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Mind The Gap Graduates

Advice for your twenties
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Hello!

I’m Maddie, a 22 year old Criminology graduate, working in PR and living in London.

This blog is my little space on the internet to share the struggles of graduate and adult life, and to let you know that whatever you’re feeling – you’re not alone.

Find stories and advice on careers, self-care, finances and more.

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Finally feeling like London is my home 🏠 Las

Finally feeling like London is my home 🏠

Last year when we moved, I didn’t have a job and didn’t really know what I was going to do. I started a job and left, then got another in a different city so I kept thinking why do I live in London when I don’t even work here. I didn’t feel good about where my post university life was taking me

Fast forward a year and I feel so much more settled and at home. I might still be working for a company in a different city but it doesn’t matter so much when so many of us work from home now

Moral of the story - things work out and everything happens for a reason. If you don't feel settled, just give it time and patience and see where you end up 💫

Have you moved somewhere new before? Did it take you a while to feel like it was your home too? 👇🏻

#stylingsocial #autumnwear #hmstyle #londoneye #londonbloggers #galswhocreate #stylingsocial #discoverunder4k #galswhograduate #chattycaptioncommunity #creativegalgang

Ten things I’ve realised this year ✨ No one n

Ten things I’ve realised this year ✨

No one needs to be reminded of what a weird year 2020 has been, but it’s always important to think about what we can learn from strange and tough times

So here are 10 things I’ve learnt over the last 10 months:

🌍 Holidays are my escape and I love going away, it’s my favourite thing and I’ve missed it this year. This photo is from one of my favourite trips ever!

💛 Keeping those I love around me and close is so important, even if that means virtually

🧘🏻 Looking after my mental health doesn’t have to be fancy, just daily acts of kindness to myself and taking it day by day

👩🏻‍💻 Success is not measured by productivity

🌟 Gratitude and giving compliments to myself and others really can shift my mindset

💟 I’m not always going to be happy with things

💫 Happiness really is something I can find within myself, and not through seeking external things or validation

🌸 Comparing myself to other people gets me nowhere and I should, instead, focus on my own path and desires

💻 Working during a pandemic is really quite difficult

🌙 Learning more about myself and what I want, enjoy and love is more important than anything

Find out more in the link in my bio, where I share a bit more about each and, maybe, it will inspire you to think about what you’ve learnt too 💛

What’s one thing you’ve realised this year? 💫

#creativegalgang #copenhagen #galswhocreate #discoverunder4k #chattycaptioncommunity #everysquareastory #selfreflection #galswhograduate

Tips for applying to graduates schemes & jobs ☕️

It’s that time of year where you might be looking at what graduate schemes are opening and where you might like to work. It can get overwhelming at times but it doesn’t have to with some simple steps...

Here are some of my tips for staying on top of things if you’re applying to several things:

🗒 do your research - find out what’s on offer, the application process and what the graduate scheme is rated by previous grads. Decide what you want to apply for, don’t waste your time on jobs you don’t even want!

👩🏻‍💻 create a spreadsheet of the relevant listings, deadlines and application stages (you should be made aware of every stage on the company site) and update at each new stage you get to

📖 practice those tests and stages that you don’t feel familiar or comfortable with. There are lots of places you can practice aptitude tests and video interviews

✨ Don’t compare yourself to your friends that are applying to the same schemes. There are so many applicants per position and it’s not an easy ride, it’s not a reflection on you as a person or your capabilities if you don’t get far in these highly testing applications

AD - I featured a list of graduate schemes that are currently hiring in a few industries in my latest blog. Make sure to check out @newtoneurope if you’re searching for a graduate scheme as they have a lot of useful content to help you with the process and offer two brilliant schemes themselves!

Are you applying to graduate schemes this year? Or maybe you have some advice to share with those that are?👇🏻

#graduateapplicationtips #gradscheme #graduatejobs #consulting #discoverunder4k #discoverunder10k #bloggersunder4k #creativegalgang #brighton #jobapplication #chattycaptioncommunity #helpforgraduates #careeradvice #jobsearchtips #jobapplications #galswhograduate #careeopportunities

How to write a to do list that works for you ✍🏻

As with anything in life, everyone has their own personal preferences of doing things, and it’s the same with productivity

I love to write a to do list, but I do get overwhelmed by seeing allll of my tasks - so I’ve adopted a few habits that help me to see my jobs as easily achievable rather than scary and annoying. Here are a few of my ideas:

✍🏻 Rename your to do lists ‘what’s on my mind’ - it helps to take the panic away and gives you the overall goal of reducing stress, rather than trying to achieve 1000s of things every day

🔡 Break your tasks down! If your to do list is filled with huge jobs that will take you ages to achieve, you’ll rarely get that satisfaction of finishing something

✅ Write a few things on your daily to do list that you’ve already done - yes it’s cheating but it’s nice to see a few ticks at the start of the day

⛰ With your daily, weekly and monthly tasks, start with the biggest one first. As I’ve mentioned before, doing the biggest and scariest task first can really help you to have a better time with the rest of your jobs, as you know the big one is out of the way!

📔 Buy some cute stationary or make your own to do list in a bullet journal. I’ve been using my new planner from @lovewilko (PR Product) for my weekly tasks which has been fab to keep track of everything, so I’d really recommend getting a notepad or diary that you love and always have near you

What’s your top tip for a good to do list? Do you like having one or do you keep all your tasks in your brain? 👇🏻

AD - PR Products - @lovewilko
Candle - @sainsburyshome

Anyone else feel like they’re trying to spin 100

Anyone else feel like they’re trying to spin 100 plates at once with no idea how or why? ✨

Trying to get our finances, career, self-care, fitness, social life and a whole lot more all set out and perfect at the same time. Perhaps it’s a far fetched dream but maybe it doesn’t matter anyway

Maybe we should decide what areas we want to focus on and get better at; and not worry about what other things we could be doing well at when it doesn’t matter to us. Why worry about bettering something when you’re doing just fine with it?

Prioritise your metaphorical plates and don’t stress yourself out over things that don’t matter to you at that time 💫

If you had to choose one area of life to focus on for the next 6 months, maybe your career, money, happiness etc, what would it be? 🌟

#creativegalgang #galswhocreate #discoverunder4k #discoverunder5k #chattycaptioncommunity #londonbloggers #lifestyleblogger #ukblogger #galswhograduate #stylingsocial #influencermembership

Why it’s okay to not have things figured out 👇🏻

After my blip last week where I had a Phoebe from friends moment of “I don’t even have a pla-”, I wanted to share why I don’t think it’s the end of the world if you don’t have any clue what you’re doing, or to have your original plans change (not naming and shaming, but thanks coronavirus!😌)

So why is a 5 or 10 year plan not that important?

❤️ You can be spontaneous and jump on opportunities that you might not have otherwise considered

🧡 You won’t get stressed out if you don’t meet your own timelines and deadlines

💜 Taking things day by day is a good way to stay in tune with yourself and really treasure the small things, and not always be chasing after the big goals

🤍 You’re still growing and changing as a person, and with that comes goal shifts too, so your plans would likely change anyway alongside your aspirations

💛 Most of our parents probably didn’t have one or it’s changed along the way, and they’ve got through things okay

Do you think having a plan is important? Do you personally have one or are you just enjoying things as they happen and going with the flow? 💫

Hello lovely people ✨ I can’t believe there’

Hello lovely people ✨ I can’t believe there’s now over 3,000 people following this account! Thank you so so much 🥺 whether you’re here for my (average) advice and tips, from one confused young adult to another, or if you find comfort in reading about my struggles and worries as a twenty-something year old - welcome to the club 💫

I’m going to be doing a bit of a get to know me post (or maybe a reel) in the next few days, so for now I wanna get to know you, tell me one thing you LOVE about adult life👇🏻

Going for positive vibes on this sunny Monday 🌞 p.s. mine is being able to eat alllll the chocolate and not have anyone tell me off (sorry mum)

Today I am feeling... tired and confused 😴

I’ve seen a few people sharing how up and down they’ve felt lately and I’m feeling exactly the same. I can’t quite understand what my brain and body want from me and that leads me to just doing nothing. I’ve been back at work yesterday and today after 11 days off and I didn’t realise it’d be so hard to get back into the swing of things 😌

One day I’m feeling uplifted and like all of my plans will soon fall into place and the next I just don’t want to get out of bed and I’m fine staying where I am in life forever. I think I’d probably narrow these feelings down to having these big expectations for myself and then bringing it all back to reality and being more realistic

One key thing I’ve learnt after finishing university is that the pressure your family and friends might put on you to find the perfect job or be living your best life, is nowhere near as draining as the pressure you can put on yourself. My silly old brain is always telling myself off for not doing more, or being more, but I’d never treat a friend or sibling like that so why am I doing it to myself?

Little reminder for you all that life is up and down, and your mood and motivations will fluctuate. But most of all, take the pressure off yourself, what will be will be and we all need to be a bit kinder to ourselves along the way ✨

How have you felt today? Have you been up to anything exciting?

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