While this is not exactly the “New year, new me” moment, I just wanted to talk about the 2021 plans for Elgee Writes to give you an idea of what to expect during this year.
I also consider this post as a part of my goal setting process that will help me following it more consistently. So fingers crossed, eh?
Reading Plans
Without a reading plan and schedule I am inclined to slide into a reading slump. And that’s why I join up as many reading challenges as I can, just to keep me motivated.
Goodreads Reading Challenge 2020
I have been reading 45 books or so for the past few years. So I think I can safely increase it to 52 in 2021.
I know it doesn’t sound like much when you compare the 100s of books that other bloggers read in a year. But it is definitely a challenge for me to reach this number considering how busy I get around the mid year.
Target: 52
2021 Nonfiction Reader Challenge
I read non fiction books once in a while. But I want to make it official in 2021, and I will participating in the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Bookdout.
I will probably read more of Self help and essay collections under this category.
Target: Nonfiction Nibbler – Read 6 books, from any category
Books in Translation Reading Challenge 2021
Another reading challenge that I am participating this year would be the Books in Translation, where we read translated books (from any language to any other language, not just English).
I have been wondering why I have not read as many Indian regional literature as I would like to have, and I would be correcting it in 2021.
Target: Conversationalist: 4-6 books
Reading more classics
I have been trying to do this in the past few years but I have not covered a lot. So I think 2021 might be the year that I actually read more classics, including children’s.
Anyone has a good reading list or guide to follow? Please do share.
Blogging plans and actions
After a tumultuous year that broke most of us emotionally and mentally, I just need an action plan to go forward. You know, an attempt to make things more normal. So here comes by blogging plans for 2021.
Blogging content
I have a fairly regular blogging schedule and I hope I don’t have to change it – because it works for me and you guys, based on my statistics.
Sunday – Personal and blog related updates
Monday – Book reviews
Wednesday – Discussion posts related to books, blogging or self development.
Friday – Listicles, quotes and quizzes. An occasional guest post.
I love how far I have come in making the schedule consistent, despite 2020, and I hope it continues.
I will be joining Nicole and Shannon’s Book Blog Discussion Challenge in 2021 as well, and it has become a staple in my yearly challenges. Nicole and Shannon, thanks for hosting it.
Action plan
Do a series on quotes, again
Create a resource page for authors and bloggers
Increasing blog engagement
Just like every other blogger here, I love getting comments and shares on my posts. The more the merrier.
I started the Comment 4 comment challenge in 2019 and it turned out to be a success. And then 2020 happened where we struggled to just float.
Learn to care about the follower counts and blog statistics.
Final note
Though it is 2021, we are still under the throes of the pandemic and we are not yet normalcy. I am not going to be trying too hard or be stressing myself with these plans, but using these action plans as guidelines and take it as they come.
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Let’s talk
What are your reading and blogging plans like? Do you engage in a yearly planning process? Tell me more about your 2021 plans. Let us chat.
As much as I love Christmas, the week between Christmas and the New Year has always been filled with excitement for me. It is the perfect time for reflecting and recapping the year and then setting new goals. I wanted to share the most popular posts of 2020 in terms of page visits with you all.
Also the internet Gods have proved once again that popular doesn’t necessarily mean the best. It just means Google liked them better or Facebook kept showing them randomly. We will never know why and how.
Elgee Writes’ most popular posts of 2020
I am ranking my most popular posts of 2020 based on the page views garnered during the year, based on the WordPress’s statistics. Let me know if your favorite made the cut.
We book bloggers keep lamenting at how book reviews don’t get much engagement. This post takes a good dive into why that happens to help you understand.
Quite funnily enough, this book review of The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi is one of my most popular post of 2020. Read on to find what made it so popular.
One of the points on my checklist for bloggers is the WordPress follow button. But if you are self hosted there is no direct way to add that button. This post explains how to do that and gain more followers.
If you are content creator and you are on top of your social media profiles without going insane, YOU ARE A ROCKSTAR. But for others, mere mortals like me, here are some tips to balance it out.
Some questions for an author to ask your beta reader when you submit a manuscript for beta reading. These questions ensure you get constructive and honest feedback from them.
This famous book didn’t fare so great for me and this review in particular had a lukewarm response when I initially posted. But when the official Auschwitz Museum responded to my post on Twitter, my page visits shot through the roof overnight.
The factual mistakes & misinterpretations made by Heather Morris in "The Tattooist of Auschwitz" resulted in creating a distorted version of Auschwitz. This is dangerous and disrespectful to history. The story deserves better. #FactCheck review: https://t.co/hioNswY2nT
I might be a little later than usual but I am excited to announce that the Comment 4 comment challenge is back on for 2021! It is time to get back on the wagon as a conscious effort to increase the engagement and commenting on our blog. Are you ready for this?
Blog engagement is the key!
Despite what we tell ourselves about how we blog for ourselves or how it is just a hobby, we love getting comments on our posts and meeting new likeminded bloggers.
Without such validation via comments or shares we may as well be just screaming into the void. Trust me that is just a sure shot way into blogger burnout – something that we all dread.
The comment 4 comment challenge has been greatly successful in the past (2018, 2019). I am sure the participants gained quite a number of blogger friends who not just commented and shared on their blogs, but also gained a good support system.
Let’s rebuild that one. Welcome to C4CC-2021 edition!
What is the Comment 4 Comment Challenge (C4CC) 2021?
The major issue for any small blogger is building an audience and increasing their blog engagement. And that means getting more visitors, comments and shares on your blog. If that sounds interesting to you, this challenge is for you.
The goal of C4CC is ‘leave no comment un-replied and un-returned’.
What do you have to do?
Replying all the comments you received on your blog
Visiting the said commenter’s blog to leave a comment
If you feel you are up for this challenge, SIGN UP right away.
What is the goal anyway?
If you have any of the following as goal for your blog this year
Be more social
Increase the number of comments on your blog, organically
Make more blogging friends
Improve blogging engagement
Increase your blog followers
Finding similar blogs
Then this Comment 4 Comment Challenge (C4CC) for you!
How can you participate in this challenge?
Sign up for the challenge here
Grab my button and add on your blog
Follow my blog and leave a comment to this post.
Share the news on social media
Bring in your buddy and as they say, the more the merrier.
Have you signed for the Comment 4 Comment Challenge 2021 edition? Were you part of the past years’ challenges? What are your blogging goals this year? Let us chat.
With the New Year just around the corner, it is time to pull out your planners for tracking your TBRs and reading challenges for 2021. Here are some bullet journals spread ideas for book lovers to organize your reading schedule.
I love lists and planners. But as someone with minimal artistic talent, I totally suck at bullet journaling (or BuJo). Of course, that doesn’t stop me from drooling over these amazing bullet journal set ups over Instagram. How about you?
Reading list
I usually have a hard time choosing my next read, often. Having a reading list for the month or week, or even the year would be a great idea for your reading bullet journal set up. These are some of the ones that I loved for your inspiration.
How do you track what your reading habits? I do so on notion and excel but BuJo spreads are much more fun and interesting, especially if you are artistically inclined. Here are some bullet journal set ups to help you track what you read during the month.
Do you use BuJo for tracking your reading? If not, how do you keep up with your reading challenges? Which is your favorite bullet journal idea? Let us chat.
While some of us are already to jump into 2021 and pretend 2020 didn’t happen (even with constant reminders coughcough masks), others might need a gentle push to get onboard. Here are a few New Year Resolution ideas for the year 2021.
It might be quite literal this time when we say that “we can’t wait for the year to be over”. Seriously 2020, move over already. Despite having 2020 throwing a serious curveball over my plans, I am hopeful about my new year resolutions. And I really hope you are too!
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New year’s resolution ideas to inspire you!
And those of you who do not want to wait for the New year’s eve to changing yourself, why don’t you start right now?
Wear masks
Well, just because it is a new year, it doesn’t mean we should be done away with common sense. So wear your masks when you are in public. In fact, I am gonna continue doing this when am having a cold flu, even after the pandemic goes away.
Credit: Betawards
Get into shape
Getting into shape or getting some exercise is one of the top new year resolutions year after year. Maybe we all need it after a year of cooping inside our houses, don’t we?
Eat healthy
Include fruits and vegetables into your meal at least once in a day. And it may not be a big production, here are some healthy ways to do that.
Take the stairs
Quickly burn a couple of calories by avoiding the elevator and climbing the steps. Studies say that this simple exercise gives you an energy boost of a caffeine drink.
Credit: Giphy
Meditate more
Manage your stress level and keep yourself calmer and in the “now” with meditation. Even if you are not religious, take a class or use an app to guide through the process.
Give yourself compliments
Be nicer to yourself and we all deserve it after the rough couple months we have had. A small “great job” or “I am good enough” could go a long way into making your daily life better.
Quit negative self talk
One more step in loving ourselves is avoiding spurring negativity onto ourselves. Avoid using “can’t” and self sabotaging yourself. All the constant worrying and doubts breed more negativity than you need. Make 2021 a positive year for you.
Get some quality sleep
About 62% of the adults worldwide are not getting enough sleep. Even though the science is clear on the correlation between higher productivity and quality sleep, we rarely get them. Prioritize sleep by making it your one of your new year resolutions.
Credit: b-renee.tumblr
Stop taking phone to bed
Talking about quality sleep, avoid taking your phone to your bed. Late night scrolling and binging on videos are a major factor in keeping us awake.
Learn to say no to things
Quite often we find ourselves committing to things and events that we no longer are interested in. And that includes people too. So start by saying no to every time sucking activity that don’t add value to you.
Be more punctual
Or even better, try being a few minutes earlier to your appointments. It goes a long way in making a great first impression. And if you are someone who is always rushing behind your schedule and to do lists, this would be a great start.
Keep yourself and your brain active by learning a new language this year. With the job markets being crazy, who knows when that might help you?
Credit: Youtube/FallonTonight
Read more
One can never read too many books right? Yes, join us in the yearly reading challenges. And if you are a non regular reader, try to squeeze in a bit of reading in your daily lives. You can start from here.
Quit reading bad books
This one is mainly directed for myself. I have a terrible case of seeing every book to the end, even if I don’t enjoy them at all. Who else is with me?
Life is too short to read bad books. If you are not enjoying a particular book or if it doesn’t interest you anymore, it is okay to DNF or Did not finish for the uninitiated.
Create something
How about spending 30 minutes each day to create something? Take a photograph or learn calligraphy. If you are not an crafty person, spending a few minutes every on a creative project would help you ward of boredom. Who knows, you might find a new hobby!
Credit:Studiolescanailles
Be more active
Another thing to thank 2020 for is the work from home and lesser commute. But seriously it may have tied to our couch or the work desk most of the day. So a great New Year’s resolution idea would to be more physically active in general.
Spend less time on social media
Now this sounds like a cliché of New year’s resolutions. But it is so important that even Mark Zuckerberg considered doing it.
Credit: Raminnazer
But as bloggers and creators, social media is part of our daily job and it plays a significant part in our job. While we can’t do away with it, we can control the number of hours we spend on incessant scrolling. Here are our top tips in balancing social media and our online jobs.
End the procrastination
Don’t we all have that one thing that we are supposed to do now but here we are reading this article about New Year’s resolution ideas? Or usually end up on Youtbe or Reddit?
Oh just me!
But if you have a problem with procrastination (trust me, I do) this year we can all try to chuck that monster out of our lives. What say? Let’s get things done!
Start a self care routine
We all deserve a bit of TLC now and then. A simple skincare regimen can make your day more satisfied.
Young or old, it is never too late to start a daily, weekly or monthly self care routines. Start working on things that would make you feel happier to put up a routine for yourself.
Credit: Eonline
Be less passive
Going with the flow might work for many but one of my New Year’s resolution is going to be to be involved and taking control. Stop being passive to life’s turns but be more proactive and take charge of them.
Create a cleaning schedule
Are you one of those people who spend tidying up their place every time someone might drop in? That has to change because you are a grown up and you might want to live in a clean place.
This year create a simple cleaning schedule that will not overwhelm you and you will stick to. Stop living in a sty!
Reduce your multitasking
One of the lies that we tell ourselves is that we can multi-task and end up half-assing everything. It definitely is not adding to your productivity but adding to your stress and anxiety.
Promise yourself that you will reduce multitasking and focus on one thing at a time.
More New year’s resolution ideas
If these resolutions didn’t suit your fancy, then here are more New Year’s resolution ideas for you to choose from.
Start journaling your days.
Reduce alcohol.
Volunteer more.
Save first and then spend.
Cook at least one new recipe every week.
Face your fears/insecurities.
Spend less time on watching TV.
Quit smoking.
Build a budget.
Track your expenses.
Drink more water every day.
Consider therapy.
Listen to more audiobooks when avoid monotony.
Take more baths.
Use your favorite candles. Do not hold them for “some day”.
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Let’s talk
Do you do resolutions anymore? Are any of yours on my New Year’s resolution ideas list? Which are your favorites? Let us chat.
