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Starting a Personal Blog

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If you have a lot of things in mind that you want to share or you want a record of important events in your life, starting a personal blog might be a great idea. It’s an alternative to a written journal if you hate your penmanship or you’re too lazy to scribble.

What Should I Write?

It could be a lifestyle blog that talks about fashion, food, health and travel. With a personal blog, you can write about anything. You can post reviews of books or comics, movies, music, television series, and video games. You can even talk about politics. There are also blogs that showcase art, photography and short fiction.

 

What If I Don’t Want to Write?

You blog does not have to contain only text. You can post your photos and art if you want to show your work. You can also share personal moments so you can revisit them in the future. There are also blogs that specialize in tutorials. Some of these have videos.

 

Can I Earn by Blogging?

You might even consider earning through your blog. For example, there are book reviewers who receive copies from publishers long before the release date. Some also earn through advertisements in their blog. Not only do you get to keep doing what you want, but you are also paid while doing it.

 

Where Do I Start Blogging?

There are sites where you can create blogs for free. Among the most popular are WordPress, Blogger (Blogspot), LiveJournal and Tumblr. Pick the site that suits you best. WordPress and Blogger have a reputation for popularizing blogging, while LiveJournal has a community that’s been around for years.

What Do I Get by Blogging?

Some people use it as a medium for sharing their works and their opinions. It’s one way of practicing your writing skills. You will get the same fulfillment in blogging as if you’re writing a traditional journal. Editing your own work is easier and you can share it to the public.

 

What Should I Look Out For?

It has disadvantages though. Blogs don’t usually have editors, even a group blog. Some writers do not verify their information. Opinion blogs are mostly unreliable because no one is telling the writer how to do it. Treat blogs as an alternative source for news, but be very critical.

 

What Do I Need to Remember?

If you have to quote from other works or use photos and artworks that you did not create yourself, don’t forget to cite your sources. This will make your blog look legitimate and the readers will trust you more. Using artworks in particular can be a sensitive issue. Respect other people’s work.

 

How Do I Attract Followers?

You will get more readership if you post more often. Promote your blog by using appropriate tags in your post and by posting links to your blog. Visiting and writing comments on other blog posts is also a good exposure.

Tips on How to Wake Up in the Morning Pronto

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The hardest part in getting to work is waking up in the morning. The moment you survived the struggle and dragged yourself to the shower, the rest will follow easily. The temptation to snooze the alarm clock is just too powerful but you have to wake up if you do not want another late.

If the struggle is too real, you have to make changes in your lifestyle. You have to make sure though that the changes will resolve the difficulties you are having especially when it comes to waking up. Here are some tips on waking up in the morning pronto:

  1. Move the alarm clock far back. If your phone serves as your alarm clock, make sure that it is out of reach. If you can reach it, the tendency is that you can just switch it off or hit the snooze button. If you place it far back or at the other side of your room, you will have no choice but to get out of bed and turn it off. The moment you are out of bed, it is easier to get going.

 

  1. Develop a sleeping pattern. When developing a sleeping pattern, you have to make sure that it is regular. Remember that the body is your natural alarm clock. Once you have this regular sleeping pattern, the body will wake at the same time with or without the buzzing of your alarm clock. To do this, try to sleep and wake up in the morning at the same hours every day (including weekends).

  1. Let natural light in. When it is dark, the body will continuously release sleep hormone. If you let natural light come in the morning, the body will stop releasing such so it is easier to get up. The best thing that you can do is to adjust the blinds for natural light to come and this will instantly stimulate the body.

 

  1. Get moving as soon as you wake up. The natural light will stimulate your body but it will be wasted if you do not get up. You should get up and get moving. Activities can stimulate your brain and it will dismiss sleep. You can for instance go for a run or any exercise. You can also freshen up to “rinse off” the sluggish feeling.

If you want to keep up here in Singapore, you better follow your alarm clock strictly. Remember while you are sluggish over there, many people are actually getting more and more productive by the minute. Should this continue, you will find yourself left out.

A Guide to Having a Meaningful Lent Season

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During Lent, many of us opt to fly back to our hometowns and attend church services. For some, Holy Week is an opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends. However you choose to spend the remaining days of March, be sure to make the most out of it. Relax in your room, go on a mini vacation, or have a retreat. Lent is the perfect opportunity to have some quiet personal time and do the following:

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  1. Deactivate Your Inbox

Since Maundy Thursday is a regular holiday, try finishing all your pending tasks before then. By tying all the loose ends, you’ll be able to give yourself a holiday free from work emails. Although distancing yourself from work during Lent might be difficult, especially for those with busy schedules, doing it will do you good. After all, dropping your to-do list for several days isn’t a sign of laziness. It’s a way for you to re-examine yourself, gather your thoughts, and do better once the holidays are over.

  1. Steer Clear From Social Media

While it seems impossible to completely give up social media during this break, there’s some merit to limiting your use to the essentials. Check traffic updates on Twitter, fix your schedule through Facebook Messenger, but leave the BuzzFeed Tasty food video for now. Use this time to sift through the ideas and issues you’ve encountered on your feed in the past. Weed out the bad from the good information you see on your newsfeed, so you can identify issues that really matter to you.

  1. Read a Good Book

Another activity you can do during your time alone is to cross out books on your reading list – and we don’t just mean self-help books – read whatever catches your interest. Reading allows you to escape, and forces you to concentrate and eliminate potential stressors. One study even showed that reading almost instantly helps a person to relax. It also revealed that it only takes six minutes of reading to ease tension in the muscles, and slow the heart rate down.

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  1. Start a Journal

You know your grade school teacher was on to something when she required you to keep a diary. For grown-ups like you, journaling will help you gather your thoughts and make sense of your fast-paced life. So during your time alone, try expression writing: jot down bad and good memories, scribble your thoughts, and write as if you’re just telling stories to your friends. Doing this allows you to know yourself better, while keeping the stress away.

  1. Determine What’s Important to You

What can’t you live without? This is one of the important questions to ask yourself during this period of reflection. If you’re currently in a toxic relationship, or a job you don’t like that much, use this period to weigh your options and decide if you should just let go or hold on. Zero in on your priorities. Family? Faith? Career? Think about these things, then list them down. Once you’re done, identify the parts of your life that contribute to the development of these priorities. Focus on these parts and let go of the ones that doesn’t make the cut.

For one week each year, you get a chance to pause everything. To stop whatever it is you’re busy with. To take some time off, and get away from all of it. So ensure that you make the most out of the coming lent season by engaging in any of the aforementioned activities.

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Extra Skills You Need to Master before Reaching 30  

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Life is different when we are 20 something. Come 30’s something, we will face challenges more seriously and a lot of things are expected of us. Transition to adulthood is indeed a challenge. Some are successful, some Singaporeans are not.

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If you want to be successful, little things can make a difference at the end of the day. For instance, you have to master extra skills so when you reach adulthood, you can face almost anything life throws at you. Here are some extra skill sets that you need to master before reaching 30:

  • Repairing pipes: Whether you are a man or a woman, repairing pipes should be considered. You do not want to live with simple nuisances like clogged drains or leaking pipes. If ignored, it will lead to something worse. If you learn how to fix pipes, you will save a great deal of money from not calling the plumber.
  • Changing flat tire: Changing a flat tire should be learned and mastered even if you are a woman. You have to learn just in case of emergencies. What if you are in the middle of nowhere? Changing flat tire will come in handy.
  • Mending clothing: Wardrobe malfunction happens to anyone. It is convenient if you already know some sewing and mending can come a long way. The basic thing that you have to know is how to sew a button and patch a hole.

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  • Learning to cook: Cooking is not exclusive for women. Men should also learn how to cook and master at least one dish. There are plenty of simple yet tasty dishes that you can cook.
  • Wrapping presents: Wrapping is a struggle for some. If you do not want to pay extra for gift wrapping, it is high time that you learn how to wrap presents creatively. With all the items and materials readily available, you won’t have a hard time.
  • Mixing cocktail: You will be a party host once or twice a year and it will be memorable for your guests to taste your signature cocktail. Having a signature cocktail will be to your benefit and if you are serious enough, you will discover many cocktail mixes which will come in handy during parties.
  • Effective packaging: Packing is not easy especially if you do not want to give up some belongings for many days. Effective packing will depend on the mode of travel, the duration and the destination. You have to roll clothes together to save space and only bring important toiletries.

Now you are ready to take on life.

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3 Simple Ways to Become More in the Moment

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We’ve all reach a point in our lives where we start losing touch with one another, as well as with ourselves. We got so distracted by our cell phones and social media accounts that we are no longer putting much value on our face to face interactions. Still, it shouldn’t be that way. Start reconnecting your real relationships and focus on the moment that’s before you using these three easy ways.

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  1. Put Your Cell Phone or Gadgets Down. This may be the most obvious thing that we can advise you, but doing this is actually quite harder than it sounds. We’ve become so attached to our cellular phones that we freak out every time they’re not within our immediate reach. We stopped paying attention to the people in front of us since we’re so focused on our phones.

 

Ever had a conversation with someone who didn’t even bother looking up from their phone as you tell them a story? It’s a rather bad feeling, right? So put your phone every once in a while now. Through this, you’ll be able to enjoy the company of the people you’re hanging around, and you’ll also start appreciating and seeing the the world around you in a new and better light.

 

  1. Hang Out With Your Friends. Sure, texting and social media are great tools that can easily link us to the most important people in our life. But that’s just not what we often use it for. Even when we hang out with our friends, we usually just sit around and busy ourselves with our phone instead of really bonding with them.

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Staying on your phone for an extended period of time simply means that you’re bored. So instead of just staying in one place every time you hang out with your group, have an out of town trip with them or simply go out to a dinner with your circle of friends. If you’re going with the latter, have all your phones places in the middle of your table, face down. Set a rule that the first person to touch their phone gets to pay your entire bill.

 

  1. Do Activities You Love. We all have something that makes us happy. Whether it’s listening to music, taking photos, exercising or doing makeup. Even if you think that you don’t have any activity that you like to do, you can always try out each activity and discover what you like best.

 

Remember that we all need a moment that can pull us away from all the daily stress that we experience. If you’re struggling to snap out of it, try doing something as easy as controlling your breathing. Take deep breaths and slowly let it out. This will definitely help you ease all your stresses.

Being in the moment doesn’t really have to be that hard. All you’ve got to do is put down your phones, take a step back from where you currently are and appreciate all the small things that you haven’t appreciated before.

HappyPensioners

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