I thought of a handful of different topics for the “H” letter of the A-Z Blogging Challenge and then I thought well then H is for Handful!

H is for Happiness

Happiness is important to me. Not everyone sees happiness as a goal … some people see it as a byproduct … but it is a goal for me. I would rather be happy than successful. I would rather be happy than rich. Not that these things are mutually exclusive but for me happiness is the ultimate goal. To that end I am always exploring ideas of what makes me happy, how to change my thinking to increase happiness and how to manage unhappiness to minimize it as much as possible.

Do you see happiness as a goal or the pleasant byproduct of other goals?

H is for Health

Because not much matters if you don’t have decent health! And it sure is hard to be happy without it.

H is for HubPages

I have to throw in a mention for HubPages because I really like writing for the site. I have written there for four years and recently reached a milestone of having written more than 1000 articles on the site. I earn passive income on the work I’ve done there through Adsense and some affiliate programs. I write about the topics that interest me most at any given time.

Right now HubPages is running a contest where you can earn money for writing about long tail topics. Check it out!

H is for How To

The first “H” that came to mind was “how to”. I write a lot of “how to” articles for a lot of different sites. And when I don’t know how to do something the first thing I’m likely to do to remedy that is to look up a “how to” in Google. I noticed that a lot of other people chose this phrase for the H of their A-Z blogging challenge too!

Tags: a-z blogging challenge, happiness, how to, hubpages

I’ve been doing a lot of research and writing lately about the topic of being more efficient with email. In discussing this topic with people, I’ve discovered that the majority of people who feel that they are not efficient with email have the same few concerns.

Those concerns are:

• Lack of understanding about their email program. Most of these people feel that they don’t fully understand the different things that they can do to sort, organize and utilize their email accounts most efficiently.
• Too-frequent use of email. One of the most common complaints from people is that they check email all of the time which reduces productivity in other areas of their work.
• Taking too long to respond. This means two things. First, people feel like they leave emails in their inboxes too long before answering them which clutters the inbox and stresses them out. And second, they feel like writing up their responses takes too much of their time.

What I have come to believe after talking with these people is that the solution is a fairly simple one:

Set aside time each day to deal with email.

During this time, you can commit to answering everything that comes through your inbox in a focused and efficient manner. You can also commit a certain amount of time each day to learning a new tool or trick for your email. (A good one is to learn about email templates which will reduce your response time!) And then you can forget about email the rest of the day.

Tags: efficiency, ehow, email, how to, kathryn vercillo, productivity, simplify, tips

I’ve just been doing some research into how to get rid of foot odor. It’s not a bad thing to know – most people are embarassed when they have stinky feet and they want to get rid of that smell. But still, some of the remedies that I’ve found during my research just seem a little bit weird to me.

For example, one big suggestion is to wash your feet in bleach. As a general rule, I don’t think that you should use bleach to wash your body. It’s just too hard on it. Finding a strong soap, washing your feet regularly with it and properly drying your feet makes a lot more sense to me than putting them through a bleach wash.

Another similar example is washing your feet in vinegar. Granted, this one is safer and it probably will get rid of your foot odor but then you’re going to have feet that smell like vinegar which, in my opinion, isn’t really the best smell in the world to be walking around emitting.

There are also tons of options for foot scrubs that seem to have the same problem as the vinegar solution which is that your feet end up smelling like the food. Radishes, for example, are not something I’d want my feet to smell like. Ginger, on the other hand, may be a good home remedy for foot odor since it smells pleasant enough.

Mostly I think that you should take a common sense approach to keeping your feet clean and dry rather than relying on these types of solutions. What do you think?

Tags: foot care, foot odor, home remedies, how to, how to get rid of foot odor, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, stinky feet, tips

I have been writing articles over at HubPages for two years as of this month. I’m always interested to see which articles stand the test of time and which ones fade away after their original publication. One of the best ways to do this is to look at the best and worth hubs each month.

Here is a look at the top ten articles for amount of traffic in March:

1. How to Delete a Browser Cookie. Tips for deleting browser cookies for Internet Explorer users.
2. How to Tell a Close Friend that You’re In Love with Him or Her. Thoughts on whether or not to tell a friend that you want more and how to do that.
3. Top 10 American Fashion Designers. A look at some of the great fashion designers that work from the U.S.
4. How to Open a RAR File. In case you need to open a RAR file and don’t know how.
5. How do you Know When Mushrooms Go Bad? You wouldn’t want to eat bad mushrooms.
6. Fat Profiles of Olive Oil vs. Canola Oil. Information on whether there’s more fat in olive oil or canola oil and what kind of fat it is.
7. Tips for Getting Rid of a Caffeine Headache. Many people want to give up caffeeine but they end up with headaches. Here’s how to get rid of them.
8. Indoor Activities that Bring Couples Closer Together. People who want to stay indoors together should figure out how to have fun there.
9. How to Build a Treehouse. Thoughts on how to start building a tree house and where to get more info to complete the project.
10. Swimming vs. Running – Calorie Burners. Which one burns more calories – running or swimming?

So the articles that people were interested in this month were a decent mixture of topics but the focus seems to be on food and exercise, tips for tech tricks and “how to” type articles. What do you think made people most interested in these articles in March?

Tags: articles, best articles, how to, hub pages, hubs, kathryn vercillo, top hubs

I don’t get the chance to write about fashion very often but it happens every now and then. For example, I recently provided advice on How to Wear High Heels without Hurting your Feet. I’ve been wearing high heels for as long as I can remember but I also walk everywhere so I’ve had to learn how to do this the hard way. It’s paid off in a set of great tips.

The article was chosen as one of the Top 3 articles this month in the Fabulous! Festival. The two other posts that were chosen along with mine for this honor were on mineral makeup and around-the-world shopping from your computer. Although these were considered the Top 3 posts, all of the other posts were also good.

There were posts on beauty in the areas of skin care and alpha lipoic acid. There were posts on fashion topics like pinups, depression chic and Milan fashion week. There were general style posts on handbags and Apple products. And there were shopping tips for things like prom. All great stuff! Do have a read.

Tags: beauty, blog carnival, ehow, fabulous festival, Fashion, high heels, how to, kathryn vercillo, style, tips

One of the things that I don’t miss about my last place was that it had carpets. Sure, there are great things about carpets but they are so hard to keep clean! I much prefer my hardwood floors.

Nevertheless, I did have carpets for a long time. I also had dogs, a combination that doesn’t mix very well. Because of this, I was constantly testing out new vacuum cleaners and carpet cleaning products to try to keep that carpet free of pet hair and dirt.

What I found was that the best solution was to make your own carpet cleaner. This was great for three main reasons. First, it was cheap. Second, it was made using natural ingredients instead of chemicals so it was healthy and “green”. And finally, it really worked a lot better than anything else I tried.

Have you ever made your own carpet cleaner? Do you have any suggestions for how to make a good solution that works on all different types of carpets? I don’t need that advice anymore since I’ve got my great hardwood floors but I’d love to know the answer so that I can pass it on to others!

Tags: carpet cleaner, ehow, home, household products, how to, kathryn vercillo, make your own cleaners, natural cleaners

I’ve been busy answering questions over at Yahoo! Answers again. One of my favorite things about being a web writer is the diversity of the topics that I get a chance to learn about and become an expert in. The fact that two of my Yahoo! Answers were recently chosen as “best answers” even though they are from widely different topic areas is a testament to the fact that web writers really get to know their stuff across a diverse range of interest areas.

On the one hand, I answered a question about which is the best city to live in. I’m certain that no one is surprised that I argued for San Francisco since we all know that this city has my heart. But I tried to be thorough in my answer so that others could see why I feel that way. This answer came from the hands-on personal experience of living here as well as the research I’ve done about the area since I write about it so frequently. I also made sure to cover the highlights of other great cities and to emphasize that ultimately the answer to this question is a really personal one.

The other topic I answered a question about was completely different. Someone asked how to pay for shipping. I think I answered that completely but also went on to try to explain some of the pros and cons of shopping when it comes to shipping fees as well as to offer tips for reducing shipping costs. I figured that people looking into shipping anything would want that money-saving information!

So hopefully that was helpful.

Tags: advice, answers, cities, how to, kathryn vercillo, Personal Finance, questions, Travel, Yahoo Answers

DayTipper is a really cool site where people provide short tips on all sorts of different topics. It’s easy to sign up to contribute there. I like to participate there so that I can share some of the things that I’m learning about in my research around the web.

Take a look at some of the tips that I’ve recently had published there:

• How to be a Great Friend to Other Women.
• Natural Treatments for Fibromyalgia.
• Make your Boyfriend Feel Sexy.
• Wear Red Shoes without Looking Ridiculous.
• Travel Without Leaving Home.
• Choose an Electric Car.
• Cost of Owning a Pet.
• Simple Chocolate Mousse Alternative.

Would love to know your thoughts on any of those tips!

Tags: advice, day tipper, how to, links, smartchick, tips, websites

I believe that the key to living a healthy life is to live in moderation. I don’t always stick with this belief. I have some hedonistic tendencies. I like to indulge and imbibe. I like to revel and rejoice. But ultimately, I believe that most things work best when they are done in moderation rather than at the extremes.

I believe that this is true of both work and play. I definitely go through periods of being a workaholic. This is sometimes great since I really do love the work that I do. But ultimately the lack of moderation in my work causes me to dislike what I normally enjoy about it and to seek to regain that balance of work and play yet again. Likewise, when I play too much, I miss my work. When I am too social, I miss my solitude and when I stay home alone too much, I miss my friends. My life is constantly about trying to find balance and that balance comes with learning moderation.

One specific example of moderation that works is in dieting and weight loss. I don’t believe in fad diets. I don’t believe in rapid weight loss. I don’t believe in extreme weight changes. What I believe is that your body has a weight that’s right for it and that if you eat healthy and in moderation then you will naturally balance out at this weight, the right weight for you and the one at which you will feel your best. I don’t believe in over-indulging in treats but I do believe in indulging in what you enjoy on a regular basis. I believe, ultimately, in moderation – in weight loss, yes, but more importantly in life as a whole.

Tags: balance, being healthy, diet, eating right, ehow, happiness, how to, kathryn vercillo, life, moderation, weight loss, wellness

One of the cool things about being a freelance writer is that you get asked how to do all sorts of different things. Because I’ve researched such a diverse range of topics, people will ask me about random stuff in the hopes that I’ve had to learn about it for an article in the past.

For example, someone might ask me how to paint block walls. Even if I’ve never done this outdoor design task before, there’s a good chance that I would know something about it because I’ve done a lot of writing about various building, landscaping and design topics.

Indeed, I do have a basic idea of how to paint block walls. They have to be smoothed out with the right materials, painted with the right type of paint and then sealed over so that the paint doesn’t peel off easily as a result of being out in the elements.

If I wanted to actually do this task myself, I’d do more in-depth research into the specific types of paints and sealants that should be used for the material of the block wall that I was painting (cinder block for example) but even without doing this research, I do have a basic idea of how to do the job. That’s the kind of smart stuff that freelance writers get to learn about all the time!

Tags: design, ehow, freelance work, how to, kathryn vercillo, landscape, painting, writing