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http://www.laurenzside.com/
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Thursday, February 19, 2015 Dealing with Burnout
Creating YouTube content has definitely become a kind of weird addiction for me. The giddy feeling I get watching my channel stats increase, constantly trying to out-do myself (or others), and never wanting to let viewers down gave me a unique kind of 'rush' which in turn may have contributed to me feeling burnt out lately.
I would definitely label myself as a workaholic. I love when I have something to accomplish whether that be going to work, clean, make YouTube videos, or write a blog post. When I don't have something to accomplish, I feel lost or as if I'm somehow wasting time. However, because of this desire to constantly do something, I often don't give myself any downtime to recharge my batteries thus resulting in some serious burnout.
My typical weekday is leaving for work at 7:30AM and getting home from work between 6:00PM and 11:30PM depending on my work event schedule. If I'm lucky enough to get home at a decent hour, I will walk Dexter, make dinner, and then start creating YouTube content for as long as I can before passing out. My weekends (until the summer at least) are also not always free. Usually I have to work at least 1 of the 2 days (if not both) and on the days I actually do have off, I often have to run errands or see family/friends. On top of my heavy work schedule and YouTube channel, I am also in the process of buying a house which involves A LOT of scheduling, signing contracts, and constant communication with an attorney, Realtor, and loan company.
Needless to say, I've been exhausting myself lately.
I just wanted to update you all on my life outside of YouTube & explain why I can't always put out consistent content. It's not that I'm lazy AT ALL, it's just that I don't always have the free time to do it. It sucks having to compete with other YouTubers who can make videos full-time when you're not able to...
Lately I haven't been feeling healthy at all...just tired and stressed. I need a few days just to pull myself back together & force myself to relax a bit. I'm hoping to upload again some time this weekend when I find time to record/edit, I hope you guys all understand!
How do you deal with burnout? Any tips you can give me?
Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/francescarter/14104198231/in/photostream/
My typical weekday is leaving for work at 7:30AM and getting home from work between 6:00PM and 11:30PM depending on my work event schedule. If I'm lucky enough to get home at a decent hour, I will walk Dexter, make dinner, and then start creating YouTube content for as long as I can before passing out. My weekends (until the summer at least) are also not always free. Usually I have to work at least 1 of the 2 days (if not both) and on the days I actually do have off, I often have to run errands or see family/friends. On top of my heavy work schedule and YouTube channel, I am also in the process of buying a house which involves A LOT of scheduling, signing contracts, and constant communication with an attorney, Realtor, and loan company.
Needless to say, I've been exhausting myself lately.
I just wanted to update you all on my life outside of YouTube & explain why I can't always put out consistent content. It's not that I'm lazy AT ALL, it's just that I don't always have the free time to do it. It sucks having to compete with other YouTubers who can make videos full-time when you're not able to...
Lately I haven't been feeling healthy at all...just tired and stressed. I need a few days just to pull myself back together & force myself to relax a bit. I'm hoping to upload again some time this weekend when I find time to record/edit, I hope you guys all understand!
How do you deal with burnout? Any tips you can give me?
Image Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/francescarter/14104198231/in/photostream/
Tuesday, July 15, 2014 July BIRTHDAY Haul
As some of you may know, my Birthday was last week! I'm one of those people who LOVES getting to celebrate their Birthday, especially because it gives me an excuse to splurge a bit on some things for myself (not to mention gifts you get from others too)! So here is my July Birthday Haul:
Craft/Food Fair Goodies:
The weekend before my Birthday, my family & I signed up for a 5K race that ends at a huge craft/food fair. I was so excited to find handmade flower crowns at the fair at only $10 for 2! I walked away with a crown of small purple flowers & a crown of larger cream colored flowers. I feel like a hippie "flower child" whenever I wear them which makes me happy.
A few minutes later, I came across a handmade dream catcher necklace that for some reason I NEEDED. It is my new favorite necklace and I wear it as often as possible. I also ended up with 3 bags of "spices" that you can use to make dips. They are seriously delicious and made by Gourmet Creations. You can buy some of their dip mixes online, my favorites were: Portabella & Artichoke, Cucumber Dill, & Spinach Parmesan. Yum!
Sephora Online Order:
My favorite company Birthday freebie (besides getting a free Dunkin Donuts drink) is the Beauty Insider Sephora gift! For July, the gift was sponsored by Make Up For Ever (my personal favorite brand) and they gave out a sample of their mascara & lip stick. Coincidentally, the lipstick they gave is my favorite shade (Rouge Artist Natural N9)! I also got a free Stila liquid lipstick in red using a 4th of July coupon code. I also bought Sephora's black liquid eyeliner which is my everyday top lid liner, Clinique's All About Eyes Rich to help with my dark circles/puffy eyes, and Too Faced Natural Eyes eye shadow. I have used Urban Decay's Naked palette for so long now & loved it but the price point is a bit steep when I only use about 4 of the eyeshadows daily. Hoping I love the Too Faced Natural Eyes palette just as much so I can save $18 from now on!
Sirius XM Radio:
I always viewed radio as a dying medium, never really paying attention to it or caring to spend money on it. However, that was before I got my new job where I now have to commute to work an hour each way (often longer with traffic). Thus, my Mom figured out the perfect gift for me, a 1 year subscription to Sirius XM radio. It's only been a little over a week and I already LOVE it! I have comedy stations, decade stations, and talk radio stations. My commute to and from work goes by so much faster now & there's always something I can find to listen to!
Adorable Geekiness:
Last but not least, my Boyfriend decided to make me a gift for my Birthday this year! He also got me a few other things but I loved that he took the time and effort to find these Pokemon cards & other materials to put this together. He used all of my favorite Pokemon: Pikachu, every Eevee evolution, Mew, Raichu, & Vulpix. It's hanging over next to my computer desk now, and I love it in all of it's adorable geekiness!!
Sorry it's been so long between blog posts! I'm going to try & get better with posting at least one new post a week if not more. Thank you for all the birthday wishes too via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, & Instagram! Was feeling the love from every possible Internet angle. <3
Sirius XM Radio:
I always viewed radio as a dying medium, never really paying attention to it or caring to spend money on it. However, that was before I got my new job where I now have to commute to work an hour each way (often longer with traffic). Thus, my Mom figured out the perfect gift for me, a 1 year subscription to Sirius XM radio. It's only been a little over a week and I already LOVE it! I have comedy stations, decade stations, and talk radio stations. My commute to and from work goes by so much faster now & there's always something I can find to listen to!
Adorable Geekiness:
Last but not least, my Boyfriend decided to make me a gift for my Birthday this year! He also got me a few other things but I loved that he took the time and effort to find these Pokemon cards & other materials to put this together. He used all of my favorite Pokemon: Pikachu, every Eevee evolution, Mew, Raichu, & Vulpix. It's hanging over next to my computer desk now, and I love it in all of it's adorable geekiness!!
Sorry it's been so long between blog posts! I'm going to try & get better with posting at least one new post a week if not more. Thank you for all the birthday wishes too via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, & Instagram! Was feeling the love from every possible Internet angle. <3
Wednesday, March 26, 2014 Just Say Yes...You'll Figure It Out Afterwards
Sorry for the delay in new blog posts but my life has been a bit hectic lately to say the least. I can't be too specific on the details, but last week I was given a job promotion to work for a high-profile executive at my current company. I was literally only given a 1 day notice of this position change and had to jump in with both feet last Monday.
Since then, my life has been a whirl-wind of new experiences, faces, and challenges in such a short amount of time. After my first day, I found myself running to the safety of a nearby bathroom and hyperventilating a bit...that's how nervous and stressed I was over this new opportunity. I kept thinking that I should have never said yes to taking this new job so fast, that I was completely unprepared and that my company had somehow made a mistake in choosing me as the best candidate for such a huge opportunity.
As the next couple of days passed, something weird happened. I quickly began to realize that I was able to handle this new position! Yes it was more stressful, yes it was very new, and yes I had never experienced a position like this one. However, none of those things seemed to matter once I let my skills, knowledge, and experience take over instead of my emotions. At the end of my first week, I coincidentally came across this quote by Tina Fey:
It resonated with me so much in relation to my new work life. When I first started, I mentally gave myself so many reasons for why I shouldn't say yes to this new position. Most of those reasons were formed from a simple fear of the unknown and change instead of forming from legitimate worries. Instead, I decided to say yes and figure it out afterwards. I now have a position that some people dream of having, I am taken much more seriously in my company then I was prior, and it is such an incredible career/networking opportunity!
Let this post & my experience serve as a reminder, don't ever not say yes to a new experience or opportunity simply because you're scared of the unknown...you will figure it out afterwards. <3
Since then, my life has been a whirl-wind of new experiences, faces, and challenges in such a short amount of time. After my first day, I found myself running to the safety of a nearby bathroom and hyperventilating a bit...that's how nervous and stressed I was over this new opportunity. I kept thinking that I should have never said yes to taking this new job so fast, that I was completely unprepared and that my company had somehow made a mistake in choosing me as the best candidate for such a huge opportunity.
As the next couple of days passed, something weird happened. I quickly began to realize that I was able to handle this new position! Yes it was more stressful, yes it was very new, and yes I had never experienced a position like this one. However, none of those things seemed to matter once I let my skills, knowledge, and experience take over instead of my emotions. At the end of my first week, I coincidentally came across this quote by Tina Fey:
It resonated with me so much in relation to my new work life. When I first started, I mentally gave myself so many reasons for why I shouldn't say yes to this new position. Most of those reasons were formed from a simple fear of the unknown and change instead of forming from legitimate worries. Instead, I decided to say yes and figure it out afterwards. I now have a position that some people dream of having, I am taken much more seriously in my company then I was prior, and it is such an incredible career/networking opportunity!
Let this post & my experience serve as a reminder, don't ever not say yes to a new experience or opportunity simply because you're scared of the unknown...you will figure it out afterwards. <3
Thursday, March 6, 2014 My Technological Adventure & Evolution
Hello, My Name is Lauren and I'm a Tech Addict...
After years of struggling to find the perfect balance between my many gadgets, I think I have finally achieved it! As far back as I can remember, I was always a huge tech enthusiast. The obsession most likely stems from my father, brother, and cousin who would spend days working on computers as a hobby. I still remember the day my Dad first brought home his work laptop and showed us how to play a game on it. His laptop ran MS-DOS (that's how long ago this was) and we had to learn to type in a code that allowed us to run the game because there was no "desktop homepage" like everyone is used to having now. Instantly, I was hooked, and eventually over the years I moved onto playing more advanced games, building websites/blogs, having an AOL instant messenger obsession, and then of course came the rise in social media. Having one or two gadgets used to be normal when I began my technological adventure, but now having two to four is more common! You also have the added decision of choosing what brand suits you better.
My High School Years:
Yes, those are all flip phones that I actually owned at one time or another. I missed the non-flip, non-color, brick cellphone period as I wasn't allowed to get one until I started high school. My PC was mainly used for playing games (of course), researching & writing schoolwork, learning to create girly websites/blogs, and of course AOL. I knew nothing about Apple products back then.
My College Years:
As a high school graduation present, my parents wanted to get me my first laptop for college. After some researching, I was drawn to the first generation of Macbook Pros as I was going to college for graphic design & video production. I eventually upgraded my phone to Verizon's first Droid phone, and then eventually upgraded to an iPhone 3G at the end of my college years. I didn't have much time for PC gaming and mobility was my biggest necessity.
Recent College Graduate:
Sadly, I accidentally broke my precious Macbook Pro beyond repair thus causing me to upgrade to a newer version. I finally fell into the iPad craze as well and ended up with one of those along with a new iPhone. After a few months, I realized all I used my iPad for was to read and it was too heavy and bulky to carry it with me just for that. So, I eventually broke my Apple product cycle and got a Nook.
Right Now:
I now use each of my gadgets for a specific purpose instead of just using whichever one is nearest to me. I have finally gotten over my PC prejudice and realize it's actually BETTER to use for my hobbies. My Alienware PC is used for gaming, video editing, and Photoshop, my new Macbook Air comes with me to night school and is what I use at home to browse the web, my iPad Mini is my travel reading & gaming companion, and lastly my iPhone is my main communication device.
It's so fun looking out over your history of gadgets. It makes you realize what was once important to you (in a digital sense) compared to what is now. What are your go-to digital devices today? Does each have a specific purpose in your life?
Wednesday, February 26, 2014 My Makeup Bag Favorites
I like to view gaming as a gender neutral activity. It's because of this that I try not to post anything girl-specific on my YouTube channel or it's surrounding social media pages. However, seeing as this blog was created as an outlet for me to talk about everything non-gaming related, I feel that I should be able to write about some of my favorite girly things!
I get a lot of requests about my makeup, hair, or clothing that it may help some of my female viewers out to know what products I use. Thus, I will start off with my makeup bag favorites for those who are interested in knowing what I use!
I've never been big into fashion, hair styling, or nail design. Makeup, however, I am obsessed with. These are only the makeup items that I use on a daily basis. I start off with primer (the purple variety is for yellow-tinted skin like mine) and then apply my foundation. Next, I move onto my eyes where I apply a small amount of eye shadow primer first. Then I apply my eye shadow which is a cross between my Naked Palette and a single new eye shadow I've fallen in love with called "Snatch" by Urban Decay. Next is my favorite part, the liquid eyeliner which I usually draw in a subtle cat-eye look with on my upper lid only. Then it's onto the mascara and coloring in my eyebrows a bit with my eyebrow pencil. Sometimes I will apply a bit of black eyeliner pencil on my bottom lid depending on the occasion. I also have a purple and teal eyeliner pencil that I use on my bottom lid for a more fun look when the situation calls for it! Lastly, I put on some lipstick which can range from pink to a red.
Do you use any of my favorites? If not, anything you would recommend me try? ^_^
I get a lot of requests about my makeup, hair, or clothing that it may help some of my female viewers out to know what products I use. Thus, I will start off with my makeup bag favorites for those who are interested in knowing what I use!
1. Smashbox Primer + Make Up For Ever Foundation
2. Urban Decay Eye Primer
3. Urban Decay Naked Palette + Snatch Eyeshadow
4. Sephora Brand Liquid Eyeliner - Black
5. Mattese NYC Brunette Eyebrow Pencil
6. Maybelline "The Colossal" Mascara
7. Urban Decay Pencil Eyeliners
8. Make Up For Ever Lipstick
I've never been big into fashion, hair styling, or nail design. Makeup, however, I am obsessed with. These are only the makeup items that I use on a daily basis. I start off with primer (the purple variety is for yellow-tinted skin like mine) and then apply my foundation. Next, I move onto my eyes where I apply a small amount of eye shadow primer first. Then I apply my eye shadow which is a cross between my Naked Palette and a single new eye shadow I've fallen in love with called "Snatch" by Urban Decay. Next is my favorite part, the liquid eyeliner which I usually draw in a subtle cat-eye look with on my upper lid only. Then it's onto the mascara and coloring in my eyebrows a bit with my eyebrow pencil. Sometimes I will apply a bit of black eyeliner pencil on my bottom lid depending on the occasion. I also have a purple and teal eyeliner pencil that I use on my bottom lid for a more fun look when the situation calls for it! Lastly, I put on some lipstick which can range from pink to a red.
Do you use any of my favorites? If not, anything you would recommend me try? ^_^
Friday, February 14, 2014 LaurenzSide of Books: The Shining by Stephen King
Being that I have a love of writing, one would assume that I also have a love of reading. I don't feel complete on a day-to-day basis unless I have a new book loaded up on my iPad mini to read in my spare time. I felt compelled to write a post regarding the latest book I finished: Stephen King's "The Shining". Originally I had no interest in reading the well-known novel because I had already seen the film which (I thought) would ruin the story's mystery. However, when King recently released "Doctor Sleep", I figured I had to finally read "The Shining" in order to appreciate it's sequel. I am so glad that I did! I won't ruin the book for those of you who haven't read it, but it is very different from the film adaptation. It has even made it to my list of "all-time favorite reads" which only holds a handful of books that I've read over the years! The book had a completely different ending from the movie (which I actually enjoyed better), the characters were much more likable, and the explanation of 'shining' is much more in depth.
When I love a book, it's usually because there's a truth within it that resonates with me in my life. One quote in particular really hit me in a way I wasn't expecting:
"A lot of folks, they got a little bit of shine to them. They don't even know it. But they always seem to show up with flowers when their wives are feelin' blue with the monthlies, they do good on school tests they don't even study for, they got a good idea how people are feelin' as soon as they walk into a room. I come across fifty or sixty like that. But maybe only a dozen, countin' my Gram, that knew they was shinin'." - Stephen King, The Shining
In the novel, Dick Hallorann recited this line to Danny Torrance after revealing to him that other people have these special "senses" that he has. Although the line was describing a sort of "super power" that does not exist in the real world, I felt like he was describing me in a way. I have always felt that I understood people's feelings much more then anyone else. I can sense when complete strangers are sad even without them showing it, I often think of things that are going to happen before they do, and I even used to do well on tests I didn't study for! Maybe others feel the same, but I loved the fact that this 'sense' was portrayed a sort of 'power' in this novel.
I also think that I read "The Shining" at the perfect point in my life to truly appreciate it because I found that one of the story's themes was about feeling alone in the world. (As in the Torrance family being isolated from the outside world snowed in the Overlook) I myself don't necessarily feel alone in the world, but I do feel disconnected with it lately.
"Tough old world, baby. If you're not bolted together tightly, you're gonna shake, rattle, and roll before you turn thirty." - Stephen King, The Shining
"That's your job in this hard world, to keep your love alive and see that you get on, no matter what. Pull your act together and just go on." - Stephen King, The Shining
I feel like what people value in today's world don't match up with my own. It often makes me feel discouraged and even isolated at times. This book reminded me that I just need to keep my love alive in order to go on. My love of my family, friends, boyfriend, and dog. My love of music, art, and video creation. My love of emotions, laughter, and knowledge. As long as I keep those alive in my mind, the rest of the world won't ever be too tough for me to handle.
I feel like what people value in today's world don't match up with my own. It often makes me feel discouraged and even isolated at times. This book reminded me that I just need to keep my love alive in order to go on. My love of my family, friends, boyfriend, and dog. My love of music, art, and video creation. My love of emotions, laughter, and knowledge. As long as I keep those alive in my mind, the rest of the world won't ever be too tough for me to handle.