How to make time to read - 3 simple tips #WriteAPageADay

This is my favorite topic to talk about. How to take time out of our busy lives to read?

I love reading a lot. I love thrillers, mystery, horror, contemporary, women's fiction, historical fiction, and travel magazines. My friends often ask me how do you get time to read.

Here are some silly tidbits that help me to squeeze in some time to read.

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Kindle App

I have started reading more when I am reading through the kindle app. I don't have a Kindle - e-reader. I am postponing it for a long time. I might buy some day.

But, the Kindle app on my phone itself is handy. I can read anytime, it updates my reading progress even when I read a little from my laptop on Kindle cloud reader or on my phone. I need not be online to use the Kindle app which is a big plus for me. Whenever there is no internet and I feel bored, I will start reading.

I read while waiting for the kid while picking him up from school or while making the idli/ dosa batter :-) Explore those silly options and small reading slots. 

No Daily target for reading

I believe that we should never read by force or as a rule. Reading is an activity I enjoy. I don't want to make it stressful. So, I don't set a time to read every day. Ya.. that's my tip :-) Don't set a time and do it when possible. 

For me, the time before I go to bed is good. 15 to 20 mins a day sometimes and none on weekends. It completely depends. Sometimes when some book is too good I am tempted to read during lunch break or in the middle of work (that's a secret though )

Pick the genres that you like

This tip can't go wrong. Many of us struggle with reading habits when we pick a book that is not interesting. If there is one genre that interests you, you will feel difficulty putting it down. Trust me on this.

I see many people trying to read the best-sellers like Rich Dad Poor Dad, Who Moved my Cheese etc., But, they don't enjoy non-fiction and feel it boring. Instead, if they pick some other genre, they might continue reading it. 

So, read a variety of books from multiple genres to know which one you enjoy, and try books in similar genres until you get into the habit of reading.

Let me know in the comments if any of these tips work for you.

Until next time,

Word count: 414 words

My Top 5 Productivity Tips #WriteAPageADay

 How do you stay productive? For me, it's not easy to stay productive. I tend to step on multiple activities and my restlessness overtakes my enthusiasm. Eventually, I waste a lot of time.

However, with experience, I have learned many tips which will help me stay productive. Here are a few of them.

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My Top 5 Productivity Tips:

1. Remove distractions

An easy way is to keep your phone in some other room or keep it with you in silent mode. The phone is the first distraction for many of us. Don't you agree? 

A phone with an internet connection and a couple of social media apps is a terrible combination for distraction.

Turn off notifications for the apps that you don't care much about. 

When you are bored, try walking even if it's inside the house in the middle of work. Observe and watch things and people around you. If you can stick to this rule, you will definitely come back to your task quickly.

2. Enjoy the work you do

If you are doing some task due to the force of someone in the family or friends and if you are really not interested in the task, it's very tough to stay productive.

Enjoy the work you do. If not, at least think of ways to make it less stressful. 

Ex: If office work is not something you enjoy or it becomes too stressful, take a coffee break, say hi to colleagues, walk around the office, fill your water bottle, stretch your legs, take deep breaths, and come back to work.

That way, we can be more productive than not taking any breaks at all.

3. Focus on a single thing at a time

I don't know why some people give importance to multi-tasking, but I feel multi-tasking is not for someone who wants to be productive. Focusing on a single task at a time makes us more productive.

Taking a lunch break? Focus on lunch and don't check your phone or work emails.

Attending a zoom call? Focus on the agenda and don't get deviated from the topic.

Multi-tasking might save time in the short term, but will be stressful in the long run.

4. Relax and Replenish

We are humans and not machines. We are not supposed to work all day without relaxing in the middle.

Taking a power nap of 15 mins in the middle of the day is not a waste of time. This improves productivity. It makes you more active for the rest of the day.

Social interaction is important for humans. Chatting with friends, playing with kids, and watching TV are helpful too. 

Don't get overburnt. This improves your productivity for sure. A well-oiled and well-maintained machine only can run in the long term. 

5. Set times for tasks

Setting time for a task helps me to focus better. Instead of multitasking, I set a time for each task and move on. There are no strict rules. If you cannot complete a task in the given time, you can extend it. But the point is to stay focused on the task completely for that period of time.

You can be as flexible as you like. 

For ex: Every day, set a time to close office work. Once or 2 days a week is an exception and it is completely fine. But, family time shouldn't overlap with Work time often.

These are my top tips for productivity . What tips work for you? Please suggest me in the comments.

Until next time,

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5 Tips to write a better blog post #WriteAPageADay

Though I am not an expert in blogging, I have been in this blogosphere(is that a word?) for more than 10 years and I have learned a lot of tips from other bloggers and incorporated many and saw some success. So, Why not share the knowledge that I gained? 

Here are my 5 tips for writing a better blog post:

I won't talk about Content. If you are a blogger, you already know that a blog post is centered around a topic / main content. We, bloggers are here to write and share our content. So, of course, that's the essential part of blogging.

But, my tips are about everything else like infographics, images, signatures, tags, headlines, promotion blah blah...

Narrow down on the Topic :

It always helps to narrow down the topic. A focused blog post explaining a specific topic is the best for SEO.

If you are planning to write a post on the best places to visit in Austin, try narrowing it down further. You can add the number to the title to make the list smaller and easier to read.

You can also focus on specific needs like 

5 best places to hike in Austin

5 best family-friendly places in Austin

5 state parks near Austin

5 best Spring break destinations around Austin

5-day trips near Austin

5 best weekend Gateways from Austin

Add Nice Images:

Pictures are an essential part of a blog, especially for a travel blog.

Original images taken by you are the best. But, if you don't have original pics, search for non-copyrighted images on sites like pexels.com, and pixabay.com. You can also search on Google, click the Image tab, and apply the filter 'Tools >> Usage Rights -> Creative commons license'.

Don't forget to add a watermark of your blog address or social media handle on your original pictures.

Research Deep:

A simple topic or a complex blog post - both of them need research. When we are writing for a larger audience we should know what our readers look for in our blog post. 

If it's a travel post, I search on google with the place name and see what others search for and what topics come on the top of the results. 

I also collect information on the Geography and historical significance of the place to include in my post. 

Read content twice and edit:

I always stress good editing. Many people write good content, but only a few people write content without grammatical errors and in a professional way. 

It puts me off when I read any post with spelling mistakes. I use the Grammarly plugin to correct my posts. It's free to use and very helpful.

I read my blog post twice before publishing it. I check if the tone is casual, friendly, and not preachy. I see that my post has some researched facts and is useful. I see that my post is not based on rumors. I try to give a personal touch to all my posts. 

Design social media images and Promote:

Even though you write the best content, if it doesn't reach the audience it goes to waste. Promotion helps our post to reach more people. 

I design my social media promotion images on canva.com. Such a free, reliable, and the most efficient app. I design at least one Pinterest image for my readers to pin my post and one Instagram image with my blog watermark.

So, here are my basic tips to write a better blog post. What are your tips or suggestions? do let me know in the comments. 

Until next time,

Word count: 597

Tips to stay Focused on any Activity

 How do you stay focused on any activity? 

We usually think a lot about focus and concentration. We can be more productive and get better results in less time if we can focus on the activity. Right?

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Here are the 5 tips from my experience to focus on any activity:

1. Remove distractions

Mobile, TV, games, gossip - there are a lot of distractions We find every day. But, there are ways to avoid distractions. Keeping the notifications off on phone, Uninstalling the apps that waste our time, setting a specific time to distractions like watching TV etc., will help.

2. Find the purpose of the activity

The purpose gives us clarity and determination to complete an activity. It acts as a motivating factor to focus better.

A student writing an essay might think about her purpose as getting recognition in class or getting a good grade. Instead of working on something like a chore, doing with purpose in mind makes it easy.

PC: www.pixabay.com

3. Time the Activity 

Sometimes,  it's tough to focus for longer periods of time. But, it's easy with fewer durations, right?

If you have to complete an essay in 2 days, it's good to spend some set amount of time each day instead of working continuously on the last day to meet the deadline.

4. Break down the activity into multiple small tasks 

It's a no-brainer that we can focus better on small achievable tasks instead of big complicated tasks.

For me, this technique helps me a lot to focus. 

For ex: publishing a blog post seems like a single task, but I usually split it into multiple small tasks, so that I can focus and finish each task. Like creating a draft post, proofreading,  searching and adding images, creating social media images, publishing and promoting on social media, etc.,

5. Enjoy the activity and the process

In the end, it all comes down to what we love. If we love the process and activity,  we will focus better.

It is important to enjoy the activity.  But, all tasks are not fun and easy. For these, determination and not giving up are the required attitudes.

PC: www.pixabay.com

Linking this to Vineeta's Fiction Monday for prompt: Focus.

Until next time,

5 tools that help me in my regular blogging

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When I started blogging many years ago, I was not sure how to make my content more attractive to readers. In this blogging journey of around 10 years, I have learned a lot from other bloggers and from Google as well on different techniques like below:

• Choosing a better headline or title
• Writing content in small paragraphs and with bullet points if needed
• Including relevant high-quality images to attract readers
• Including quotes and providing a takeaway in each article
• Ending the article with an action item/ a question to connect with readers
• Promoting in social media
• Publishing the post at specific times when the readers are active (mid of the week and in the evenings after 6pm)
•  Writing genuine content with a personal touch instead of some ideal scenarios
• Reading and replying to the comments regularly
• Joining link parties and participating in writing challenges regularly.

Even though my blog is on a custom domain, it is managed through the blogger platform. This made it tough for me to use the plugins because of blogger platform limitations. Since I don't earn much revenue through my blog, I cannot go for paid tools as of now. But, there are some free tools that help me to write regularly on my blog. These tools/ apps/ websites made my life easier.  

Here is a list of 5 such tools/ apps/ websites:

1. Grammarly

I write good English with fewer grammar mistakes but the punctuation mistakes irk me a lot. I have Grammarly Chrome extension enabled which helps me to write content without grammar mistakes.

 I use a free version as of now and it meets my purpose. I feel Grammar is the first thing any blogger should focus on if they want to improve their blog and reach more audiences. 

Check this link to install Grammarly:

The World's Best Grammar Checker



2. Canva

I would say this is a boon for social media promotion and to write content with attractive images and text. I use this regularly and almost every time I blog unless I am using my own images.

Canva is free and it has loads of templates and images. It is very easy to use. Just we have to pick an image, include the text we want to add, add our blog's URL, and download the final image to include in our blog post or use for social media promotion. 

Super cool and Simple!

Check this link to create an account and start creating beautiful graphics faster:






3.Image Sources

Picking attractive high-quality images is very important for any blog post. 

Good Paid stock photos are best for Pinterest Pins as they stand out and bring more traffic to me. I suggest Deposit photos for high-quality images that we can use for social media promotion..

Stock Images


The first source that helps me with this is the website www.pixabay.com. Many images are available for free. 

One more option is to search for an image in "Google images" page, select "tools 》usage rights" and filter the results by "labeled with non-commercial reuse". Those images are not copyrighted. 

Other sources are Flickr images with a creative commons license and a website www.unsplash.com. 

4. Buffer

Taking time to promote our content is as important as publishing quality content. I usually promote my content on Facebook, Twitter and Google plus. I also add my links to Indiblogger and the blog chatter reading lists. 

When I schedule my content ahead for a future date I use buffer to share the links on social media. It makes planning easier and I use a free version as of now.

5. Image editing tools

Sometimes, for travelogues, I post photos directly from my mobile. So, I use snapseed app to edit my photos. This is a free tool with lots of editing options. I use photo grid app to make collages of photos real quick from my mobile. 

What tools do you use for blogging? Did you try any of the above-mentioned tools/ apps/ websites? Please do let me know your thoughts and also suggestions on some free tools which make blogging easy.

Until next time 

This article is written as part of SuperBloggingChallenge2018 conducted by Healthwealthbridge.com,Fashionablefoodz.com, and Allaboutthewoman.com and should not be repurposed, republished or used otherwise. SuperBloggerChallenge2018 is not responsible for any kind of infringement caused. 

Also, linking this to #QuotedStories hosted by Upasna. 

My Top 5 Parenting tips

Every child is unique and so is a parent, what do you say?

So, I don't believe parenting tips work the same for everyone.

As a parent, we learn from experiences, try our best to give happiness to our kids. We make mistakes, realize later, and correct them. The tips that I am sharing now are some tried and tested ones. I will be glad if you can relate to those and they help you too..

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1. Managing Tantrums

This is a big deal really, especially if you have an infant/toddler. Children are sometimes stubborn. Since they cannot still talk at that age, they try to grab the attention of parents either by crying loud or doing something else which is irritating to the parents. 

So, we can't blame them as it's their way of expressing anger/ disagreement.

In these cases, I will be stubborn too, but just that I won't shout at them. 

Patience is the key to manage tantrums and we have to repeat the same instructions many times and let them understand. Sometimes, I  feel, I am too strong and dominant in these cases, but when it comes to their health or safety, let me be a bad mother for some time.


2. Managing a fussy eater

I always have good patience, but when it comes to feeding my 1-year-old, I give up. I know, I shouldn't force feed, but every mom is concerned about her child's health, right?

Gradually, I started practicing a few tips which solved this problem for me. 

• Maintaining proper meal times
• Giving them proper exercise before lunch/dinner like running or playing
• Adding more fruits to increase their appetite
• Making it a family meal together
• Allowing to eat by themselves and bearing with the mess 
• Maintaining a proper gap between foods etc.,

There are soo many that I would save it for another post later :-)

3. Trying not to be  a 100% perfect mom

We always try to be perfect - feeding kids the perfect quantity of meals with perfect nutrition, grooming them, getting the toys that they love, spending more time with them, etc., But is it possible? I miss many of these. 

Sometimes, I am lazy to cook a very nutritious meal, get tired to feed them for some more time, get tired to be a good parent not shouting at them. I talk to my friends, browse the web, do my errands and sometimes, I cannot give complete attention to them and play with them. But, I feel, this is Ok. I will try my best what I can provide to my kid and sometimes, I falter and this is Ok.

Striving to be perfect is good, but if it increases your stress level, it's not worth it. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, please share your opinion in comments.

4. Engaging the kid

This is the biggest task. We need more patience and creativity. I use google to search for better ideas to engage them. Anyways, Pinterest helps me to find an easy craft any time a day.

To engage my 1-year-old, I usually stack building blocks with him, encourage him to play with the ball, run more, watch and hum rhymes, and read storybooks. Other than allowing him to play with toys and do painting, I encourage and help my 5-year-old to make crafts.

 We all like storytelling. I get Disney comic books and read out to them by showing pictures. Traveling to new places and playing outside are the best pass-times that they love. There are many ways to engage kids and I am yet to explore more.

5. Allowing some 'Me' time

You might say, this is not a parenting tip. But, A happy parent can raise a happy child. Agree?

If we all are mechanically doing the chores and dedicating our complete time to kids alone, we might lose that spark within us slowly.

I like reading, blogging, software testing, dancing, and a lot more. These are also part of my life. Being myself and doing what I like is the most relaxing. I get at most 2 hours for this as of now, but I am good to sacrifice a little sleep and enjoy my 'Me' time :-)

Wow! I think I have written a lengthy post. 'Parenting' is not a simple task, anyways :-)

Thanks to Corinne and Sanch for giving this wonderful topic for #FridayReflections - Top parenting tips

Until next time,

PS: All images are from google labeled with non-commercial reuse.

My Top 11 travel tips

I love traveling. After I saw this prompt in #FridayReflections hosted by Sanch and Corinne, how could I not write a post?

Prompt - Write a list of your top 11 travel tips

1. Have some snacks and water handy, always
Even though I love to travel and explore places for hours, I cannot even walk one step if I am hungry. I am not at all foody, but maintain proper time to eat my food and cannot stay hungry for a long time. I always keep some biscuits and water bottle handy, which save me from hunger. 

2. Keep a few things in hand bag to refresh anytime
I think, all women have these things in their hand bag - A face wash, A moisturizing lotion, sunscreen, lip balm and face tissues. I forget at least one of these most of the time and I suffer a lot due to bad weather. 

3. Leave extra space in baggage
I keep some space free in the baggage whenever I travel. We definitely end up buying something in tourist spots and purchasing another bag for these items is difficult, right? I also carry one or two empty shopping covers to keep the unwashed clothes, in case we don't have time to do laundry.

4. Carry something to engage kids if it's a long flight
A tab/ coloring book and pencils/ puzzles/ books etc., help me to engage the kids. If they get bored, they become cranky and it's very difficult to handle their tantrums. 

5. Carry a few important medicines
It's better to carry some basic medicines for fever, cold, sore throat etc., If I am traveling with kids, I carry important syrups and also a prescription if traveling overseas. 

6. Plan accommodation ahead
If it is a known place/ if I am going to stay at someone's place, it is fine. Else, I always research and book my accommodation ahead. It saves money and it is comfortable to head to the hotel straight after travel to take rest/ to refresh. I prefer to stay in a hotel with breakfast included. It makes easy to start tours with good breakfast instead of searching for food in the morning itself.

7. Carry forex
Purchasing forex in airports is very expensive, so, it's better to get forex from banks/ providers before the travel itself. Carry extra cash while touring, to accommodate entrance tickets and bus and train fares. 

8. Plan the tour ahead or Buy local brochures
Many foreign countries provide free brochures in train and bus stations about the local tourist attractions. This is a good start, if you have not planned earlier. A few places will have hop-on-hop-off buses to tourists, these guided tours are easy to start with. Now a days, we have app for everything - be it a subway route map or an app to plan itinerary by covering maximum tourist spots in less time(like tripomatic app).  So, having a smart phone always helps. 
If it's in India, it's better to research about safe tourist places and plan a trip before hand. 

9. Learn about local language and taste local cuisine
Even if you are like me, who is afraid of trying all new tastes, It's better to try the famous cuisine as it is difficult to get that taste anywhere else. Learning a few words in the local language make the travel experience better. You will have good memories too.

10. Take lots of Photos
I don't think, anyone ever forgets to carry a camera or a smart phone to tourist places. Even though photography is charged at most of the places, do your best judgment to decide on carrying a camera inside the tourist attractions. These photos will someday bring a smile on our faces and help us cherish those moments. 

11. Carry clothes as per the local weather
I made this mistake once. I went to a hill station freezing cold in a skirt and with normal sandals and paid price for it. It's better to carry sweaters, scarfs, gloves, proper walking shoes for walking/ trekking, an Umbrella etc.,

I covered the basic checklist that I use for travel. Is there something important that I missed? Please do let me know in comments :-)

Until next time,

Linking this to #FridayReflections. Thanks for the wonderful prompt Corinne and Sanch. Loved writing this post :-)

Image courtesy: From google, labeled with non commercial reuse