Although over working self might seem like the best alternative, you should avoid doing it. The best approach is to retain your work life balance and be more productive during work hours, both for freelancing and for daily job. With that in mind, let’s see different ways in which you can get more time for productive work.

1. Avoid rush hour traffic. Try a different time slot for work which is an hour or two early. Doing so you can save up to an hour or more everyday of your travel time.
2. Cut down extended lunch and coffee breaks at work. This is a matter of personal preference but reducing each break by 5 minutes will mean extra half hour gain every day.
3. Use travel time to do reading on your mobile. Mobile phones are super cheap nowadays and comes with screen size in excess of 4 inch making it a decent reading device when using public transport.
4. Negotiate remote workdays once a week. It will help cut down the travel time and give freedom to work simultaneously on your alternate career provided you can multi task well.
5. Switch to a role which requires 5 days work a week (Mondays to Fridays). Dedicate Saturdays to freelancing career and Sunday for relaxing.
6. Use your designated sick days optimally, but not at the expense of your health.
7. If you are allowed to work on your personal stuff during free time at work, make user of this opportunity.
8. Use your holiday allowance.
9. Prioritize your activities. There’s only so much you can do within a day. Ensure you don’t get bog down with mundane tasks.
10. Keep your focus on the key deliverable. Stop checking your email and social media feeds every 15 minutes.
11. Remove anything that is stopping you from achieving your goal. If you spend way too much time on surfing or chatting, try to minimize the time spent on it.
12. Wake up an hour early. The mind is fresh and you can get the most productive output in this hour.
13. Try trimming down your TV hours during weekends.
14. Use RescueTime to be more efficient.
15. Finally, if things are going well, consider switching to a part time job.

It’s your time now. Share what you do to get more time out for productive work via comments.

India is the second most populous and seventh largest country in the world. It offers a wide spectrum of travel location to explore. For the more experimental type who can manage without their swanky buffet dinner and continental breakfast cuisine, check out the various resorts and travel services maintained by the different state government.

Lot of state governments has started to take tourism seriously. This means better maintained resorts and improved facilities to stay competitive with the private firms. Check out the list of State Tourism websites in India which has been compiled at one place for your convenience.

1. Maharastra (maharashtratourism.gov.in)

2. Gujarat (gujarattourism.com)

3. Himachal Pradesh (hptdc.nic.in)

4. Uttarakhand (uttarakhandtourism.gov.in)

5. Punjab (punjabtourism.gov.in)

6. Tamil Nadu (tamilnadutourism.org)

7. Andhra Pradesh (aptourism.in)

8. Arunachal Pradesh (arunachaltourism.com)

9. Assam (assamtourism.org)

10. Goa (goatourism.gov.in)

11. Haryana (haryanatourism.gov.in)

12. Jammu and Kashmir (jktourism.org)

13. Jharkhand (jharkhandtourism.in)

14. Manipur (manipur.nic.in/tourism.htm)

15. Meghalaya (megtourism.gov.in)

16. Nagaland (tourismnagaland.com)

Now that you have observed these images, we all agree the three of them showcase the male person with food remains in his teeth. However, there were bigger changes in the pictures which we failed to notice.

Image 1 – The lady has six fingers in her hand.

Image 2 – The hand around the male shoulder is not that of the lady.

Image 3 – The right ear of the male person is missing.

Through this campaign Colgate showcased that the food remains in your teeth are far more attention seeking than many other glaring things.

Did you find the post interesting? Let me know trough the comments to keep updating similar posts.

Links: Ads of the World

Travelling via train across India is always an entertaining option. Every journey, whether alone or with family always provide an unique experience to cherish. Here are 7 signs which will tell you are in a long distance Indian train. Enjoy with a pinch of salt.

1. There are no empty seats. Whatever the time of the year, whatever the coach, whether AC or non AC, you simply won’t find any empty seats.

2. Every other young person plays song on mobile using speakers. Earphones are a passé thing for the young public (especially in non- metros).

3. Passengers have more luggage than they can carry. Damn the “travel light” slogan. The space beneath the seats, as well as some parts of the corridor are always taken.

4. PANTRY coach a living HELL on rails. If you are misfortunate enough to get a seat beside the PANTRY coach, make sure to carry your own ventilators.

5. There is a fight taking place every hour somewhere in the coach for petty issues.

6. Trains never arrive at station on time. If they arrive, it’s always on the wrong station.

7. Sleeper coach is always filled with extra people without tickets or from unreserved quota. You either share your seats or be ready to fight for it.

Obviously, this makes Bill Gates the most powerful technology person in the list ahead of Google founder Sergey Brin (rank 20), Google CEO Larry Page (rank 20), Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (rank 28), Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos (rank 27), Apple CEO Timothy Cook (rank 27), Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (rank 46), Baidu founder Robin Li (rank 64) and LinkedIN chairman Reid Hoffman (rank 71). A total of 10 people from technology sector are present in the top 100 list.

Few other notable mentions in the Top 100 list:

1. FIFA president Joseph Blatter is the only Sports related person in the list.

2. NewsCorp CEO Rupert Murdoch is the only Media related person in the list.

3. Bill Gates is more powerful than the Pope Benedict XVI (rank 5)

4. 3 people from India make to the list. Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi (rank 12) and Manmohan Singh who also is the prime minister (rank 19) are ahead of India’s most richest man, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani (rank 55).

Source: Forbes top 100 powerful people

One such exercise was where, after few hours, we were paired up in groups of three and talk about the first impression we have about each other in the short time we spend together. When the time for my feedback came, I was not expecting what I heard.

According to one team mate, I am a “Happy Go Lucky” guy who likes to take life as it comes without taking any kind of stress. While as per the other I appear “little arrogant” at first glance but am actually humble once they start talking with me.

What surprised me was the topic we were just discussing was PERCEPTION. And it got proved via a live example. One person’s observation of me as “little arrogant” at first glance vs. another’s observation as “Happy go Lucky”. That was a great eye opener.

Little off topic, I had created a small blog called “StarChazer” on Google’s Blogspot before I switched over to Thinkjayant.com (WordPress self hosted). The blog remains dormant since then. I remembered the tagline that I created back then and want to share with you guys.

“Dream Big. Aim Higher. Chase the stars. And while you are at it, keep collecting moons on the way”

Reaching Manoribel Beach Resort

Best way to reach Manori Beach is to take a 10 minutes ferry ride from Marve Beach.

A gate and a sign board welcomes you to this resort. As you walk in you forget this part belongs to Mumbai.

Rooms and Cottages

There is ample space between each cottage giving some great privacy.

All cottages have veranda in the front with cane chairs and table to sit and relax. If you can convince the hotel staff, get your food delivered and enjoy it here.

The inside has a traditional look and feel. Takes you back in the 1980’s style but with modern facilities aka Air-conditioner and geysers.

Garden view rooms does not provide eye view access to the sea but is part of the tranquil environment.

The resort also boast a tree house to rent out. Spending night can be noisy in the tree house. If you can handle the noise it’s a great option.

The rooms and cottages does not contain television. A common room gives access to the only television set available in the resort..!!!

Surroundings

Hammocks.. Hammocks.. Hammocks..!! Lot of Hammocks around the resort. Perfect to take siesta in the afternoon.

Lots of coconut and other trees in the resort. Gives you ample shade to roam around the area.

Catch a nice view of the sea from the tree top.

Few places to relax

Look another smaller tree top area.

Restaurant and Food

Toddy Taper sea side restaurant serves delicious food for you. The food is little pricey. Definitely avoid the buffet option. The prices are ridiculous.

Delicious looking Poha for breakfast.

Some bread and Egg bhurji..!!

Recreation facility

Carrom time. Thankfully all coins were present.

Table tennis and table soccer.

Open air badminton cum basketball court. Time for

Kids play area.

Manori Beach

Manori beach is just a stone throw away from the resort. The beach is generally vacant. Almost private.

Contrast this with a crowded Juhu beach.

Swimmers beware. The sea is rocky.

A rare gola-wala in sight.

Green house and plantation

A small green house with lot of lovely looking plants.

Hotel food are prepared using home grown fresh veggies. No wonder they taste delicious.

Some great looking flowers.

It was a very relaxing 3 day get away from busy city life. Glad I choose Manoribel Resort. Lack of TV, internet connectivity and nature friendly atmosphere helped re-live old memories.

Links for more information

• Manoribel Beach Resort
• Manoribel room tariffs
• Manoribel Beach Resort Review