Getting back to the issue at hand …

14 Ways to Cultivate a Lifetime Reading Habit written by Leo Babauta of Zenhabits fame is the article that can start you off on the right path to nurturing a healthy passion for reading. Going through the 14 steps, I find that most of these steps make strong sense and can truly guide you. In fact a number of those steps from the original list of 14 steps that I already find to be deeply ingrained in myself, possible due to the many years of reading, are :

1. Always carry a book
2. Make a list
3. Reduce Television & Internet
4. Go to a used bookstore
5. Make it pleasurable
6. Blog it
7. Have a reading hour or reading day

To me Always Carrying Around a Book is the most pivotal step in the list. Imaging all those small minutes wasted doing nothing whilst commuting, when with a book on hand you could easily pass your time productively. Additionally Having a Reading Hour/Day is equally important as you will need to commit to your reading in order to cultivate it. Going to a Used/Rental Bookstore is one way where you can significantly reduce your reading expenditures – renting a book or purchasing a used one will allow you to have a wider selection of books that you can aim to read and at the same time take the strain of the wallet.

For myself, I have noticed that over the years as my reading became more ingrained in my daily activities, the less time I spend watching the TV. And can you just imagine that my parents used to complain that I was a TV addict when I was much younger. And the blogging portion also naturally came about where I sometimes blog on the books that I have read. These are just some of the very tangible benefits that I have enjoyed thanks to my passion for reading. Benefits that could easily be your too for that matter. Take my word for it.

Incidentally in case you’re left wondering -FYI my biggest passion is for book in the Fantasy genre, though I do read some other every once in a while.

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• 2 Steps Forwards …

to this (for my home pc) …

and this (for my work pc) …

Using Kinkless 5 steps as my baseline, I then took my little project 1 step further and applied some very basic Getting Things Done(GTD) concepts to attain the final product as displayed above. Just by having my 4 folders

• Inbox – for any new/incoming stuff
• Outbox – for those things that I can settle quickly to get them done and over with
• D.Central – for anything else i.e. some application icons, task list, …, etc
• No Mercy Deletes – for anything I must get ride by the end of each week, the name implies it all – no mercy!

The simple 4 folder GDT concept I then married to a gem of a software called ObjectDock which enabled me to organize my shortcuts, programs and running tasks into a very attractive and a-la-Mac style fun animated dock.

Thus I have achieved my goal of Desktop Nivana and the final product currently provides me with:

1. A minimalistic icons approach with generous desktop space for great wallpapers
2. A GTD layout that keeps things organized – kiss the clutter goodbye, forever
3. A Fancy & Fun dock for my most used softwares

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