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I have embraced several hobbies in my life from childhood. Like most children that grew up in my time and neighborhood, I was into tennis, art, video games, soccer, cricket, cards among others. One of these changed my life completely and gave me the desired satisfaction. Blogging has brought me so much happiness that I have transformed the course of my life.

Blogging has become the biggest hobby that I recommend to people who seem not to have figured out their passion for life.

I knew about numerous articles about the importance of blogging as a way of improving businesses. Others encouraged people to become experts and make a living out of blogging. I later found out that the most beneficial recommendations lay in the personal realization that blogging changes the writer.

Here are 15 reasons why I think you should blog

15 things why you should blog

1. Be a better writer

Blogging will turn you into a better writer than what you currently are. Since writing is fundamentally a communication method, it is an effective way to pass messages. A blogger goes through the process of first recording thoughts on paper and convincing their audience to agree with their perceptions. Like every other skill, blogging improves with practice. For you to improve your skills as a writer, you need to keep writing.  Do not expect blogging to force you into becoming a writer. Somewhere along the way, you will realize the difference and the benefits that come with consistent writing. Regardless of the size of the project, ensure that you keep writing. It could be a simple presentation, an anniversary card, a resume, or a huge book.

2. Improve your thinking

You will turn into a better thinker if you keep writing. Since writing involves the process of recording thoughts, it keeps you engaged in deeper thoughts and the relationship among them to make sense to you and the audience.  As you dive deep to find the meaning and connections of life matters depending on your topic of study, you get a wide view of issues.  Even if you do not find enough to guarantee your reason to write, it is important to record what you can amerce. Having nothing to say should not be a reason not to write. You may not have figured out what to say or how to say but should always have information. With time, you will always have an opinion about anything because you have enough information that is relatable. Ultimately, you turn into a better thinker.

3. Living  intentionally

Living an intentional life is what most people crave for around the world. As you record events, activities, thoughts, and issues around your life, you become more intentional with what is happening to you. Since your thoughts shape up what you go through and perceive the world, they gradually change to support a positive intention. You can also be able to follow up and monitor the person you are turning into whether it is pleasant or not. You can compare this with what you have been and make a decision on what you need to do to achieve your goals.

4. Develop Keenness for Meaning

Writing will also help you develop keenness of meaningful things around you. Filtering is necessary for writing because you need to be relevant to your audience. You cannot write about every single event and thought that you thought of. Choosing the appropriate things for your audience makes you focus on the meaningful things of life. With an eye for meaningful things, you tend to magnify them and as a result, find more of them.

5. Gain Healthy habits

Do you wish to develop healthy habits, keep writing your journal because you will be having time for devotion, commitment, and discipline? These values will compel you to develop a character that will benefit your psychological health.

6. Exposure

Writing will expose you to new people. Whether through comments to your posts, personal e-mails, or social media interactions, you will be highly likely to meet strangers. It will be up to you to make the decision of making them legitimate relationships.

7. Income

Although making money should not be a priority to a blogger, it also pays to write

8. An Inspiration

Be aware that you will be imparting your thoughts to people that form your invisible audience.

9. All-rounded person

Writing helps you a better well-rounded mindset especially as you learn from our readers.

10. Cheap

You may not spend any money to begin a blog. All you need to invest is your time.

11. Familiarity with public

You will have to be comfortable being familiar with the public.

12. Personal Journal

Your work remains records that you can treat as a personal journal. Use it to learn more about you.

13. Confidence

Exposure to the public, comments, support, and criticism will boost your confidence

14. Recommendations

Exposure and being informative will give you the chance to recommend people and be reliable for information and direction

15. Positivity

It will be a rush with every positive comment you receive about your posts.

It has become common knowledge that blue light can suppress the production of melatonin. This prevents the body from getting sleep properly at night leading to an unfulfilling sleep. If you read at night and simply read before you sleep this can be a great app.

In recent times many software providers have helped to address the concern which has led to reduced eye strain and improved sleeping patterns. F.lux is perhaps the most notable out of the bunch of others available. This has helped techies to improve light related issues.

Many OS has begun to build an option to filter out the blue light including Windows, Mac, Amazon, and Android. But this F.lux has been there for around 10 years and is available on every major OS platform. This software uses location to match the solar cycle in your area gradually shifting to less blue light as evening approaches.

You can also manually change the color  settings from Daylight (Blue/White) (6500K) to Ember (Orange/Yellow)(1200K).  If the light is dim you can choose the  Dim Incandescent Mode (2300K) and reduce eye strain option to make the effect even smoother.

Similarly, you can use effects and extra colors to set the screen to the mode you want. For example, if you little dimmer light than broad daylight you can use the Himalayan Salt Lamp or if you want to watch a movie you can select the Movie Mode. Other effects include the “Darkroom Mode” which makes the background black and text/interface red. “Emerald City” applies the green tint.

If you want to reduce eye strain during the day you can choose Soft White Light and Reduce Eye Strain option from the drop-down menu.  F.lux can be enabled or disabled with hotkeys. For people connected with lighting systems, F.lux works in conjunction with Philips Hue Light, Philips Color Kinetics & Intelli White, YeeLight and  LIFX.

If you do not want to install any software you can still reduce the amount of Blue Light with Night Light in Windows 10. You can change the night light manually in Windows 10. This setting can be accessed at Settings->System->Display.

Also, the Mac Users have an option called Night Shift which can be found by navigating to System Preferences>Display>Night Shift-Tab which provides the same level of functionality as Windows 10.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been functional for the last two years. The impact is immense; while it only seems like an update of the existing Data Protection Act enacted in 1998, there is more to worry about if you are a blogger. It can cost you millions of euros. While it is an addition of the existing regulation act, GDPR has new strict regulations. However, it is easy to circumvent around the regulations and geo-blocks to freedom of your blogging career. If you are still asking how GDPR affects bloggers and how to comply with the regulations, you might be late and risking fines.

What is GDPR?
Companies no longer have the freedom to access user information without direct permission from the users. In as much as some bloggers are still finding ways to escape the regulations, it is inevitable; you have to abide by the EU regulations or pay dearly. It not only costs you money as a blogger but also reputation. Your blog is likely to be published and suspended for a given time depending on the extent of your violation. If blogging is directly linked to your income then your survival is dependent on the EU’s decision. Some bloggers are permanently blocked because of accessing private information from EU citizens.
The primary goal of GDPR is to protect and grant full control of privacy rights to EU citizens. Companies are entirely dependent on individual decisions with regards to personal data; if you choose to share your data or not it’s up to you; this is the new kind of freedom in society. Blogs and websites were used to monitoring browsing behavior and tracking individuals to private details as a basis of advertisement and convincing potential customers. The strategy is no longer functional after implementation of GDPR.

Mixed reactions
There are varying interpretations of how the GDPR regulation will affect the use of the internet in business. A section of bloggers and owners of online stores are against the policies attributing to losses and slow business. According to the critics arguments, access to private data was a milestone in online business; entrepreneurs were able to focus on specific audiences thus save on unnecessary advertisements and increase profit margins. Despite the numerous allegations on how the new regulations interfere with the effectiveness of the internet both socially and in the corporate world, the online community has embraced GDPR. There are numerous benefits with the new set of regulations. EU’s aim is to ensure lawful and ethical data management practices across the world.

While the EU has only 28 registered countries as its members, the effect of the EU extends across the world. If you are a blogger, you know it’s impossible to avoid EU; irrespective of your business filed. You never know who is accessing your site unless you have locked it to a certain region, which is bad for business. The essence of business blogs and any online appearance is extending borders, casting the net wide hence increasing the probability of turning visitors to customers. The fact is bloggers within and without EU borders must comply with GDPR. It is not only safe but also vital for business.
Some organizations have opted for geo-blocking, which is working for them and against them. Geographical blocking involves restricting access from any of the 28 EU member countries; this has both positive and negative effects. A blogger should enjoy the freedom of posting any relevant information as per business specialization; companies, which have implemented geo-blocking can implement any marketing strategies without fear of fines. However, there is a downside to this; restricting a company from 28 countries is limiting your options. The business industry is uncertain, although targeting audiences is important, it is important to remain free because you never know when and where the trend will hit next.
Who is affected?
Every blogger and anyone running an online business is limited to GDPR. Today, operations are critically monitored and evaluated; the regulations are inevitable. As long as you are providing online services, anyone accessing your site has a right to privacy. Any attempts to access personal data in a bid to identify your consumers without official permission from each individual poses a risk to the existence of your business.
Apart from bloggers, EU citizens are also affected by GDPR. Geo-blocking is a provision for bloggers and anyone in the online community to lock out EU member countries from accessing their sites. Certain websites are completely inaccessible by citizens in the 28 countries. Enacting the privacy regulation has affected business bloggers across the world because it is almost impossible to operate without most of the 28 countries; they are significant in the world’s economy.
How does geo-blocking work?
Geo-blocking is restricting user access based on location. The primary objective on the development of the internet is connecting the world; geo-blocking works against this fact. While the whole world remains connected, some websites from particular locations have limited access.
The technique is simple; any device accesses the internet with the help of an IP address. An IP reveals the location of your mobile phone or PC hence easy to distinguish users in EU and users outside EU boundaries.

How to circumvent geo-blocking?

From the user perspective, A VPN is a simplest and fastest method of circumventing geo-blocking; you can pick any location of your choice. From the site-owner perspective, using a cookie consent will help to prevent blocking.

How to Make Your WordPress Site EU Cookie Law Compliant -WPExplorer

Learn how to make your WordPress site EU Cookie Law compliant in this easy step by step guide. Find out what cookies are, how cookies are used in WordPress and what steps you should take to ensure you’re site is following EU Cookie laws.

The above content gave a great explanation of the Cookies and Cookie Law.

I personally made my website EU Law compliant. I made use of the Cookie Consent Plugin and that made my site EU Cookie Law Compliant. However, in many other countries like North America, Australia this cookie consent is not required. Therefore, you can create your own geography to display cookie consent.

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