#303 🐼 But now that the laptop is gone…

Reading time: 3 minutes

Heyaa Bee

Last week, I finished using my first box of face cream in a long time. Not used to hair care and skin care in general. But this I needed for moisturising on dry skin days.

It was only like 25g, and took me 5 months (bought in January) to get over with. Still, it counts like an achievement, right?

Now, I’m using one of my mom's which she wasn’t using for some time. And even opening the lid, I feel quite daring. Khatron ke khiladi types. After all, it's mentioned to be a night cream, and I use it during the day.

OK, it's Sunday 12.39, and I'm listening to nothing…

Typing this from mobile, and I'm not used to listening to songs on it while working. Through mobile, I mean. During leisure time, yes, but not at work.

It's just that my laptop finally gave up on Friday, after 4 years of service. It was the first to die while I was already looking to upgrade. Every other laptop I owned was in a somewhat working condition when I upgraded to the next.

The laptop just refused to start up out of the blue. Coincidentally, the price of the one I was looking for got lower… 20% lower than what I saw last week. Thanks, Flipkart.

I have always preferred Flipkart whenever buying a new mobile/laptop online. Why? Don't know. This time they gave me a reason. They offered a fair exchange value for an old laptop I had, plus an extra discount on my bank transaction (which is usually only credit cards).

With all those deals and discounts, the price almost came to the budget I intended. So, bought it; should arrive by tomorrow. In the meantime, taking a break over the weekend from work.

The week went well actually; could have been better. I was feeling a lot energetic, in full josh, and took care of some tasks from my to-do. More like completing impulsive tasks (and adding them to my checklist), instead of handling whatever I needed to. But I did something.

To begin with, I published two articles - one on my blog, another on LinkedIn. One was to promote an ARC form template (created last week itself) and another was to promote Carrd.

How to Get Readers for ARC is intended for indie authors mainly. Ones who need ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) readers to get reviews and hype their upcoming book launch.

It's quite a long game, you know. Assemble ARC readers, set up Goodreads & Amazon pages, build a street team, share teasers (while coordinating with the street team), get initial reviews posted, and launch and promote the book. This is the bare minimum.

I've infinite respect for the authors who get these done all alone, and still show up strong. They're like one-person publishing houses, no? It takes months of pre-launch planning.

I'm too impulsive to do all that. Mostly… I complete a book, edit it, and publish it the next day. Not the best approach, I know.

In fact, I started working on a new book idea on Friday, that I’m thinking of writing and releasing in 10 days. Momentum, you know. I had the idea and I started working on it (ignoring the curses my to-do list might have thrown).

But now that the laptop is gone, I might take a few days to get back my mojo.

This week is going to be busy, that I know for sure. I just wish I’ve the desire to be proactive. Have shortlisted several ideas for articles to write. Then, I’ve a few “lead magnets” to design.

Also, have a short list of book reviews that I want to convert into long articles for my blog. My reviews on Goodreads, Instagram and others are usually ~200 words. And I've eight of those to repurpose as 500-word articles.

Hopefully, these can be completed in this week itself, expanding two a day. Have also received a query to help someone publish their book(s) on Kindle. Still to discuss.

Let's see what and how much I get done with a new laptop…

Will update you next week.

Bidding adieu. Enjoy your day. Live long and prosper.