What To Do In London

I hope you are all enjoying the start of the summer holidays. I must say in London we definitely have had the best weather to start off the holidays. As I'm from London I have decided to write a post with anything and everything you can do during your holidays if you decide to visit for a family holiday, or even if you are close to the area and decide just to visit for a day.

There is plenty of things to do during a visit to London. You could visit Sky Gardens, the London Eye, London Dungeon, London Sea Life Aquarium, Madame Tussauds London or the famous Tower Bridge and also visit the many museums depending in what you are interested in. 

London Eye

Tower Bridge

The London Eye, London Dungeon and Sea Life Aquarium are all close to each other, along with the Houses of Parliament. If you click here you can get London Attraction tickets for the London Eye with another 3 London Attractions with the more you visit the more you save. If you look online you can find many other offers to visit the London Attractions.

View from the Sky Gardens

Another London Attraction I have recently visited for the first time is the Sky Gardens which I mentioned above. The view inside the Sky Gardens is sensational! I have never seen anything like it, I love London and hopefully will be going again very soon. Did I forget to mention it's free? All you have to do is book your time slot and turn up on time.

View from the Sky Gardens

So here are some of the attractions I definitely recommend visiting if you can! Giving you the best views in London or living through the history at the London Dungeon. This post will be a part 1 to another which will be based on the night life and other things you can do during a visit to London.

Hope you enjoyed this post! All pictures are my own. Please feel free to comment any questions or email me on agirlwithablog16@gmail.com.

Don't be a stranger I love hearing from you guys!

Sam x

Back-To-School Pressures

I'm not ashamed to say I struggled at school academically and socially. During my first year of secondary school I spent most of the time crying and wanting to go home as I didn't like the change between primary to secondary school.

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So this is why I came up with the idea for this post and also as it is close or for some already the summer holidays. Some of you may be worried about returning or starting at school so if you believe you may struggle with this change hopefully this post will be some help to you.

I found a website that created a survey which 600 people took about their worries on returning to school.

32% said they worry about school work issues the most. This is only a natural feeling as you are now going to be studying at a higher level than you are used too but this doesn't necessarily mean you will find it difficult. Ensure you manage your time efficiently in order to make progress, stressing about it won't make a difference unless you act upon it. To avoid any trouble always start projects the day you get them so you are not trying to complete them last minute.

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3% of people who took the survey were worried about extracurricular activities. This worry means you'll have to manage your time. However, if you are more worried about the social aspect of extracurricular activities there is no need to worry! From my own experiences school extracurricular activities is were you can make friends as they share your interest in that particular activity.

Another high percentage was 30% where people said they worry about social issues. You are not alone if this is where you believe you'll struggle, everyone will be put in the same situation as you. Whether you want to belong to a smaller or larger group of people, make sure you feel comfortable with the people you surround yourself with. The people you surround yourself with will be the people who support you through the ups and downs of school.

25% of people said they worry about appearance issues at school . This is also closely linked to social issues by needing to fit in and be accepted. Never try to hard to fit in, be yourself. In a school full of many people be yourself and not everybody else. The remaining 10% said they weren't worried about anything (lucky).

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Everybody will experience back-to-school anxiety but I can speak from experience that it is never as back as you think. Don't over analyse, everyday will be different and take everyday as it comes.

Hopefully you found this post beneficial. Don't be a stranger, comment below if you have any opinions on back-to-school pressures. Thanks so much for reading!

Like always you can contact me on agirlwithablog16@gmail.com.

Sam x

Tips for Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is persistent and a overwhelming fear of social situations and is also one of the most common anxiety disorders. In young people research showed that 1 in 6 will experience a anxiety condition at one point in their lives, that could mean 1 in 5 people in your class may be living with anxiety. Another statistic that I personally found interesting was that 20% of students experience mental health difficulties while studying at university.

Some symptoms for social anxiety are:

• dreading daily activities - like meeting strangers, talking in groups, speaking on the phone, eating or drinking in company or even shopping. 
• have low self-esteem and feeling insecure in relationships 
• fear of being criticised
• avoiding eye contact
• misuse of drugs and alcohol which aims to reduce anxiety

- Found on the NHS website

Social anxiety is something I always thought I had but it wasn't until I took this test I realised it was worse than I actually thought. You can take the test by click here .

Here were my results from the test:

Now it all makes sense even from a young age, when I was about 4 or 5 years old during my first year at school I was afraid of the lunch hall. Sounds stupid I know but I feared the loud sounds and large amount of people so much I would hide under the tables in the classroom and end my lunch there. 

Even now at university I have to admit it still affects me whether it's on nights out with friends, in lectures and even the complicated topic of boys. I find that if you have the right friends in these situations it makes it a lot easier but sometimes it's still difficult. Having the right support system is really beneficial.

So if you are like me and have social anxiety here are some tips:

1. Challenge negative thoughts 
2. Focus on others and not yourself
3. Learn to control your breath
4. Face your fears
5. Build better relationships
6. Change your lifestyle
7. Remember anxiety is less visible than you imagine
8. If people notice you are anxious that doesn't mean you will negatively be thought 

I hope you find this helpful or at least informative. Don't let your anxiety hold you back the most important tip out of the 8 I can honestly say is face your fears, you may just surprise yourself!

Let me know if you took the test or click here  to take it. Let me know your opinions on anxiety either by commenting, email on agirlwithablog16@gmail.com or on Twitter @girlwithablog16.

Also I found my research for this post on NHS website on social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and anxiety UK .