. Watch a documentary about something you know nothing about
14. Go outside
15. Never stick with what you know

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How To Have A Productive Day

1. Write A To Do List The Evening Before
As I've mentioned before, I'm one of those people that are very into making lists. If I write all my 'to dos' down on paper, I find it helps stop them scrabbling around in my head and I can actually get on with doing them. If you have a particularly busy day ahead of you, I find the best time to write your to do list is the evening before. You've finished your work for that day, so you know exactly where you stand for tomorrow, yet you're not using up any precious time in the morning brainstorming all the things you need to get done (and probably causing yourself more panic than is needed in the process!).

2. Wake Up To Your Alarm First Time
I know this is a tough one, and I may be being just a tiny weeny bit hypocritical including this, however it really does put you in the right frame of mind to be productive from the outset. When you pull back your covers and jump out of bed first time your alarm goes off (ok, maybe jumping out is asking a little bit to much..), you almost feel as if you've gained some time from nowhere that simply didn't exist before. Of course in reality that time has existed in the past, we've just all been using it to catch the last few minutes of that dream where we married Bradley Cooper.. or whatever it is you may do with your time on the pillow. 

3. Make Your Bed
There's nothing that makes me feel more like a grown up respectable adult than making my bed the moment I get up. It's almost as if i'm over the first hurdle and I've completed a task already. There's also the whole idea of tidy room, tidy mind and it actually does hold some truth. Getting on with work seems much more manageable in a clean and tidy space.

4. Make The Most Of The Morning
Never underestimate the power of your first few hours awake. They have the power to set the pace and overall mood for the entire day. Say you find yourself having lunch at 1pm having done not very much so far, it'll probably be well into the afternoon before you've actually made a decent start on your tasks. On the other hand, if you woke up at 8am and worked solidly until 1pm, you'll feel much more accomplished and motivated to carry on through the afternoon (that is if you haven't finished already!).

5. Focus On One Thing At A Time
I'm a big worrier. I fret 24/7 about things that will probably never happen and this overspills into my work life. If I have say 5 reasonably large things to do in one day, instead of taking it one thing at a time, I'll dabble in one thing before my mind wonders onto worrying about another. MORE HASTE LESS SPEED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. If I force myself not to even think about another task before the one at hand is finished, I find I get my workload done much faster overall. Plus, if you don't attempt to do a bit of everything at once, you'll be able to tick off whole tasks much quicker which can give you a big boost and sense of achievement.