Weekends are usually relaxing times for most people. However, bloggers would have made little sacrifices already or you soon will. Instead of relaxing, you could do certain things to pump up your blog activity, prepare for the week ahead, bring in certain steps to make more money for yourself or at least sit and make a plan about it all. Here are some times to get your weekends to work for you and a list of things you could be doing to make your blog better than it al ready is:

Plan for the posts ahead: Weekends are a great time to sit down and put your thoughts about what posts you would like to address the following week. The titles and the angle you would like to take; handful of keyword and general research, `pick and collect any posts or external content you would like to link to, think of about the meta tags, meta descriptions and the like that have to go out with each posts, etc. By doing this on weekends, you not only benefit from a relaxed mind and also prepare well for the week ahead of you.

Weekend promotions: What’s better than to relax, sit in your lounge or on your couch, sip coffee and promote your blog without any pressure whatsoever? Two full days of browsing could very well be accompanied by some heavy promotions using free methods such as forum postings, posting comments on other blogs, getting a few emails out to otgher bloggers trying to get yourself a guest blogging gig or two — who says weekends have to be ‘days of doing nothing’?

Relax and get away from the computer: Blogging consistently can be a frenzied endeavor. It is very important that you take your time off the computer and head to some offline scenes like the gym, a weekend getaway, a relaxed stay at home, catch up with a movie DVD, read a book leisurely. Get off the mundane and do something interesting — perhaps you could join a local club, attend a meet-up, catch up with your loved ones. Chill out; life’s isn’t always about blogging.

What do you do on weekends?

When you learn new skills or basically upgrade yourself, you are literally redefining your own chances of success. The equation is pretty simple: the more you know and can do, the more you are worth. So, what must a blogger do to improve self-worth? What skills are best for a blogger to pick up? Should bloggers really worry so much about improving skills at all? You bet. Here are the skills that can take you a ,long way in your blogging career:

Marketing Skills: Marketing — the real, get your hands dirty kinds — isn’t taught anywhere. The knowledge comes from experience and that’s something only you can manage to acquire. Most people I know lack basic marketing skills and shy away from pitching themselves to grab more opportunities. Some people are of an Interesting opinion that marketing is dirty and that ” if I am good, they will come”. I am sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Everyone and every business has to market relentlessly. Period.

HTML, CSS, PHP & MSQL: You must be wondering why I even mention these when you are a blogger. Of course, you don’t need to become a web developer, but if you know how these languages work and if you can just dabble a little with them, you are setting yourself on a higher plane altogether. WordPress, for instance, completely runs on HTML and CSS. Knowing more about these languages can enable you to not only just write on your blog but also tweak your blog, customize themes and do  anything you want with it. Pure power.

Networking Skills: I can personally stand testimony to the fact that acquiring networking skills can catapult you into a success orbit that you wouldn’t have thought possible, ever. Successful networking rests on your communication skills and the ability to develop rapport. Once you get to make in roads into others’ lives and start to influence them with your thoughts, you will be able to make them do anything for you which is exactly what you need to become successful, right?

What other skills do you think can help a blogger do better? Is there anything I missed out on?

There is just one race in this world and that’s the human race. There are 4 kinds of people though: the good ones, the bad ones, the winners and the losers. Am I being a little too harsh here?

You bet, I am!

You know, I have been noticing off late. Blogging here at blogging elements has been more than just a simple activity for me; it has consumed me. Mike and I have worked very hard to be here and to get this going and we both know we didn’t even begin. The point of the blog isn’t about this at all — it’s about something much deeper; more profound.

People set out to dream big; they go out of their way to start something in a quest to get something they need badly. But they don’t stick long enough. I am sure you have given up on something at some point or the other. I make such bold claims because everyone I know, including myself, did it.

It’s only human to give up; to move onto something else; to find alternatives.

Assuming there is just one thing I always wanted, what matters is that I keep that fight up to get to that one thing – no matter how many ways I might have to approach it. That’s where the problem is.

We don’t have the will to fight left in us anymore because we have too many options. Failure was one option our ancestors never had; they didn’t crib and they fought. Why are we such losers? Why can’t we just make a decision and start taking some action, get things done and bask in the glory of our results?

Nah…that’s too easy for us, isn’t it? We need simple solutions like cribbing, drinking, goofing off and doing nothing about our problems. Like this character Dave Johnson narrates in the movie Not Easily Broken: “Sometimes, life turns you upside down so that you can learn to live your life right side up”.

How many of us understand the depth in the simplicity of that statement? How many of us have come to accept our call of duty and do it in a way that defines us?

Your purpose there isn’t to let your life be chewed away by the rigors of time; it’s to build something of it and to make sure that you live up to your fullest potential. If you aren’t doing what you are best at, what the heck are you doing? Defeat is too easy. Try winning because it can finally define you and show you what you are made of.

Rant ends.

You got the controls, where are you going?

Too many people lead their lives without a sense of purpose; they live it because they should. Each morning has no meaning to it and nothing to look forward to. Living becomes existence and there wouldn’t be any place for happiness since you are so full of frustration. For one, I don’t want to live a life like that. How do I keep myself motivated? Here are a few ways I do it.

What are you if your work doesn’t define you?

Pick a celebrity, a sportsperson and some businessmen — what they do each day defines their very existence; it is what they are known for and it is what they wake up each morning looking forward to do it again and again. For these winners, there are no weekends, no Thank-God-It’s-Friday(TGIF), no vacations and no holidays ;they don’t even need these things. Holidays, weekends and vacations are for escapists — for those who want to escape the daily grind of commute and work.Not that I don’t like to take vacations, but it is just an afterthought for me.

That’s why it is important to make an ardent effort to find your calling; do what it takes to find that one thing that you love doing. In my case, it took me 11 jobs, hardcore job-hopping and a completely rebellious attitude to help me find something I love doing everyday and that is blogging.

Your work should define you. If it doesn’t, change tracks; do something else.

When you know that every hour pays, would you throw your money into the gutter?

For a web-worker, freelancer, business person and for many more people in the world — no matter how you want to look at it — all of us are paid by the hour (even salaries and retainers are!). I don’t know what your worth is on a per hour basis and I am not about to tell you mine.

The point isn’t a dumb comparision excercise; it is more about what you choose to do with your money.

If your worth per hour turns out to be $ X per hour, a movie just cost you $ 2X + price of movie tickets. Just waiting for a train on a platform costs me $ 1.5 X to $ 3X + the price of travel. The other day, I choose to sleep for 5 hours bang in the middle of the day and that cost me a whopping $5X — this money could have paid my bills.

So, which gutter did you just throw your wad of bills into?

Frankly, I really get bored when I don’t do anything

The TV has trash in it; friends are often too busy working or chasing things they don’t really want to own. You can only spend so much time with parents, spouse and children. I get bored at home during the weekends, in spite of having a lifestyle that many people might think is “enviable”.

I love the Internet and all things that come with it — including blogging.  I don’t read the newspapers (you can do yourself a favor and avoid the depressing news),but I do read other blogs, interact and make friends all over the world.I am intrigued at the amount of information available on the Internet. It amuses me that more than 3/4ths of the world didn’t even wake up to embrace the Internet yet.

I am glad I found something to do in my life that pays for that I love to do. If you haven’t already, you should set that up as your primary goal and do what it takes. Once you do that, please feel free to share it here with us. You may chronicle your journey too