From cheese-lover to carrot cruncher
There I was, lying in my hospital bed with blood circulation wraps on my feet, each alternating their turn to inflate every few seconds—Cshhh, fffff, Cshhhh, ffffff.
It was maddening. To try distracting myself from the noise, I popped open Netflix and put on the documentary ‘Cowspiracy’. My face scrunched up, and my head whirled from what I saw; I had to see more—cue‘ Forks over Knives’ and ‘What the Health’.
Watching these documentaries didn’t immediately turn me vegan, but they did leave a lasting impression that contributed to my decision later on.
It wasn’t until another two years later, as you’ll see, I actually committed myself to a plant-based diet. And now, two years on from that decision, I can share what I’ve learned along the way with you. …
And strategies for building your own network.
A little while back, I decided to quit my full-time job to focus on freelance writing and my Ph.D. One of the things that I quickly discovered was how lonely both of those things could be, especially freelancing.
At a standard 9–5, even a writing one, you have people to bounce ideas from and get advice, as well as KPI’s to achieve from external goal setters. Heck, you’re around other people. Considering the previous year's events, as a freelancer, building up a supportive and positive network of other freelancers is more important than ever.
Take a second to think about it, if you struggled to get through last year (professionally speaking), would having more people back you up and feel less lost, help? My guess is yes. That’s the case for me at least, and I’d wager I’m not alone in that. …
Here’s what I learned by BuJo-ing in 2020.
“The best time to start was yesterday. The second best time is now.”
Unknown
The above quote doesn’t appear to have a source, but it does appear to be a revised version of the phrase attributed to ‘Chinese proverb’, “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now.” No matter the source, it’s something I tell myself whenever I find myself in a bit of a rut.
One of the main problems in life, at least for me, is kicking out bad habits and installing new, healthier ones. …
What it is and what you can do about it.
Sometimes, you get a notification from your bank in the middle of the month about your balance. Damn, overspent again; I don’t even know where the money goes. It just disappears. You check your statement, and it’s full of $4.99’s here and $9.99’s there. It doesn’t seem like much, right?
Months can go by like this until you realize what one of the main culprits is: subscriptions. I bet you’re reading this right now thinking about how many subscriptions you’ve got. Maybe you can’t even think of them all.
Or maybe you only have one or two, if that’s the case, bravo — this article isn’t for you. You clearly possess the self-control that many (including myself) don’t have. This article is for those of you who think they might have a few too many subscriptions, or it’s out of control. …
If you’re getting into content marketing, listen up
Let’s start this off with a quick list of what content marketing is, and is not — just so we’re on the same page. If you’re a business selling a product or service, content marketing is:
- Educational in nature
- Answers questions people are asking in your industry
- About your audience, not your brand
Content marketing is not:
- Promotional material
- A sales pitch
Don’t get me wrong, your content should be about your industry and inevitably you will need to mention your brand — otherwise, what are you creating it for? …
Submission guidelines and more
Welcome to The Self-Experimenter, a publication made for those who like to experiment with different aspects of their lives.
We all like to find life-hacks to improve ourselves, from quitting caffeine, journalling, to taking cold showers every day for 30 days. Not everyone can keep a self-experiment going the whole way, but we sure like to hear about those who do!
The mission of this publication is to be the home for documentaries of personal experiments and challenges — in the pursuit of creating a better you.
An important note: this publication does NOT advocate dodgy health advice or other self-experiments that could put your life or the lives of others in danger. …
Editors’ Notes
And what that article template looks like
I don’t know about you, but as a writer, I’m one of those who absolutely have to have a skeleton to structure my writing. I’m certainly no ‘pantser’ that’s for sure. If you come from a background of academic writing, like me, you’ll be able to relate.
For some reason, I thought that writing online would be different. There’s an element of freedom and creativity that you don’t find so much in academic writing. So, for the majority of the time, I attempted ‘pantsing’ my articles or stories.
Boy, was that a mistake. Does this sound familiar to you?
You wake up, maybe get a coffee or something. You immediately sit down at your desk and open your writing application (after all, the Greats always insisted on writing first thing in the morning, right?). …
Ask yourself these 3 big questions.
Many of us spend our time wandering through life without much direction, not really knowing why we do the things we do — we just do them because everyone else is. After we’re born, we go to school, get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids, get old and die. At least, that’s what the mainstream ‘ideal’ life is like.
The problem with this idea for many people, myself included, is that it’s not specific enough. …
Not a free trial in sight
Back when I decided to leave my job and pursue freelance writing, I honestly knew hardly anything about SEO. Even now, I’m only a few months in, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. When you look at it as an outsider, it's one of those things that looks totally foreign, and fear of the unknown sets in.
That’s why people make a living from knowing how to do SEO alone, especially the technical stuff. …
Ever seen ‘garden leave’ in your contract?
A little while ago, before I decided to leave the corporate world in favour of freelance writing and studying, I left a job that had an interesting offboarding process. Normally, at least here in the UK, you provide your employer with a ‘notice’ and then you work through that notice until your last day, walking off into the sunset.
However, at this job, I was given what I now know as PILON (pay in lieu of notice) where instead of working through a notice period, they just paid me instead of having me work.
At the time, I thought was the same as ‘garden leave’, which I’d seen floating around online. Though, after some research, I realised it wasn’t the same thing. So even me, a Business PhD student, got the terms a little mixed up. …
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