The Unruly Girls ▴

It's a different thing when you're listening to women talk about their story. There's a deeper level of connection and impact and it is easier to relate. I am always in search of sources inspiration and motivation resources and these podcasts by women never fails me! Whether Im on the threadmill, doing house chores, or working, they provide me an endless fuel to pursue my passion. Im sharing these hoping that they give you the push you need and that they provide you a priceless value- a renewed mindset.

Creating Espacios by Vivian Nunez

[Listen here]

This is literally the first podcast that made me cry. The first one being the "Millenial Podcast"

I was on my way to a shoot, in my uber, while I listen to Gina Rodriguez's interview. This one is specifically interviews with Latinas and breaking their culture and stereotypes of women but I find it very easy to relate especially because I, too, want a life that's very much different than what other people are used to or what my family think I will end up having. The drive and passion to be meaningful and to pursue one's heart despite the circumstances and surroundings, that's what this podcast is about.

She Means Business by Carrie Green
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I call this "My Morning Podcast!" It goes with me to the gym, my morning run/walk, while preparing breakfast.. I just find this so so inspiring and it sets the mood for the day just right. Carrie is a best-selling author and she shares part of her book in this podcast as well as interviews of other female entrepreneurs in their journey. Their conversations are so lightweight and so motivating!

Style Your Mind by Cara Leyba
[Listen here]

I enjoy her Babe Chats with women from different industries who have different passion. It reminds me that no matter how different we can all be, it goes down to our mindset and our choice to live a life full of intention and purpose. Cara speaks truth and sometimes it feels like a slap in the face but it wakes me up! My recent favorites are "Do You Sabotage Yourself?" and "What Are You Available For In Your Life?"

Women, Work and Worth by Mavenly + Co
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Their recent episode, "Starting Something New + Pursuing Your Big Idea", has made a big impact in me that I find myself going back to it over and over. When you are starting something new, there are so many "what ifs" and fears that it's easy to be swallowed by them whole. The podcast is for women building a purposeful career and life. It provides value from tips and tricks to ones that goes deep within one's foundations as a creative entrepreneur.

The Mattie James Show by Mattie James

[Listen here]

Mattie recently rebranded her podcast as though it can be anymore beautiful than it was! Mattieologie was my source of tips and tricks as a content creator and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to take their website seriously! Whether you are a blogger or an entrepreneur, this will be helpful for you. You go girl!

Make It Happen by Jen Carrington

[Listen here]

Jen is one of my go-to for inspiration. Her podcast is for those who dream and DO. I think it lives up to its name. My all time favorite episode is "Show up as if you're already where you want to be." Just reading the title made all the difference in my mindset, and it did more for my work ethics.

And just like that, August is about to be done and we're saying hello to the Ber months! Before I turn this post into one where I squeal of excitement for Christmas season, Id get started and straight ahead to the main topic!

Every last week of the month, I make it a point to review the past 4 weeks before I head over and plan the next. I take an hour to just sit down and reevaluate myself. No distractions, just me and my bullet journal.

I started doing Monthly reviews in June after taking a break from it for a good few months (I turned to doing it weekly). For June, it was solely because I shoots here and there and wanted to recall the places Ive been to and the good memories Ive made. Then in July, I started taking it more seriously and reevaluated what I did great at and the areas I still need improvement on.

I learned how crucial it is to celebrate myself, down to the smallest victories others may deem foolish. Write every milestone. Every baby step. Because at the end of the day, if you dont celebrate yourself first, who would? :) I became more grateful for and appreciative of the new people I met, new goals ticked off, new experiences and ideas.

My self discipline has greatly improved because Im forced to really be honest with myself and address what Im slacking on. To reflect and find the root of whats causing them. We're all about that self-improvement here haha!

I also found that it has helped me be more patient and kind towards myself because sometimes it's easy to think Im not doing enough especially because Im very goal-oriented. When Im writing those accomplishments down, I get surprised as to how many things I was able to accomplish and experience!

And to help you get started on your own, Ive compiled a few of my favorite spreads from my fellow bullet journalist on Pinterest. I always go there for inspiration! Ive also came up with guide questions to help you!

Guide questions and what to include in your end-of-the-month review:

Your successes!
Highlights of the month/Favorite moments
What worked?
What didnt work?
What do you need improvement on?
Anything new! - experience, material things, friends
How youre doing at every section in your life - relationships, career, self, education
Lessons learned
New ideas to consider or habits you would love to start practicing
Intentions for the coming month

Have fun reviewing your month and doing some reflection.

As always, remember to be gentle with yourself and..

First things first, let’s start with the big question. Why? Why do we want to manage our time? What’s your goal? Do you want to make time for something or do you just want to stop the panic and everyday hustle and get rid of the unncessary stress & burnout?

The goal is to become more efficient and effective with how we spend our minutes and delegate our tasks. I was always about that hustle lifestyle until I found out that the outputs I was producing were not really on par with what I would be proud of. Something I believe everyone should understand is that productive doesnt always necessarily mean busy and busy doesnt always equal to productivity.

In the book called The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks, he said that we should view time in an Einstein manner. According to him, we are the source of our time and we have full control over it. Can you wrap your head around that statement? Of course some would say, noo I have school and a job, two jobs actually, and family and friends or some other excuse. But I think that thinking in that way would be very limiting. To be able to have enough time to do more things that are actually important to us, we should take full responsibility and control of our time, especially our “free” time.

In this post, we're all about being accountable and disciplined with how we spend our time. Im giving you 15 time management and productivity tips because if we don't run the day, the day is going to run us!

Get enough sleep. and actually wake up early. Tada! Nothing new here. Just the basics. But seriously though, having enough rest gives us the energy and fresh mind to work on our tasks the following day. And being up early, not rushing and knowing you have the whole day ahead of you feels SO good. Like, carpe the freak out of that diem! And, a set morning routine helps a lot too with staying motivated, too. Tried and tested!
Find your best time. Not everyone can be a morning person, not everyone can stay up late to work with great focus, certainly not a sleepy girl like me! But we all have a time period where our focus and attention is the sharpest. So once you figured that out, let's say 5pm, use your energy in that time block wisely. Dont use your 5PM taking naps, or I dont know whatever you do at 5pm. I found that Im most productive from 6am to 11am during and after my morning routine. And then 4pm to 9pm just before my bed time so during that, Im just, work work work!
Think on paper- because, say it with me, what gets written down, gets done. At this point, Im assuming at this point everyone already has a planner or a to-do list system of some sort because if not, Im judging so hard. Haha Im kidding! Soo to do lists, I swear, whatever that is, dont trust that youll just remember it later because more often than not, we as humans tend to forget. So record that ish down! Everything that needs to be done, its constituents, event reminders, grocery list, packing list. Just lists! Im all for lists.
The 2 minute rule. If it can be done within 2 minutes. Do it right away. Just get over with it. Like replying to messages/emails. Dont let it sit in your inbox for hours. Get it out of the way so you can continue to focus on your day.
Practice productive procrastination!! Because come on, let’s be honest here, we cant really be productive 24/7.. and I dont think we can FULLY get rid of procrastination. HOWEVER, we STILL can do other productive things while procrastinating. Does that sound paradoxical? Because it does to me.. So what I mean by productive procrastination is doing other smaller, easier and non urgent things on your to do lists such as organising your desk, or maybe taking your dog our for a walk, or folding the fresh laundry. That's so much better than bingewatching youtube pranks, right?
Time blocks. Time blocks for everything. 2 hours for this. 5 minutes for this. Give yourself a deadline for every task and take breaks in between them. Use it for some stretches, bathroom run, get some water.
Be intentional with social media. Dont allow yourself to just mindlessly scroll through it. Clean up your following and only follow those who beneficial to your wellbeing and energy. Something Im really grateful that I did is turning off the notifications for my social media. Not only did it let me focus better because of the avoided distractions, it also made me feel alot better about myself.
Write down priorities or what you want to make time for. For example, I once read a book wherein the author interviewed people and theres this one girl. So the story is she’s, like most us, busy in her day to day life and then one day her kitchen sink broke and then of course she had to get it fixed, she ran errands for it and all, contacting the tube guys idk haha, and then at the end of the week, when she reevaluated, it turned out that the whole broken sink thing cost her 7 full hours. She never wouldve imagined that she could fit 7 more hours into her work week. But I think thats what happens when things are urgent and important and we know would cost us a great consequence if we didnt do it. What I wanna say here is that, we can treat whatever we want to do, our hobby our passion, as that broken sink and find time for it. If it really is that important, we would make time for that.
Set boundaries. Declutter tasks. You dont have to always say yes, do things or go to events that you arent really obliged to. It’s okay to be selfish with your time! I think many people are afraid to be alone or to miss out or to offend someone, but it takes courage and discipline to set our priorities straight.
Schedule schedule schedule. People know that the biggest act of treason they can do against me is cancel a schedule and make me erase something on my bullet journal. Haha! Also be smart when doing schedules. For example, you have a meeting this day, schedule your salon appointment or groceries after it. Not only will it save you transportation time, it will also save you time on getting ready, your outfit and energy!
Do similar things in batches! When we do different things at a certain time, there’s a tendency for us to be easily distracted so it's more ideal to focus on one type of thing at a given time block. This way, our mind doesnt have to shift on different modes or whatever. So when Im writing, Im just writing. I dont do administrative tasks or visuals or any kind of editing. However, as much as what I previously said can be true, it can also be beneficial to have a rotation of tasks to avoid burnout. It will be good for you as it is to what you are working on.
Schedule a digital clean up day where you go through your email, camera roll, hard drives, desktop and organize them! Of course with your room you can clean up for 15 minutes daily, but for digital, I like doing weekly clean ups to give way for pending works and cache that I still need.
Figure out what works for you, there are heaps and tons of methods, principles and resources out there about time management. What works for one person, may or may not work for you. I love my bullet journal and I think my life would be a mess without it, but other people use digital or traditional planners or even sticky notes for their events and reminders. There really is no one solution for everything so it’s up to you to figure out what’s the best for you. Is it doing the hard and scary things first? Or is it getting smaller things out of the way so your whole focus is on the big task afterwards?
Most importantly, listen to your own body. Rest when it needs to. Whenever Im working with friends, they kind of get surprised that Id stop working even if the deadline is in 2 days. But I know myself more. I can only work for so long and put out this amount of energy on something until Ive reached a certain working plateau and then after that Ill just be frustrated with my own work. So I rest. Id rather wake up super early, feeling refreshed and ready to work instead of feeling frustrated and burnt out the whole night. Our bodies know what it needs when it needs it. So listen.
Take baby steps. Be patient with yourself. It is a gradual process. You cant just wake up early tomorrow and expect yourself to be a time management expert or something. And dont take it so heavily! I believe that we can manage our time without losing our ability to be spontaneous and allow ourselves to enjoy a movie or a night out with friends.

They say time flies, but you know what? You're the pilot.

In order to stay organised and keep up with managing and developing my content, I take advantage of the ones that are for my taking. I'm big about bullet journaling and analog planning but in this digital age, we've got to maximize every opportunity and resources we can get, especially when they are free!

These apps come in handy when ideas suddenly pop up, rapid logging reminders, scheduling and creating content as well as in tracking my progress. It is much much easier to change digital things up and Im very grateful for it as someone who dislikes a messy planner!

My favorite part about this is that they are all synced to my laptop! I think the main reason Im an iPhone junkie is that it is connected to my laptop and I can easily transfer files, especially photos in high quality through airdrop and store them properly through photos app. I swear this isnt sponsored by Apple (wish it was though!)

Let's get to the apps, shall we?

1. Evernote

Evernote is where the rough drafts of my blog posts are born. I used to use my notes app but I like evernote more because of its organization. I can create notebooks to categorize and distinguish the notes I have for school, for blog, and for other things.

I dont really use it but you can add photos, audios, attached files, and a sketch. And then you can set a reminder for it. But I have my next app for that.

My favorite part about it is that I can format my blog posts even from my phone. I am able to change fonts, create bullets and numbered lists, the font size, colors and paragraph alignment! Aaah technology.

2. Reminders

Next up is the Reminders app that came with my phone to rapidly take note of or else Id forget. I always need to write it down somewhere because your girl's mind tend to wander. However, I still delegate them to my bullet journal because I just love seeing them there. Like, physically knowing Im productive and getting to tick off that list satisfies me like no other.

This also come in handy whenever Im about to start a new month or a new list in my notebook. It serves as a draft of the things Ill put or the lists Im going to make such as books to read.

3. Google calendar

Google calendar. Since I put all of my planning on my bullet journal, this is just another backup. For some this is their main planner because it has a reminder feature and it is synced up online. You may also make plans with other people here! I just use it for my class schedule and my ideal week so I can maximize my free time.

4. Forest App

I discovered Pomodoro method and it has made a great difference to my productivity. I started using timers when working. My phone timer got boring so I turned into the forest app on chrome website.

I like the Forest app from the chrome webstore. It's probably the only time I'll grow a plant! Every time I open distractive sites, a pop up appears asking me if I want to give up growing my plant. Um no thanks. Im a strong independent woman…

Also, whenever I get to finish a whole 25 minute, there’s a pop-up that tells me “You have grown a healthy tree.” and I feel like I proud mom.

5. Tide App

For the cute pomodoro timers and motivational background music that makes me feel as though Im working in a coffee shop even though Im only at home in the comforts of my desk.

6. Google sheets/Numbers App

My editorial calendar keeps this blog together and Im so grateful for these softwares. I figured out that having it on my bullet journal doesnt really work for me because I tend to change them from time to time. It reallyyyy irks me whenever I erase from my bujo because then it becomes messy so I started encoding it digitally. I used google sheets so I have access to it anywhere and at first it really worked for me. I enjoyed the managerial aspect and learning about conditional formatting! Girrrrrl my 5 year old self used to dream of being a fricking secretary!

However, I found that it was a bit limiting. Ideas pop up here and there and I wanted somewhere I could have a brain dump and a calendar at the same time and I found out that the numbers app that came along with my phone is the best! I also get to track my progress for every topic for when it is drafted, for editing, ready to publish etc. This is what I use for youtube as well except I make it a checklist instead of a dropdown tracker. I found that works for me best. The best part is I get to just input ideas on a list inside it. I no longer have to go on my notes app and transfer later.

7. Google Drive

Who am I even without this? It has always had my back when it comes to backing up my files from my harddrive, organising my final drafts, photographs, graphics. It also makes file sharing easier!

These are all the apps I use and I can say that without these, running my blog would be a pain in the butt. So so grateful for all these resources that allows me to do what I love easier and faster. AHHH technology! How about you? Do you use these as well? Do you have other recommendations? Let's talk in the comments below!

My journey to feminism has been the most exhilarating and freeing adventure Ive been on to. It taught me things about myself, about others, and about the world. Because of this movement, I became a better person and gained the freedom and courage to live my life outside the confines of the limiting patriarchal beliefs of society I grew up in. For years, I gained understanding and defined my own meaning of what it really is to be a feminist.

Feminism is lifting other women up.

Growing up, it was engraved in our minds that girls are each others’ competition. While competition could be healthy if it was for the right reasons, girls are thought to fight over men’s attention and over who has prettier superficial features. We were taught that our value as a person depends on whether boys found us attractive and that the size of our body is the basis of our beauty. Learning to let go of the notion that I need to tear other women down in order to lift myself up was so freeing and empowering. Other girls were never my enemies. I realised that we are stronger when we build each other up, that empowering others is a sign of and a way to be empowered myself. It is in finding beauty in others and helping them see what I see that I found the confidence and love for myself.

It is to learning to love myself and to embrace my femininity.

With all the magazines and commercial advertisements telling us that there’s always something wrong with our bodies, it is an act of rebellion to accept yourself, with all the flaws and weird quirks, I started doing squats when I was fourteen. Maybe even younger. I starved myself, , abused my youthful skin with chemicals that promised a better glow. I never became content with the results, the more I try to “solve” the problems, I just saw more and more that needs changing. It was a never ending process. There was always something to alter- belly fat, scars, uneven complexion, overbite. Along the way I grew tired and decided to love and accept myself wholeheartedly. I decided I was worthy of the love I was trying to give everyone else and turned away from all the things making me feel incomplete. It was a long process but it was very much rewarding. Believeing I am worth it has made all the difference.

Lastly, feminism is giving other people a choice and respecting each others individuality.

Let others love freely who they want to love regardless of sexuality, gender, race or social status. Let others, boys and girls alike, to wear makeup if they want, if that’s what makes them happy and confident. Let them wear what they want. It's time we stop putting genders on everything and let go of the idea that they are doing it for other people’s attention. Being a feminist taught me that a person alone holds the right to their body. They can share it with whoever they would like, just as they do not have to if they dont want to. They have the choice to shave or let their natural hairs grow, wherever they may be. They can choose to explore their sexuality, their beliefs, their spirituality, their passion. We are all different but it doesnt have to divide us. Respecting the choices others make instead of throwing judgment goes a long way. It broadens our understanding and at the same time, gives them power.

Feminism made me realise just how powerful I am and how beautiful womanhood can be and really is. I don’t only embrace my femininity, but I feel empowered by it.

When Michelangelo was asked how he was able to create his masterpiece David, he said that he's already pictured him in the block of marble. All he did was carve away everything that didnt look like David.

For the longest time I tried to acquire things I do not posses, not knowing that the only way to be closer to the woman I want to become is to get rid of the things that hinders me from being her. My journey to personal development started when I committed to and embraced her.

Like Michelangelo, you too can create your own masterpiece with your block of marble that is yourself. You can chisel out a life that is true to yourself, one you are proud of. Envision the person you want to become and simply get rid of the things that does not have anything to do with nor define her.

Let go of it today, whatever that is holding you back from becoming the person youve always want to and have always been bound to become. Whatever that's hindering your growth. Anyone can let go of impatience, of misdirection, of toxic habits and lack of intent. Tell it gently, "you are no longer serving me and you must go." You do not have to carry it anymore. It may have served you for the time being but now, it is time to move forward.

Remove what doesnt belong to you. The person inside that awaits you is going to cost you relationships, she will cost you your comfort, your favorite shows, your time and energy, sleep, your routine. But I promise you, she is worth it. Choose her over everything.

There's no need to add, to look elsewhere for something to complete you because love, there's not a thing that you lack. Whatever you are seeking, it is already within you. For now it may be hidden under the excess and unnecessary, but the good thing is that all you need to do is let go.

Discover yourself. Know who you are. And from there you will be able to recognise what you are and what you arent. Keep only the parts adding up to the person that you are. Down to the smallest details, to the curves and edges. Accept the rough parts for even they add up to you.

And most of all, take your time love. Take your time carving away so as not to ruin the marble block. There's no need to rush, nor to compare yourself to others. We are all a work in progress, in different stages. You'll figure it out soon enough.

You have it within, now is the time to stop searching.