Q+A – You ask, I answer!

Promise is promised and will be kept. There’s a lot going on in my blogger life. This is the second part of my blog post “Life of a full-time blogger”. Here are the answers to your most frequently asked questions.

Transparency mark: This blog post contains some links and names to the tools I use. These are not sponsored or affiliates unless the link is marked with an asterisk*.

How do I develop my concepts?

Most of the time I don’t plan much at all, but rather develop my concepts intuitively. But if, for example, I work with a company, brand or other person and have a certain deadline for which I have to submit a concept, I use project management tools.

It looks something like this:

1. I start with writing my concept on paper. I’m just writing the rough frame and important notes.
2. For detailed development, I use graphic design tools like Canva or Adobe Spark Post ( slide show example). A nice graphic preparation is not only important for me but of course also for my cooperation partners. It also helps me to get a more precise and visual idea of the concept. Both of these tools are great if you are not a professional graphic artist, but still, value an aesthetic presentation. The advantage of Spark is that in the end you can share everything in one link which contains the whole concept. For big projects, for example, the book I wrote*, I started by working with Canva or GoogleDocs and later elaborated on the details with GoogleDocs.
3. Then it’s time to get down to business! In order to put the whole thing into action and to be able to realize it, I use the project management tool Asana. It is very easy to use and helps you to organize your projects and to plan your workflows in detail.

What does a successful day look like for me?

This is my most favorite question of you guys because it reminds me of something I haven’t yet written down and realized myself yet. My first thought was that when I go to bed happily, my thoughts don’t buzz around and I can fall asleep relaxed, then I would say it was a successful day.

For me, it is very important that I support all of you with my work! Therefore, it is an incredibly beautiful moment of success for me when I realize that I could help at least one person or even when I know I made someone laugh and had fun with friends. My personal goal is to do something good every day. I feel really satisfied when I realize that I have learned something myself. You see, there are no classic tasks that I have to record for myself to say it was a successful day. It is more about how comfortable I feel with the projects I am working on. At the end of the day, I want to feel proud of myself and my work.

What is my personal goal for 2019?

I wouldn’t say that I have one big goal for this year. But I do have a goal in life. I do my best to pursue my mission! Above all, this means that I support holistic goals. I want to…

• …reduce animal suffering.
• …focus on less consumption.
• …support the reduction of global warming.
• …be kind and inspire others to be loving and compassionate.
• …focus on more awareness in everything I do.
• …embrace more happiness in the immaterial than the material.

That’s why I have a lot of plans this year:

• I’m going to publish my next cookbook.
• I want to finish my vocational training to become a plant-based nutritionist.
• I’m planning to do more workshops to spend more time with you guys!
• I want to deliver as much content as possible to inspire you the most.
• And I’m planning some cool stuff on YouTube!

How can I establish a good sleep rhythm?

When it comes to sleep research and sleeping schedules, there is not a magic bullet. Everyone has an individual biorhythm and has to see for himself what works best. But there are a few really good tips that can help with sleep problems.

Humans are creatures of habit. In other words, we need to keep our sleeping times as constant as possible. Thus, our body develops a routine and quickly notices when it has to increase or decrease the energy level. To get active I do sports in the mornings, to get tired I do yoga in the evenings. Sleep rituals are particularly important. My friends Milena has dealt with this topic: Here you’ll find lots of tips that are easy to implement and make you fall asleep in seconds.

My deep sleep phase is between 11 pm and 3 am, but my biological sleep rhythm is oriented towards the seasons. That’s why I sleep longer during the winter or when it’s dark outside than in summer. In winter I get up between 6.30 am and 8 am. Even though I often have more power in the evening, I usually do sports in the morning. When I do sports in the evening, I raise my pulse so high that it takes me longer to fall asleep or to calm down. In the summer months, I get up between 6 am and 7 am every day. I try to be outside as much as possible and generally need less sleep.

If you don’t do what you want to do:

Always follow your dreams! 

Too often we have dreams that remain dreams. Mostly fear is the reason for it. We are afraid of failing or being laughed at, of being judged by others or having to give up something that is important to us.

That is why we usually choose the easy way. This path is not very different from the path that we have followed all our lives and that others have followed. It is a comfortable path that we are familiar with and where there is a feeling of security. But most of the time these paths are already quite worn out, they don’t surprise us with new and beautiful things anymore.

We take our dreams with us, they are always with us, our constant companion, but they cannot unfold their full potential. They just remind us that there are other ways, that it could be better. But why not take a different direction and leave the comfortable path? Only those who enter the unknown can discover something new. Perhaps there is a path that is not far from the familiar path you’re always walked on your whole life, that sometimes even crosses your “old” path again. So embark on a journey that can lead you on a path that suits you better.