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imjeralee · 4 years

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Wallflower: Chapter 4 - Open Me

Raihan x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Note: This is my first Pokemon fanfic. I hope you enjoy it :) Originally posted on Archive of Our Own.

Summary: You’re an unassuming Pokemon breeder who works at the nursery in the Wild Area and he’s Raihan, the fearsome gym leader of Hammerlocke who has more than a million followers.

You don’t want anything to do with him but he’s…persistent.

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Warnings: Lemon, smut, violence, language

OPEN ME

...

"Some time ago, this woman did this, uh.... this art performance. It was extreme art, using herself. Basically, she stood with this sign saying that she was letting the public do whatever they wanted to do with her - and she was gonna stand for seven hours and do nothing. She laid out some stuff in front of her - amongst random objects, I think there was a pen, a flower, a gun, a knife...So anyway, she stood and at first, people just stared and watched her. Someone went up to her and gave her a hug. Gave her a handshake. Someone gave her the flower to hold. Someone kissed her on the lips. The public chuckled and laughed, watching this woman stand there like a living dummy. They used the pen and drew on her or something. It began to escalate: someone started taking off her clothes. She stood semi-naked until someone covered her up. Someone slapped her. Someone punched her. I think she started crying but they didn't stop. Someone grabbed the knife and cut the side of her neck. Someone took the gun and put it in her hand, pointed it to her own head. When the time was up and the woman started moving again, the people who hurt her ran away immediately, afraid of the repercussions. When I read that article, I knew: human beings are absolutely disgusting to the core."

She lifts up a knife next. A terrified Deerling trembles in the corner of the room whilst Banette grins.

"That being said, I guess I'm no exception. I'm sorry it had to come to this."

....

Detective Looker is hard at work.

He's got a few things going on - not only has he taken over Raihan's social media account for the time being (it took a lot of persuasion but Raihan finally agreed, vexingly... if he might say so himself) and now he has taken it upon himself to personally investigate the hotel, in particular, room 241. It's Raihan's designated room should he ever visit Circhester, Spikemuth or Wyndon, and Looker's interrogated the majority of staff and checked out all CCTV. No-one reported witnessing any unauthorised persons going in and out of the room and the CCTV does not accurately show the hallway, indicating several blindspots. They also tell him a keycard went missing which was not replaced or brought to management's attention. Looker is not surprised. Of course, there's a hiccup...whilst the hotel staff apologise profusely for their blunders, Looker dismisses them. It sounds like they'll improve their security from now on.

Looker heads to the room, opening the door. Everything is evidence and should be treated with utmost care...he unleashes his Growlithe to sniff out anything. He wouldn't be surprised if Raihan and the girl were snorting up berry dust or anything. Who knows what kids these day were up to...who knows.

Upon checking the room, he stands where the camera in the DVD was facing and finds two light switches in the wall that faces the bed directly. Attempting to remove them, he gets Magnemite to ease it off using it's Magnetic Pull ability and it manages to take the cover off, revealing a square slot where any sort of camera could be placed there, perfect for recording. He takes a few snaps of it using his Rotom phone and inspects the area where the dust doesn't settle. The camera was placed here for some time (a long time, perhaps) but it's long gone now.

Someone had set up a camera way before the one night stand and removed it during the night when both were sleeping. Pretty ballsy, if Looker admits; the perp had gone into the room when Raihan and the girl were in it. But from the testimony, the young couple were drunk as fish so it's not surprising they were out cold for the rest of the night and didn’t notice. The next question is - if no-one saw anyone go in or go out, how did the culprit escape? Looker turns to the window, finds that it's easily opened and proceeds to look outside. Anyone could just use pokemon to fly out here. Also, how did the culprit know where the girl worked to be able to deliver the DVD directly to her workplace?

She probably works for Macro Cosmos. It's the perfect setup - she's Raihan's biggest fan and being an employee of Macro Cosmos, she could have access to what hotel he stays in. Macro Cosmos also has their paws stuck in the Pokemon Nurseries; they pretty much run everything in Galar. They may as well be the government, Looker thinks to himself.

He grabs a pokeball and presses the button. "Go, Dustox." And the large moth pokemon abruptly appears and Looker issues his command: "Dust it."

Dustox flutters around, sprinkling some dust over the window pane where it reveals two handprints.

"Good job, boy." Looker says as Dustox lands atop his head and he pulls out some equipment to take prints. They look small - most likely a female's. Next, Rotom buzzes, indicating a new message. "Talk." Looker mutters, as Rotom flies out.

"Zzrt, I've got the report; I've also got the address of the fan who told Raihan to go to Spikemuth!"

"Thanks, Rotom. This is coming along nicely." He mutters to himself. Grabbing Rotom, he checks the rest of the statistics report; looks like the person has also commented on every single photo and video Raihan has uploaded since...ever. It's simple. Real simple. Just a case of blackmail and obsession after all.

...

Looker arrives in Spikemuth and looks up from his Rotom phone. He's standing in front of an apartment block that looks very rundown. Of course, everything in Spikemuth is grizzled and decrepit, but somehow this sad building really takes the cake. Rotom's provided address mentions the third floor so he quietly makes his way up and stops at the front door. This is it.

Letting go of Rotom, he makes a circle with his finger. "Scan it."

"You got it, champ." Rotom says, before he zooms into the air and a dim blue light glows. "There'zzz only one person inzzide. A man."

"Thanks, I'm going in." Looker knocks on the door and waits.

A few seconds later, the door opens and a middle-aged, bald man in a tracksuit opens it. "Whaddya want?" He slurs, clearly drunk.

Looker holds up his badge. "I'm with the police; I'm looking for - "

He doesn't even get to finish his sentence because the man yells over his shoulder, "What are you in trouble for this time?! Now the po-po's here!"

There is no response.

The man sighs, opens the door and grunts at Looker, "C'mon in."

With an eyebrow raised, Looker steps inside. The flat is in a disgusting state and there's a terrible odor. Feces, perhaps. Looker follows the man down the small hallway of the cramped apartment, stepping over heaps of trash and boxes and upturned furniture on the floor and they stop at a random door. The man proceeds to slam his huge fist over it and it rattles in the doorframe

"Hey, are you in there?!" He yells, before he tries again, but there is still no response.

Looker holds out his arm. "Stand back." With a hefty kick, the door opens violently and swings on the hinges.

Inside, it's a fairly normal room, save for the numerous posters of Raihan pasted to the walls and a bunch of magazines on the floor with Raihan's picture on it, along with the mangled carcass of a dead Deerling. The man gags and runs back towards the direction of the living room whilst Looker steps in.

"Rotom?"

"Yezzzir?"

"Let's get a team here."

"Okay-doo."

...

The Wild Area...

"I've got two wonderful arms, I've got two wonderful lips, I'm over twenty one and I'm free…Oh, I've got a hive full o' honey, for the right kind of honeybee…"

In the Rolling Fields, a young man sits in the middle of a patch of tall grass with a jar of honey in hand and a small plastic knife in his other which he's using to spread over his face.

A group of trainers pass him whilst chatting animatedly and giggling, all female - looks like they're heading to Motostoke - and they stop as soon as they spot him, eyes wide. Realising he's being watched, he grins and waves at them. "Ladies! You wanna see my Lickilicky? He's big and pink - "

"Ewww! Weirdo!" They scream loudly before quickly scampering away.

He looks upset. "What's wrong with Lickilicky?" Rummaging a hand through his pockets, he takes out a pokeball and presses the button, releasing a large pink pokemon and he continues spreading honey over his chin. "Wait," He pauses abruptly, frowning. "How does this work again? Was I meant to put honey on myself, or on a pokemon? What do you think, Licky?"

His pokemon turns to him and sticks it's massive pink tongue out in response.

"Eh, fair enough. Okay, here goes nothing. Let's give it a shot." Once he's finished giving himself a honey moustache, he moves to stand up and holds his arms out, dropping the knife to the ground - but then his phone rings and he fishes Rotom out from his pocket. "Yello."

"Um, it's me."

"What's up?"

“I...I think I have a date. Can you help me?”

“Hell yeah, I will!” He shouts down the phone before he hangs up, then - "Frick, why'd I do that? Damn, where we gonna meet?"

He immediately calls her back.

"Yeah?" She sounds exhausted.

"Where we gonna meet and when?"

"Can we meet right now? The date is tomorrow. Are you in Galar? Sorry for the short notice..."

"Nah, s'alright, I wasn't doing anything important anyway," He replies, "And yeah, I'm in the Wild Area. Meet you outside your workplace?"

"Sure."

After he hangs up a second time, there is a loud rustling noise emitting from the right. He gasps and whips his glance over over. "What was that?"

There's another loud rustle to the left which makes him leap frantically in the air.

"Huh? What? Who?"

Another rustle.

"Who goes there?"

Glancing left and right, he can't tell where the noise is coming from but then the grass parts and a dark shadow leaps out. His eyes widen.

…..

You're waiting outside the nursery as agreed, checking your phone for any messages when you see a figure sprinting towards you from the horizon. It's some dude dressed up as a Galarian Ponyta. Oh, wait. You know this dude.

"Help! Help me! Demon cat! Demon cats are chasing me!!" He yells, waving his arms around.

It's Glenn. Finally, he's here. Took him long enough. He's rushing towards the nursery with his Lickilicky waddling after him and there's something chasing him; you notice it's a couple of Purrloin that have all set their eyes on him.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he hisses, "Back, I say! All of you, stay back! Oh? You want a battle, do you? Fine!!" He grabs a pokeball from his belt and tosses it without looking and throws his arms in the air, "Go Kricketune! Delelele whooooop!"

You continue to watch as a large, reddish insect pokemon appears in a burst out of light and it stands its ground in front of the rampaging Purrloin - however, it's quickly pushed to the ground and trampled over.

"No!" Glenn yelps, before he spies you and proceeds to hurriedly make his way towards you, hiding behind your back, "Oh good, you're here. Do something!"

"Okay, I got this." You mutter; the Purrloin stop before you, peering up at you inquisitively whilst Glenn quivers in fear. You quickly fish out some spare berries from your bag which you keep handy for these sorts of situations and squat down to hand the fruit to them. They surround you at once and you distribute the food in an orderly fashion. "One for you...one for you.... aaaaaaaand...one for you." You mutter as they line up, single file. Once each pokemon has a berry, they purr and meow appreciatively at you before turning to leave quietly.

From behind your shoulder, you hear: "Are they gone? Are the demon cats gone?"

"Yeah."

"Phew!" Glenn pokes his head out and sighs. "Thanks for taking care of that, sis. These Purrloin walk on their hind legs! That's not normal!" He exclaims as he returns his Kricketune and Lickilicky into their pokeballs.

"It's a Galar thing." You reply, before you squint your eyes at him, "Are you high?"

"Me? High? No, of course not. I've been clean for years, sis. Years."

"Right, okay. Come on then, let's go. It's getting late."

"Sure, sure. I'm so happy you called me." He gushes, as you both begin your trek down the beaten path of the Wild Area that will lead you to Hammerlocke where you will get the train; Glenn quickly falls into the same pace as you, folding his arms behind his head - which he does all the time but suddenly it reminds you of Raihan.

Glenn is your foster brother and a self-proclaimed Pokemaniac, choosing to dress up as random pokemon depending on his mood. A week ago he was a Bidoof, a few days ago he was a Weedle. Today, he is a Galarian Ponyta, a pokemon he's been on the lookout for a long time since he read about them. He still stays in Johto somewhere in Mahogany Town, but he likes to visit you a lot on sporadic occasions and luckily for you when you called him - he was in the Wild Area. You've asked Glenn to help you choose an outfit for your date. He was responsible for picking out the black dress from Goldenrod department store - the one you wore to the club - so overall, he's good with fashion and naturally you called him first because you trust his opinions.

He was also a berry addict. Specifically, the lum. Yes, that one. Out of all the berries he could get addicted to, it had to be that one. He got addicted to lum berries at a young age and spent much of his youth going to shady places, throwing most of his cash to dealers just to snort some lum dust. He’s been clean for years, or he says, but sometimes you’re not sure. There's no telltale sign right now - no red, watery eyes and there's no distinct smell of the lum either. You guess you have to take his word for it.

"Wait, before I forget - " Glenn removes his Ponyta hood, leaving himself in his white sweater and slacks with the pink-blue edges, and he proceeds to take out two pokeballs, handing them to you, "I brought your pokemon."

You grin widely as you take the pokeballs off him. "Thanks!!" You'll let your pokemon out later, and stuff their capsules into the pocket of your bag.

"I guess the only pokemon you're missing from your team would be a Goodra, Dragonite, Kommo-o and a Hydreigon, right?"

"And a Dragapult." You remind him.

"Why do you want one so badly? Is it because they look like they're so done with life and shit?"

"Uh, no, but - hey, what happened to that Dreepy trader?"

"He said he wanted your Metagross in exchange."

You make a face. "NO."

And he snickers, crosses his arms over his chest. "Yep, I called the trade off.”

"Thanks. So, what pokemon were you looking for this time?"

"A Vespiqueen, but no luck." He says with a sigh.

"You should've dressed up as a Combee."

"I wanted to but I couldn't make the costume in time." He sighs again, "Anyway, this isn't about me. This is about you. How's it goin'? How's Galar? You got a date, right?"

You immediately throw your glance to the ground and kick a stone away from your path, cheeks going pink. "...Yeah."

"Who's the lucky dude?"

"Um...it's Raihan."

Glenn's eyes bulges for a split second but then his expression returns to normal. "Oh. Figures. He loves dragon Pokemon and you use some dragon pokemon, so you got something in common." He scratches his chin next, "Raihan, huh. He's a bit of a celebrity around here; didn't know you would like his type."

You blush furiously in response. "I don't know if I should go."

"Huh? But you called me for help, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah."

"Then you should go. Give it a shot. Ahhh, my little sis is going on a date with the hot-blooded dragon tamer. That's adorable." Glenn reaches over and pulls at your cheek affectionately.

You smile awkwardly in response. There's more to it, of course, but you're reluctant to tell Glenn the entire truth. Once you're at Hammerlocke, you take the train to Wyndon - even though you're heading there tomorrow - and upon arrival, you and Glenn head to the boutique. Raihan's asked you out on short notice and you're sure there's nothing in your current wardrobe, so the Wyndon boutique will have to do. Compared to the boutiques in the region, the Wyndon store offers some of the best selection of clothing. Stepping inside, you're greeted with hundreds of clothing racks and your eyes are assaulted with dozens of colourful garb, shoes and handbags.

As you grimace under your breath, Glenn rolls his sleeves up and grins widely. "Right, let's get you sorted!"

...

Wyndon, next day.

Needless to say, you didn't get a very good night's sleep and when you had heard a Corviknight crowing, indicating it was morning, you groaned and sat up in bed, glancing over to the folded clothes on the stool which you had bought yesterday with Glenn's help. It was rather exciting at first and shopping with Glenn is very much fun and games, but now...not so much. The initial excitement is gone now, replaced with an underlying sense of dread. You're afraid. Why are you doing this? What will you say to Raihan when you see him? What will you talk about during your time together? What if it gets awkward? What if he thinks you're boring as hell and that you have nothing in common? You smacked a hand to your forehead as you slipped out of bed, full of regret and feeling sick to the stomach; it's not like you agreed to go on the date either but he's expecting you to turn up now and you're too afraid to message him saying you don't want to go anymore.

Glenn said he could wait with you at the Wyndon pokemon centre for moral support which you didn't think was necessary; it doesn't make you feel any better.

Yet, you're waiting in the Pokemon Centre; Glenn stands at the rounded table, going through photos on his phone whilst you peep outside the double glazed window. Here you are, dressed and dolled up. It took you almost three hours to get ready. You look the same as you did at the nightclub but the makeup's a bit toned down, especially with your eyeliner. There's still ten minutes to go until the date officially starts but your indication of Raihan's arrival is a cacophony of manic female screaming and cheering. People are pointing to a specific direction so you follow where their fingers are pointing to and you see that Raihan has appeared, having just arrived at the large fountain in the town square; he smiles and waves at a few shrieking fans - he's donned in a casual black t-shirt and denims (and looking very much like the way he did at that talkshow) - before he abruptly steps towards the fountain and plops himself down on an empty, dry space, bringing out his Rotom phone. High above and the sky is turning grey, indicating that it will be raining soon.

Your eyes grow wide as your Rotom phone buzzes and he flies out; you have received a photo from Raihan - he just snapped a photo of himself at the fountain and has sent it to you. The caption below says:

Doofus: I'm here :)

You don't know how to reply, your feet suddenly anchored to the spot. "...He's actually here." You croak out. "He's here, Glenn."

Glenn doesn't look up from his phone. “You thought he wasn't serious? That he was playing a cruel joke on you? This isn't prom night or high school or whatever.”

“Y-yeah...”

"Well, now that he’s here and obviously very serious, what are you waiting for? Go to him."

You shake your head furiously, taking a few steps back from the window. "Um...not yet."

"Huh?" He looks up, confused. "You're gonna make him wait?"

"...It's not that. I...I don't think I can do this."

"What do you mean?"

"This is a bad idea."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is."

"You can't keep letting whatever you're scared of stop you from doing things, sis." Glenn says, but you don't leave the safety of the pokemon centre.

As the minutes tick by, you see Raihan occasionally checking his phone, talking to some fans who would go up to him for selfies and autographs. Once that's done, he would look up and around and check his phone again for updates from your end (but obviously there's none because you didn't reply to his message). You hear a loud booming clap of thunder overhead and it occurs to you that the weather's getting worse and soon, the window becomes streaked with droplets.

"Look, it’s raining now." Glenn adds, "And it's pretty bad. Go and get him. Go get your man."

You stare at Raihan, who is still rooted in his seat on the fountain. He hasn't moved at all. Glancing at your phone, you realise you've left Raihan waiting for almost ten minutes. And as Glenn pointed out, it's beginning to rain heavily.

"Shit. You're right. Goddamnit, he's gonna get sick." You utter under your breath, "Glenn, I'm going."

"Whoohoo! Good luck! And most importantly, have fun!”

You pull your umbrella from your bag and open it as you rush out of the pokemon centre, running over to the fountain. Raihan doesn't notice you coming and since he hasn't moved from his spot at all, he's very drenched; once you arrive, you hold the umbrella over his head and he promptly looks up.

"Sorry, I'm late!" You exclaim, "Well, no, I wasn't late, I was - uh, never mind, I-I have kept you waiting and for that I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

He stares at you from head to toe; you're wearing a long-sleeved shirt dress with a belt and black shorts underneath, along with matching black chelsea boots. After he's had a good look at you, he immediately stands up and envelopes you into a tight hug. The umbrella jiggles in your hand and almost threatens to fall but you manage to hold onto it. Despite being completely wet, his body is warm.

"It's okay, I didn't wait for long." He says, as he nuzzles you affectionately. He sounds happy.

What a doofus, he clearly did wait for a long time.

"You came." He adds.

"O-of course I'd come." You utter, and you exhale quietly under your breath as he bundles you up in his arms and gives you a tight squeeze. "...Sorry." You mumble again, throwing your gaze to the side as your chin rests on his broad shoulder. You can't help but apologise again and again.

His arms lower from your waist, large hands resting on the sides of your legs and the contact makes you blush heavily, your fingers clinching the damp fabric of his t-shirt. “Your outfit is too short.” He murmurs as he strokes the sides of your bare thighs before he slips his fingers underneath the material of your shorts - he’s almost at your ass - and he succeeds in sending a few shivers down your spine.

”You don’t like it?”

“No,” He mutters, “But it’s dangerous to wear something like that in front of me.”

Honestly, it’s quite a tacky thing to say but somehow he can get away with it because your face ends up a thousand shades of red before you defiantly turn your head to the side. “S-shut up.” You mumble as he leans over to press his lips over your cheek and you close your eye as he begins to trail little kisses over the side of your face. What were you expecting? Heck, you are deliberately wearing a sexy outfit for this date.

He moves towards your mouth and presses a deep kiss on your lips which kind of takes you off guard but before you can react, he pulls away and says, "What do you want to do first?"

"You're soaked." You squeak out, "I'm sorry."

He plants his hand atop your head, ruffling your head as he grins at you in response.

"Okay, I'm here and you're here. Your obsessed fan could also be here and watching us this very moment. What the hell are we doing, being in the wide open like this? This is bad. We should not be doing this." Glancing around, you see some of the Wyndon locals running for shelter from the rain, disappearing into their homes or nearby restaurants which now look pretty full. You're not too sure if it's a good idea if you should go with Raihan to such a busy place. You ponder to yourself briefly and it hits you. "Never mind; I have an idea."

....

Glimwood Tangle.

"Ahhhh. This is so much better." You sigh, wiping your brow with relief, "It's nice, dark and quiet here. No-one will see us."

The Glimwood Tangle is the perfect place - maybe not so much for a date, but if Raihan insists in spending some time with you, this is a good option. It's not raining here either, thank goodness. Of course, you're just a few paths away from Ballonlea as well, so you guess you could invite Raihan for tea or something nearer the end (and not for sex, nooo... and you hope he would respect that too). You took the Corviknight taxi - which was a bad idea because it was really cramped inside and you were both basically rubbing shoulders - which he didn't object to or anything, in fact he pretty much wanted you to sit in his lap but luckily for you and unlucky for him, there was just enough space.

You found the entire taxi ride darn near claustrophobic and he had his hand planted over your bare leg the entire time so you're relieved to have finally arrived at the woods - even when you exited the taxi, he let you go out first and the damn cramped cubicle meant when you both stood up and turned, your ass basically grinded invitingly against his hips. If it couldn't have been anymore damn obvious, there's tension between you and Raihan and you're not sure what will emerge from this.

In the woods, you look around whilst Raihan tries to get a signal on his phone. There's not many people around at all and as you mentioned, it's dark and quiet. You prefer this more than any other town or city. You take one step forwards and -

SQUELCH.

Throwing your glance down, you see your foot is stuck in thick mud, fast. "Motherfu - “

Raihan’s watching you.

”-Fuh...Furret. These are brand new."

He chuckles as you try to pull and tug your leg free but to no avail. Raihan steps over, invulnerable to the mud (but of course he is) and reaches for you, scooping you up with one hand under the back of your knees and the other around your shoulder and with unimaginable strength, he hoists you out - but now you're stuck in his hold, being carried bridal style which embarrasses you greatly.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving my princess." He replies cheerfully as he carries you through the woods. You blush the entire way; when you're away from the muddy terrain and back onto the path, you both find a large glowing mushroom and decide to sit down and Raihan looks around inquisitively. You get the feeling that he doesn't come here often, and you wonder if he has even come here before at all. He doesn't look used to his surroundings.

"Are you okay?" You ask, as Raihan looks up at the non-existent sky. "Is it too quiet here? Too dark? Some people find the Glimwood Tangle unnerving."

"It’s not so bad here.”

"Yeah, but people are rumoured to disappear or get lost for days. Weeks, even. So, not many people like passing here and as you can see, it's really dark. Like it's almost noon but it looks like it's night-time right now. It can really mess with your biological clock," You muse out loud, "N-not that I chose to stay near here because of those reasons, of course. “

You go silent; it occurs to you that he was observing you as you babbled and now you’re scared to death that you’d put him off with your ramblings. Did it make any sense? Or was it all garbage? Why did you say those things in the first place anyway? You couldn’t help it - it was like verbal diarrhoea. Have you made things awkward now?

As you worry, he asks, “Do you live in Ballonlea or Stow-on-Side?"

"Ballonlea. You can see my cottage over there." You point to the left where between some giant, neon mushrooms, you can see the roof of your cottage in-between the stems.

"Nice." He comments with a grin, before he takes off his orange sweatband which is damp with rain and as he wrings it dry, you get a rare view of Raihan without his headband, revealing the sides of his shaved head and his dreadlocks. You can feel your cheeks heating up as you look at his rugged side profile and angled jaw, the amount of manly appeal he oozes is enough to reduce you to a blushing mess. He's still fairly damp, his black t-shirt clinging to his muscles and you can see the lean outline of his biceps. Looks like he works out a lot...hot damn, you should've paid more attention to the training videos he posts up online. There's a reason they're insanely popular with fans.

You try to focus on the topic at hand here, clearing your throat, "My pokemon like it a lot here, except Espie. She prefers Johto."

"What other pokemon do you have?"

"I have a Drifloon; he's been with me for a long time. And I have a Poliwag. He refuses to evolve though, so we tied an Everstone around his tail. He lives in my bathroom."

Raihan chuckles again. Surprisingly....the conversation's been pretty fluid and he's extremely easy-going. “I got something for you.”

”Huh?”

Delving into his pocket, he takes out a pokeball with a ribbon tied neatly around the middle. Fancy. “This is for you.”

You don’t move. Your gut feels like it’s twisted into a tight knot.

”Go on, it’s yours.”

You nervously accept the pokeball from him and he gestures for you to open it, releasing whatever is inside. You press the button and a red light flashes briefly before the Pokemon appears. Your eyes widen at once. It’s a round purplish-pink blob that blinks it’s little eyes at you before opening its mouth wide. It makes a gurgling noise and your jaw drops.

”A Goomy!!?!” You exclaim, and you can’t help the smile that blossoms on your face; Raihan watches, grinning at your reaction. “But...why? You didn’t have to.”

“He needs a home and I know you’ll take good care of him.”

As the Goomy looks between you and Raihan, you hold your arms out. It slowly slithers over to you and you lift it up and into your arms. Uh, okay.... now your clothes are feeling a little damp. There’s a slime trail over your front and as Goomy gurgles happily, you smile cheerfully at it and rub at one of it’s little horns.

”Oh, so cute...” You can’t wait to raise him into a Goodra that will destroy anything and everything. Oh yeah. Turning to Raihan, you grin, “Thanks. I’ll look after him.”

He grins at you in response as you return your new Goomy into the pokeball. Shit, you didn’t get anything for Raihan. But his gift was totally unexpected! You weren’t expecting any presents!!! What are you going to do?

“What's it like being a Pokemon Breeder?" He asks, snapping you out of your thoughts.

"O-oh, well, I like it very much, I get to see lots of pokemon everyday. I look after a lot of pokemon everyday." You babble again, "I look after the babies, I look after the eggs, and I deliver eggs. For EV training, I only accept up to five pokemon; I take them to places with specific pokemon to battle for stat gain."

He rubs his chin in thought, "Where did you learn how to EV train?"

It's then you throw your glance to the ground and bring your knees to your chest. "....When I was a kid, I brought Beldum to Show and Tell. My classmates laughed at him and said mean things so I wanted to train him up to become stronger. I took him to the mountains and we battled a lot of Trapinch. Along the way, I noticed his attack stats kept increasing as I levelled him up." You mumble, "I never forgot that moment, not once."

"I know." He says nonchalantly, "You told me."

You whip your head to him in confusion as he smiles coolly at you. "When did I ever tell you that?"

"Didn't you watch the rest of the video?"

Your cheeks go red. "Uh........No." You utter, after a pregnant pause, "...No, I...I didn’t."

His expression gradually dissolves into one of disappointment and his face crumbles slightly. Oh shit, now that you think about it... you didn't finish watching it. You scratch your elbow, pondering.

"What's it like being a gym leader?" You ask timidly, and also wanting to change the subject, "And why did you decide to become one?"

"Hah, good question." He replies, "I like battling and training pokemon. Being a gym leader means I constantly get challenged by people from all across the region; there's always something new to look forward to everyday and my pokemon can get stronger. One day, when we're strong enough, we'll beat Leon."

You admire his positivity, you really do. And his energy. You give him a small smile as he grins at you again and a comfortable silence settles between the two of you; inwardly, you’re quite happy that the date seems to be going in a good direction. You muse silently whilst Raihan takes out his phone and attempts to take a selfie of himself with a green mushroom behind him. It's too dark for him to show up properly, however. You're about to say something when you hear a rustle in the grass below you and you turn your head to the source of the noise.

“Did you hear that??" You whisper, leaning over to see who or what is making the ruckus; when a pokemon emerges, your eyes widen and you unconsciously grab his arm. "Raihan, look, it's a Ponyta!"

"Hm?" He peers over the edge of the mushroom beside you.

As you point excitedly to the grass below, the small horse pokemon trots out from the undergrowth and glances around cautiously before it begins to feast on the grass. "Damn, all my pokemon are too strong. They'll just kill it - I mean, make it, er, faint - in one move."

"I'll catch it for you." Raihan says; he stuffs his headband into his pocket, hops off his seat and drops to the ground carefully and quietly before reaching for you with arms outstretched.

You swallow down slightly and gingerly slide off the mushroom, holding onto his shoulders for support; he slips his arms around your waist securely and effortlessly hoists you down and when your feet touch the ground, he's still holding you tightly and your noses are almost touching. You mutter your thanks as he lets go of you slowly before reaching for an ultra ball that's nestled behind his back. Approaching the Ponyta, he tosses the ultra ball and a large pokemon emerges - it's his Sandaconda. The Ponyta, startled, decides to face it head on. You look at it's multicoloured mane that is a beautiful shade of mixed pastel blue and pink. So adorable!!!

"Go, Sandaconda! Use headbutt!" He instructs, and the sand snake pokemon proceeds to ram itself at the pokemon. It didn't get a chance to retaliate at all! The Ponyta drops to the ground, not exactly knocked out but reeling from the impact. Weakened, Raihan grins and then grabs a spare pokeball from his pocket and throws it at the downed pokemon. You're surprised he's helping you catch it, and when the ball clicks shut successfully after wiggling around for three times, you watch numbly as Raihan collects it, returning his pokemon at the same time. With the pokeball in hands, he heads back to your direction and hands you the capsule. "There you go. She's all yours."

He’s surprising you a lot today. And he’s gotten you another Pokemon.

"Thanks, Raihan."

“Whatever Pokemon you want, I’ll get it for you.”

”You don’t have to.”

”I want to.”

Your cheeks flame up immediately.

”What’s next on your list?”

You think about Dragapult and an image of the ghost slash dragon type appears in your mind. Oh, Glenn is right. Dragapult really does look like he is done with life and shit. Now you really want one. “Dreepy....” You mutter, in a slight zombie trance.

”Okay, I’ll get you one.”

”Wha - ?! Raihan, I didn’t mean it, I was just - seriously, don’t. It’s okay.”

As you splutter, clearly flustered by his generosity, he chuckles. You give him a timid smile, throwing your glance to the pokeball in your hands, then back up at him. He hasn't looked away from you at all. It grows silent for a while between the two of you where you're both staring at each other - to your surprise, you’re able to maintain the eye contact without wanting to look or turn away.

Maybe it’s because you’re anticipating him to kiss you and as predicted, Raihan slowly begins to lean in. You freeze on the spot then, watching as his face comes closer and closer and your heart beats harder. It’s that giddy Butterfrees-in-the-stomach feeling again but this time, it’s strangely pleasant. His gaze lands on your lips and when he finally nears you; he pauses and flicks his glance up at you as though he’s waiting for something. Your permission, perhaps? When you don’t move, he closes the gap and gently pecks you on the lips, reaching for your hand and squeezing it. You force yourself not to move and discover you’re able to stand still. The corner of your lip tugs upwards against his mouth which causes him to grin in response as he smooches you again quickly.

When you both pull away, you mutter, "...Shall we head to Ballonlea?"

"Sure."

You place the pokeball with the newly captured Ponyta into your bag beside Goomy’s and once that's done, Raihan begins to guide you out of the woods. Hand in hand, you both walk towards the direction of Ballonlea where he would occasionally nudge you playfully using his shoulder and you would nudge him back. The only source of light comes from the glowing mushrooms but it's really relaxing to be here. You see some other pokemon in your path, including some Shiinotic and Morelull who all hide away from you, disappearing into the darkness. Up ahead and you see some gym challenger being pranked on by Impidimps. Soon, the town comes into view and you lead the way to your house where you see a cardboard box on your doorstep.

Huh, that wasn't there before...and it couldn't be mail, either.

Stopping directly in front of it, you and Raihan stare at the box and then look at each other. It says 'Open Me' and there's an awful stench emitting from inside. That wipes the smile clean off your face; Raihan steers you behind him and you quickly grab his arm. "Wait! No, don't open it. Call Looker."

He eyes the box cautiously, "...Yeah. You're right." Just as Raihan pulls out his phone, his screen flashes, indicating a call from the detective you had just mentioned. "You called at a great time."

"What happened?" You can hear Looker's gravelly voice from the receiver.

"I'm with her. There's a weird box outside her doorstep."

"Okay, I'm heading over. Don't open it."

"What do you think is inside?"

"...A dead pokemon, or parts of one, probably."

There's a brief silence before Raihan hangs up.

"A dead pokemon?!" You exclaim in shock; Raihan returns his phone and turns to you, then encircles his arms around your waist wordlessly and holds you tight against him; he's strong, you can't wriggle free from his embrace. "Raihan, we shouldn't have - this person knows where I live! And now this... this is awful!”

Raihan doesn't say anything except press his lips against your forehead in an effort to calm you down whilst rubbing your arm soothingly.

The wait for Looker is excruciatingly long.

#raihan x reader #Raihan x you #raihan #pokemon #pokemonshield #pokemonsword #pokemonswordandshield #jeralee #fanfic #fic #archiveofmyown #wallflower #kibana

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blankdblank · 4 years

Text

Next Caller

…

“Where the hell is he?”

“Tuesdays aren’t even that popular.”

“He should be happy for the slot after how he blew up on Jimmy last year.”

The comments rippled around the radio station and of course no one was paying any mind to the clock ticking down to the next segment needing to start and with the usual concoction for the arrogant star of the show threatening to just ditch his job for weeks now in hand just watching the clock. Finally having taken up on his threats and in the floundering network rumored to be up for sale soon by the owner you had worked as a glorified maid and assistant to the stuck up few stars on the long time running segments still holding strong.

Over the airways the sign off messages rang and between the exit of the former show’s cast you slipped straight to the empty seat. And mentally gave a ‘fuck it’ to the rules while the other headliners were off to their chosen lunches not willing to take up a second show deciding to let the old star just burn with the blank airtime. Out of everyone you were the oldest one here from the early days of this owner having taken hold of it and even with countless ideas used on air you still hadn’t been given the shot you were promised by said owner for a show of your own.

To the shock of the redhead behind the glass manning the helm of the show now grinning as you eased the headphones in your ears and lowered the mic to a better height and started to speak at her finger wave that you were on proven by the lit up bulb outside your soundproof door. “Hey hey hey, welcome to another blustery day out here in the Misty Mountains and it’s just you and me your dear friend Bunny, devoted with my ear to the ground here to give you all the latest on those lovable Durin boys of ours.” With a tick of the redhead’s brow at the name of the first Dwarf to be woken’s line still thriving today with a great number of sons to carry it on with a heaping amount of funds to boast about if they so wished with their various empires. “And of course all of this coming from the dearest and loveliest of Countesses, Beatrice of the nightshade persuasion on line one now ready to pick up where we left off yesterday.”

The redhead shook her head and you did the same in return lifting a finger tapping a couple buttons on the laptop on the desk now turned to a game of spider solitaire you started a new game on. “Hello Sweetheart, how are you?”

All at once your voice dropped to a deeper tone with a thick Khuzdul accent, “Fine as marble, Darling. Fine as marble. Now,” the redhead smirked as you stole a glance at your open notebook and leaned back in your seat to start playing your game, “Darling, as I left off yesterday, on the eve of the noontide solstice that bastard, I can say bastard, Darling?”

Your voice switched back, “Of course you can.”

A husky exhale sounding of a puff of smoke from a pipe came as the Countess spoke again, “When that bastard Wolsey left me at the alter. Now I was just a young thing but it did so scuff my little whiskered heart when we were seven. Though I suppose it was quite telling of future events to come if you believe in omens and such finicky things. Barely to twenty five years later and I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of the little flake of a boy then out of nowhere I’m halfway to my social economics course in secondary courses and out of nowhere this husk of a menace trying to sneak into some upper classroom on a winding oak branch just plummeted straight in front of my path.” Another husky exhale laced with a deep wry chuckle came after a flitting giggle from you and she continued as the redhead leaned back in her chair folding her fingers in front of her lips to hide her creeping grin.

“Had the nerve to bloody the path in front of my new kitten pumps then gets up, broken nose and all and splatters out cockily, ‘Fancy that, my falling at the feet of an angel.’”

“I think it’s sweet,” You replied in your own giggling voice.

To which she replied, “If you enjoy blood stains on your stocking Darling his sort of fella is the kind for you. No doubt every proclamation of love ended with his blood splattered over me.”

“Mum always said no ounce of love without an ounce of blood.”

“Darling,” Again she chuckled I a husky plume of smoke, “Then I had love by the gallon. Oh it was dreadful at first. Strangers, with one pining away hopelessly without thought of a chance. And then suddenly a year had passed and we were looking down the cannon of romance.”

From a first date all the way to an obscure flirtation that ended in a near brawl you faked a bathroom break for the Countess granting you the hourly adds you had to run through before she could pick up her story again after you had rushed to relieve yourself and race back again. Two hours in and you could see the assistant of the owner dropping by to stare on with a curious smirk of his own at the supposed mastermind behind the voice tripling listeners by the bustling social media outlets blowing up about the supposed Durin lover telling all. Then by the end of the fourth hour the seeming world listening in had mouths watering and groans echoing as you signed off bidding dear Beatrice farewell for the day she gladly returned before you named the station and final sponsor and left your seat to the next set.

Out in the hall with your helmsman Mal, the crimson haired green eyed Dwobbit who chuckled and blushed her way through the whole show asking, “Where the hell did that come from?”

Shaking your head you smoothed your fingers through your waist length forest green curls with your white blonde roots showing marking a need for a touch up soon, brushing them back behind your pointed ears only for them to fall back into your face, “I just, nobody was going to jump on and it would have been dead air.”

Mal chortled flashing you her phone showing you the still growing feed with questions about Bunny and Beatrice. After a dig in your pocket you brought up on your own phone sending off a comment into the feed from a dummy email linking to the social page you had for your Bunny persona that had snippets of conversations with Beatrice and other so far unnamed characters in the story yet to come. More and more notices racked up and at least if nothing else came of this you might have some interest in the book series this story was based on you were off home to keep writing after Mal’s guiding walk down to your cars in the parking garage where you exited the door on foot from a safer exit than the front entrance. ‘Imaginary friend’, that was the job title Bunny held and between the shifts at the five star motel you worked in as a maid you had gotten well into your seventh book of what seemed to be the series never to be published.

Two hours, that was all you had. And passing the coffee shop you normally used packed to the hilt as all the stars of the radio shows on the block seemed to flood there between shows you passed it scouring for any signs of take out cups close to something able to help you through your long shift lasting past midnight.

Cups, check. Five people left the tiny corner shop that you trotted into trying not to feel out of place in a near sheer tank top and worn ink stained jeans with a flannel shirt around your hips in deep green matching your hair, nails and converse. A set of bills from your coffee fund jar folded in your fingers and tilted in your stance the blue eyed serious Dwarves behind the counter seemed to stare at you in the discerning gaze scanning over the large menu. Three people were in front of you and by the time you reached the register you weren’t sure what language it was even in, legibly scrawled out in Khuzdul runes with Hobbitish translations under it and it all still flew over your head.

The fact was painfully obvious for the trio of chiseled men behind the counter, the one with the messy bun in front of you especially as his furrowed gaze landed on you as he rumbled at you, “What can I get you?”

“Um, Surprise me. Just no lavender.” That made his eyes narrow even more for a moment then he turned his gaze to the register and accepted the bills you passed him.

“Name?”

“Pear,” that had his head tilt slightly and you accepted your change stating, “Like the fruit. Cheers.” You said turning to glance over the seats and sigh walking to the far too tall table with a stool seat you practically had to hop up onto as it was clear to half a foot over your hip.

Crossing your ankles your heels rested on the foot pegs and you set down your notebook and opened it. Pulling your unnoticed pen from behind your wall of colored curls you flipped over to one side granting the trio a glimpse of the Elf ears on the Hobbit sized woman clearly granting Thorin his guinea pig for his new tea drink he had made. This quaint little shop, half herb shop run by Balin, with Dwalin teaming up with brother and cousin in both herb and tea shop ends now down a server due to a babysitter fumble bringing Thorin here to fill in himself.

The more he got into the mixture his grin eased out in anticipation wondering just what your life was to fill in the history of his new favored person. One large green mug later his eyes were on you again. Eagerly taking up the delivery of said drink granting him a chance to steal a glimpse at the notebook now coated in a doodle of his cousin Balin grinning as he spoke to his tiny herb sprouts lining them up on their shelves with tiny hearts all around him in your loss for what to write. “That’s good, draw for a living?”

Shaking your head you replied, “Nope. Don’t really make a living.”

His brow inched up and he named his mixture you slid closer to you and snapped a picture of the floating design on the top of it, setting your phone down you lifted the mug stirring a curious twitch of the corner of is lips, “How does that work exactly?” His eyes focusing on your expression as you took a testing sip.

Lowering the cup you said, “I can work up to 16 hours a day, every day, I can afford two meals and a coffee, well, today tea. No car, barely enough for rent in the only town I wasn’t black listed from renting in relatively close to affordable.”

“Black listed?” He muttered in confusion.

“My father has, a reputation, and a lot of enemies, though thankfully a lot of Dwarves don’t give a damn as long as you’re willing to break your knuckles to earn your footing.”

Without pause he asked, “Do you need a job?”

At that you chortled and said lowering your mug from another sip, “Sorry, I have two. I doubt I could work here, it is best I don’t work around heat sources when I’m tired, which I would be. Not that I wouldn’t jump at the chance to find out the spectacular truth behind all those coffee and tea shop fantasies everyone writes about. If I do get fired though, which could be a possibility after the stunt I pulled today, I will definitely take you up on that.”

In a sharp exhale he eyed the mug then pulled a card from his pocket and the pen from his apron pocket he wrote something down on the back of the card he then slid closer to you. “I’ll cut you a deal, every day you post a review on my drink choices I’ll pay you 20 bucks.”

Playfully you quipped, “I can barely feed myself what am I going to do with deer at my place?” Deepening his smirk in the extension of his hand, “You got yourself a deal there my personal Mug Dealer.”

“Mug dealer?” He rumbled back. “People hear that and they might assume something.”

“Ooh, like what? You might be the Mafioso of mugs? King pin of peppermint owns this block, beware.”

He rolled his eyes, “I have to get back, just pass on your username when we take your mug, Nickname Queen.”

Again you mumbled, “Closer to the other end of the Cinderella Spectrum there Mug Dealer.”

In a glance back he purred, “Thorin.”

You nodded lifting your phone finding their page saying as Dwalin passed bringing another their choice, “Got my early morning fix at the Arkenstone. Only thing tighter than the perfect zing of the X special was server Thorin’s shirt.” A snorting laugh came from Dwalin on his way back while Thorin turned to you with prickling cheeks and you mumbled, “Draft number one, I’ll get it right. Catchy and alluring for others comin’ up.”

The cousins muttered to one another and you lingered around finishing your mug and taking notes in your notebook until your notice of the time had you approached the counter and with a playful glint in his eyes Thorin offered a bill asking, “What’d you come up with?”

“MugMafioso, my new account for this. Don’t worry, kept my thoughts on your clothes to myself.” He insisted on handing you the bill as Dwalin chuckled seeing your self drawn icon of a rabbit in a pinstripe suit behind a desk holding a smoking tea pot. “Have fun, off to work. Thanks again.”

His eyes followed you in your trot out the door then looked down at the review under the picture stirring up a few notifications at first steadily growing in the next half hour until the first person came in flashing the message asking about the special adding more reviews of their own.

Black with deep green lacy accents the uniform dress waited for you in your locker and easily you changed into the dress and left your tolerated green converse on then wound your hair up with a pair of wing decorated hair pins joined by strands of beads. Room to room you cleaned your way through the top floors carefully detailing each of the suites and invisible woman-ing your way through the celebrities. A trait you had been picked up on at an encounter with a naked soap opera star lost and drunk in the elevator you helped back into his room and managed to avert the press who had been called by his now ex who had locked him out and left the hotel promoting you to the ranks of the trusted in the elite floors. Still a part time assistant when around the most demanding celebs who never left their room you managed through at a higher wage that had freed you from your third job.

Findis, the simple name stating which clan owned the internationally known hotel chain you were employed by. Only flashes of the woman married to the man set to take over within the next decade was your glimpse of anyone not bearing the Findis golden hair. A raven haired heavily side burned Dam with piercing blue eyes who seemed to pass by you like you were nothing more than air. Not intentionally or worse than others, just too busy to bother with anyone else most days in holding her own role until her latest surprise pregnancy would take her out of work for a time.

Nothing out of the ordinary really happened yet when you had punched out you turned your phone back on mid hour long subway ride and saw the notice from the radio show that your show slot was being picked up on a trial basis and you were needed in the office in a few hours to sign the paperwork.

In a plop you had finally collapsed onto your bed in your so called apartment of a closet loft to rummage up as much sleep as possible until you were forced to wake up again. A handshake or a pat on the head would have been less of a brush off than you had gotten. No compliments, merely a sighing exchange from the aid in charge of securing the documents who gave you the schedule for the three day a week job coming with a stunning five grand raise a week over your barely two grand a month job. The new check such a scoff worthy amount to the former star barely a fifth of his former check you could live months off of just one of them. It was a big change but you weren’t going to change, your finances wouldn’t change and every single cent over your usual amount would be set aside in your lint trap of a savings account for some sort of umbrella or parachute in the future.

Noon however again had you back in the same tea shop finding the dame mohawked man stepped forward asking, “Up for another experiment?”

You nodded, “Just no lavender.” Passing him the bill on your way to your same table you settled at and noticed Thorin coming out of the back room at Dwalin’s call drawing his eye right to you. It didn’t take long and signing into your MugMafioso account now with a handful of followers for your singular posting soon to be two as Thorin brought over a second testing mug he set down asking, “Any news on that need for a job application?”

“Um, I actually got a new project at work. They don’t really have much faith in how I’ll pull it off though. So I’ll keep you posted there my trusty Mug Dealer.”

Again he smirked rolling his eyes stepping back, “Enjoy your tea.”

“Yes, sir,” you replied to his back making him shake his head again on his walk back to the counter as you snapped a picture of the drink you sipped on while Dwalin tried to nudge Thorin back to talk to you some more. The pattern was starting to build and with your mug returned another trading of smirks came on your way back to the hotel trying to mentally prep the outline for your next day on air.

* Mal x Fili/Kili *

There was no secret that Thorin had blushed, a stolen picture of it by Balin had cemented the fact and his aid to a Damsel on the verge of Distress was shared as well. The elder Durins rarely dipped their toes in romance and while Frerin was off chasing his racing dreams Dwalin was the closest after Dis to have found a possible life partner.

Two years the tattoo parlor across the street had drawn his eye, more for the tree sleeve coated Hobbit heading The Acorn dubbed shop. A first timid drop in to get a ladybug on the side of one of his fingers to excuse his out of nowhere stop into the shop was the start of a line of them eventually across his wrist forming the rune of his niece’s name. From there an ‘accidentally’ left discount card on a promotion had the curious Hobbit dropping by himself hooking him as well into a well excused path to see more of the burly guy sharing the same magnetic pull he felt.

Three months they had been living together now and with that came the try to mingle family lines. A troublesome task as Bilbo now had custody of his Nephew Frodo just barely three years old expanding their own mini family. The daughter of his cousin however upon their buying a home together had taken up his old flat above the shop and helped to pay the rent by working part time in the shop on the paperwork and temporary image printing to ease the work of the tattoo crew between shifts at a radio station. Among her tasks was to change the artwork on the sign out front and while the shop was closed down allowing Bilbo and Dwalin a brunch with family she wobbled her way onto the rickety ladder to lower the locking hook for the sign.

“Damn, rickety-, why do we-,” A sharp gasp came and on a stop to pick up a special drink for his mother Fili trolled in front of Kili now on his phone double checking the schedule to get back onto the racing schedule with Frerin later this evening as part of his pit crew.

Quicker then he’d thought possible he’d caught the Dwobbit now with cheeks redder than her hair and green eyes, even in their frightened gaze over the pair they were stunning and once down a fumble for her name had the pair grinning and flashing their dimples at her only worsening the struggle. A shout from Dwalin had them glancing down the street and Kili offering her his phone, “We have to go, and sadly won’t be back in town till Friday, but can we have your number?”

‘Su-, sure,” she stammered out and punched in her number passing it back, “Oh, I don’t know your names.”

That had the pair smirking at the hopefully honestly clueless woman, “Fili and Kili, at your service. We’ll text you later, My Lady.” Trotting off as she nodded again and sighed turning inside to bring out the new poster for the sign she opened to pull the old one out then up again she wobbled and managed to secure the sign up again then head inside to give the shop a good clean readying for the afternoon shift coming in later.

Sighing heavily Fili plopped into the chair beside Kili making Dwalin day, “We all got plans for after this boys. Shouldn’t take long.”

Fili sighed out again, “Not like we can do anything anyways we’re off for a race and won’t be able to see her a whole week..”

Frerin’s head cocked with interest at the latest swooning Durins, “Her who?” Slightly uncertain how the pining would effect the pit crew if they were to lose their focus at the race.

In a dreamy sigh Kili propped his chin in his palms laying all his weight on the table in front of him with Fili leaning against the arm of his chair closer to his brother, “Mal.”

Dwalin nodded, “Uh huh, and what does this Mal do?”

The pair shrugged and the younger brother blew a string of his chocolate curls from his face that had swung free of his small bun, “She was hanging a sign at the tattoo shop across from the tea shop.”

Dwalin’s lips pursed, “Hmm,” fighting not to blush in saying as plainly as he could, “Must be Bilbo’s cousin’s girl. Took up the flat over the shop from us.”

That perked the boys up and Fili said, “Yes!”

Kili, “You could talk us up while we’re gone!”

Dwalin hummed out, “Doesn’t work all the time though. Just a part time gig by what I could tell. I missed that convo while Frodo was loose in the garden.”

Frerin smirked glancing at Thorin who sat down and gruffly said to his clean shaven brother as his short beard seemed to bristle in his wordless show he was ready to defend himself, “Don’t.”

Frerin smirked, “I didn’t say a thing!”

Thorin reaches out grabbing one of the bottles of juice on the table, “Don’t.”

Dwalin, “That’s right Rin, Thorin isn’t swooning.”

Thorin muttered lifting his bottle to his lips, “Exactly.”

Vili smirked saying, “Absolutely not, all business with the MugMafioso.”

Trying not to chuckle as Dis entered and took her seat, asking herself in a smoothing of her hand over her blouse after undoing her coat jacket while sitting, “How did you manage to gain this new following again, Thorin?”

Thorin lowered his bottle and sent a half hearted glare at Balin who smirked in saying, “He’s become a mug dealer.”

Thorin grumbled as Dwalin chuckled saying, “Pretty successful one too to have caught a partnership with the Mug Mafia.” The table chuckled and Dwalin patted his cousin’s shoulder, “Oh come on, fine, fine. Cute Lass walks in saying ‘surprise me’ to Thorin when they got stumped on the menu. Bit of flirting,” Dwalin lifted a finger silencing Thorin in his mouth opening to talk, “On her part, and he finds out she’s had a bad day at work. Said she might get fired so he offers her a job if she does get fired, then says he’ll pay her a 20 for every review she posts to the social page. She made a new account and it kicks off.”

Thorin, “She has two jobs no car and needed a hand, nothing romantic.”

Balin coughed out, “Lies.” Then shook his head in a glance at Thorin who glared at him again, “Allergies.” Taking a bottle himself then coughed again, “Smitten.” And took a big swing of the bottle he opened smirking as he did while the others chuckled and Thorin smoothed a hand over his face and settled back in his chair while their parents and grandparents came in.

Beside them Bofur and Bifur both sat down to the left of Thror across from their matriarch Niro, the latter who looked at her husband in his saying, “It goes without saying we’ve heard about the radio show yesterday.” At the boys’ brows inching up he added, “At least most of us. Now it doesn’t seem to be factual, though a great deal of the details are stunningly accurate. Bofur, have you found anything?”

He nodded and said, “Aye, well this ‘Bunny’ who was talking with the ‘Countess Beatrice’ didn’t seem to work at the station or any other before yesterday. The slot was for that Belby guy, but he didn’t show up so it seems it was a last minute fill in, even if it made it seem like it was continuing a former interview.”

Niro, “That’s it?”

Bifur raised a finger, “Ma’am if I may, from what I was able to find, I did locate a similar draft for a novel someone by the pen name Bunny tried to have picked up a few years ago that has been gathering dust after being circulated around. It has a few rough details of the same story.”

Diaa, “So it’s a story then?”

Bofur said, “It seems the Belby guy left without notice, just didn’t show up. Must have been a last minute add to test how it would go. Certainly had plenty of time to tweak the story and dig for history on our clan.”

Bifur, “With the draft there was a notice there was approval from Gorgo years before on the idea to use the Durin name for the copyright issues. We dug up the notes on what plot points were listed to be included and it does seem like a mellow-drama with a seedy crime edge bubbling up later on in the series. Which it was meant to be a series.”

Dis’ brows furrowed, “Why wasn’t it picked up then?”

Bofur shrugged, “Just a handwritten note on the cover ‘Shelve’ nothing else. Looks like someone doesn’t like Bunny, Gorgo had been clocked as reviewing this case biweekly for any updates. It is quite addictive. Clearly as everyone has found out.”

Bifur nodded, “I read it three times. Pretty good.”

Thror nodded then said, “One thing to do then. Send it to Dain, see what deal we can work out with this Bunny.” He couldn’t help but smirk adding, “Get Gorgo her book. No wonder she’s been so book crazed these last years.” Thinking back to her eagerness to scour the incoming author lists for drafts in their family publishing firm they had started in their youth now the largest Dwarven publishing firm around.

Bofur glanced at his brother in a silent debate on who would share the worse news making Niro ask, “What else aren’t you saying?”

Bifur cleared his throat and said, “Well, um, you see, I pulled the file on the author,”

She nodded and Thror asked, “And?”

Bifur continued, “Someone used white out all over the only hard copy and erased it from the system.”

That made the Durins collectively huff and Thrain said, “Dain can muscle it out. Someone’s bound to remember. Worst comes to worst we’ll send Gorgo after them. Not even Gloin could pull her off them if he wanted to.”

Dis, “If need be we could always contact the actors on the radio show and see who their source is and work that angle.” Earning agreeing nods stirring up the next few issues and family announcements of schedules before they split up to head back to their normal routines.

Pt 2

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars, @otakumultimuse-hiddlewhore, @mariannetora, @shesakillerkween

Hobbit/LotR – @abiwim, @jotink78, @pastelhexmaniac

#Thorin x Reader OC #Dwalin x Bilbo #Fili/Kili x OC Mal

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indig0tea · 3 years

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Final 2020 Update: 2021 Goals!!

Cross posting from my devART

Also links to all my alts and shit will be at the end of the post if you need them!

So some of these may be unrealistic due to my struggles with ADHD/Depression Combo but. I wanted to get these down somewhere so you guys can see them and be aware..

Please note, my executive functioning abilities are absolutely Butchered on the regular by my ADHD alone, and the various stressors of 2020 have absolutely taken anything else I might have had in that department and tossed it out the window.

Something something something, financial stressors outside of my control sends me into shut down mode and I can't do anything productive or even fun until it's handled, but because I'm not doing anything productive, I'm not making any money, and the stressors gets worse and worse and it just ends up in a horrible cycle where I constantly want to die because I'm not able to create anything to relieve the stress! Which is why you've all seen... pretty much a standstill on my productivity save one or two pieces a month if I'm lucky

That said, I'm going to start trying (hopefully with some outside help/accountability to keep me on track while I'm unmedicated) to put a system in place that doesn't make me constantly want to die while like. maybe actually getting stuff done! So I'm making some optimistic goals for 2021 regarding both my art and ability to make money, so here goes!

I'm breaking this down into 3 parts:

Changes to expect regarding my social media, commissions in general, posting, etc;

Overall Goals for 2021;

and Goals for January specifically.

Changes to expect going forward from here:

I'm going to be making some changes regarding my social media accounts, including this one, mostly concerning when, where, and how I'm posting.

I am also going to be making some changes to my commission policies, prices, and payments in the coming year, namely:

Lastly, I will be making some changes to my art discord server!

Moving forward, I am going to be MOST active on my twitter and tumblr accounts. They're just easier for me to maintain in general, and although I hate twitter's formatting, it's just easier and faster, and frankly after deviantART and Instagram fucked with their websites/algorithms, it just makes the most sense for me as an artist.

I'm also going to be making an effort to make scheduled cross-posts on all my accounts. In the past, I've been really irregular about when and where I post things (most things got posted to my old tumblr account but never here, i rarely remember to post to instagram, etc).

This is going to include commission slots, finished piece dumps, etc.

I will also be making an effort to semi-regularly post sketch dumps, both digitial and traditional. I am also considering at this time offering a monthly digital download of my sketch collections, though I am undecided as I'm not really sure how many people would be interested.

Increasing commissions prices to reflect time spent working on specific commission types, as well as my personal cost of living.

Planning and announcing commission slots in advance.

Taking and finishing regular commissions to cover living expenses on a monthly basis

Payments will be exclusively through paypal invoice, and will be broken up in halves: first half will be taken up front after I have started and given proof of start (base sketch), the second half will be paid after completion, with WIPS given between first and second payment. Fully completed art will be given after receipt of second half. This is both for my personal protection as an artist, as well as for the comfort of the commissioner as my completion time can sometimes be long due to my ADHD/executive dysfunction.

Moving forward into 2020, my discord will be SFW, but 18+ only. This is a personal comfort thing. I'm 25 years old now, and just really don't want to spend time hanging out with teenagers.

I'm also going to start trying to schedule art streams again! Since this is the only place I can live stream due to my art computer's limitations, it just makes sense to like. Schedule them so more people are able to attend. I haven't decided exactly how that's going to look, but once I have I'm going to make an announcement and formatting guide somewhere for people to see so they can make an informed decision about joining the server.

I will also be regularly posting in the server again. This may or may not be cross posts from twitter and such, we'll see, but I DO plan on being more active there since it's been kind of dead.

I may also reformat the whole server again. We'll see!

Goals for 2021

Regular Adopt Sets -- 2-3 per month. Size, price, and number in set will be decided on case by case basis.

I'll be doing a monthly prompt for myself as well. This is just to get me back in the habit of creating things I like for myself to just feel... less bad about my art in general, and about making art. Also it'll be good for my artistic development i think?

Keeping a monthly sketchbook for warm-ups and in-between pieces. May be offered as a paid download at the end of the month, we'll see.

Might start a patreon? This is EXTREMELY dependent on what my userbase looks like. Tiers and rewards to be decided at a later date

Regular traditional sketches + scan and upload of said sketches. May also be offered in the monthly sketchbook.

Draw more self portraits & self-expression pieces! I don't know if any of yall realize how repressed I've been in the last year without therapy, and I did't either until I forced myself to pursue a vent piece earlier this month, and then felt immensely better afterward so. Going to start doing that! Maybe I'll feel better weee

Regular posting to social media! (see changes above)

Drawing less fantrolls bc I'm just bleh about them lately, drawing more original content!

Drawing fancontent that ISN'T homestuck? We'll see but I'd like to. I don't usually draw fan art bc like. Idk in my mind I don't feel like my interpretation of things is important or cool and I think thats a confidence thing and I'd like to change that so! I'm gonna start making more fan content.

Draw more full illustrations & backgrounds in general because I actually enjoy doing them it turns out?

Practice painting more !! Both traditionally and digitally....

Goals for January 2021

Finish at LEAST 1/4 of my art queue. I'm shooting for half, really, because fully completing it might actually kill me but! We'll see! Maybe I'll surprise myself. But I'm setting the goal low to keep my mental health problems in mind.

Finish and release the base set i've been working on, on and off. It's an homage to the old pixel doll days of 2009-2012, and the full sheet will be free to use (with stipulations, as I have some people blocked that I don't want using it). BUT! There will also be a mix and match .psd that will be pay to use (it'll be pay to use a, bc it'll be huge, and b, bc the edits to make it mix and match results in like 6 seperate bases in general so.... yeah. pay to use)

Finish the pay-to-use base pack i started in june (i may scrap and restart though, we'll see)

Possibly release all old p2u bases of mine in one pack on gumroad? price tbd but it will include old iterations as well as unreleased remakes.

Making some dainty-specific bases! One will be f2u, one will be p2u.

I have a whole dainty YCH set for january! I just have to finish the example... (:

Perhaps I'll be announcing a collaborative project later in the month! It depends on where each of us are at, at the time! We'll see! (: You should be excited though! It'll be a ton of fun!

EXTERNAL LINKS

Instagram

Twitter

Tumblr

deviantART

Discord server

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gearsofchange · 4 years

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All out of lime

The first supermarket I walked past only had about thirty people queuing to get inside. Thanks an acceptable social distance of approximately two meters, it stretched around the block. It’s the first time I have seen a queue to get into a shop in Britain. Luckily for me, it was not where I needed to go.

Walking through my local shopping centre I was surprised to see quite so many people. Not as many as you would on a normal holiday weekend, but more than I had seen on my last trip through the deserted lanes of this place. The roads on the other hand were deserted. Busy crossings I would usually have to rely on the lights to traverse were empty.

The target of my trip also had it’s socially responsible queue. A very long one, with each person holding a trolley firmly to keep their neighbour at bay. My mind wonders how long a gap the trolley actually contributes. No matter the distance, people are talking, smoking, eating, and carrying on as if the new social gap were normal. Not wishing to join a queue so far away that I cannot even see the shop I want to get into, I trudged onwards to my backup choice.

I was buoyed by the sight of a small queue to get into the next supermarket. Five minutes of queueing tops. The route to the beginning of the queue took you past a sanitising station for your hands and the trolley handle. As much as I have liked to be blasé about the whole corona crisis, I did make use of the station. Everybody did.

Stuck at home, it has been easy to be flippant about the whole affair. The truth is, reading about things in the paper and online gives you very little observable gravitas about what is really happening. Even pictures of coffins and talks of mass graves does not really trigger anything internally. The media has been very gloomy in its coverage, and I suspect sensational at times in order to make sure people comply with our new safety regulations. You know people are dying and are going to die, but you are stuck at home and nothing is happening to you. It does not make you feel bullet-proof, but it does make you complacent, perhaps even disdainful. You know people are panic buying. You know there are no slots available for deliveries for online shopping. You know there are no eggs at your local shop because they are all going to the large supermarkets. Hand-soap and toilet-roll are things you might only see in a museum. Yet you know people can only panic buy and store so much so at some point the shops will refill and normality will seep back into everyday life, even while we are all social distancing.

Then you read an article that talks about how those coffins you had covered previously are in fact being filled. How otherwise healthy people are dying to a virus that only kills the ‘old and sick’. How health workers are dying doing their job.

So you are out walking to the supermarket, passing queue after queue, you start to question your idea of when things will return to normal, and wonder what if this is the new normal.

Five minutes of queuing. Inside the supermarket there are a lot of people. I’m happy to see food everywhere and my ´what-if´ twinge goes away. Then I start to notice the gaps. Not so much in the shelves and boxes, but in the supply itself. Lots of carrots, peppers, mushrooms, raspberries, oranges, bananas... cucumbers. No cucumbers. The boxes are all empty, but I know this one. I peer over the top and the boxes, on a slant, hide one at the very front of one box. I feel glee at finding it. The more I look for the things I need, the more I realise how much is missing or already taken from the shelves. Chicken breasts, again I luck out and snag the last, but I could have bought a whole chicken. Lots of those. Plenty more dry goods these days too. Toilet paper and kitchen roll less so, and, surprise surprise, not a fluid ounce of hand-soap to be hand anywhere.

Having bought enough food for the whole Easter weekend, I realise the missing ingredient. I have no limes for the gin and tonic’s I want to enjoy out in the sunshine. And there they aren’t Two empty bins, one for limes and one for lemons.

The cucumber can make a reasonable replacement, although it’s not my first choice for a good gin and tonic. Or second. I quickly text my partner to ask her to buy limes when she next goes to the local shop, but she’s clear that they did not have any and neither did the other shops she tried. No limes.

It’s a singularly first world problem, but no lime means no gin and tonic. Anything else just adds commas to the mix. The cucumber really ought to go into other things (Tzatziki), and perhaps if desperate I will try one. I even bought lemon juice in a bottle just in case. Just in case. If you shut your eyes, add a splash of lemon juice...

But no. The world is all out of lime.

#socialdistancing #limes #post apocalyptic

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atopfourthwall · 6 years

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State of the Wall: 8-8-18

Some big History of Power Rangers news, some big DVD news, and various other things in this one!

Schedule of Upcoming Episodes 8/6 – Ravage 2099 #2 8/13 – Adventures of the Kool-Aid Man #2 8/20 – Tandy Computer Whiz Kids: Safeguarding the Environment 8/27 – Mr. T and the T-Force #4 Star Trektember 9/3 – Star Trek #2 (DC) 9/10 – Star Trek 2009 Comic Adaptation 9/17 – Star Trek: The Next Generation #4 9/24 – Star Trek #1 (Gold Key)

As always, the schedule is subject to change for any reason – particularly if something happens in my personal life that forces me to interrupt the regular schedule, as what happened in the last few months (in case you somehow haven’t heard – flooding in my basement, car crash, etc.). As such, one episode that I had originally scheduled for this block of episodes has been bumped and I HOPE to add it back in as a double feature for one of these weeks, but I make no promises because my schedule is very busy – especially around this time of year as I start gearing up for Longbox of the Damned. On that note…

Longbox of the Damned Two big things for Longbox that hopefully you guys can be made aware of! First and foremost is that the Longbox of the Damned 2018 Bumper Contest has begun! You can see more details HERE, but the short version is that like the last two years, you can submit an end-of-video bumper for Longbox and 31 of them will be shown off! The ending date is September 15th and the exact rules and regulations can be found in the video I just linked.

Otherwise, as per the Patreon Milestone, this year we’re having another Midsummer’s Nightmare! It’s a brief one – a four-episode Godzillathon premiering on Saturdays throughout August first on a regular Saturday Night livestream before then being made public on its own. Details can be found in THIS VIDEO, so check that out and I hope you enjoy them!

History of Power Rangers As a reminder, the Ninja Steel videos won’t be scheduled until the series is complete and it’s all out on DVD. As of right now, I have the first season of Ninja Steel on preorder, but Super Ninja Steel isn’t yet complete.

So of course a while ago when I announced I was going to be putting History of Power Rangers on youtube in new versions only and completely replacing the old versions, I was operating under the assumption that I could knock them out pretty quickly since I had the scripts done. However, due to storyline stuff in Atop the Fourth Wall, all the prepwork necessary for the 10th anniversary, my own personal life issues that keep getting in the way of everything, and just basically EVERY OTHER THING IN THE WORLD KEEPING ME BUSY it has taken far longer than I expected them to go back up.

I still want to finish their revised versions and make those the official version, but until I can finalize all that, I’ve uploaded them to Vimeo. There’s still the potential for them to be taken down for Copyright reasons, but at this point I’m willing to risk it. Even youtube is having issues with stuff now as they’ve revised their ContentID algorithm and some videos have been hit by multiple ContentID claims (sometimes not showing up until a few days after I reupload them). I want people to actually be able to see them, especially as people have been following the instruction to circulate the links and people have found them missing. So yeah, all History of Power Rangers videos are up now in SOME form – be it youtube or Vimeo.

Eventually, the new versions WILL supplant the old ones, but these ones should be a lot easier to download through Vimeo than they were on Vid.me, so feel free to pirate to your heart’s content the ones on Vimeo (as long as you don’t reupload them to youtube). Don’t worry about costing me revenue for downloading them – Vimeo doesn’t use advertising for its videos. If you still feel like contributing something for all the work (especially since the downside of Vimeo is that *I* have to pay to use it), feel free to buy a DVD, a t-shirt, sending money to the Patreon – it’s all good. Ooooor you can purchase a DVD digitally, which brings us to the next point.

Digital DVDs I’ve been talking about doing this forever, but it’s finally happened! One of the advantages of the Vimeo account is a digital distribution platform for the DVDs!

Vimeo has limitations depending on what kind of account you use for how much you can upload per week, so right now because of me having to upload all of History of Power Rangers, only volumes 1 and 2 are currently available for sale. However, volumes 2.5 and 3 WILL be available soon (most likely next week once the weekly restriction resets). I still need to discuss with Screenwave about selling the movie DVD’s contents online, but we’ll see about that.

In the meantime, you can check out volume 1 HERE and volume 2 HERE!

Unfortunately, due to my workload with everything else, I likely won’t have that volume 4 DVD I was teasing for October. Still, when it IS eventually released, there will be a simultaneous digital release on Vimeo.

Patreon Patreon-sponsored review slots will be returning in September! I don’t know if I’ll make a big announcement on social media when it happens, but that’s mostly because there will be a TON of people hoping to get them… and there will still only be two slots available.

As I discussed in the last State of the Wall post, the method of payment WILL change. When you get the slot, you will be charged $50 immediately and that will guarantee your slot. However, you also have to stay into the next month and be charged another $50 for a total of $100 to absolutely have it. Think of the first $50 as your down-payment. This should hopefully keep Patreon-sponsored episodes from overwhelming the schedule as it sometimes has done in the past. You can feel free to hang onto the slot longer if you want, but bear in mind I will STILL have the policy in place that you can only request a review once per year.

On another note, I wanted to ask you guys about something that’s been suggested by some of my colleagues. Patreon has two ways of paying for things – per video/content or per month. I go per month considering I like the stability of knowing how much I make per month plus I sometimes put A LOT of content out there – minimum of four videos with Atop the Fourth Wall. However, the thing about paying per video released is that I don’t have to CHARGE people for every single video put out (nor would I), so it’s not like, say, if it was October and you were a $2 patron that you’d suddenly get $64 charged for Longbox for that month. You can also put restrictions on how much you’re willing to pay – so if you were a $5 patron, but you don’t want to overspend, you could limit it and say “I cannot be charged for more than $10 for this month.”

This would likely alter how I do the reward tiers and if you ARE interested in me switching to per-video I’d love to hear suggestions on how you’d prefer the reward tiers be handled – is the $10 reward of getting your name in the credits now for anyone who has a minimum of $10 in a single month… or is it still just for the people who are pledging $10 per video? That sort of thing.

Let me know what you guys think!

Conventions Power Morphicon – As indicated in the Power Rangers Turbo vs. Beetleborgs Metallix review, I will be returning to Power Morphicon this summer! I was last there in 2010 when I had nothing to really show for it other than some minor name value for having done History of Power Rangers, but this time around I should have a live show and get to hang out with some other Power Rangers-related youtubers. Power Morphicon is on August 17-19 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA! And as a reminder for that one, if you can’t attend to get the exclusive Lord Drakkon figure, you can purchase a non-attending badge and have it shipped to you! LionCon – Another Minnesota convention! I’ll be at LionCon at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud, Minnesota on September 22nd-23rd! I’ll be doing a live show, selling stuff at a table – that kind of thing. Come on out and have some fun!

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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Creating the Ultimate Saturday Morning TV Experience on VRV!

Picture this: School is over for the week, you’ve got a solid day and a half before you have to go back, homework isn’t a problem yet, and your parents are either at work or tired and asleep. You’ve got, for a kid, free reign. What do you do? Load up your favorite breakfast foods and watch hours of television of course!

The Saturday morning TV phenomenon has died out quite a bit, and many of us have grown up to be those same adults blissfully sleeping in on Saturdays (or less so blissfully working), but what if the magic of streaming enabled you to relive that block of programming just a bit? Well, we’ve got a list of shows here that will give you a great way to watch some classic cartoons, but recreate the mood and programming of the Saturday morning television block!

For those of you who didn’t get to enjoy the Saturday morning era, or have since forgotten it, Saturday morning TV would start pretty early and run till about noon. During its heyday, this block of programming was usually a mixture of weird toy tie-ins, action, comedy, and cartoons that you wouldn’t see anywhere else during the week, usually capping off around noon with a switch back to the “real world” with live action shows or sports. So, for our programming block, we’ve chosen not just some classic cartoon goodness, we’ve also selected shows that would fit certain time slots and purposes to really give you the Saturday morning experience! So, let’s get down to it!

Dragon's Lair

The Saturday morning block would usually start with something a bit retro, and so we’ve chosen Dragon’s Lair as our starting point! This adaptation of the classic video game of the same name featured Dirk the Daring involved in all sorts of heroic misadventures, and had a unique twist calling back to the game, where before every commercial break, the narrator would ask the audience what they think Dirk should do next. The show would then go through the choices until landing on the correct one, and show Dirk saving the day. Dragon’s Lair is an original Saturday morning cartoon show too, debuting back in 1984 on September 8th, so it just feels right to start off here!

ThunderCats!

While not the original 1985 incarnation, it felt like it would be weird to leave off one of the famous Saturday morning franchises, so we’ve included ThunderCats! in our second slot of the morning. This version sees a re-imagining of the original show and included some stellar action scenes from Japanese Studio 4°C and a more serious tone than the original broadcast. It features the origin story of Prince Lion-O's rise to the throne, and enemies who would thwart his destiny at any possible cost. Sadly, the show was never finished, but that actually makes it better for its inclusion in our list, as many Saturday morning cartoons rarely ended naturally and completely, especially those in the early morning block… Including the original ThunderCats!

Dofus - Kerub’s Bazaar

As we move into the later morning period, shows would usually get more vibrant and energetic, so what better place to find the colorful and fun Dofus - Kerub’s Bazaar than here? While this is certainly a newer show than any other, the lively antics of the Dofus crew and universe make it a perfect fit for Saturday morning television. The show explores the expansive Dofus world, originally brought to life in Dofus Book 1: Julith, with each episode exploring either Kerub’s past, or the present featuring an older Kerub and Joris. While each episode is about 12 minutes long, you’ll want to watch 2 at a time to get the real Saturday morning experience, but the world of Dofus is so fun it might be hard to stop yourself from modern binge watching tendencies, so be careful!

Bravest Warriors

Speaking of shows you might have to combine two episodes of to equal a proper Saturday morning block of time, our next show is Bravest Warriors! Created by the mind behind Adventure Time, Pendleton Ward, Bravest Warriors features an interesting mixture of comedy, action, and emotional moments, throwing surprisingly real situations at viewers moments after something totally unreal happens! Bravest Warriors has that colorful and vibrant world building to it that makes it aesthetically perfect for the Saturday morning era, and Catbug is the perfect breakout style mascot you’d expect to find in a show. Bravest Warriors fits well in the transition between early and late morning, as it doesn’t shy away from including more mature themes and situations for older viewers.

Road Rovers

As our block of programming moves into the late morning hours, we come to one of our first cult classic Saturday shows: Road Rovers! Road Rovers first showed up on Saturdays on the WB’s programming block, and was sadly taken from us before it could get more than one season, as it showed up towards the end of Saturday morning programming. The show itself is the usual magic mixture of Saturday morning success: action, comedy, sci-fi, a bit of romance, and memorable main characters! The anthropomorphic heroes of Road Rovers are created by Professor Shepherd, and their unique set of canine and human powers saved the day on multiple occasions. While we never got any more Road Rovers, no Saturday morning block would be complete without it!

RWBY

We mentioned that Saturday morning shows usually succeeded when they blended action, romance, sci-fi, comedy, and memorable character designs, and so we feel that RWBY would make the perfect addition to a Saturday morning programming block. Filled with amazing computer graphic action and solid storytelling, RWBY’s charms would fit right in with later morning programming that focused a bit more on story as older viewers would be waking up and tuning in. The adventures of Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang are high powered and high spirited enough to make us stare at our screens in anticipation today, so there’s no question that RWBY would be right at home on Saturday morning!

SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron

There's only a few shows left as our Saturday morning starts to wind down, and one of those is the phenomenal SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron! If we can be frankly biased for a second, this list almost exists entirely to tell you about SWAT Kats and our final show, but if you’ve never seen it before, you’re in for a real treat! SWAT Kats follows the team of Chance “T-Bown” Furlong and Jake “Razor” Clawson, who by day are unassuming mechanics, and when duty calls, transform into the heroic SWAT Kats! With the help of the smart, beautiful, overworked, and amazing (not biased, we swear) Deputy Mayor Callie, these rogue heroes use their custom jet fighter Turbokat and other fantastic vehicles to bring down crime and try to thwart the forces of evil in Megakat City. SWAT Kats is perhaps one of the best 90s cartoons ever, with amazing animation, endearing and unique characters, and a fantastic world, certain to be the crown jewel in our Saturday morning list!

Freakazoid!

As the clock nears noon and the younger kids have either tired themselves out or are coming off their sugar high, the older kids on Saturday would be tuning in to see superheroes and shows geared towards slightly more mature crowds, so what better show than the superhero parody Freakazoid! to cap off the last of our cartoons for the day? Freakazoid is a beloved cult 90s hit, lampooning everything from golden age Hollywood, modern movies and television, the internet, superheroes, WB shows, and even itself, as the titular hero saves the day in odd and hilarious ways. Featuring numerous voice cameos, like the late, great, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan’s Ricardo Montalbán, Freakazoid was an absolute treat when it first came out, since you never really knew what the show would try to get away with next. With its surreal brand of humor, Freakazoid is still a delight today, and makes for a great dessert to the amazing buffet of Saturday morning shows we’ve assembled here.

Stargate SG-1

Sadly, all great things must come to an end, and so too do Saturday morning cartoon blocks. Now, back in the day, these used to be capped off with a transition to sports programming or live action shows, and in keeping with our theme of authenticity, we’ve decided to signal the end of Saturday morning glee by including Stargate SG-1 as our final show. Now, wait, before you think that sounds bad, remember: you might not have dug the end of your cartoons back then, but now you’re a much older and wiser viewer, so why have your fun end with something like sports, when you can have it end with dimension hopping sci-fi action?! Besides, we mentioned before that great Saturday morning shows featured a mixture of action, sci-fi, romance, and comedy, so what better way to ease your transition back to the real world than with a live action show that has all of those in spades!

While the Saturday morning cartoon phenomenon might have died an unfortunate death as media behaviors and viewership changed over the years, there’s no reason you can’t recreate some of that magic yourself now with your VRV account. So add our shows to your watchlist, get your menu set, and relive the magic of Saturday mornings any day of the week! While we’d recommend Saturday, obviously, we know that you’re a busy person, so any day you’ve got some time to enjoy works! So get busy on reliving Saturday morning magic, and remember: no binge watching! Keep it to one half an hour episode a week, ok?!

Know any other shows in our catalog that you’d include in your ideal Saturday morning programming? Let us know in the comments!

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Nicole is a features and a social video script writer for Crunchyroll. Known to profess her love of otome games over at her blog, Figuratively Speaking. When she has the time, she also streams some games. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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english104 · 3 years

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Catfishing

Catfishing is a deceptive activity where a person creates a sockpuppet presence or fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim for abuse or fraud. The practice may be used for financial gain, to compromise a victim in some way, or simply as forms of trolling or wish fulfillment.

Students reflect on their catfishing experiences during COVID-19

Sierra Mihu just wanted something to pass the time.

The fourth-year biological sciences major felt bored during the pandemic, so she decided to download Bumble. This way, she’d combat her boredom and meet new people at the same time.

Then she met Brian, 24, from Lancaster. She swiped right and messaged him.

“He messaged back, and he was really nice,” Mihu said. “The next day, he messaged me and went out of his way to ask me how my exam was that day. He gave me compliments and was really nice.”

It seemed that Mihu had found a nice guy – someone she felt good talking to. After the two of them talked for a while, Brian asked for her Snapchat. Feeling comfortable enough, Mihu gave it to him.

It was all downhill from there.

“He said, ‘Do you want to see what I look like?’ in the messaging part of Snap,” Mihu said. “I didn’t really know what he meant by that, but I said ‘sure.’ He continued to send me a collection of photos of him, but it didn’t have his face in it.”

The pictures were risque shots of Brian, unclothed. This was Mihu’s first red flag that something might not be right.

“I was uncomfortable that he even did that because it didn’t seem like him,” Mihu said. “It didn't seem like this nice guy who would ask about my day and who would compliment me and have a good conversation.”

Then, Brian asked for photos of Mihu in exchange. She trusted her gut on this one and told him “no” – point-blank saying she didn’t trust him. He tried to prove to her that he was who he said he was by sending a mirror selfie.

Immediately, Mihu consulted with her roommates to show them the sketchy photo. There was a border around the picture, like Brian had taken a photo of another photo. She told Brian that she still was unsure, and he blew up.

“He got so angry,” Mihu said. “He was like, ‘What do you mean you don’t know that it’s me? I sent you a Snap; there’s no way I could be fake,’ pretty much gaslighting me, making me feel like the bad guy. Then he said ‘This always happens,’ which was another red flag.”

He tried to convince Mihu that his outburst was due to trust issues, saying the last woman he talked to saved his photos, then blocked him. Mihu was still nervous, citing human trafficking as one of her main concerns, and refused to send him photos.

Their conversations soon became awkward. Brian played the victim card and complained that Mihu thought he was ugly. Mihu ended up blocking him on Snapchat.

The next day, she was watching the MTV show Catfish – unrelated to her situation – and the host of the show did a reverse image search. Mihu was inspired.

“I was like, ‘You know what? Just out of curiosity, I’m going to do this image search, and the literal first result was a Twitter page of the exact same photo,’” Mihu said.

It turned out Brian was posing as a model from a different country. Mihu was catfished, or lured into a relationship from a fictional persona online.

Just last year, Americans lost $201 million to romance scammers, with Ohio having the No. 9 slot of most victims. The FTC reported that romance scams increased by 40% last year, up from $143 million in 2018.

Catfishing has been a growing epidemic during the coronavirus. In a study from SocialCatfish.com, a record 26.6 million people are using data apps in 2020, which is an 18.4% increase from 2019. Additionally, 31% of users said they are spending more time on dating apps.

But it’s not just dating where people are getting scammed. Reese Little, an Athens resident, lost around $40 from an online “bathing suit sale” that was offering a $5 sale. Then, the sale charged her twice for $20 for a membership that was hidden in the fine print.

“I was so mad,” Little said. “I can’t do anything about it. I couldn’t get a hold of the people, and I didn’t have the money to pay for a membership. That’s why I did the sale in the first place because it was only $5.”

Similarly scammed, Christos Ioannou, a sophomore at Capital University, wanted to build his Twitter presence by procuring the handle @Christos, which had been snagged by a Greek Spanish web developer well over a decade ago.

The man with the handle approached Ioannou to set up a trade: $100 for the handle. After setting up a GoFundMe, receiving several Venmos and contributing $20 of his own, Ioannou sent the man money.

The man promptly stopped responding, and that’s when Ioannou realized he was scammed. With the help of his mom and his bank, he was able to get his money back and refund everyone who donated, all within a week or so.

“At the end of it, I felt like a schmuck because there were so many red flags that I should have seen,” Ioannou said. “I fell hook, line and sinker.”

Mihu, Little and Ioannou believe the coronavirus pandemic has played a large role in the increase of catfishing and Internet scams.

“Ever since March, I’ve been much more terminally online,” Ioannou said. “I think it’s one of those things where, now that so many more people are not forced to be online, but a lot more of our social interactions are through social media, it makes it tougher. Not to mention catfishing specifically ... just thinking about all the people who are that starved for contact, I have to imagine that it’s gone up significantly.”

The Risks of Using Cat Fishing Dating Services

For people who do everything on the computer, from browsing websites to paying bills online, using social media and websites to look for love is a unique alternative to a real-life dating search. Well, now there is a new trend on the Internet that is out there circulating but it is not as new on the Internet world as you might think. This trend is called catfishing.

Catfishing on the Internet should not be taken too lightly. Catfishing can be found on online dating websites and it can happen in person too if you’re not careful in noticing the signs. These online dating websites are a, “playground for identity thieves, hackers and other nasty people.”

What is a catfish? “A catfish – or someone online who’s pretending to be someone they are not.” This is something to think about long and hard before anyone makes the decision of trusting these dating websites.

Mellissa Ferrari, who wrote the article called, “What Is Catfishing And How Can We Protect Ourselves” states, “Some catfish do so because they don’t wish to reveal something they see as potentially negative about themselves, and some do it just for the fun of it.” Ferrari mentions in her article, that catfishes are looking to, “coerce someone into doing something they wouldn’t normally do – like give money or send intimate photos – or are trying to gather enough information to commit fraud identity.”

https://thebannercsi.com/2019/03/06/the-risks-of-using-cat-fishing-dating-services/

What is catfishing and how can we protect ourselves?

What is catfishing on the internet

The term ‘catfishing’ is used to describe when someone has created a fake online identity with the intent to pursue someone romantically under false pretences.

Why do people catfish?

Some catfish because they don’t wish to reveal something they see as potentially negative about themselves, and some do it just for the fun of it.

Unfortunately, others have more alarming agendas, such as wanting to coerce someone into doing something they wouldn’t normally do. For example, to give money, send intimate photos, or are trying to gather enough information to commit fraud identity.

How can catfishing make you feel?

Even if the catfishing is not particularly sinister, it can still be extremely hurtful and frustrating when you’ve invested time in someone online, only for them not to be who you thought they were. It can also make some women feel very vulnerable and impact their ability to trust anyone again, especially if they have already suffered a traumatic break up.

Catfishing is a somewhat scary concept, however don’t let it stop you from using dating apps and sites. You just need to protect yourself.

Tips to avoid being a victim of catfishing

Never use the Internet for online dating while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Block anyone suspicious.

Don’t leave it weeks, but take time to get to know someone and check that things ‘add up’ before meeting-up in real life.

Do a background check – Google a potential date if you have enough details. You can also use searches created for potential dates as well, thanks to the increase of online dating apps.

Look for red flags, such as spelling mistakes and bad grammar on a profile when someone has stated they are college or university educated.

Be wary if they mention recent traumatic life events (such as the death of a partner or child) as many will fake stories such as these to make you feel you feel sorry for them and therefore be more trusting.

One of the biggest indicators of catfishing is when a person makes excuses to not meet you, won’t do a video call and even avoids all conversation about when to meet up. If they’re putting off a face-to face-date it could mean they have something to hide.

If a profile photo looks like a Hollywood movie star or model and appears too good to be true, use Google images to check the profile photo. If it comes up on another site that makes you feel suspicious, or it’s out rightly a magazine cover model, you are potentially being catfished. You can also use Catfish reverse image search apps.

Always remember, if it’s too good to be true it probably is.

And then there’s kittenfishing

Another thing to be mindful of is kittenfishing. It’s quite likely you’re even guilty of this yourself!

A much lighter version of catfishing, it is when someone embellishes or improves their profile to make themselves more appealing online – such as using a photo from ten years ago, adjusting their age or lying about their education or profession.

Generally, people who kittenfish aren’t meaning to be harmful. The reason for it is to present the best version of themselves they possibly can to increase their odds of meeting someone. This doesn’t make it any less annoying though when you meet them in person.

And if you are tempted to kittenfish yourself, just remember that at some point potential dates and future partners will uncover the ‘real you’. Therefore, a true reflection of who you really are is always best.

https://beanstalkmums.com.au/catfishing-can-protect/

#Risks #CatFishing #DatingServices

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magzoso-tech · 4 years

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Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review

New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/oppo-reno-3-pro-review/

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Review

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro was launched in China late last year as a 5G enabled smartphone. Right after the China launch, we saw multiple rumours hinting that this smartphone would soon come to India, but then it seemed as though the Reno 3 Pro making its way to India would be a completely different device that only shares a name with its Chinese equivalent. Oppo finally took the wraps off the Reno 3 Pro earlier this month, and sure enough, a lot of these rumours have been confirmed.

Oppo’s Indian version of the Reno 3 Pro lacks 5G, but is the first smartphone to use the Mediatek Helio P95 SoC. In fact, this SoC was launched just ahead of the smartphone. That’s not all, the Reno 3 Pro also packs a 44-megapixel selfie camera and front depth sensor embedded into the display. With prices starting at Rs. 29,990, this phone goes up against the likes of the Realme X2 Pro (Review). Should you buy the Reno 3 Pro? We review it to find out.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Design

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro launched in China has a curved-edge display and a single centred hole-punch camera similar to Samsung’s designs. However, the Oppo Reno 3 Pro launched in India features a flat panel with a dual hole-punch for the selfie cameras in the top left corner. The Reno 3 Pro has thin bezels on three sides of the screen while the chin is thicker. It also has an in-display fingerprint scanner, something we would expect from a smartphone at this price.

Oppo has positioned the earpiece just below the frame of the smartphone. The frame feels plasticky to the touch and does not get cold in an air-conditioned room. The back also had the same feel and that doesn’t inspire much confidence, as other devices in this price range use premium materials. All the buttons on the Reno 3 Pro are well-positioned and easy to reach while holding the device in one hand. The SIM tray is on the left of the device and it can hold two Nano-SIMs along with a microSD card.

The Reno 3 Pro has a quad-camera setup

At the bottom, the Reno 3 Pro has a USB Type-C port, 3.5mm audio jack, loudspeaker, and the primary microphone, while the top has the secondary microphone. At the back, the Reno 3 Pro has a compact quad-camera module. While the bump isn’t too wide, it causes the device to rock slightly when placed on a flat surface. Oppo offers the Reno 3 Pro in three colours, Auroral Blue, Midnight Black, and Sky White. We had the Auroral Blue review unit and we liked the gradient finish on it.

We found the finish of our unit to be a fingerprint magnet. We would recommend that you use the clear case that Oppo bundles in the box. The company also ships the Oppo Reno 3 Pro with a 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0 charger for fast charging.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro specifications and software

Oppo Reno 3 Pro has a big 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a full-HD+ resolution. Colour output is good and you can tweak the colour temperature. We also found it bright enough to be used outdoors. The display is tall, and reaching the upper edge isn’t very easy when using the phone single-handed. Oppo has also added an in-display fingerprint scanner under the panel.

Powering the smartphone is the brand-spanking-new Mediatek Helio P95 SoC, an octa-core processor clocked at 2.2GHz, paired with 8GB of RAM. The smartphone is available in two storage variants, 128GB and 256GB. You do have the option to expand storage using a microSD card. The base variant is priced at Rs. 29,990 while the higher variant is priced at Rs. 32,990. Oppo currently only has the base variant on sale in India and is expected to bring the 256GB variant here later.

Connectivity options on the Oppo Reno 3 Pro include Bluetooth 5, Wi-Fi, and five navigation systems. The Oppo Reno 3 Pro has two Nano-SIM slots with support for 4G as well as VoLTE. The phone also packs in a 4025mAh battery and supports VOOC Flash Charge 4.0.

It ships with Android 10 out of the box

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro runs ColorOS 7 on top of Android 10 and our review unit was running the March security patch. The UI is clean and easy to use, with several useful features. Swiping right from the homescreen takes you to the Smart Assistant tab. The smart sidebar has shortcuts to let you capture screenshots and begin screen recording, among other things, and is quite handy. You can use on-screen buttons for navigation or switch to swipe gestures.

Smart driving and riding modes can help reduce distraction by blocking notifications and incoming calls. You can tweak the driving mode so that calls from specific people are automatically answered and routed to the loudspeaker. Digital Wellbeing helps you monitor the time you spend on the device, and includes wind-down and focus mode. To protect personal information, Oppo can show dummy information to apps that ask for access to your contacts and messages.

Just like other Oppo and Realme smartphones, the Reno 3 Pro recommended that we download more apps while setting the device up. We did not install any of these, and in spite of that the Reno 3 Pro still had a fair amount of bloatware. Some apps push spammy notifications when launched, and we would recommend disabling the ones you don’t find useful.

Oppo also preinstalls its Soloop Video Editor on the Reno 3 Pro, which makes it convenient to edit videos for social media platforms.Game Space lets you block notifications while gaming and use both mobile data as well as Wi-Fi to improve online games.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro performance and battery life

Since the Oppo Reno 3 Pro is the first smartphone with the MediaTek Helio P95 SoC we were curious to see how it performs. It managed to deliver good performance without any stuttering or lag. Since our unit had 8GB of RAM we did not face any bottlenecks while multitasking. However, the phone did not feel as fast as some of the other phones we have used in this price bracket, such as the Realme X2 Pro.

We put the Reno 3 Pro through benchmarks to see how this new phone stacks up. First, we ran AnTuTu Benchmarks, in which it scored 225,538 points which is significantly lower than the 459,562 points that the Realme X2 Pro managed. In Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core tests, the Reno 3 Pro scored 401 and 1,519 points respectively. This smartphone also managed 47fps and 7.9fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex and Car Chase tests respectively. These scores are lower than those of the Realme 6, which we recently reviewed and which costs half as much as the Reno 3 Pro. Clearly, performance isn’t the strongest attribute of the Reno 3 Pro.

The Reno 3 Pro houses a 4025mAh battery and supports 30W charging

We played PUBG Mobile on the device and it defaulted to the high settings with graphics set to HD and frame rate set to high. The game was playable without any lag or stutter. We played the game for 20 minutes and the device barely got warm to the touch. You should be able to play for long durations on this device without it feeling uncomfortable.

The Reno 3 Pro packs in a 4025mAh battery which is capable of delivering about a day and a half worth of usage from a single charge. In our HD video loop test, the smartphone managed to clock 18 hours and 12 minutes, which is a good score. Using the supplied 30W charger, we were able to charge the device up to 68 percent in 30 minutes, and fully in about an hour.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Cameras

Premium Oppo smartphones are known for their camera performance, and we were expecting the Oppo Reno 3 Pro to deliver on this front. It packs in a quad-camera setup at the back consisting of a 64-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture, a 13-megapixel telephoto camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with a 119-degree field of view, and a 2-megapixel mono camera. The rear camera setup is capable of 5x hybrid zoom and 20x digital zoom. At the front, this phone has a 44-megapixel selfie shooter along with a 2-megapixel depth sensor. Oppo has been heavily advertising this as a “44-megapixel dual camera setup” on the Reno 3 Pro.

The camera app on the Oppo Reno 3 Pro has Night, Portrait, Time-Lapse, Pano and Slo-Mo modes. It has quick toggles for HDR and Dazzle Colour (which bumps up contrast) and shortcuts for different filters that you can apply before taking a shot. AI Scene recognition is on by default and it was quick to detect what we were shooting. You can also take macros using the ultra-wide-angle camera as it has autofocus.

Photos taken in daylight had good amounts of detail, and text at a distance was legible on zooming in. We also liked the dynamic range of shots captured in daylight. The wide-angle-camera helps capture a wider field of view but there is a considerable drop in quality when compared to the primary camera. Shots taken with the telephoto camera were sharpened which was visible on zooming into the image. 5x hybrid zoom offers decent details too.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro daylight sample (tap to see full-size image)

Oppo Reno 3 Pro daylight wide-angle sample (tap to see full-size image)

Oppo Reno 3 Pro daylight telephoto sample (tap to see full-size image)

Close-ups shot with the Oppo Reno 3 Pro turned out quite well and the smartphone manages to lock focus very quickly. Portraits also looked good, and the phone managed good edge detection. It also lets you set the level of blur before you take the shot.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro close-up sample (tap to see full-size image)

Oppo Reno 3 Pro portrait sample (tap to see full-size image)

Photos taken in low light had decent quality but you will notice grain on zooming in. The wide-angle camera offers a wider view but at the cost of detail. The night mode on the Oppo Reno 3 Pro produces brighter images with better details.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro low light sample (tap to see full-size image)

Oppo Reno 3 Pro Night mode sample (tap to see full-size image)

The Oppo Reno 3 Pro captures good selfies but these weren’t as detailed as what we’ve seen from some of the other phones we’ve tested. Beautification is enabled by default, but you do have the option to turn it off completely. You can also shoot selfie portraits thanks to the secondary front camera. The Reno 3 Pro managed good edge detection and blurred out backgrounds correctly. We noticed some lag in the viewfinder before taking shots.

Oppo Reno 3 Pro selfie sample (tap to see resized image)

Video recording maxes out at 4K for the primary camera while the selfie shooter is restricted to 1080p. You do have the option to shoot using the different cameras and can also switch while a video is being recorded. Video taken in daylight was well stabilised at 1080p, however 4K footage wasn’t stabilised. In low light, we noticed a slight shimmer effect in the output. There is a super-steady mode as well which stabilises video better, but we noticed a focus hopping issue in low light.

Verdict

The sub-Rs.30,000 segment has been buzzing for a while now, not only because of new launches but also from high-end devices that have gotten price cuts. This segment is slowly getting competitive again, with value-for-money options such as the Realme X2 Pro (Review) which not only packs a powerful Snapdragon 855+ but also has a 90Hz panel. The Asus 6Z (Review) is another device which has a Snapdragon 855 SoC and is now available for under Rs. 30,000.

In comparison, the Oppo Reno 3 Pro does not offer the same kind of performance. Its relatively weak processor is evident in our benchmarks. However, it isn’t terrible for everyday use, and if you aren’t a power user, you won’t really notice the difference. Camera performance is decent for the price, but this phone could do with a few tweaks to improve video quality in low light. You can consider the Reno 3 Pro for its camera capabilities, but if you are looking for the maximum value for your money, the Realme X2 Pro should be your pick.

#Miscellaneous

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dpinoycosmonaut · 5 years

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2nd STRAIGHT WORLD CUP STINT FOR FILIPINO BALLERS

by Bert A. Ramirez / March 3, 2019

The Philippines has made it to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 to be held this coming August 31 to September 15 in China, and the way the country earned a second straight berth in the premier international basketball tournament in the world makes Filipinos proud not only for its heroic-like elements but also for the missionary, all-for-one spirit with which it was achieved.

The Philippines, after all, had to come from the brink of elimination that required not only winning Team Pilipinas’ last two games on the road but also one of two other contenders for the last slot, Jordan and Lebanon, losing its last assignment. This was after the Filipinos lost both their games in the fifth window of the FIBA Asia/Oceania World Cup qualifiers at home to bring down what was once an impressive record to 5-5 while Japan, which they swept earlier in the qualifiers, was winning consecutive games to take over third place from the Philippines in Group F.

Team Pilipinas lost to Kazakhstan 92-88 and to Iran 78-70 at the Mall of Asia Arena last November to make the country’s advance to this year’s China joust more feasible through the backdoor, which meant the Philippines could only make it by becoming the best fourth-placed team from its group and the other group, Group E. And this could only happen if it swept its last two games against Qatar and Kazakhstan, and either China or New Zealand beat Jordan, which then had a 5-5 mark like the Philippines, or, if that failed to happen, either New Zealand or South Korea defeated Lebanon, which had a 6-4 slate to that point in the other group.

Team Pilipinas did beat Qatar, all right, 86-48 on February 21 in Doha, with the comebacking Andray Blatche playing a key role in the victory as the naturalized import had 17 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and two blocks. Resting with a 10-point lead at the half, the Filipinos broke the game wide open at the start of the second half with four straight triples from Paul Lee and Blatche to turn the contest into a 62-30 blowout after three quarters. Marcio Lassiter went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc for 14 points while Lee had 13 markers and Jayson Castro ended up with 11 and four assists in just 20 minutes as they also starred for the Filipinos.

While the Filipinos did their part, however, the other teams, notably China, obviously did not as the Chinese blatantly rested their stars and gave their game away to Jordan the following day in an 86-62 blowout even as New Zealand gallantly held off Lebanon 69-67 to put the three teams fighting for the last two slots at that point - the Philippines, Jordan and Lebanon - all even with 6-5 records even as Japan marched inexorably away with the No. 3 ranking in Group F with a 97-89 win over Iran, another tanking team that had qualified earlier and thus did not need even their last-game win over group topnotcher Australia.

It then became clear that for the Philippines to nail one of the two slots left, it had to beat Kazakhstan on February 24 in Astana, and either the Jordanians or the Lebanese had to lose their last game to avoid any complications. This the Filipinos did as Blatche, in decidedly his best game in a Philippine team uniform, erupted for 41 points, including five triples right in the first quarter that kept Team Pilipinas afloat, while collecting 13 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks to power his team to a decisive 93-75 victory over the Kazakhs.

Just as Lassiter did against Qatar, Castro waxed hot for the Philippines this time as he also went 4-of-4 from deep while stepping up for Blatche when he picked up his fourth foul late in the third quarter to finish with 14 points, while June Mar Fajardo, still recovering from the flu that he contracted before the Qatar game, also played a crucial role with nine points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes of relief duty for Blatche. Lee and Lassiter each contributed eight points to the Filipinos’ winning cause.

“It was an emotional game for us. We knew what was at stake. It’s either win or go home. We competed right from the jump and had some speed bumps along the way but we stuck to it and we’re just happy that we came up with the win,” said Blatche, whose exclusion from the Philippine lineup in the fifth window generated some controversy back home.

“We’re just glad it’s over,” coach Yeng Guiao, who took over from erstwhile Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes in the fourth window after that controversial brawl with Australia in July, said. “We were feeling the pressure prior to this game. We really wanted to go to the World Cup. Dray (Blatche) carried us in the first half. He was on fire and I was kind of worried that the other guys would over-rely on him but in the second half the rest of the guys stepped up. We’re just happy we are going to the World Cup.”

The victory gave Team Pilipinas a 7-5 record, same as Jordan and China in the other group after Jordan outlasted New Zealand 86-80 to make it as the fourth qualifier from Group E as the Chinese, as host, got an automatic berth in the World Cup. The Filipinos, however, wouldn’t have made it as the best fourth-placer from the two groups had South Korea not defeated Lebanon 84-72 in a game that was played simultaneously with the Filipinos’ contest against the Kazakhs. This is because had the Lebanese beaten the Koreans - or the Koreans not taken this game seriously and lost - Lebanon would have had a similar 7-5 card as the Filipinos and would have made it over the latter via a superior quotient, the Lebanese winding up plus-87 despite the Korean loss and the Philippines being just plus-35 despite the two blowout wins in its last two games.

Part of the reason the Koreans took their game against Lebanon seriously despite its having no bearing to their standing is the fact that the Koreans are noted for their taking the game on its merits, just like the Japanese do as both nations’ culture similarly leans towards giving an honest effort in all of one’s undertakings. But stories also abounded that the historical ties that the Koreans’ naturalized import Ricardo Ratliffe had with the Filipinos after playing as an import for Purefoods-San Mig for two years in the PBA had something to do with it. Social media posts of pictures of Ratliffe, who anchored the Koreans’ come-from-behind victory over Lebanon with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks and one assist, showing him with former teammates Lee and Mark Barroca proliferated and even gave rise to speculations that the two Philippine team backcourters, along with local basketball officials, asked Cardo to help the Philippines advance by taking the Lebanon game seriously notwithstanding its no-bearing character.

But whatever the veracity of the claims is, one thing that can’t be denied is the fact that the big difference in enabling the Philippines to fulfill its part of the bargain - sweep its last two matches and make it to the World Cup - was Blatche. Guiao himself, who had earlier decided to exclude - with the concurrence of Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas officials - Blatche from the fifth window of the FIBA Asia/Oceania qualifiers, partly because Blatche was still serving the last of a three-game suspension meted by the FIBA for his part in that Australia brawl, admitted that the move was a “failed experiment.”

But Guiao was concerned more about the continuity that the team would have had Blatche come into the last game in the fifth window against Iran just after having played Kazakhstan with the former NBA player not having had any practice with the team for a long time (suspended players are prohibited from indulging in any basketball-related activity).

In the end, everything worked out and the mission of going back to the FIBA Basketball World Cup, which marked the country’s second straight after first making it back there in 2014 following a 36-year absence, was accomplished, and it’s due in no small measure to the sacrifices that every basketball stakeholder in the country willingly made, even overseas Filipinos working in Qatar who filled every available space at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha to cheer their countrymen on. The PBA, the SBP as well as the individual players all played their role to the hilt, and Guiao himself tried to deflect the pressure from his players by assuming full accountability for whatever happened.

“The pressure to get to the World Cup was mounting after losing both of the home games,” Guiao said. “But I tried to shield the players from the pressure by telling them that in case we fail in our mission, I will take full responsibility. All I asked of them was to give their very best and they did.”

Guiao said he was impressed by the bond developed by his players as they dug in in a virtual you-and-me-against-the-world situation to earn their place among the world’s top 32 teams, which would be divided into eight groups of four teams each in a draw to be held on March 16 in Shenzen, China.

“In the most difficult times, the two things they held on to was the strong bond of brotherhood and the pride of playing for flag and country,” Guiao declared. “I didn’t know Andray (Blatche) personally before this window but all my doubts and apprehensions disappeared when I saw what kind of competitive spirit he had in him. I knew he was good but I was unsure of his commitment to this team because of things I’d heard about him previously. Now I know better.”

(Photo from FIBA.basketball)

#GilasPilipinas FIBA2019

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adamcairnsorg-blog · 7 years

Text

How To Crush It With The World's Ultimate Productivity Tips

The Ultimate Productivity Tips Roundup

What happens when you type "Productivity Tips" into google?

You get masses of hits containing hundreds of results. The problem is how to find the grains of gold?

You could start ploughing through each result one by one and see what they say (don't do that!).

Here's what you do instead.

I've been through hundreds of the best productivity tips from experts around the world. I've sorted them, chucked out the stuff that doesn't cut it, deleted duplicates and organised it into a single uber-list.

It turns out that the advice from productivity experts can be categorised and that's what I've done to make searching for exactly the kind of advice you're looking for easy to do.

So whatever kind of productivity advice you're looking for, there's going to be a tip here for you.

The headings below are broad categories. Click on the title and it will take you to that section. Then you can scroll down until you find something that interests you.

1. Focus On What's In Front Of You And Avoid Multitasking

2. Batch Your Jobs and Tasks

3. Build Consistency In The System And Methods You Use

4. Set Things Up A Day Ahead

5. Delegate It

6. Deal With Distractions

7. Eat That Frog

8. Look After Your Health

9. Manage Meetings Better

10. Organise Your Workspace

11. Outsource It

12. Develop A Positive Mindset

13. Use Rituals To Create New Habits

14. Say No

15. Build Your Self Awareness

16. Simplify It

17. Step Back From It

18. Manage Your Time

19. Use Travel Wisely

20. Use Technology

21. Write It Down

1. Focus On What's In Front Of You

Prioritise Your Most Important Tasks

What The Science Says

Our brains are actually not evolved to multitask. When we were first walking about on the savannah, it didn't pay to be distracted. You generally got eaten.

Task Switching as it is known has a quantifiable impact on the time taken to complete tasks. The general rule is that lost time increases with the complexity of the task involved. The cost involves the brain undertaking two switches. First the task of changing subject, from one task to another. Then the second task of finding your place in the task you are switching to.

Although these costs are quite small, they do add up.

One tactic to minimise task switching which experts suggest is to prioritise your most important tasks. By focusing your attention on your most important tasks, you will reduce the likelihood that your attention will waver.

Nicole Fallon Taylor takes up the suggestion that "goals are the most effective way to prioritize what’s important so you can delegate or eliminate the most unnecessary tasks that slow you down". In her article published on Business News Daily she shares some advice from Kathleen Kobe, founder of Smart Business Mom who states categorically that we should avoid multi-tasking. says, don't do it and I agree. You can read the rest of Fallon's article here.

We Just Aren't Evolved To Multitask

Robin Sharma makes the point that multitasking can also reduce our cognitive capacity. He cites research which "confirms that all the distractions invading our lives are rewiring the way our brains work (and drop our IQ by 5 points!)." The Daily Muse puts it this way:

"Stop trying to multitask! We're really not built for it, and while it may feel like you're getting more done, everything will ultimately take you longer."

Brandon Turner, reflecting on a past year of improved personal productivity writes:

"This past year, I made a commitment to multitask less and focus more on the task at hand"

The Take Away

Check to make sure you're spending time focused on your most important goals. To increase your effectiveness, create opportunities to zero in on one thing at a time and avoid the temptation to try to focus on more than one activity at a time.

References:

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254432

http://www.apa.org/research/action/multitask.aspx

2. Batch Your Jobs And Tasks

Use Time Slots

One way to deal with the damaging effects of multitasking is to chunk your jobs or tasks into time slots. I call this batching. Brandon Turner explains what he does. "Simply take your to-do list and give each item a place on your calendar. it doesn't matter if you use a physical calendar or an online one; simply block out time to work through each item on your list".

Graham Allcott speaking on ITV News suggest we should undertake a 5-minute re-boot whenever our attention or energy level is waning.

"Do you find yourself staring at the screen, feeling a bit jaded? The average attention span is typically 25 to 45 minutes, depending on the person and the time of day. So every half an hour, take a five minute re-boot – get up, grab a drink, focus your eyes on something else - even a couple of minutes away from the screen will help stop your attention from waning and keep you fresh through the day".

Match Your Work With Attention Span And Energy Levels

Organising your work so that it matches our natural attention span seems like a sensible manoeuvre. The Daily Muse even suggests allocating a time slot for you favourite distractions:

"Budget limited time for your favorite distractions".

"Knowing that you'll get to spend 10 minutes on Pinterest after you work for a couple hours can help you avoid wasting time on it now. Plus, using that as a reward for getting through hard work can help you stay motivated."

The advice to allocate time to tasks doesn't just apply to your daily activities. As The Daily Muse suggests, allocating periodic time to administrative tasks can have a big pay off too.

"Once a quarter, do a massive inbox clean and archive all messages older than 2-3 months. (Seriously, answering them at this point would just be embarrassing.) As emails you're subscribed to roll into your inbox, make a snap decision about whether you actually read them or if you should unsubscribe".

The Daily Muse continues:

"If email's really getting you down, try Time Management Ninja's system for only checking it twice a day…Only check email at specific times during the day, and try to limit it to only 4-5 times a day. If you don't have nearly this much self control, use a tool like Inbox Pause to keep emails from showing up in your inbox until you're ready for them".

Robin Sharma batches his email activities to match his energy levels.

"Check email in the afternoon so you protect the peak energy hours of your mornings for your best work"

You can have a look at my own advice on email management here.

Put Time In Your Schedule

Stacia Pierce has a different take on batching. Her advice is not just to make a list – something a lot of us do. She goes further, recommending:

"Give yourself an allotted time to get things done. When I am planning for events, I often block of chunks of time weeks in advance so that I can research, plan and write my presentations. I often use my morning hours to get it done…Blocking time allows you to get into a zone. You can use the Rescue Time app to eliminate distractions from your computer and devices so that while you’re in the zone you are completely focused".

Laura McClellan argues that this principle applies to lots of things we do each day.

"If the demands of your day include routine tasks, try to group similar tasks and schedule certain times during the day to knock them out. Answering emails? Returning phone calls? Entering expenses into a spreadsheet? Instead of interrupting your other tasks to do these things piecemeal, batch them".

Use Tools To Help You

Stacia has some advice for us about dealing with the incoming tide of information hitting our inboxes and other kinds of content we come across while on-line.

"Create organized reading lists with the Pocket app and Instapaper. As you browse the internet these apps allow you to put articles, videos and other information in a virtual pocket for you to read at your own leisure. Facebook allows you to save videos and Instagram allows you to save posts that you want to reference later as well".

I'm a big fan of Instapaper personally. I use it not only to save items I'd like to read later, but I can also clip internet pages I might want to refer to again. Once I've reviewed them later, if I want to keep them I send them into Evernote.

Of course, we also need to manage our social media feeds. Here's Stacia again:

"Save time with Social Media. Let’s face it, social media is here to stay and it plays a major role in business marketing. To stay on top of it all, use Hootsuite, my tried and true app for years, to automate social media posts to Twitter, Facebook and more. The app has gotten more sophisticated over the years and offers many more social media management tools as well. Hootsuite has never let me down. I love that it organizes your time lines, direct messages and mentions so that you can review them easily".

Hootsuite is a great app, but today I use Sprout Social. I prefer the way it organises my feeds and I find the scheduling capability suits my way of working better.

Go On The Offensive

Rounding up this section on batching, The Harvard Business Review in a collection of articles from top leaders shares the approach Tom Rath takes. He makes sure that he can:

"Block out time to work away from email, programming your phone to only ring for select colleagues, and resisting emails first thing in the morning until you’ve achieved at least one important task."

Control Interruptions

Finally in this section, Bruna Martinuzzi suggests taking a leaf out of the restauranteur Danny Meyer's approach to managing people:

"He has his assistant group all questions that come up during the day in one list so she doesn't have to interrupt him repeatedly during office hours. Take a cue from this and see how you can ask others on your team to group questions, requests and other non-urgent inquiries so you're not distracted by interruptions that don't add value".

So that concludes the round up of top advice about batching jobs and tasks. Avoiding multitasking and batching activities can make a huge difference to our personal productivity.

The Take Away

If you're already implementing the advice to avoid multi-tasking it makes sense to create time slots in your day. Use these time slots to match work to your energy levels and attention span and allocate time in your calendar to tackle similar tasks in groups. You'll find this easier to accomplish if you deploy tools to help you. Remember to control distractions that could throw you off course.

References

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254432

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

https://timemanagementninja.com/2017/02/7-tips-to-increase-your-email-speed/

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/how-to-beat-email-and-quadruple-your-best-time

http://lifecoach2women.com/main/ten-productivity-tips-for-business-owners/

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

3. Build Consistency In The System And Methods You Use

Build A System

With so much complexity around us and with so many ways of receiving information it is inevitable that without some kind of system we are going to get overwhelmed. This is one of the most critical steps any of us can take to become better organised and so more productive.

I've written a series of posts about my own approach to these issues. You can read my note taking method here.

Create A Schedule Of Activities

At its most basic a system has a schedule of activities that you follow in a pre-defined way. Brian Tracy puts it like this.

"Scheduling your time reduces stress and releases energy. The very act of using your organizational skills to plan your day, week, and month gives you a greater feeling of control and will help increase productivity throughout your day. You’ll feel in charge of your life. It actually increases your self-esteem and improves your sense of personal power".

There is a psychological aspect to developing a system – it creates a sense of order around you and that helps to reduce stress. When we are stressed our creativity and productivity drops exponentially.

Manage Your Diary

Scot Farquhar has this recommendation for diary management:

"Review your diary at the end of each week. Literally print it out and review it. Ask yourself three questions: (1) did we achieve what we wanted to (2) did I personally need to be there (3) could it have been achieved in a shorter time frame. It will transform how you spend your time."

This regular discipline can pay you back many times over.

Manage Your To Do's

April Underwood, Vice President at Slack reminds us of how important it is to have a system for managing all of your to-do's.

"Have a clear system for to-dos: whether it’s 'Getting Things Done' or the 'Checklist Manifesto,' just have a system and stick to it. I have a very specific method I use in Slack and in email that works for me, and knowing I have that system keeps me from feeling overwhelmed even when I’m behind or the to-dos pile up."

Big, Brave Goals Release Energy

Here's Robin Sharma again:

"Remember that big, brave goals release energy. So set them clearly and then revisit them every morning for 5 minutes".

Be Realistic

Regular and consistent seems to be the way. Larry Kim is dismissive of To-Do lists as they are not actually a system but actually in Eric Barker's words, a 'pipe dream'.

"Have you ever had that to-do item that simply wouldn't disappear? It hovers at the bottom of the list or scratched in the corner, petulantly scowling at you for days, weeks, even months! As more time passes, you feel even less inclined to give it attention. We've all been there--it's just one of the reasons I'm saying out with the to-do list and in with scheduling".

This means you have to be realistic about what is possible. Eric Barker suggests we should:

"Seriously sit down and consider your available time and what specific slots you can designate to completing certain tasks in a given day. To-dos are pipe dreams. Scheduling is a game plan. Studies show that even scheduling free time can be rewarding and can result in better quality of time spent – even if that time spent is playing PS4 or reading a Stephen King novel".

Always Have Back Up Tasks

The Daily Muse reckons we could all do with having a list of things we can turn our attention to when we are blocked from working on what he have planned to do.

"Always have backup tasks. There are times when life will try to derail your productivity: A person you need to talk to is unavailable, the internet is down, or you just can’t focus on the task at hand. Always have other options so that you’re able to get something done even when you can’t finish your primary task."

This method ensure there's always something we can move forward, even when our planned activity can't be worked on.

Clarify Your Three Most Important Goals

Many of the experts included in this round up recommend adopting a 'top three things' approach. J D Meier has written extensively about this method in his brilliant "Getting Things Done The Agile Way."

Writing about this Stacia Pierce suggests:

"Streamline your focus. Instead of trying to get a million things done in a day, write your list then choose the top three things to accomplish each day. These three things should be of the highest priority and once accomplished will leave you feeling satisfied with your productivity. Use the Streaks app to be reminded to accomplish your top 3 daily goals. You can also turn your most important daily tasks into new habits with this app’s features".

The trick is to ruthlessly prioritise. Kathleen Kobel, founder of Smart Business Mom makes this clear:

"If you can, set aside the low-priority items and come up with a plan to delegate or outsource them so that you can spend more time on the things that add more value to your position and the company."

Have A Great Filing System

There's so much information we now have available to us, that the premium on great organisational systems for storing and retrieving that information has never been higher. Brian Tracy suggests:

"Resolve to improve your organizational skills and use a filing system both at home and at work. …There are few activities so frustrating as spending your valuable time looking for misplaced materials because no thought was given to a filing and retrieval system".

He suggests that the best systems are probably the simplest. He recommends using an alphabetical system and then creating a master list which enables you to understand very quickly where everything is.

Never Procrastinate

Having a good system is one thing, but it is crucial that you develop some self-discipline too. Not only will this help make the system stick, it will also stop things piling up, particularly if you follow Anthony Tan, CEO and co-founder of Grab's advice:

"Just get it done right away. I don't wait until I get home, I take calls wherever I am. I execute on any feedback I get right away. That way the work never piles up."

The Take Away

To be a more productive person, build a system that you can trust. Manage your time, your to-do's, and major goals. Have a plan for when you get side tracked. Avoid procrastination.

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://theweek.com/articles/444385/how-most-productive-person-office--still-home-by-530-pm

http://www.30daysofgettingresults.com/

http://lifecoach2women.com/main/ten-productivity-tips-for-business-owners/

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

4. Set Things Up A Day Ahead

Prepare The Night Before

There are only 24-hours in each day. There's obviously a limit to how much time you have and what you can get done in a single day. Some productivity experts recommend getting a jump on each day by preparing the day before. Bharath Kumar writes:

"The family is asleep. They think the weekend is over. Monday morning is yet to come. Work through Sunday night, or at least till 3AM. You get at least 4 hours of extremely productive, thoughtful, non-interrupted time with no expectations. When you get work done on a Sunday night, your Monday is awesome. You meet colleagues with confidence, and can do meetings to plan the next week - all armed by a productive night."

The Rationale For Preparing A Day Ahead

Brian Tracy is another who uses this practice to increase his productivity. He explains the rationale for doing so like this:

"A major benefit of preparing your daily list the night before is that this exercise lets you sleep more soundly. A major reason for insomnia is your lying awake trying not to forget to remember everything that you have to do the following day. Once you have written down everything you have to do on your list, it clears your mind and enables you to sleep deeply. This will help you increase productivity throughout the next work day."

In a later section on looking after your health there are some further suggestions about how getting a good night's sleep can have a positive impact on your personal effectiveness. Thorin Klosowski discusses Barack Obama's approach to preparation:

"By the end of the day, most of us want to relax with some cable TV and zone out for a while before our next stressful day. Barack Obama reminds us that a better approach is to spend a little bit of time preparing for the next day".

He suggests that Obama would often stay up late into the night flicking through documents to help him get his thoughts organised. Klosowski suggests:

"The president’s job is much more stressful than yours, so implementing this as a daily routine makes sense. The rest of us can utilize this tip before big meetings, presentations, or deadlines".

Beat Monday Mania

Larry Kim uses this practice to avoid what he calls Monday mania. He suggests that it's not necessary to spend a lot of time working. It's more a matter of switching your brain on ahead of time.

"You don't need to make calls or even answer emails – simply assess what your Monday game plan will be, and you'll sleep a little more soundly".

It seems that priming the brain a day ahead creates some advantages. It enables the mind to start processing ahead of time and it means you feel more prepared and ready for the day ahead. Even a simple review of what lies ahead can help. Laura McClellan writes:

"The best way to hit the ground running is to start the night before. Before leaving your workspace, or before going to bed, take ten minutes to look over the next day’s commitments".

The Take Away

A stitch in time saves nine. Get a jump start on your day by preparing the night before. Just a quick review of what lies ahead will be enough to get your unconscious churning away so that when your day starts you'll have the benefit of that predigested thinking.

References

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

5. Delegate It

You Are Not Alone – Use The People Round You

Mastering the ability to delegate is a crucial productivity competency it seems. It stands to reason that if we are faced with multiple demands on our time we need to maximise our ability to engage others in completing the tasks we have to complete. Laura McClellan offers some very practical advice. We can ask these questions she suggests:

"What tasks could someone else do, thereby freeing you up to focus on the things only you can do? Look around you: who is available to do some of those tasks? A secretary? A colleague? A family member? A paid helper? An important key to productivity is doing only those things that only you can do, and giving somebody else the opportunity to contribute by doing those other tasks".

Daniel Tan, a web entrepreneur is very clear about the benefits of delegation.

"Delegation is the most important fuel for productivity. Having more staffs should double, triple, quadruple, etc., your time."

Get The Most Out Of Delegation

To get the most from delegation he argues that staff should be set free, and not micro-managed.

"Let them fly with their wings. You hired them, they are surely good. Otherwise, why keep them? Since they are good, there is really no need to check on them all the time. Cultivate a sense of ownership and let them work like they are the boss. Things will go so well when everyone think they are the owners of the company and act in it's best interest".

The Take Away

Make the most of the team you lead. Empower them and increase not only your own productivity, but make their lives better too.

References

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

6. Deal With Distractions

Switch Off

Laura McClellan hits the nail on the head when she says:

"One of the major productivity killers is the distraction of constant interruptions. Emails, phone calls, people appearing at your door… The technology that can (and should) make our lives easier and better also can make it virtually impossible to maintain the kind of focused attention that’s necessary to work efficiently and effectively".

There is a huge problem which is inadvertently created by the very technology which was supposed to make a work easier to accomplish and amplify our productivity efforts. The question is what can we do about it?

Bryan Guido Hassin makes a radical suggestion:

"After noticing that he got some of his best work done on long intercontinental flights, Guido established "Airplane Days" to help him get things done".

"On "Airplane Days," Guido restricts his Internet access, removes distractions, and churns through his high priority to-do items."

He offers some advice based on his implementation of this strategy which he claims creates the most productive time of the week by far.

"At the beginning of each week, I carefully look at my schedule and declare one day (or two half days) to be Airplane Time. I block it out on my shared calendar and treat it as if I were in the air: working out of the office, disabling my phone, and shutting off network connections on my laptop."

Dealing With Social Media

Social media can be a huge distraction, with it's constantly updating streams which can litter our screens and cause big reductions in our effectiveness. Roman Grigorjev has a clever hack for Facebook:

"He partially quit Facebook by moving all his friends to acquaintances."

He explains: "You can move everyone from 'friends' to 'acquaintances.' You will still get updates, but instead of 'check out what I ate for breakfast,' you will only be shown the most important posts, i.e. 2-5 new posts max a day from hundreds of your friends. That would save you lots of time and make you 5-10x more productive."

The Daily Muse recommends an app which can turn off our social media streams completely while we are at work.

"Try an app like SelfControl to block your access during the workday".

Larry Kim recommends turning off notifications – something which I totally recommend. I've written a post about my app set up which discusses how to do this this at some length.

It's not just social media that jostles for our attention. News feeds can also create unwanted distractions. Larry Kim offers this advice:

"The idea that we need to keep up to date on the news is largely outdated. Most of what passes as news today is prettily packaged garbage – it's trivial, depressing, and unreliable. If something major happens, you'll find out one way or another. Instead, focus your attention on what's useful and actionable in your life".

The Take Away

Learn how to control distraction and you'll already be ahead of most people. Try some of the methods suggested here and regain control of your time and what you seen it on.

References

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

https://selfcontrolapp.com/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/mobile-device-hero

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

7. Eat That Frog

Tackle The Worst One First

Brian Tracy's best selling book, Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done - Today! is based on the idea that quite often the thing that weighs on our mind is the thing we tend to put off.

I've explored previously how this is a problem for us, these 'open loops' will continue to deplete our mind's mental energy store and make us less likely to make good quality decisions. Brian's advice is that we should deal with the most unpleasant task first. It's really surprising how doing this releases a ton of energy and some endorphins too as you realise you've actually dealt with that problem. He calls them Frogs because the idea of eating of frog to most of us is – well fairly grim. Anything we eat afterwards will seem much more palatable as a result.

Murray Newlands takes this philosophy and uses it to:

"Schedule the most vital activities first. If you first deal with your most critical tasks first, it'll be easier to discover time for less important tasks. If you permit yourself to become sidetracked on busywork or unimportant tasks, odds are you never will get to the things that really matter"

Alok Bhardwaj says that this is the way he starts every morning.

"Do the least desirable tasks first thing in the morning. Try to work 2-3 hours straight on getting stuff done first thing in thing in the morning, before email or anything else".

You'll Feel Much Better When It's Done

People develop their own rationale for eating frogs. Nicole Fallon Taylor tells us what her's is:

"Instead of waiting until the last minute to finish a task, get it off your plate as soon as possible. Your other tasks will seem less daunting by comparison, and you'll stop stressing about that one task all day, making you more productive overall".

Graham Allcott doesn't use the term "frog" but it's clear that he has his own method for dealing with the difficult or the unpleasant tasks we all have waiting. He has what he calls a "Power Hour" approach.

"So the Power Hour is a single hour each day, where you schedule in an obligation to tackle the difficult, or unclear, or scary, or tedious. Power through those things in an hour, and then you don’t have to think about them for the rest of the day."

Jason Kanigan adopts a similar strategy, terming it the "Golden Hour." These are times when you are functioning at peak performance.

"Figure out when your 'golden hours' are, and protect them at all costs. Permit no distractions during those times. Then 'Eat That Frog'– pick the biggest, hairiest, most difficult goal that stands between you and the next giant step towards success ... and Do It Now. "A small number of decisions makes up the majority of your life experience (the 80/20 rule strikes again!). Therefore, a small number of activity choices make up the large majority of your achievements ... or lack thereof."

Wrapping up this section, Brandon Turner has the simplest advice which captures the essence of frog eating. He puts things like this:

"This year, I made a change. I decided to tackle my biggest task first, before anything else."

The Take Away

Stop avoiding that job you have kept pushing away. You'll be amazed at how liberating it is not to have the anxiety these postponed 'frogs' create swept from your mind.

References

Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done - Today!

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-donehttp://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/254432

8. Look After Your Health

Mental And Physical Well Being Matter

It’s important not to overlook the role that your physical and mental well being play in maintaining peak performance. There’s little point in designing systems and building workflows if the engine that drives them (that’ll be you) is faltering.

Eat Breakfast

Larry Kim’s advice is to start each day by re-fuelling, priming your mind and body for another day of peak productivity. He says:

“Eat Breakfast! Breakfast truly is the most important meal of the day--it's not a ruse put on by Dunkin' Donuts. A morning meal gives you the fuel you need to be present and productive at work, so don't skip it”.

Laura McClellan confirms this noting that there is a lot of evidence which confirms the importance of beginning each day with a good breakfast.

"Healthy people are more productive. No matter how busy you are, eat a decent breakfast. It’ll fuel you for a terrific start to your day".

Stay Well Hydrated

It’s not just breakfast however, it’s also vital to make sure that you are properly hydrated. Robin Sharma makes the point:

Drink more water. When you’re dehydrated, you’ll have far less energy. And get less done.

Thorin Klosowski takes a look at what US Presidents have done to maintain their personal health. Here’s a quick summary:

“A large number of presidents have made it a point to add exercise into their daily routine. Obama planned for an hour of exercise a day, Clinton was an avid jogger, Teddy Roosevelt loved tennis, jogging, and boxing. George W. Bush was also an avid tennis player and jogger, while Jimmy Carter was a cross-country runner. John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan were all swimmers. Time and time again we’ve seen that exercise is as important for physical health as it is mental health, and in the stressful position of president, that seems to hold true”.

Benefits Of Exercise

The benefits of exercise on your mood can change how you feel. Your mood can be given a quick positive injection of productivity enhancing hormones that will help you power through the tasks in front of you. Larry Kim writes:

“It's been shown that exercising in the morning can greatly improve your productivity. Exercise energizes rather than exhausts you, contrary to what the couch potatoes might tell you. (Not that I'm judging. I can be very spud-tacular myself at times.) Exercising also promotes good health (quick, alert the press!), and some studies have shown that exercise can improve your mood for up to 12 hours following your workout. Less stress, more efficiency – it's definitely worth setting that alarm 30 minutes earlier”.

Why Exercise Makes Sense

If you want a quick summary of the reasons why you should start an exercise programme today, take a look at this article by Whitson Gordon. He lists 10 reasons to exercise regularly.

You’ll just be happier.

You’ll live longer.

You’ll get sick less often.

You’ll have better sex.

You’ll get sick less often.

You’ll sleep better.

You’ll de-stress.

You’ll boost your confidence.

You’ll improve your posture.

You’ll improve your memory.

The Take Away

There is a simple truth in the maxim: a healthy body, a healthy mind. Take action to improve your physical and mental well being and not only will you become more productive, you might leave longer and more healthily too.

References

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/top-10-tips-for-productivity.html

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-reasons-to-exercise-regularly-besides-losing-we-1473616982

9. Manage Meetings Better

We Spend Way Too Much Time In Meetings

According to Scott Dockweiller if you’re a middle manager you’re likely to be spending 35% of your time in meetings. This figure climbs to 50% as you enter the C-Suite.

Given the huge time commitment that meetings require, it’s critical that you maximise the productivity you obtain from meetings.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault and Nissan, is strict on the timing allotted for single-topic, non-operational meetings: He allows a maximum of one hour and 30 minutes. Fifty percent of the time is for the presentation, and 50 percent is for discussion”. Source: The Daily Muse

Adjust The Default Times In Your Calendar

One way to start is to adjust the default settings in Outlook or whichever calendar app you use to manage your time. Jeff Haden suggests:

"Whoever invented the one-hour default in calendar software wasted millions of people-hours."

Most of the time a meeting doesn’t need more than half and hour – often fifteen minutes will suffice. Parkinson’s Law will operate if you don’t do this. Re-set expectations and change the default. You can free up a huge amount of time by tweaking this one setting.

Plan Your Meetings

If you’re responsible for organising a meeting, there are some simple rules that just have to be implemented. The Daily Muse hass a super formula for conducting highly productive meetings. Start with a plan for the meeting, facilitate for focus – organising a distraction free environment if possible and keeping everyone on track, and then closing out effectively with a clear series of next steps.

As The Daily Muse puts it:

“Be incredibly proactive about keeping meetings on track. Send everyone an agenda for each meeting, and, if the conversation goes off topic, don't be afraid to rein it in . A simple, “Let’s schedule time to discuss that later if it’s helpful, since we only have 10 minutes left,” works perfectly”.

Avoid Pointless Meetings

Finally, remember that you always have a choice. Avoid pointless meetings at all costs. Graham Allcott makes this suggestion:

“Avoid pointless meetings Meetings can be a massive time-suck. Never take part in a meeting that doesn’t have a clear purpose, a clear agenda and clear start and finish times. But even well-organised meetings can be a time suck! The occasional sending of your apologies can all be good ways to reclaim some vital hours to put your attention to better use than sat in a boring meeting”.

The Take Away

Many of us spend a lot of time in meetings. These are therefore very important opportunities for us to maximise productivity. Avoid the pointless ones and plan the one's you lead.

References

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-much-time-do-we-spend-in-meetings-hint-its-scary

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/10-simple-steps-to-exceptional-daily-productivity.html

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

10. Organise Your Workspace

Clutter Creates Distractions

It’s surprising how an untidy and cluttered working environment impacts on productivity. There are the obvious reasons to do with inefficiency. It’s much harder to find what you need in a disorganised workspace. It can be hard to lay out your work and make it easy to understand what you have to do.

The signal an untidy or disorganised workspace sends to our brains is more insidious. We know the place is a mess, so our mind wild it’s best to keep track of where things are. This is an unconscious process that will be stealing energy from the processing power you’ll need to perform at you best.

These are more of the mental “open loops” which will quickly drain your mind’s battery. It makes a lot of sense to create a well organised and uncluttered environment to work in.

The Daily Muse emphasises the impact clutter can have on your ability to focus:

"Just like multitasking, clutter overloads your senses and makes it harder for you to get stuff done. So if you find yourself having trouble focusing, look around at your desk (and your computer desktop) to see if any of them need a little tidying."

Organise Your Workspace

What do the experts suggest?

Nicolle Fallon, quoting Kristoph Matthews suggests a remedy:

“Before you do anything else, take a few moments at the start of each day to organize and de-clutter your workspace. Having a clutter-free environment helps you think more clearly and produce better results, said Kristoph Matthews, founder of on-demand storage company Boxbee. By cleaning up and organizing your space, you will greatly increase your productivity and limit the time you spend searching for items.”

The Take Away

A disorganised and cluttered workspace will leave you prone to distractions. Not being able to finds what you need, coupled with the 'open loops' such environments trigger in your brain will drain your mental reserves dramatically.

References

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html#sthash.tvZsA0SW.dpu

11. Outsource It

Value Your Own Time

Not everything that’s on your plate has to be dealt with by you personally. If you are lucky enough to have a team, you can empower them and delegate tasks to them.

Sometimes you need to go further. Two good questions to ask are:

Does anyone need to do this task? If no, then stop doing it.

Do we absolutely have to do this ourselves? If no, then consider outsourcing it.

There’s no doubt that highly productive people are very picky about how they spend their energy and time. Bruna Martinuzzi offers this advice:

“Do a cost/benefit analysis of how you spend your time and see if it's worth offloading some repetitive tasks so you can focus on what will bring value to your company”.

Some Outsourcing Options

Marissa Brassfield suggests there are some areas of your life which could be potential candidates for out-sourcing. These are:

Appointments, Reservations, and Logistics Coordination

Fancy Hands

TaskRabbit

Task Bullet

MyTasker

Zirtual

TimeSvr

For Call Handling

AppleTree Answers

Ruby Receptionist

MyReceptionist

VoiceCloud

Research

Fiverr

Freelancer.com

Elance

Graphic Design and Freelance

Fiverr

Elance

99 Designs

Guru

DesignCrowd

Putting Together Furniture, Dry Cleaning Drop-Off, and Other In-Person Tasks

Zaarly

TaskRabbit

Shopping for Fresh ProduceShopping for Fresh Produce

There will be many suppliers that can tailor an offer to your needs based on your specific geography. Marissa is very clear about the advantages she finds in out-sourcing:

“…the truth is, you can outsource more than you might think—for less than you’d imagine—using the tons of online virtual assistant and delivery services out there”.

The Take Away

You really don't need to do everything yourself. Leverage these resources to free your time up for the tasks that you and you alone can do.

References

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/7-tasks-you-should-outsourceimmediately

https://www.fancyhands.com/

https://www.taskrabbit.com/

https://www.taskbullet.com/

https://mytasker.com/

https://www.zirtual.com/

https://www.timesvr.com/

http://www.appletreeanswers.com/

https://www.callruby.com/

http://myreceptionist.com/

https://www.voicecloud.com/

https://www.fiverr.com/

https://www.freelancer.com/

https://www.elance.com/

http://www.99designs.com/

http://www.guru.com/

http://www.designcrowd.com/‎

https://zaarly.com/

12. Develop A Positive Mindset

The Happiness Advantage

I’ve written a summary of the best books out there on how the mind works. One of the books which made it to the list was Shawn Achor’s The Happiness Advantage. This books reinforces the principle that happiness drives success, not the other way round.

It’s no wonder that productivity experts emphasis the importance of cultivating a positive mindset as part of your strategy to become more productive. President John F Kennedy once said:

“Of course, while it’s important to learn from past mistakes, nostalgia for the past can be a boring, manipulative emotion that blinds you to the needs of the future”.

Having a growth mindset means that you will be on the look out for learning and will assume that even when things haven’t worked out, it will be possible to learn from them. They key is not to wallow in the mistakes and spend time recriminating.

Monitor Our Internal Conversation

We can also prime ourselves for improved future performance by being careful with the language we use in our internal conversations. Graham Allcott suggests you should:

“Use language to change your motivation. If you’re dreading doing a particularly boring task, don’t say “I have to…”, say “I get to…”. The language we use with ourselves is a key component of productivity psychology”.

The Take Away

The new field of positive psychology creates some powerful new insights for people interested in improving productivity. Maximise your personal effeorts by building an appreciation of positive psychology – reading the Happiness Advantage is a good place to start.

References

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

http://amzn.to/2q1ydke

https://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/5-best-books-mind

13. Use Rituals To Create New Habits

Build New Habits

No-one can operate at 100% of their ability constantly. Optimising the periods of time when we are at our best is one of the principles behind improved productivity. You are looking for a way to organise your routines into some kind of consistent pattern which you know helps you work at your best.

Brigid Schulte puts it like this:

“…we have been seduced into thinking that if only we try harder and work longer, we can achieve anything. Top performers take a different approach. They recognize and honor their physical limitations by getting plenty of exercise and sleep, cycling between 90-minute bursts of focused work and short restorative breaks, and taking time to disconnect from email for some portion of their off-hours”.

Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project suggest four ways of setting up rituals to automate behaviours that will make you more productive. One of them is to define one task each day which you will prioritise – then start the day focused on that task.

"Force yourself to prioritize so that you know that you will finish at least that one critical task during the period of the day when you have the most energy and the fewest distractions," Schwartz says.

Building rituals is something that successful people have done over time as Robin Sharma describes:

“When I studied the creative lives of massively productive people like Stephen King, John Grisham and Thomas Edison, I discovered they follow strict daily routines. (i.e., when they would get up, when they would start work, when they would exercise and when they would relax).”

Meditation Helps Ideas Develop

Stacia Pierce has a meditation practice she uses to start each day:

“Every day, I spend time meditating before I start my day. Meditation for at least 15 minutes can get you focused and help to improve productivity. Insight comes early; if you sit quietly in the morning and meditate and then listen within, you will discover brilliant ideas are ready to burst out of you”.

Tackle Habits You Want To Change

The flip side of positive behaviours you want to encourage is those bad habits you’d like to change. Here’s one piece of practical advice from Larry Kim:

“Sometimes the best way to break a bad habit is to make things incredibly difficult for yourself. If you hate that you watch too much TV, keep the remote control in the upstairs closet”.

The Take Away

To be productive you need to master your own behaviour. Lots of our behaviour is driven unconsciously which is why habits and rituals play such an important role in driving improved productivity.

References

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

14. Say No

You Always Have A Choice

No is a very powerful word which you can use to regulate how much you have to do. It is sometimes difficult to say no, but developing a confident ability to recognise when you are already shipping water is a strategy many experts recommend.

Adam Grant’s book Give and Take reveals the findings from his his research into strategies for giving and receiving help. While his study demonstrates that successful people tend to be people who are prepared to help others without expecting something in return, he noticed something else too. The Harvard Business Review puts it like this:

"While giving can certainly help you succeed, Grant’s data also reveals that helping everyone with everything is a recipe for failure. So how do you do it right? Top performers, Grant argues, avoid saying yes to every helping opportunity. Instead, they specialize in one or two forms of helping that they genuinely enjoy and excel at uniquely”.

Learn How To Discriminate

Larry Kim offers a clear rationale for cultivating the ability to discriminate – to be clear what you can take on and what you really shouldn’t.

"Remember, it's not simply a matter of being agreeable – when you take on too much, all your work suffers. You may end up missing deadlines, and despite good intentions, you could end up disappointing others when you are unable to meet the extraordinary expectations you've created for yourself”.

The Take Away

Remember whenever you say yes to something, you're also saying no to something else. There are only so many things which it is possible to do in any allotted time. Learning how to say no, to discriminate between the important and the not so important can have major benefits to your productivity.

References

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

15. Build Your Self Awareness

Increase Productivity With Prime Time

Brain Tracy has made a career from providing advice to business leaders. His conclusions are based on thousands of hours of observation and conversations with some of the world's top business leaders. He suggests you should:

"Organize your life so that you are doing creative work during your internal ‘‘prime time.’’ Your internal prime time is the time of day, according to your body clock, when you are the most alert and productive."

By identifying when you are at your most productive, you will maximise your ability to work at your optimal level of productivity. This appears to be one of the characteristics of some of the most successful business leaders. Here's Ryan Smith, CEO of Qualtrics:

"The key for me is you have to understand how your brain works and when you are most productive. For me, I’m most productive and creative in the morning through early afternoon, so I’ve gotten rid of lunch meetings to keep my productive time going as long as I can. I make sure the tasks I have at the beginning of the day are the tasks that require the most creativity or, in other words, tasks I have never done before."

Think About Your Thinking

Henry Ford once said:

"Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probably reason so few engage in it.”

There are huge benefits you can obtain from spending time considering carefully about what you have to do.

"But quality thinking time is vital not only to our productivity, but to our sense of control and well-being at work. Regularly reviewing what we’re working on, what’s on our schedule and what’s coming up can help us spot efficiencies, empower us to be realistic and say no to requests, and get the clarity we need to create momentum and remove procrastination from our working week".

Psychologist Ivan Staroversky, a counselor, psychotherapist, NLP trainer, and Lifehacker, uses the knowledge he has acquired about how our minds work to help him be more productive. He says that he listens to his Ultradian rhythms which are natural body cycles that rise and fall throughout the day every 90-120 minutes. He explains:

"Approximately every 90-120 minutes, the mind and body give us clues signaling the need for rest and change in physical and mental activity. Ignoring these signals may lead to fatigue, stress, and ultimately physical (psychosomatic) illness. These rhythms suggest that its time to take a break and can help increase your productivity. Basically you have to: - recognize the signals - listen to yourself - make time for rejuvenation and awakening".

You can find out more about his work on his blog.

Cool Off Before Responding

If you're provoked, it's all too easy to snap back. Similarly, following our instinctive response can lead us to places we didn't ever intend. While there's nothing wrong with encouraging a creative exploration of other possibilities, sudden, reactive changes in direction can be a serious problem.

President Thomas Jefferson gave himself some rules to counteract these tendencies:

"When angry, count ten, before you speak; if very angry, a hundred".

Allowing a pause between the stimulus and your reaction to it make a lot of sense. Bear in mind that if you can't always control what happens, you can always control how you respond to it.

Switch Locations

We are all made differently and one of our points of differentiation is how we respond to the environments we are in. For some people, changing your location can lead to a big boost in productivity. Meghan Khaitan, founder of seat belt buckle device MyBuckleMate said that a change of scenery can be a big help in boosting productivity.

"Head to the library or a local park (weather permitting), or find a place that's quiet and full of natural light. This can help spur new ideas or shed new light on an old problem."

Silence Your Inner Perfectionist

If you wait for everything to be in perfect alignment, for the absolutely perfect set of conditions, you might have a longer wait than necessary. This is a twist on the paralysis bu analysis maxim – which argues that enough information is enough information. Robin Sharma argues we should quit waiting for perfection:

"Stop waiting for perfect conditions to launch a great project. Immediate action fuels a positive feedback loop that drives even more action".

It's not just when we wait for the perfect situation to begin our tasks that we lose potential productivity opportunities. It's also when we try to perfect what we're doing. Larry Kim sums it up:

"Yes, a single piece of work can always be better, but what are you sacrificing by laboring over slight improvements? Do the best you can do in a reasonable amount of time, and then stop. Your inner perfectionist can be helpful, but it also needs to be kept in check".

Make A Verbal Commitment

If you're the kind of person who finds it tough to honour promises made to yourself – and let's face it many of us are, why not follow Larry's advice to make those same commitments to another person?

"It's easy to break a promise to yourself, but it's much harder to break a commitment you've made to another person. Words have weight and power--make vows to friends (and ask them to hold you accountable), and you may find it easier to keep commitments you wouldn't necessarily hold yourself to".

The Take Away

Build a better understanding of how you work at your best will pay you back handsomely. You will then be better placed to choose the times when you'll be at peak performance. You can choose more than when you work, you can also influence how productive you are by choosing where you work. Controlling your reactions to adversity and maintaining your focus are all skills which you can cultivate.

References

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/ http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.inc.com/ss/13-productivity-hacks-help-you-get-more-done

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.robinsharma.com/blog/09/become-the-most-productive-person-you-know/

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html#sthash.tvZsA0SW.dpuf

https://staroversky.com/

16. Simplify It

It's Simple, Stupid – Focus On What Matters

Winston Churchill once gave a speech, which he began by apologising that it was going to be a long one. He hadn't time he said to write a short one.

President Woodrow Wilson said much the same thing:

"If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days; if an hour, I am ready now."

One way to achieve a measure of simplicity is to narrow your focus.

Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, says,

"I keep things focused. The speech I give every day is: 'This is what we do. Is what we are doing consistent with that, and can it change the world?'"

Jason Goldberg, CEO of Fab.com, has an alternative message:

Pick one thing and do that one thing—and only that one thing—better than anyone else ever could.

He argues:

"We can derive a great deal of power from developing a laser focus on our top business priorities. It's one of the attributes that sets apart the average businessperson from the more successful one.

The Take Away

When you commit to use your time, make sure that it is focused on your most important goals. That way you will make more progress. If you've got an important presentation to make, ensure you make enough time to deliver a short, simple message.

References

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/productivity-tips-from-incredibly-busy-entrepreneurs/

http://lifehacker.com/top-10-productivity-tips-from-former-presidents-1792454530

17. Step Back From It

Maintain Perspective

This article is about implementing productivity hacks that will help you get more done. Jeff Lawson reminds how important it is to keep a perspective on what you're doing. For example, many people advocate clearing your emails to zero each day – something which I do recommend. Jeff has his own take on this:

"Inbox zero is a fool’s errand. I don’t try to keep up. I feel perfectly fine picking and choosing what I want to engage in."

This is an an example of an important caution about following anyone else's advice. In the end, you have to make the choice about what'll work for you. No-one else can do that.

Step Away From The Daily Grind Too

As a Harvard Business Review makes clear, "in a knowledge economy, productivity requires more than perseverance — it requires insight and problem-solving".

HBR presents a strong case for allowing a space to open between the hurly-burly of the daily business hustle and gain some perspective.

"Research indicates quite clearly that we are more likely to find breakthrough ideas when we temporarily remove ourselves from the daily grind. This is why the best solutions reveal themselves when we step into the shower, go for a run, or take a vacation".

"Top performers view time off not as stalled productivity but as an investment in their future performance".

Larry Kim puts it succinctly, arguing that we you shouldn't drown in the shallow end of the pool.

"When a hundred little tasks are nibbling at your brain, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and lost at sea. However, a little perspective can do you good--remember to not sweat the small stuff. If you're going to worry, worry about the big things, not the little ones".

The Take Away

It pays to remember there's always a bigger picture available. Find ways to ensure you've got the ability to climb out of the detail from time to time and check to make sure your goal still makes sense. Finding time to regain a focus on your larger goals can help you recognise when it's time to reevaluate.

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

https://hbr.org/2015/12/9-productivity-tips-from-people-who-write-about-productivity

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

18. Manage Your Time

Expect The Unexpected

There's always something you didn't think of, and the chances are that it will make itself known to you when it's least convenient. Murray Newlands believes the problem is caused by over-tight schedules.

"If your schedule is so tight that you do not allow for the unexpected, you drastically increase your odds of feeling chaotic throughout the day. If you must be somewhere and you're able to make it in 15 minutes, permit 25".

"Leave tiny, unscheduled time blocks all through your day in order for you to have a buffer against the unexpected."

Use Deadlines And Time Constraints As A Positive

My father used to say: "if you want to get something done, ask a busy person". Busy people don't have time to procrastinate and often keep things moving as a result. However, there's also a false busyness where we feel like we're busy when actually we are caught up in distractions. Then it's too easy to let time just slip between our fingers, particularly when the world is full of so many interesting alternatives to the task in hand. The Daily Muse offers this advice:

"Even if you don't technically have a deadline on a task, set one for yourself. Knowing that you only have two hours to get something done will help ensure you don't waste an hour of it on the internet."

The fact is that Parkinson's Law does operate. The tasks we have have a habit of expanding to fill the available space. Of course the opposite can also be true as The ITV reported:

" The work we do in the two or three hours when our attention is at its strongest, are really what defines our productivity – not the hours we spend looking busy until the boss goes home".

Manage Meeting Time

As we've already seen, there are lots of things we can do to make sure the time we spend in meetings can be as productive as possible. Here's a further tip from The Daily Muse:

"Do not schedule more time than you need. Most meetings are scheduled for a full hour, when they should be 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or 45 minutes max".

Take Time For A Break

It's true that: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. In this context, "dull" means less sharp, weary and more liable to make mistakes or take longer to complete a task. Larry Kim suggest we should be kind to ourselves:

"Give Yourself a Break, Man! You work hard--you deserve a break! Maybe with a Kit Kat, maybe with a cup of tea, maybe with a walk in the park. It's easy to burn yourself out if you try to work at full throttle all day long. The truth is that our minds just aren't designed to work that way. For optimal productivity, try the popular and praised Pomodoro technique--work for 25 minutes, then give yourself a five-minute break".

Business News Daily took up this theme when discussing how to enhance personal productivity. It cites Kathleen Kobel, the woman behind Smart Business Mom:

"Take short breaks. Whether it's a walk around the block, a run to the nearby coffee shop, reading a magazine or visiting with a colleague, taking short breaks that are unrelated to your work can make a huge difference in your performance. Your productivity diminishes the longer you go without a break, Kobel told Business News Daily. Kobel explained that this is why it's recommended that people don't work more than 8 to 10 hours per day — at a certain point, your body and mind simply cannot produce anymore, she said".

The Daily Muse recommends you schedule plenty of breaks throughout your day. Building this into your daily schedule can be tricky, so they offer this tip for hard pressed and busy people whip struggle to male this happen:

"Try using an online timer to remind yourself to get up from your desk, grab a snack or some water, or chat with a co-worker for a few minutes before getting back to the grindstone".

For a more formulaic approach, here's Murray Newlands again, describing how he ensure that he makes time for breaks during his day:

"I utilize applied focus sessions where I do 45 minutes of focused effort, followed up by 15 minutes of something else. After 45 minutes, our ability to focus starts to taper off and we no longer optimally perform. I utilize those 15 minutes for strolling around, getting something to drink, answering calls, or anything else that distracts me from the activity at hand".

"Oftentimes, that's when my best ideas come to mind, and I wind up feeling invigorated and prepared to make things work."

Keep A Track On Your Time

There's always a possibility that time will pass without you noticing. This can be a big problem, particularly when we are concentrating hard on something. Over time these can lead to large amounts of time that we are unconsciously using. Bear in mind that time is a non-renewable commodity, it only moves in one direction. That's why so many people recommend we track our time:

"To figure out where your time is heading, attempt to keep a time log for one or two weeks. How much time is actually being lost on unimportant tasks? Where will the majority of your interruptions come from? Will they happen within specific periods of time or on certain days of the week? Once you have this data, it'll be simpler to eliminate time-wasting tasks, along with interruptions and distractions".

There are tools out there that can help you do this. They work in the background, keeping track of what you're up to. Here are are two that I've used:

Rescue Time

Toggl

If you use these tools you'll have a much better idea about how your time is being spent.

Over the course of a week or two, you'll start to get a sense of what the time-sucking culprits are—and be able to plan your attack for how you'll get rid of them.

The Take Away

Time is a non-renewable resource. To make the most of the time we are given is one of the more important productivity skills you need to master. It's also one of the productivity areas that spills over into the rest of your life. Find some ways to manage your time and you'll feel the benefits far beyond improved personal productivity.

References

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_law

http://www.smartbusinessmom.com/

https://cirillocompany.de/pages/pomodoro-technique

https://www.rescuetime.com/

https://toggl.com/

19. Use Travel Wisely

Leverage Travel Time

Lots of us travel to work each day. Time spent commuting can feel like time that's lost. However there's lots of way we can leverage this time to become more productive. When driving I often listen to podcasts or Audible. Larry Kim makes the point:

"Those hours don't have to be wasted--consider scheduling calls in the morning that you can take during your drive to work".

Advice For Flyers

Flying is a whole other story. A few years back, Hughes Air West an airline that used to serve the western U.S. Made a study of the comparison between working when flying economy, first class and working in a normal office.

What they found was that one hour of uninterrupted work time in an airplane yielded the equivalent of three hours of work in a normal work environment.

As Brain Tracy explains

"The keyword was ‘‘uninterrupted.’’ If you plan ahead and organize your work before you leave for the airport, you can increase productivity by accomplishing an enormous amount while you are in the air."

See Travel As An Opportunity

Rather than thinking of travel as down time, Murray Newlands suggests we ask ourselves these questions instead:

"Can you find a method of listening to crucial data that you normally would need to read later?"

As he explains there's really no excuse for travel to reduce pour productivity.

"Have something around that you're able to do whenever you're stuck waiting around. Making use of time that normally would be wasted is an easy way to create more time for those things you have a desire to accomplish".

The Benefits Of No Distractions

As we've already discussed, the fact the airplanes enforce a restriction on connectivity on many flights, can produce a huge productivity boost.

The Take Away

Like a lot of the best productivity advice, travel is as much about our state of mind as it is about the situation we are in. If you can see your travel time as a productivity benefit you'll already be half there to improved productivity while travelling.

References

http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/6-time-management-tips-to-increase-productivity-organizational-skills/

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

20. Use Technology

Unlock Your Full Potential

Today's digital technology is amazing. In fact there's so much of it that it can sometimes be difficult to work out what to use and how to link things together. That's why I've written up the way I use my laptop and iPad. People where I work keep asking me how it all works so I thought I'd just write it down and share it.

If you'd like to see what I do you can read about it here.

The truth is that technology can be a big help in our efforts to become more productive – to spend more of our time, our energy and out attention on our most important goals. Adam Grant, a respected Professor of Psychology at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania writes:

"Most people type much, much slower than they think. Work on increasing your typing speed—or invest in voice recognition software. And then stop wasting time reading productivity tips."

Stop Repeating Yourself

On of my favourite tricks is to use keyboard short cuts to trigger large or small blocks of text to appear. It's one of the things that people have noticed when the see me working and it's probably the most commonly asked question I get. The Muse sums it up pretty well:

"Use canned responses to avoid typing the same things over and over again. For any email that you send regularly—or even just part of an email, like the wrap-up paragraph—create a canned response that you can pop in whenever you need it.

My favourite tool and in my opinion the best one out there is TextExpander.

Use The Cloud

There's no excuse for not having your documents, files and reference materials with you wherever you are and whatever device you're working on. There are many different cloud providers available. Some of the ones I use are:

Dropbox

Evernote

iCloud

Take a look at my setup here.

Stacia Pierce summarises the benefits:

"Take your important docs with you everywhere by using the cloud. Apps like Box.com and Dropbox enables you to access important docs, photos and music and more from any device and anywhere on the go. You can sync the files with your desktop so that you always have the latest version. Team members can comment on files, make revisions and more".

Help With Your Email Monster

Most of us have struggled with email occasionally (make that constantly - Ed.). I've written a piece about how I tamed my own beast which you can read here.

The Daily Muse has a recommendation of it's own.

"Use Boomerang to pull emails out of your inbox until you're ready to deal with them. This is useful for two reasons: First, it gets the message out of sight and out of mind, giving you space to think about other things. Second, it automatically reminds you about the email later on, giving you one less task to worry about tracking on your own".

Set up automatic filters to immediately pull emails out of your inbox and into the right folder. (This is a great option for things like newsletters that you want to come back to on your own time.) Daily Muse

Here's a great summary from Larry Kim detailing the technology he uses:

For tracking your time management, try Toggl or Yast.

Are you a savvy social manager? Go with Hootsuite, which offers a central dashboard for managing all your social media accounts. Also consider Buffer, which makes it super easy to share found articles across various social sites.

For saving articles to read at your leisure, go with Feedly, Pocket, or Evernote. These apps are compatible across devices; you can earmark a blog post on your laptop and read it later on the train via smartphone.

Sick of forgetting passwords (then resetting them, getting an email, and choosing a new password, which you'll forget again next time)? Try LastPass, which keeps tabs and secures all your various passwords for you. If you use numerous accounts in one day (and who doesn't?), this one can be a serious timesaver.

Personally, I prefer to use 1Password for keeping my passwords safe and Sprout Social for social media but this is a great summary nevertheless.

Have A Good Second Brain

Our brains evolved to think not to hold things in their short term memory.

Have a good second brain The human brain is incredible - but our brains are close to useless when it comes to short-term memory.

On average we are unable to hold more than five to seven things in this short term memory. But even this comes at a price – it takes a lot of memory power to accomplish even this meagre feat. That's why it makes sense to think of technology as a second brain – designed to be far more efficient at these sort of jobs.

ITV News reported:

"Keeping a good “second brain” – that is, a list of all the tasks we have to do, and a list of all the projects they relate to – allows us to free up our brain for the stuff it’s brilliant at, and not rely on our brain for the things it’s lousy at".

Don't Forget Your Browser Has Secret Powers Too

Bloggers have always used browser extensions to speed up their workflows. There's no reason why you shouldn't deploy the same tools to produce amazing productivity benefits during your day. Many of us spend lots of our time inside browsers, so each little moment that we save by using these tools can add up to significance numbers across the week.

Harsh Agrawal, a successful blogger offers this advice:

"Use Browser extensions Extensions or addons are great productivity tools for bloggers. Firefox is serving addons since long time. Recently Google Chrome also introduced extension. These extensions are very helpful for getting work done easily. You can use SEO tools to check website’s stats, YouTube extension to watch videos and also take notes without leaving your browser".

In my browser I have extensions for the following apps:

Instapaper

Evernote

Dropbox

1Password

The Take Away

It makes sense to deploy technology to do the jobs our brains aren't well suited to. My strong advice is to find a system and stick to it. There's plenty of good places to look for advice about how to do this. Start by looking at these websites and then make your choice.

The Sweet SetUp

Asian Efficiency

Healthy Leader Blog

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://lifecoach2women.com/main/ten-productivity-tips-for-business-owners/

http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/23-best-productivity-hacks-of-the-year.html

http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-28/top-10-tips-for-a-productive-workplace/

https://www.shoutmeloud.com/top-10-productivity-tips-for-bloggers.html

https://toggl.com/

https://www.yast.com/

http:/hootsuite.com

https://buffer.com/

https://feedly.com/i/welcome

https://getpocket.com/

https://evernote.com/

https://www.lastpass.com/

1Password

http://sproutsocial.com/

https://www.shoutmeloud.com/top-10-productivity-tips-for-bloggers.html

https://www.instapaper.com/

https://1password.com/

https://www.dropbox.com/

http://www.asianefficiency.com/

The Sweet SetUp

21. Write It Down

Understand Your Goals

There's something particularly committing about writing things down. It's not the same as tapping the same words into an electronic device. If you really want to build a productive day then why not follow the advice given from CEO Rachel Haurwitz?

"Know what significant goals you want to work towards every day. Many days, I start the day by writing, 'How I will build the company today' on a blank sheet of paper, and then I list a small number of high value tasks or goals for the day."

Clarify Priorities

Sometimes you can feel there after just too many issues jostling for attention. If you're leading a team one of your most important responsibilities is to provide direction, making sense of competing priorities and ordering priorities. Joe Zadeh tackles this dilemma head on.

"At the start of each week I write an email to my team to share what I’m focused on and what’s inspiring me outside of work. It not only forces me to prioritize my week, but the act of writing helps organize my thoughts clearly. It also means each week I’m making deposits into the 'context bank'; my team gets early transparency into what issues I’m thinking about. I find that all of these benefits accelerate me for the week by reducing confusion and need for 1-off meetings."

Fidji Simo, Director of Product at Facebook uses this weekly practice to stay focused.

"Write down your priorities on Monday morning, and rearrange your agenda for the week to make sure it will allow you to address these priorities. If I don’t do this, I find myself reacting to what’s most urgent during the week, instead of focusing on what’s most important."

Build Your World One Day At A Time

Sam McIntire believes that it is vital to stay on track and uses his daily goals to help him do that. If you can consistently spend time on your most important goals, then you will eventually achieve them. By writing down your daily goals you are making a clear commitment to spending some of you limited time and energy on them.

"Write down your daily goals. It's not always easy to keep track of everything you need to do, so start each morning by writing down your goals for the day. When your focus is broken or you find yourself procrastinating, you can use this list to keep you on track…"

Sam McIntire told Business News Daily.

"Write your list down on a Post-it or something that's clearly visible from your desk, then return to it when you need a reminder of what you should be working on."

Inspire Yourself: Make A Note Of What You've Done

Most things in life, if they are worth having, are not easy to achieve. That's why hard won achievements feel so good when finally we can say we got them done. You can build momentum for your self, as well as get a good old endorphin rush by building a practice of noting this successes down. Here's how Michael Peggs describes it:

"If I've already finished something, I write it down and check it off the list. It always feels good to see something get done."

Break Down Complex Projects Into Smaller Steps

When you want to accomplish something complex it's important to understand that even the most complex of undertakings is really only a series of steps which have to be taken. These steps are sometimes in sequence, sometimes running parallel to the main thread of what you're doing.

Before beginning any major project, spend some time working through all the elements that must be accomplished to deliver the end result. It's much easier to do this free form on a piece of paper.

The world renowned scientist Dr. Linus Pauling once said,

"The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas."

Most leaders and entrepreneurs are visionaries who generally don't lack good ideas; however, capturing all these ideas is often a challenge for busy people. Evernote is a popular, free program for collecting ideas.

There are also a lot of digital tools that can help you. There's a great list prof resources here. Some of my favourite ones are:

Evernote

MindNode

OmniFocus

You can read my advice about how to set up your mobile device here.

It's often easier to scribble while you're thinking. When you're blocked and unable to see what you have to do to get round a problem, Murray Newlands suggests:

"Think on paper. If you feel stuck, jot the issue down. Defining the issue on paper is going to assist you in sorting it out. Create a list of as many solutions as possible. Odds are, you have just solved your issue".

It's like this article from www.lifehack.org recommends:

"Every task, every commitment should be written down. This frees your mind from the energy- and attention-sucking job of trying to remember".

The Take Away

It can be easy to overlook the simple utility of paper and pen. As these experts can testify, there are many benefits to be gained from picking up your pen. Next time you are struggling to clarify your objectives, develop a plan for your big project, or problem solve, why not clear you desk, close your laptop and start writing?

References

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/productivity-tips-40/ http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/5658-easy-productivity-tips.html#sthash.tvZsA0SW.dpuf

https://www.themuse.com/advice/45-productivity-tips-for-extremely-busy-people

http://www.inc.com/murray-newlands/11-awesome-productivity-tips-that-will-radically-improve-your-life.html

https://lifedev.net/2008/08/14/idea-capture-tools/

https://healthyleaderblog.com/blog/mobile-device-hero

#Productivity Tips

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