organisation

AD/Gifted | My Office Set Up With Viking


Creativity is a big part of the things that I work on, whether this is for blogging or design and illustration. I can often have a few different things going on and can switch between different projects, so having an area to work that also lets me stay organised is really important. If you are anything like me you'll know that being creative can often lead to a messy desk. Andy calls me 'the tornado' because I can't seem to do anything without making a mess. Being able to have desk items that are handy makes my life a lot easier and will save me time when working which is why I've teamed up with Viking to help with my organisation and desk setup. Viking is one of the UK's leading office and stationery suppliers. They have a whole range of products to choose from to help get what you need when it comes to getting the workspace you want. I had a browse through their Desktop Essentials section to find some things that would help to keep me organised and make my office desk more functional.


I have a bit of a multi-functional desk, as this is where I blog and also where I create and design things. Having somewhere to write my to-do-list and scribble down ideas is a must and the Moleskine A5 Ruled Notebook is perfect for this. It's a good size that gives me enough room to write down all of my notes and lists on the high-quality paper, without it taking up too much room on the desk. It would also be good to pop in my bag and carry around with me. For reminding myself to do something or labeling certain items, I find post-it notes are ideal. I picked up a few different types from Viking to give me choice depending on what I'm going to use them for. The Post-it Index Flags are perfect for sticking to mark a page in my notebook so I can find it easily, and I also use them in recipe books which is a great tip if you want to save yourself a bit of time when cooking. I also picked up Post-it Sticky Notes which always come in useful. I tend to use these to the side of my laptop to remind me to do something, and also for additional notes. I have large writing so I sometimes run out of space on a page (regardless of page size) so I will scribble down any additional items on a post-it and stick them into the page so my notes all stay together.


Not going to lie, when I saw the Post-it Sticky Z Note Dispenser Bear I immediately wanted it because it was so cute! I mean who doesn't need a bear that keeps your post-it notes safe? As much as I didn't buy it for the functionality, it will actually be useful so that I'm not searching underneath things on my desk for my post-it notes when I need them. Something I chose to get to help keep my important items safely stored was the Office Depot Filing Shelves. These will be really great to keep any blogging press releases in, along with other notes and information for future blog posts. They could also be super handy for storing my design items such as prints, so I can definitely see myself picking up some more of these in the future. It was nice to find some white ones that go a lot better in my office than the standard silver ones I am used to seeing.


A couple of the items I picked up that I will always have a use for were the Bostik Blu-Tack White and the Sellotape Double Sided Tape. I tend to use the blu-tack it for sticking up prints to the gallery wall we have at home and also attaching decorative fairy lights to our banister. I went for the white version as we have a lot of white areas in the house so it doesn't stand out like the blue one would do. The double-sided tape comes in super handy including scrapbooking, wrapping presents in a neater way, and card making. I can get through this quite quickly so it's always a welcome addition to my office supplies.


The last items that I received from Viking were the Pritt Glue Roller and the Foray Tape Dispenser. Being able to easily and quickly apply glue to an area makes the process a lot easier and cleaner and means I don't make quite as much of a mess when making cards. It can also be used to apply glitter to and means your glue will be in the exact area it needs to be for when you tip the glitter on. The tape dispenser is a staple item to have on a desk which always comes in handy in everyday life and makes finding the end of the tape much easier, and I find it particularly useful to use in comparison to normal tape when I'm wearing false nails. So that's it for all of my Desktop Essentials from Viking that helps with my creative process and ensures I stay organised and on track. If you want to pick up some stationery items to help you be more productive and keep your desk space functional then I'd recommend checking out Viking for this.



Post contains some press samples from Viking

Getting Organised


One of my goals for the year was to be more organised, both in life in general and for my career. When you're self-employed you rely heavily on being organised and laying out a schedule, and often planning ahead. If you get sick, it's best having backup work already done so that you don't miss out. Sometimes this can't be prevented and you end up behind with your tasks and it's a bit of a nightmare. To help combat this, for Christmas I was bought the Ban.Do 2018 Agenda to use for both life admin and my self-employed work.

The agenda includes a year overview, day by day view, weekly view and a huge notes section in the back. So far I'm yet to use the two pages of stickers at the front but maybe one day soon I will. It's strange to me combining things like admin, birthdays, events and deadlines all in one place, but only 17 days into 2018 and it's already helping out in such a big way. I mean it's pretty big and it's not something I'll be carrying around with me, but here comes the second addition to my organisational tools for the new year. I got a new phone! I've had my iPhone 6s since March 2016 and I was definitely in need of an upgrade.

Having a larger screen means that typing is easier, and I'm using the notes section when I'm out and then writing out my notes on my pad when I'm home. Another thing I needed to really get organised with was Instagram. Having an iPhone 8 Plus means that the camera is far superior, with modes like Portrait mode giving you an aperture of  1.8 giving you the perfect blurry background when desired. It detects colour really well and I've actually been able to start using it for blog photos which is so new to me since I've always used my Olympus Pen. I'm so happy with it and I'm hoping by Jan 1st 2019, there will have been 365 posts, for the first time ever in one year.