How to recognize and address depression presenting as anger

16th January 2021

This is a collaborative post

Depression and anxiety are a few mental issues prevalent throughout the globe, especially in western countries. People go through silent inner battles on their own for years without asking for help. On the contrary, some people have no idea they are dealing with depression for years.

It is crucial to analyze yourself and stay aware of what is going on within your body and mind. People mostly know of depression as a feeling of endless sadness and apathy. However, some people may have a distinctive way of dealing with depression.

Sometimes, people can get agitated and angry when something in their life is not going right. The constant anger and rage eventually turn into the frustration that can mess up people’s relationships.

How do you let out anger in a healthy way?

People, especially men, have a concept in their heads that they need to stay strong all the time. However, when they feel vulnerable, they vent out their emotions like anger. The feeling of worthlessness, sadness, frustration, and helplessness can quickly turn into anger. However, it is essential to realize that people may be dealing with depression if they are frequently angry. There are many ways to deal with depression; however, self-realization is the first step towards healing.

Battling with depression is a lonely journey, and the constant feeling of loneliness is super exhausting. On the other hand, people feel weak and exposed when they open up about their mental issues with someone. However, the exposure and increase in mental health awareness are leading people to change their perspective.

What are the signs of hidden anger?

Hidden anger may not always be due to a particular scenario. When a lot of things go wrong in a person’s life, they tend to feel frustrated. While it is easy to ignore anger, it can ruin relationships and kill a person’s productive spirit. Let’s have a look at things that can help you realize your anger is depression.

Importance of Self-realization

Why do I get angry out of nowhere?

We all have been in situations where we feel mad beyond our control. Once the anger dies down, you cannot point out what made you angry. Also, the anger can turn into frustration, and eventually, the anger turns into a whole episode of crying. However, it is necessary to control our emotions rather than let our emotions control us. First, a person must make an effort to know themselves and pinpoint factors that may be leading to them feeling distraught. Let’s analyze some factors to identify if you have depression:

1. Start journaling

It is always helpful to keep a record of your emotions. Sometimes, we have a lot on our plate that we forget the pattern of our emotions. Journaling is an easy way to record your feelings and analyze what you feel and why. Once you start maintaining a record, you can actually pinpoint if you are angry or depressed. It is necessary to connect with your inner-self and ask basic questions. It may not be easy to self-realize your emotions, but you can try—most anger management classes also emphasize mental health and self-evaluations.

2. Meditation

Meditation is not the simplest thing to do when your emotions are all over the place. However, without effort, you cannot reach a substantial solution. When you breathe in and breathe out, you can get hold of your emotions. If meditation is not helping you relax or calm down, then the possibility of depression increases. Depression is something that can make a person feel worthless, and feeling worthless can translate into anger quickly. Hence, a person must give meditation a try to feel at peace.

3. Socialize

Mostly, when a person is angry or feeling worthless, they are unable to socialize. However, it is essential to socialize and observe your behavior around people. You may have noticed that your parents or friends observe things about you that you do not even realize yourself. Hence, it is imperative to surround yourself with people who provide constructive feedback. It leads to self-improvement and helps to bring your life together.

How to deal with depression?

1. Therapy

Can anxiety show up as anger? Therapists also suggest that many patients have their way of dealing with depression, and anger is one of them. Seeking therapy brings a lot of positive life changes. On the other hand, it helps people realize their self-worth and boost their confidence significantly.

2. Natural remedies

Natural remedies such as CBD lip balm and other related products help significantly in reducing depression. CBD gummies are a new invention that people eat on a regular basis to balance out their hormones. Apart from CBD, kratom, lavender spray, and chamomile tea show outstanding results in calming anxiety and curing depression. On the other hand, it is best to give natural remedies a try before taking medications.

3. Exercise regularly

People preach exercise as a great solution to mental issues, but they rarely practice it. It is crucial to move your body and try out some form of exercise to feel good about yourself. It releases hormones that neutralize emotions and induces a feeling of gratitude.

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9 Tips To Buy The Perfect Chocolate-y Gift For A Loved One

11th January 2021

assorted chocolate — Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

This is a collaborative post

The best medicine for celebrations, be it birthdays, valentines or anniversaries is sharing and consuming chocolates. Gifting has never been easy, especially when you want the recipient to enjoy and truly like what you gift! For instance, you know your friend is brand conscious, and they mostly like purchasing branded clothing.

You need to consider a few things before buying the perfect chocolate gift for someone close. Take a look at these 9 tips before you hop to the nearby mall and purchase chocolate hampers for your near and dear ones! Check them out now.

1. Let’s Talk About Personal Taste First

From a wide range of chocolate types available in the market, what does your friend or dear ones like? Your choices could include multiple types like dark chocolate, milk chocolate, truffles, caramels, alcoholic, non-alcoholic, etc., Make sure you know their taste though!

2. Do You Have Enough Budget?

chocolates — Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Gifting can be quite expensive; it is a wise thing to consider the budget that you would like to buy the gift for.

Always remember that gifts are something that you put your love and thoughts into, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive. Go around your budget a little bit but mostly stick to how much you have and do the best by gifting different types of chocolates.

3. Dietary Restrictions

This one’s perhaps the most significant, health-wise. Are you aware of any allergies or dietary restrictions your loved one might have?

Some chocolates that contain milk can affect someone who is lactose intolerant. Also, it’s no secret that many people have been known to complain that dark chocolate triggers their migraines. Make sure you have all the information you need beforehand.

4. Choice Of the Right Brands

If you are gifting them chocolates from their favourite chocolate maker, they will always remember it because they will know that you are aware of their favourites. Some well-known chocolatiers are Teuscher, Godiva, Valrhona, etc., that you could explore and ultimately choose one from

5. Single Flavors Or Multiple Flavors?

Your personalized chocolate gift box can contain lots of small and big chocolates, but do you want it filled with the same flavour or like it to be an assortment of sorts? This choice mostly lies with you in case this gift is a surprise. If your friend is an experimental type, then you can always go wild in terms of choosing flavours,

6. Want Pretty Packaging?

Valentine chocolate — Image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay

Wanting pretty packaging is fine, but don’t blindly buy something just because of the packaging, because the product quality inside is what truly matters.

7. The Source Of Chocolate Making

Just like clothing brands, chocolate brands, too, are known to have links with unethical trades. You would need to research the companies that are ethical in their trade. One good company that has Direct Trade Certification is Madécasse.

8. Look For Discounts

We all know premium chocolates costs a fortune. If you are buying it during the festive season, selective products might be on discounts.

9. Market

You always have a choice. Do you want to buy from an online store or physical store? Either way, it goes a long way if you know reviews of that store first. You don’t want to buy gifts that don’t turn out well for the users who bought it before.

Conclusion

So those were our tops tips. And if you got here, mission accomplished. There’s no way your loved one will not like something that you’ve so thoughtfully gifted them!

To make the gift a little more special and personalized, don’t forget to write a heartfelt message or choose a greeting card to do so.

Let us know which tip helped you the most.

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Easy Lifestyle Changes to Help You Sleep

8th January 2021

This is a collaborative post

We all struggle to sleep from time to time. Sometimes, the reasons for our sleepless nights are clear. You might have had too many late nights or early mornings, only to find that you can’t get back into your routine. You might be drinking too much caffeine late at night or overeating sugar. Sometimes we can’t sleep because we are stressed out and worried, and so we spend our nights tossing and turning as we struggle to turn our minds off for the night.

Health Issues Caused By Lack Of Sleep

Lack of sleep can cause a whole host of health issues including memory problems, mood changes, weakened immunity and high blood pressure which in turn can lead to heart and other organ problems, dizziness and ear problems, to name a few.

Problems with your ears can be particularly stressful and even painful. It’s important to maintain good ear health, which the team of Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) doctors at Auris Ear Care can help you with.

Finding The Cause

But, the causes aren’t always as clear. You might find that you can’t sleep, but that there’s no apparent reason for it, which makes it much harder to deal with. Fortunately, it doesn’t always have to be difficult, and you might not have to make any drastic changes. There are often just a few simple lifestyle changes that can improve your quality of sleep, as well as its length.

lifestyle changes to help you get more sleep - Woman asleep on the sofa — Pixabay – CC0 Licence

Stop Smoking

Smoking might not directly impact your sleep. But, it can hurt the quality of the air in your home, increase your adrenaline levels, and have a negative effect on your mental health. Of course, quitting isn’t an easy change, but you could always go for a classic shisha pen in this kit for a swap.

Switch Off for an Hour Before Bed

A common cause of sleepless nights in the modern world is our growing use of technology. We sit in bed on our mobile phones or tablets, or minds kept alert by both the light and the content that we view. Try to switch devices off, or at least put them down for an hour before bed.

Leave Your Phone in Another Room

You might also be guilty of sleeping with your phone charging up next to your bed. This won’t hurt you as such, but you might be tempted to check more than the time if you wake in the night. You might also turn to your phone as soon as you wake up, instead of trying to get a little more rest or waking gradually. Leave your phone in another room overnight, and you might sleep much better.

Exercise More

Getting even ten minutes more exercise a day can help you to sleep better. It tires your body out, eases your stress and improves your mood. Try cardio exercise, or at least going for a short walk after dinner.

Get Organised for the Morning

Sometimes, we can’t sleep because we are worried about how much we need to do in the morning. You might be subconsciously planning what you need to do. So, start doing some of it before you go to bed. Pack lunches, get uniforms out, prepare what you are going to wear, and even begin showering before bed. You might sleep better if you know your morning will be easier. It can also mean that you can get up a little later.

If these changes don’t help, there’s still no clear reason for your sleepless nights and no sign of improvement, you may want to look for any other symptoms, and see your doctor. Just in case it’s a symptom of an underlying condition.

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Tips To Look After The Health Of Your Household

7th January 2021

This is a collaborative post

Being happy and healthy is all that a household needs when it comes to their wants. There are plenty of opportunities to help make that so, particularly if you feel that you might be lacking in that somehow. Here are some tips to look after the health of your household.

family walking on a pier at sunset - look after the health of your household by getting exercise together — **Image Source**

Improve Relationships With Food

Your relationship with food is more important than you think. The food that we consume has an impact on how healthy we are and what chance it gives us when it comes to living a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, everything that is bad for you always ends up tasting really nice. However, you can help improve everyone’s relationship with food by preparing your evening meals from scratch. Learning what you’re putting into your food is essential, and when you know that, it can help you figure out how to make those meals a little healthier. Your idea of portion size and moderation might also be a little warped. It’s certainly healthy to look at your plates and see if there are some issues with the amount that gets piled onto your plate each time. The ratio of veggies to protein, meat to meat alternatives is also very important.

Improve your relationship with food as a household, and you’ll start to feel a lot happier in yourself.

Do Some Family Exercise

Keeping on top of exercise can be essential for your health in general. As you get older, the need for exercise becomes more important so to help this, why not try family exercise? It could be an opportunity for you and your family to go down to the local swimming pool and spend a morning or afternoon swimming together. Sometimes it can be necessary to take someone with you when exercising because it can certainly help motivate you further. Ensure you’ve set up a time and an exercise class or routine that everyone enjoys. This is a family exercise and so everyone who is involved, should enjoy what they’re doing and not feeling like they’ve been dragged along.

Ask your family members what they’d like to try out and give each other the opportunity to try something out that you all may have not tried before.

Try Out Supplements

Supplements can pretty much be assigned to anyone in your household, as long as it’s a suitable age for your child to be taking them. For adults, things like CBG are starting to emerge as a popular supplement to take when it comes to advertising. So what is CBG? Well, it’s a cannabinoid that is taking the wellness industry by storm because it’s an all-natural supplement. It can help benefit pain management, which can come in handy when recovering from any injuries or pain from working out. There are so many different supplements to try, both for the young and the old. As with anything though, it’s always a good idea to approach your doctor first to see what they think about what you’re looking into.

Keep The Home Tidy

Keeping your home tidy and clean is useful for your health because if you let the cleanliness of your home deteriorate, then you are likely to cause illnesses from spending too much of your time in a cluttered home. Try to involve your household more and stress the need for keeping all spaces in the home clean. Declutter on a regular basis and make sure you’re getting rid of anything that’s maybe taking up a lot of room. Keep your surfaces clean by having proper cleaning products and equipment, especially those you don’t often touch because these are the ones that accumulate a lot of dust, like your windows and doors. Set up a weekly or monthly cleaning schedule that you can all contribute to. The more respect everyone has for the home, the better it will be treated. The health of your household can always be helped if you’re willing to pick up after yourself and to keep all of the dust at bay in your home.

Woman in a kitchen, cooking dinner — **Image Source**

Stress The Importance Of Medical Appointments

Medical appointments are something that we all have access to, but we often forget to attend them. And although many of us can end up leading busy lives, you’re not busy enough to skip your medical appointments or to forget about going. You want to be able to set a good role model for your children in that looking after your health and getting regular check-ups is good. So make sure you’re going to all your dental and doctor appointments but also take advantage of the free eye tests and hearing tests. These are both things that are usually free first time around, and they might pick up something that hasn’t been recognised by yourself.

Always Stay On Top Of Personal Hygiene

Taking care of yourself is essential, and your personal hygiene can certainly impact your health too. By not brushing your teeth twice a day or not washing your hands after you’ve out. These are all the little things that you don’t think are bad for skipping a day on or not doing at all, but they are really vital. You should always try and carry a hand sanitizer and that way you keep on top of destroying any germs that might get transferred from communal areas to your hands. The amount of dirt and bacteria that can sit on your hands and potentially cause you harm is as worse if not more than your standard toilet bowl. Be wary of personal hygiene and that of others in the household.

Looking after your health as a household is important, so the more you can do to help yourself, the better. Start by washing your hands religiously before mealtime and if not, use hand sanitizer to do the same job. Stress the importance of medical appointments with your children and make sure they’re attending once they’ve flown the nest too. Keep your home tidy as often as possible and remember to declutter every now and then. Try out supplements and don’t forget to do some family exercise together as and when you can. It’s a great bonding experience but one that’s also healthy!

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Everything You Need to Know About Changing Your Name

27th December 2020

This is a collaborative post

There are times in everyone’s life where they want to start over with a new identity and new plans. While some plans fall through, others don’t. Many times there are too many reasons a person might consider getting a new name. Like in the case of divorce or separation, a woman would like to get her surname changed or would want to change her entire name. In some cases, a person might want to leave his old life behind and start afresh with a new identity, a new job and probably even a new name.
But thanks to the fast-growing and evolving world, changing your name has become more hassle-free than ever. All you need to get is a deed poll.

Deed Poll:

A legal binding document that works as a piece of evidence. When you decide to get a new name, the deed poll is that official document you need to fill out to get this process done. It will help you to update your name in all other official and essential documents like your passport, license etc. It states the necessary information like what new name you have decided to go with, and from what date onwards.

How important is it to get a deed poll?

Changing names is not something you do every day. It is your marked identity. The new name you choose, is now your identity proof that has to be updated in all of your important documents. If you decide to change your anime due to any reason, you need to do it officially, by informing the right authorities and sending out updates to relevant organizations. You must sign the legally binding document and notify certain authorities to get going.

In many cases, when you’re married, your marriage certificate can act as a proof of a new name, but in the case of separation, a deed poll may be needed if you decide to go back to your old name.

Do You Always Need a Deed Poll?

No, you don’t always need a deed poll. In case of marriage, the marriage certificate will act as a legal document for the new name change. If your marriage were finalised in the ion UK, the state would issue a certificate mentioning your old name and the new name. This acts as a legal document.

In case of separation, you may need a deed poll if your divorce hasn’t been finalised yet. But if you have gone through the divorce, you won’t need a deed poll to switch back to your maiden name. It would help if you had your decree absolute.

How to Apply For a Deed Poll?

Applying for a deed poll over has become very easy over the years. You can even order one online.

Start by filling out an online application, and once all the details have been entered, you will be redirected to the payment page. There is a minimal amount for deed poll that you need to pay.

After the completion of payment, your deed poll will be sent to you via post along with any duplicate copies that you might have ordered.

Once you receive your deed poll, you will need two witnesses to sign the documents along with your signature, stating that you are willingly going ahead with this change.

Once done with signature, you need to notify important organizations to update your name in all important documents.

The process is relatively seamless and straightforward, and it won’t take much of your time. Make sure you have a list of the official bodies you need to inform and then you’re good to go.

At any point in life, you can go through this change, but you need to be above 18. And in case you’re not, you can ask your parents or guardian to help you with this.

Christmas, Christmas Crafts, Crafts, Reviews & Adverts

Have A Creative Christmas With Design Bundles

4th December 2020

This is a collaborative post.

When I got my Cricut in February 2019, my first project was to make a wedding gift for my cousin and his wife.
I didn’t really know what I was doing, having never used a Cricut before but I managed to figure it out, eventually!
The first SVG file I ever used was from Design Bundles; as soon as I saw it I knew it was perfect for what I needed.

Butterfly Bouquet Cutout Framed personalised wedding gift

Early Christmas Decorating

We put our decorations up on November 29th. We’ve never put them up in November before and I always said I never would! However, after the year we’ve all had thanks to Covid-19, we all needed something fun to do and something to look forward to.

Gnome tree decoration from Design Bundles — I love these gnomes. They’re super easy to make.

Everyone in the country seems to have gotten into the Christmas spirit a bit earlier than usual. We’re grabbing hold of it like a lifeline and even though it’s not going to be a normal Christmas, it can still be a brilliant one.

A Design Bundles Crafty Christmas

Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year and one of the things I look forward to is crafting with the children.
We used to do lots of different crafts when they younger and I loved spending the time with them. Nowadays they prefer social media to crafting with mum but I can sometimes cajole them into crafting with me!

I downloaded loads of Christmas svgs from Design Bundles. They have so many you’re spoilt for choice! I use Design Bundles a lot so I decided to sign up for the Plus Membership. I can now choose new files every month using my Plus Credits 🙂

We’ve made tree decorations, 3D layered scenes, Christmas cards and Christmas t-shirts.

3D layered deer scene from Design Bundles

You can find tutorials below for some of the things we’ve been making.

3D Layered Penguins Scene Tutorial

This 3D layered penguin scene is simple and fast to make. All you need is a Cricut or other cutting machine, the 3D Christmas SVG papercraft bundle from Design Bundles, your choice of coloured/glittered card for each layer and some glue.
An optional extra is to add some wired fairy lights that you can put inside the scene behind the first inner layer. The finished product looks lovely when the lights are on.

Step 1 – Cutting

Cut all the pieces using your cutting machine. If you’re not sure how to use an SVG file, I have an in-depth tutorial here.

I used:

Black card – 2 outer layers
Silver glitter card – inner layer 1
Cream card – inner layer 2
Light blue card – inner layer 3
Dark blue card – Inner layer 4

Step 2 – Assembling

Glue the 2 out layers together using the flap on the front piece.

Step 3 – Insert inner layers.

Starting with the back layer, insert all inner layers by slotting the tabs into the holes.

Design Bundles - Penguin 3D scene - adding the layers

Step 4 – Closing the frame

All you need to do now is to apply glue to the tab on the outer back piece and stick the front penguin layer to the back.

Christmas Tree Decorations Tutorial

This is a great project to use up all those card scraps; if you’re anything like me, you’ll have boxes of them!

We made our bauble decorations to go in the kitchen window rather than on the tree and they look lovely when they spin and catch the light.

All you need is scraps of card, glue, ribbon/string and adhesive gems.

Step 1 – Cut your pieces

I resized all the bauble files when I got them in Design Space because they were huge!
I resized them to around 10cms and changed the colour from black, making each design a different colour so they would be placed on different mats by Design Space.
If we were going to hang them on the tree, I’d have made them smaller but ours are going in the kitchen window so we need them a bit bigger.

Step 2 – Duplicate and Flip

Now click on each bauble in turn, right click and duplicate then with the duplicated piece selected, click on Flip and flip the ornament horizontally.

Once you’ve saved your work, click the Make It button in the top right corner of Design Space and cut all the pieces.

Step 3 – Assembling and Decorating

Put glue on the back of one the pairs of ornaments then stick the other piece to it, making sure they’re lined perfectly.

Using adhesive gems or any decorations you choose, decorate both sides.
If you’re using glitter card like me, it’s a good idea to put a dab of glue on the card where you want a gem to go, even though they’re adhesive, they sometimes fall off when put on glitter card.

Hang them using ribbon or Christmassy string.

Iron-On Vinyl T-Shirts Tutorial

My last tutorial today uses iron-on glittery vinyl to create some Christmas Movie watching t-shirts for KayCee and Ella.
Now before I start, I have to say I’m no expert when it comes to working with iron-on vinyl. I was really excited to try it when I first got the Cricut but I didn’t enjoy it the way I did when working with card.

I haven’t mastered layering yet so this is a one colour vinyl tutorial. I have to say, though, I do love the glitter and the svg files I got from Design Bundles made this a quick and easy craft.

KayCee and Ella wearing thier Christmas movie watching t-shirts

Step 1 – Choose Your SVG file

Go to Design Bundles and in the search box, search for Christmas Movie. This search term is enough to give you hundreds of results.

Choose your design and add it to Design Space.

Set the size and click Make It.

Step 3 – Cutting Your Design

The most important thing to remember at this stage is to MIRROR your design. I totally forgot with the second t-shirt and I wasted a whole sheet of glitter iron-on!

Click Continue then select Glitter Iron-On for the material.

When the cut has finished, weed away the excess material and your design is ready to be put on the t-shirt.

Step 4 – Applying The Iron-On

I used the Heat Press 2 with the following settings for Glitter Iron-on, a Cricut t-shirt and using the Cricut Easy Press mat:

Centre your design on the t-shirt and use the Easy Press to stick the design to the t-shirt. Let it cool before trying to peel off the carrier sheet.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the tutorials. I’ll be back tomorrow with some free Christmas printables I made using gorgeous artwork I bought at Design Bundles 🙂

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5 Tips for Getting Into Affiliate Marketing As a Blogger

2nd December 2020

Home office - affiliate marketing — Image by LEEROY Agency from Pixabay

This is a collaborative post.

Everyone is interested in earning more money, but not everyone knows how to create a second source of income. Particularly a passive income.

Whether you’re looking to rely on passive income solely one day or actively work along with it, affiliate marketing is among many great ways to start.

But before you get too excited, affiliate marketing is not easy nor a get rich quick scheme. Affiliate marketing takes hard work and time at first. But it can be really good if you succeed.

Let’s take a quick overview of affiliate marketing before getting into the tips.

What Is Affiliate Marketing?

Basically, affiliate marketing is a way for publishers to earn commissions by promoting products and services of businesses that want to get more traffic or sales. You have to partner with the right kind of companies.

You will simply need to convince people to click on the affiliate links you paste, which will lead them to the business’s site. When anyone buys a product by clicking on your link, you get a commission.

Establish Yourself as an Expert in a Niche

Suppose you are searching for a beauty product online. Would you listen to someone who has expertise in beauty or an automotive expert? Obviously, the beauty expert.

You need to build an audience that has specific needs and then tailor your affiliate marketing campaigns to fit those needs. You can get more success by simply establishing yourself as an expert in the subject.

Don’t Be Afraid To Make It Personal

There is a common rule among most affiliate marketers that you should think about. That is, they only promote products or services that they personally believe in and have tried.

This way, you can ensure that you’re putting the best out there for your audience. You can achieve a more impressive conversion rate and simultaneously increase your reliability.

Be Careful When Choosing Campaigns

No matter how skilled a marketer or blogger you may be, a bad product or service can ruin everything.

Suppose if you’re an expert in trading or stocks, you need to study the products and services high in demand. If you’re partnering up with a forex affiliate network, make sure to check them carefully and see whether or not your audience can get a good deal out of it.

Review Products and Services

Once you find the right products and services in your niche, start reviewing them. You can use your rapport here and tell your readers why they should purchase the product or service. Also, telling your personal experience with the service or product can help.

Whether it’s a physical product, e-book, software, an online service, or anything else, it can be reviewed. You can also compare the products or services you’re promoting and say why they are better than others in that category.

Look Into the Trends

The affiliate marketing game is experiencing some serious competition nowadays. For that reason, you should always be looking out for trends in your niche to stay competitive and provide the best for your audience.

You should also look out for more affiliate marketing techniques and strategies that get created all the time. You can use them to get more conversions and make higher revenue.

Extra Tip: Try Other Channels As Well

While blogging is an excellent way to start your affiliate marketing career, it’s not the only channel you should consider using.

You can surely start with blogging and build an audience. But while you do that, consider creating an audience on social media, getting the right emails for email marketing, and even use media channels if you can. The more you promote the products and services, the more you earn.

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5 Online Activities To Help Pass The Time This Winter

21st November 2020

a street covered in snow — Image by misskrume from Pixabay

This is a collaborative post

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!
Well, if it’s not yet, it probably soon will be, unless you live in the Bahamas!
Here in the UK, we may not have snow yet, but there’s a definite chill in the air. So, with that in mind, I’ve found 5 online activities to keep you entertained and your mind active while you’re inside keeping yourself warm and snug.

Sign Up For A Free Online Course

Whatever interests you have, you will most certainly be able to find a free online course to further your knowledge.
There are literally thousands of free online courses out there from many well known and well-respected institutions, like The Open University.

They have hundreds of free course in the following categories:

Health, sports and psycology
Education and development
History and the arts
Languages
Money and business
Nature and the environment
Science, maths and technology
Society, politics and law

Play Online Slots

online activities slot reviews — Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Online slots are very popular right now, which is great, but it does means that there are hundreds of sites to choose from.
It can be hard to know which slot games are best but don’t worry, there are lots of slot review sites to help find the perfect slot games, just for you.

Reading reviews before playing slot games will help give you a feel for the game, see what the graphics are like and also how easy it is to win!

If you’re worried about spending your actual money on gambling games, fear not, we’ve got that covered as well!
You can find slot reviews for free-to-play games as well as paid for versions.

However, if you do fancy a flutter, check out minimum deposit casino India. You could win big for a minimum stake but remember to always gamble responsibly.

Listen To Free Podcasts

As with online courses, there are hundreds of thousands of free podcasts to listen to covering every single topic you can think of.

Head over to the BBC to find podcasts from your favourite TV shows and stars such as Strictly Come Dancing and Graham Norton.
Listen to Joe Wicks asking his friends what one thing is that makes life better for them or settle down and listen to the one and only Gemma Collins, diva extraordinaire!

Learn Meditatation And Mindfullness

massage oil, a candle and white towels — Image by Gundula Vogel from Pixabay

Are you a Zoom fan? If not, why not?! And if you’ve been living under a rock for most of the year and don’t know what Zoom is, it’s a video conferencing program that’s free to use.

So many of us this year has fallen in love with Zoom because it’s so versatile.
Not only can you get together with family and friends, no matter where they live and enjoy a family quiz night or celebrate a birthday, you can also learn meditation and mindfulness with Brown University.

All the Zoom classes are completely free, you just need to register to secure your place for each class you’d like to join.

Join An Online Book Club

Online book clubs are actually a thing and the massive bookworm in me is very excited to know this!

There are many different clubs to choose from, some run by people you may have of like Reece Witherspoon and Oprah Winfry!
Sam Jordison of The Guardian runs a book club on the first Tuesday of every month. You can even put your own reading suggestions to him.

Maybe you’d even like to start your own online book club. Whichever you prefer, you’re not only going to be reading lots, (yay for reading!!) you’ll be making new friends, possibly from around the globe.

Winter doesn’t mean you have to stop you from enjoying yourself. You’ll just be doing from the comfort of your own home instead.

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Why the UK fell in love with Japanese food

19th November 2020

Image by Juan Emilio López Gallardo from Pixabay

This is a collaborative post

Over the past decade, we have experienced an explosion of Japanese culture and cuisine in the UK. Ramen today is becoming a lunchtime favourite and exhibitions from Japanese designers are popping up in London. Today the UK appetite for Japanese food has gone beyond sushi.

Today, the Japanese food UK has grown in popularity, it has gone down to the theatre, and it is never getting old. The Japanese cuisine has an abundance of flavours ranging from yummy miso, salty tamari, or the ubiquitous umami, which can arouse your taste buds and uniquely keep them tingling.

The Japanese diet involves fish and fermented food, which are responsible for impressive health and longevity stats. It is true the Japanese have a longer life expectancy that is higher than anywhere else on the globe.

Benefits of the traditional Japanese food UK

The British medical journal shows that people who stick closely to a diet high in grains, vegetables, and a moderate amount of animal products and soy and who have a minimum amount of dairy and fruit, have a reduced risk of dying early from stroke and other heart diseases. Surprisingly the Japanese also have the lowest rates of obesity among men and women.

Okinawa, the Southernmost part of Japan, has the lowest risk of age-related diseases. It is attributed to their traditional Japanese diet, which consists of low calories and saturated fat nutrients.

What is behind the traditional Japanese diet

The traditional Japanese diet is not similar to the standard Chinese diet, with rice, cooked pickled vegetables, meat, and fish as a staple choice. Since the Japanese live on an island, the resident consumes much more fish than other Asian countries. The Japanese prefer eating the fish raw in sushi and sashimi; most of the dessert is fermented and smoked.

Soybeans are usually in the form of tofu or fresh edamame. Fermented foods play a significant role in developing a healthy digestive system. Therefore, soybeans products like natto and miso are commonplace in the Japanese diet. Natto is served during breakfast, and it has a probiotic action that aids in blood clotting.

The Japanese eat a lot of land and sea vegetables, including seaweeds. Seaweeds are known to have a full pack of minerals that may help to regulate blood pressure. However, the Japanese are also big fans of green tea, especially the matcha tea, which is one of the Japanese food UK growing in popularity at a vast rate. Medically, green tea is known for its high value of antioxidants known as catechins which are associated with fighting cancer, heart disease, and viruses.

Eating behaviours that are part of the traditional Japanese culture

The traditional Japanese way to have a healthy attitude towards food and eating is by having a slogan that says “eat until you are 80% full”. It is common to teach this to children from a young age. The Japanese also serve their meals in different small bowls, consisting of several bowls of rice, miso, some fish or meat, and three vegetables, and the dessert is served communally in a rotation.

If you are looking to buy Japanese food UK ingredients, head straight to the Oriental Mart to make an order of all ingredients you want, and enjoy a discount. Pay and receive your order right at your doorstep!

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5 Ways to Attract Natural Light in Your Home

17th November 2020

woman sitting on a sofa - lots of natural light coming in rom the window behind her — Photo by **Fox** from **Pexels**

This is a collaborative post

Natural light offers plenty of benefits to your home such as saving energy, improving your health, and lifting your mood. No wonder why homebuyers are now considering “plenty of natural light” as a key attribute they search for when choosing a new residence.

Daylight exposure has been correlated with improvements in your health, mood, and in the house. Natural light can make a room brighter and give the impression of more space.

Finding out how you can brighten up a dark and melancholy room is overwhelming when moving into a new home. This is true if there are no big windows in your new place to let natural sunlight in.

A lot of things can be done to attract natural light to your home.

Here are five ways on how you can welcome the sunlight in your space:

Choose the Perfect Upholstery Fabrics

Typically, you choose your sofas, tables, and chairs based on your personal touch and what you think looks best. Having said, you must choose the perfect upholstery fabric.

Do you want the light to enter your room? Get rid of those huge, navy or grey sofas!

A sleek, lightweight sofa in a lighter shade like white, ivory, or beige will make your space feel and look more spacious. More specifically, avoid bed frames, tables, or TV racks made from walnut wood.

Aside from choosing the perfect upholstery fabric, select also the right colours of pillows, throws, and other soft furnishings.

Select the Right Colour Scheme

If you can recall from your art class, colour can either reflect or absorb light. Dark hues will trap light so a dark coloured room with lots of windows will look gloomy compared to a room painted with light grey, white, or light tan.

The lighter shades work like a mirror to bounce light all over the room.

Painting your room white is the most practical way of brightening your home. White makes light bounce all over your room and reflects on other surfaces.

For added décor, think about adding ornamental trimmings to the ceilings or paint a side of the wall with a freshening colour.

Add Shiny Objects and Mirrors

Did you know that installing a mirror to a wall would make the area look more spacious?

Putting a mirror across the window can also multiply the amount of natural light entering the room.

Shiny objects such as metallic light fixtures, silver photo frames, and furniture with chrome accents can help in making your room bright.

Cover Floors with Bright Rugs

Putting a bright rug on your bare floors can brighten your room. Aside from making your floors glow, it can also add some texture and comfort to your floors.

Pick ivory, white, or yellow when choosing a colour for your rug. Ensure that the rug is large enough to help increase the visual area.

Use Light Window Treatments

Window treatments have altered throughout the years to suit more simplified patterns.

Put out brocade and heavy curtains and replace them with airy sheens.

Remove those Roman blinds that block light even when they’re not shut and welcome the daylight in. Pick sheer curtains in a single panel so you can pull them back to enjoy the stunning view outside.

Blinds are another common choice because they allow you to adjust the amount of light you prefer and you can angle them any way you want with a twist of the wand.

This recommendation may seem simple but cleaning your glass doors and windows on both sides will ensure that optimum sunlight will penetrate through the glass.

Like your sunglasses with smudges, dirt can restrict visibility in the windows.