Archive for December, 2009

Take 30 minutes…

Monday, December 28th, 2009

If you suddenly found yourself with an extra 30 minutes, what would you do with your time? Would you waste it, fill with with the ordinary or do something different?

Chris Broganand many people in his blog community give some ideas on filling an unexpected half hour in order to make use of their ‘spare time’. Some of my favourites on the list are relaxing (meditating, walking, etc), a quick burst of filing or tidying, give some recommendations/referrals, contact people on a personal level (it can be a business contact, but chat to them instead of always focussing on what has to be done) and catching up on some reading/learning.

Moving on from that list, I like the idea of making half an hour a day for these sorts of tasks. Maybe start your day with them, lift the ‘low’ times around lunchtime or finish off the working day, but make a time to do some little tasks.

Why? Those little tasks can be very important – to your calmness, clarity, happiness, productivity, relationships and creativity. And doing them regularly for a short time will keep things under control.

I’m going to give it a try, now that I’ve been inspired. Could you benefit from making 30 minutes a day, too?

Here comes Santa Claus…

Monday, December 7th, 2009

As always, I am involved with Love Santa at this time of year – I write letters to Australian children to help out that busiest of men, Santa Claus (Father Christmas or St Nick). I love doing it, and am honoured Santa entrusts this important task to me each Christmas.

You’d think that Santa is famous enough that people could spell his name, but unfortunately I often see it misspelt so it inspired this week’s Monday Meanings!

Claus – Santa’s surname/last night/family name; a first name for boys in some countries
Santa Claus is a very generous man.

Clause – part of a sentence  (including a subject and its verb) or a legal document
According to clause 23.4, all pilots must avoid flying at sleigh height on 24h December.

Claws - sharp nails growing from the fingers or paws of some animals, especially cats.
Santa’s kitten sharpens his claws on the couch.

How to remember these three words? Well, the easy one is relating claws to jaws as both are sharp and potentially dangerous!

Then just take the easier/shorter word for Santa as he is uncomplicated (magical and special, but uncomplicated!)

Photos in blog posts

Friday, December 4th, 2009

Do you like seeing photos in blog posts? Do the blogs you read most often include photos all the time, some of the time or never?

I was just reading some blogging secrets (shhh don’t tell anyone!) from Chris Brogan and he suggests using a picture in every blog post. His argument is (and a sound argument it is) that it catches people’s eye so can draw them into your blog.

Some people use pictures for inspiration for blog posts and some people blog about topics that really need images (I’m thinking in particular of someone like Lauren Perkins who often blogs about artwork she is working on).

I occasionally add an image to brighten up my blog and make it look more interesting, but don’t do it all the time because it may slow down the site itself, I write about writing so am not sure pictures suit my brand, and it isn’t always easy to find a relevant picture when you write about capital letters or pairs of misused words!

But I am curious – how effective do you think images are in blogs? Would you like to see images added to more or all of my blog posts?