Alternative Easter Gifts

Now that Christmas is out of the way, Easter is fast approaching. All of these holidays seem to get closer together, spilling into each other as shops start stocking easter supplies before the Christmas sales have even finished and as a parent, it can all be a little stressful. 

If you haven’t finished the festive treats yet, or you know that your children will receive chocolate from other relatives, you might be keen to gift something a little different. You may even know people that don’t like or can’t eat chocolate but don’t want to miss out on the fun. Or adults that want to get into the Easter spirit without regaining all that Christmas weight that they’ve struggled to lose. 

Fortunately, chocolate isn’t the only thing to gift at Easter. There are plenty of alternative options, whether you are looking to cut down on chocolate or to find something to keep the kids busy over the school holidays. Here’s a look at some cool alternatives. 

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Moving Home Without The Headache: What’s The Secret?

In an ideal world, moving from one property to another would be a seamless, frustration-free experience. Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world, and moving home is often a stressful time for most people involved. Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any ways of moving home without limiting the amount of stress involved in the exercise.

The truth about moving home without the headache is that there aren’t any secrets as such. Instead, there are a few common-sense approaches to take on board before, during, and after the event. Take a look at the following information to learn more about what you need to do:

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Get your new home professionally cleaned

Before you physically move into your new abode, it makes sense first to get the property cleaned by professionals. Sure, you could go there and do the work yourself, saving money in the process. But you can’t be in two places at once! You’ll need to be at your existing home, sorting out everything to get packed away, and disposing of items you no longer need.

Believe it or not, hiring a company to clean your new home professionally isn’t as expensive or time-consuming as you might think. That’s because such service providers have teams of people dedicated to the task, making light work of what would otherwise be a mammoth task for your fair hands!

By hiring a cleaning company for your new home, you can rest assured knowing that it’s ready to move into without needing to clean any surfaces or carpets.

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Hire a removal company to pack and transport your stuff

The actual process of packing and moving your worldly goods to another property is, quite frankly, a nightmare on many occasions. The good news is that you can leave that side of things up to a removal firm. As professional movers, their job is to carefully pack your items and ensure they reach their destination intact and in the right rooms.

Make sure that you shortlist only top rated movers in your area. To do that, make a note of online reviews. Of course, don’t forget to ask your family and friends for recommendations on companies they have personally used in the past.

Book at least a week off from work

Some people are crazy enough to move home one day and go to work the next! As you can imagine, you need to spend some time unpacking all your possessions and putting them in the right rooms and storage areas within those rooms.

Be sure to book some time off from work before, during, and after the moving date. That way, you can devote your time to moving home and making sure that nothing goes wrong in the process.

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If you need to give your boss plenty of notice before you book any vacation leave, make sure you do that. After all, the last thing you want is to potentially lose your job because you forgot to book some time off from work!

A week should allow you enough time to move home and iron out any possible issues and to get your old home ready for sale or handed back to your landlord.

Coincide your moving day with school holidays

If you’ve got one or more children, it can feel very stressful trying to move to a new home and remembering to take them and pick them up from school during the day! That’s why it makes more sense to coincide your moving day with any school breaks.

Whether you involve your children with the moving process is up to you. However, you are more likely to get things done quicker if your kids were getting looked after by close family members or friends. Still, if you are hiring a removal company to pack up and move your belongings, having your kids around shouldn’t be too stressful an experience (for you or them).

Keep some food and drink accessible on the day

Last, but not least, you should ensure that you’ve got a supply of food and drink for both you and your family during the big day. You could, of course, opt to buy some takeaway food and drinks. But, as you can appreciate, it’s not a healthy way to eat, and especially for an entire day and evening.

The evening before you are due to move, keep a supply of food and drinks in an easily accessible box or bag.

Thank you for reading this blog post, and good luck with your move!

How to Make Your Tech Work For You

It’s a bit strange, how much we’ve come to rely on our personal devices for our personal, social, and professional lives. The internet is still so young, yet it has infiltrated more or less every inch of our lives! If you’re going to a modern, productive member of society, then you need to have a smartphone and a laptop/computer at a minimum. But if you don’t know much about tech, then you might make a few common errors that’ll compromise how effectively you can use them. Below, we take a look at a few tips that’ll ensure that your tech works for you.

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What Do You Need?

There’s no limit to the amount of tech that you can buy -- or how much you could spend. If you’re going to keep your home from overflowing with gadgets, and keep your bank balance in check, then it’s important that you think about what you need before investing. You wouldn’t buy a 100” flatscreen television if you were only going to watch television a couple of times a week, so don’t buy a top of the line smartphone or laptop if you’re just going to use it for basic browsing. 

Limiting the Annoying Aspects

There’s much to love about technology, but there’s no denying that there are some annoying aspects, too. Everyone can relate to the anger that’s induced when your laptop crashes or simply runs too slow. So learn the art of managing your devices, and keeping the annoying aspects at bay. You’ll want to begin by investing in fast, reliable wifi, since there’s nothing worse than waiting and waiting for a website to load. If your mac is running slowly, then look at speeding things up; this ccleaner review says that the program can help to make it run faster, for instance. Installing an adblock extension can also block out one of the more frustrating aspects of browsing the web, too.

Selling and Upgrading

No matter how well you treat your device, however, there will be a time when you have to upgrade. Nothing lasts forever! The key is to upgrade before your device completely breaks down. This will allow you to sell it online for cash, which you can then put towards buying your new item. Plus, it’s best to have time to read reviews and find the right device to buy, which you won’t have time to do if you need to urgently replace your broken laptop or smartphone.

Learn How to Use Them

Finally, it’s worth checking that you really know how to use your device as well as possible. Most devices are intuitive to use on a surface level, but nearly always have a deeper level that can help you to work more efficiently or make your device more personalized. Whatever device you’ve got, it’s worthwhile heading over to Google and searching for hints and tips related to that item. You might just find that there’s plenty of cool features that you had no idea existed. 

How Do You Support A Friend In Crisis?

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Challenges are a fact of everyone's life. At one time or another, stressful times happen to everyone and the most charmed of lives can come unstuck in an instant. Worst case scenarios such as relationship breakdowns, redundancy, serious illness or accidents aren't nice things to dwell on when thinking about our friends, but if they strike, what your friend will really need is to know that they have your support. However, there's no manual for helping someone to navigate a crisis, and each situation is different, so knowing what to do can be a tough. What steps should you take to support someone dealing with a bad situation? 

Don't Avoid Them

Sometimes when we don't know what to say, or we see someone in pain, we feel like it's better to give them space. But one of the most hurtful things that you can do is ignore them. Reach out and let them know you're there to talk. Even if you don't know what to say, it isn't important - you should be there to listen. Knowing that you aren't alone is a huge comfort when disaster hits. 

Point Them To A Specialist

Offering comfort is one thing, but when problems are complex, you may be right in thinking that you aren't qualified or best placed to be of real, practical assistance. Be prepared to signpost your friend to people and organisations who can really help if they need it. That could be a support group, a therapist, a debt counsellor or even something like a 12 step addiction recovery program. Whatever they need to recover, help them to access the right support when they need it. 

Give Them Time 

If something life altering happens, don't try to minimise their issues or hurry them through the problem. Things like grief are complex processes to work your way through. Yes, there may be light at the end of the tunnel, but equally trying to suggest they put a negative experience behind them too quickly can be hugely damaging. Of course people have probably survived worse, but your friend needs to heal on their own timescale. Support your friend to take the time they need to work through the feelings born of this momentous time of their life, and be there for them to remind them of better days, without making them feel that they should be getting better quickly. 

Step Back From The Situation

Don't be one of those people who has a tendency to make it all about them. Yes, it can be gruelling supporting someone going through a crisis. You may wish they had more emotional resilience at some point, or you may simply get tired of hearing about the same things. No one is expecting you to be more than human. But let your compassion lead. Turn to the people you have in your life to run off steam rather than venting back to your friend in the situation. Make sure that you have other outlets in your life, such as an exercise routine or a regular break away planned so that you don't feel trapped by the situation. Making sure that you have your own coping mechanisms in place will allow you to focus on your friend during the times that you are with them and prevent you from experiencing compassion burnout. 

Healthy Coping Mechanisms For Stress

Stress can be damaging to us mentally, physically, and emotionally. Over time, when it goes unchecked and levels aren't lowered, stress can lead to heart issues, strokes, depression, anxiety and more. So it is essential that we all build healthy coping mechanisms in our lives. 

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Rest

Rather than focus on getting to sleep, it is better that we focus on resting. Dr. Steve Orma says that when we focus on trying to get to sleep, our brain is actively checking if we are asleep yet. Which then keeps us awake. So create an evening routine that gets you ready to go to bed - and enjoy some rest. 

Switch from coffee to caffeine-free chamomile tea. Warm oaty porridge can help too. Try to switch the telly off and try reading a few pages from a book to help your mind switch off for a while. Instead of using your phone to scroll through social media, try listening to the Calm app. They have a range of sleep stories and meditation that can help you unwind. 

Projects

Aving projects that take up your time can mean that you are well occupied and not dwelling on things. You might choose to do some redecoration projects, or perhaps learn a new instrument. Something that you have to dedicate time, your mind and hands are ideal. Plans can give us a sense of purpose and satisfaction when we manage to reach our goals. 

Time

When we feel rushed or like we haven't got control over our own time, stress levels can begin to rise quite quickly. Two of the main points of the day can be bedtime, and first thing in the morning (more typically for school-going families). Or, the daily commute to work in rush-hour traffic. Consider the areas of your day that time seems to be an issue. How can that be tackled? 

Getting up and out earlier is an obvious answer but doesn't always work out. Prepping things the evening before like overnight oats, the school lunch, and lining up the shoes in a row. Small, simple changes can save you minutes on a tight schedule. 

If you like the idea of getting your time better managed, that can even be your project. To work on a weekly chart that makes sense for everyone. 

Talk

It is important that we talk about issues we have. A trusted friend, or family member can be very helpful. If you find that you are turning to alcohol, or drugs then it is time to tackle it in a healthy way. Seek out an inpatient drug rehab center, a support group and a mentor to help. 

Take Some “Me-Time”

Many of us spend all of our time focusing on others. We focus on pleasing our employers. We 
focus on pleasing our friends and family. But when’s the last time you truly took some time to yourself? Everyone needs the opportunity to relax. So kick back, do something you enjoy, 
find the best CBD oil to relax tensions and let your hair down!

Say No

One of the most powerful things you can do is to learn to say no to things that don't serve you. While there is a lot to be said for being selfless and helping others (it makes us feel good too). Your own time and capacity matter a lot. 

Often, people take on much more than they should be trying to tackle and stretch themselves too thinly. The guilt of letting people down, the extra time constraints, and trying to do everything is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. 

Taking steps to manage your stress levels also has a positive impact on your family. Children pick up on stress quickly and sometimes take it on as their own. So involve them in your relaxing activities, so they can build these healthy coping mechanisms too.