If you’re subscribed to my newsletter (and you really should be), you’ll know that I’ve been thinking a lot about how I approach social media and sharing my work.

Towards the end of last year I got fed up with how much time I felt like I was spending scheduling posts rather than making things, which is what I actually enjoy. So, I took a step back and let Bloglovin share my new posts for me. It was easy. But I obviously didn’t have the same engagement as I had before and I missed having good conversations around my posts.

In September, with my new (school) year new motivation attitude on I decided something had to change.

So, I turned off my autosharing and signed up to Buffer. It took me a good while to decide which social media scheduler to use, as I mentioned in my design toolkit post. But I landed on Buffer because it had great reviews and allowed me to schedule to Pinterest, which for some reason is my biggest social media channel.

I’m so glad I chose Buffer for one big reason; it automatically pulls in pictures when you schedule a post. It might sound like a little thing, but I used to spend hours having to sort through images, especially if I was sharing an older post, and Buffer has made it so easy now.

The other big change I’ve made when it comes to scheduling is that I’ve started to keep a log of my posts with pre-written tweets. I’m currently slowly working my way through my backlog of posts. This giant sheet has been a step in the right, more organised direction, for me. It means I can easily share older posts as well as my most recent content and more promotional content. It also means I can keep better track of the kinds of posts I’m sharing and when using some super intense conditional formatting. Personally I much prefer chipping away at this one document then copying across into Buffer once a week or so, rather than having to have really intense scheduling sessions. It’s also reminded me of quite how much I’ve written over the years!

So those are the major structural changes I’ve made.

But the other thing I’m getting back into is trying to engage with and support the content I love more. This was something I spent hours doing when I started out, but has fallen by the wayside as I’ve gotten busier. But there’s so much good stuff out there. So I’m spending more time chatting on twitter, commenting on Instagram and engaging with stories, more time reading and sharing from Bloglovin, and of course telling you about the stuff I love in the newsletter.

I’ve been trying out these changes for almost 2 months now and while I’ve only started to see a tiny shift in the amount of people reading the stuff I post on here. But I have felt a really big rebalancing in how I feel about what I’m sharing. I’m enjoying it again and I’m proud of what you’re seeing again. And, you know what, that’s really what matters in the end!

I have lots of little stashes of blog posts and advice I love, squirreled away like acorns across the internet. Recently I dug my way through my Bloglovin collections, and stumbled back across a piece from Darling Magazine about the difference between hibernation and hiding. It was something that really resonated with me last year, and it’s still ringing true.

In the post they talk about how hibernation is different to hiding because, “hibernation is an adaptation that helps […] conserve energy by remaining inactive”. It’s not running away but slowing down to recoup.

What really struck me when I was rereading the post wasn’t how well they’ve articulated that difference, but that I think I could really do with a period of hibernation. I’ve been feeling more and more like the pace I’m currently moving isn’t sustainable unless I take a moment to restock properly. I’ve tried taking small breaks, but I need to hit reset. If for no other reason than I’m pretty sure everyone is bored of me saying I’m tired and busy, because that’s all that I am right now.

So, in order to preserve what’s left of my sanity and my stability. I’m thinking of taking a period of hibernation over this winter.

But what does that mean?

Here’s what I’m planning for my hibernation:

• I’m going to feed my body and my mind – when animals hibernate, they build up big stocks of food to keep them nourished throughout the winter. I’m not going to build a pile of seeds and nuts, but I am going to try to look after myself a little bit better. I also want to take some time to just consume arts, and media, and new experiences, without necessarily having to create off the back of it.
• I’m going to rest – this is the big one. I just want to sleep and relax. I don’t want to worry about scavenging for my next instagram post or my next blog idea.
• I’m going to slow my rhythm – animals who hibernate slow down their metabolic rate to survive not eating and being cold for so long. I want to take a bit of inspiration out of that and set myself up with a new, slower schedule.
• I’m going to nest – I always imagine well stocked burrows when I think of hibernators and I want to take this opportunity to clean up my space a little. As much as I try to keep on top of things both my physical and digital spaces need some TLC and that takes time, and it takes being prioritised.

This post is also something of a forewarning that I’m going to be taking a good chunk of January away from blogging. I don’t think I’m going to completely retreat into my cave nest away from social media, but expect a quiet period on here at least.

Today I want to talk about something a little different. In fact, it isn’t a thing at all. It’s a way of thinking, a mindset if you will.

I’ve spent a lot of introspective time recently evaluating how I approach the world and why. The big conclusion of that time has been realising that I need to shift into what I’m calling a making mindset. It’s not something new, or revolutionary, I think it’s pretty similar to the idea of a growth mindset, but it is a big shift in how I work.

To give you some background as to how I think now, we have to step back into my childhood. Don’t worry this isn’t going to become too much of a therapy session.

I was labelled a ‘smart’ or ‘gifted’ kid at school – I’m not sure I actually ever was but it was what it was. That was pretty much the extent of my identity. I was expected to do well. If I raised my hand and gave a wrong answer I was genuinely laughed at and lost myself in a shame spiral. So, not hitting those academic targets first time wasn’t an option.

The work I was given before I went to uni never challenged me too much. I worked hard, but I didn’t have to.

So when I got to university and it was so much harder, and I was so much of a smaller fish, I had no coping methods. When I wasn’t instantly good at something my first instinct was to bail to protect myself from the potential shame and embarrassment. I was focused on an outcome because I’d never really had to learn how to learn.

That focus on an end goal rather than the doing and the learning has been central to how I’ve approached things right up until recently.

Now I want to pay close attention to what I’m doing not what I’m going to produce at the end of it all. That extends from this blog to my illustration, right the way into my proper job.

I spend the most of my time making the thing, rather than with the finished product, so doesn’t it make sense to make sure I’m enjoying that making. Plus, I know that if I focus on the process, on my own skills, on the making, that’s how I’m actually going to make better work.

That’s part of the reason I’ve pledged, to myself, to take on the rejection letters project. I’m going to focus on making and putting myself out there. In the process, I’m going to open myself up to rejection, I’m going to wear that failure like a badge of honour, to try to shake off some of the fear that’s held me back from just making the thing in the past.

I hope you can join me in the making mindset. Let’s just learn for the sake of learning, make for the sake of making.