Cheers to 2025
January 5, 2025
Every New Year holds promise, as though it is any different from the turn of
I have experienced the most liberating times since I re-discovered my passion for writing”
I must confess that 2022 is speeding away much faster than I had anticipated. In one breath we are already in March!
One of the most frequently asked question I get about my blog is;
“How do you get to write every week despite your very hectic schedule?”
Sometimes I struggle to find a suitable answer. Other times I realize truly that it probably doesn’t make much sense how I get to write every week and explaining it would not do enough to assuage their curiosity.
It is absolutely true that my schedule can be better termed as “horrendous“.
Perhaps even self-inflicted because I abhor idleness!
During most week days, I am either an Engineer managing multiple projects on the road around the country with steep delivery timelines or an HR trainer passing and impacting knowledge to junior executives at a corporate office in Victoria Island or a virtual life coach listening in during a 45minute coaching sessions with young employees of a successful IT firm.
That leaves my weekends for pretty much every other thing. Which would mean that I juggle being a great father to three hyper active kids and a respectable and romantic husband to my very amiable wife, with writing fiction stories, memoirs and lending a voice to tropical issues that would benefit young minds and professionals alike. By being young, I mean you are presumably less than 50years old. No offense intended to our elders.
Many times during these short weekends, I manage to fit a family meet-up with my parents and siblings or occasionally enjoy the noisy company of old friends at an “Owambe” party dressed to the nines.
Despite my weekly schedule looking like that of most young professionals in Lagos who are desirous of making the most of the opportunities around them, I still manage to etch out at least 6hours to write!
To answer that question properly once and for all. I will elucidate further on how I manage to carve out 6 hours every weekend for my passion!
On most Saturday mornings, I am up at 6am. I get set to leave the house within 30minutes armed with a well rested brain, my HP laptop and a writing pad while dressed in a casual sporting gear heading to one of the fancy hotels in the heart of Lagos.
It’s like a ritual and perhaps the best part of my writing experience. My choice of which hotel lounge or lobby to use depends on my experience while at the selected venue. I have a strong preference for locations in close proximity to the sound of constantly running or gushing water as found near swimming pools. In its absence, I settle easily for the low hum of the central air condition unit and the occasional gentle pattering of waiters’ foot on the soft linoleum as they hurried quietly about their business.
At that hour, quietness is like a robe I adorn as I tap into my laptop to churn out a new post.
I also get to try out new and different breakfast from the hotel’s elaborate menu. Particularly the ones with French names. I love to nibble on something as I think through blank spaces in search of lost words to complement my stories.
This probably explains my increasing waistline.
I have met countless individuals during my writing expeditions too. I think sometimes they are just fascinated with the idea of someone waking up on Saturday morning to write. Other times I think they fancy the devotion and concentration that I give to the laptop screen as I tap away.
I often leave by noon and could repeat the cycle on a Sunday if the need arose.
Yes! Sometimes I am unable to get out of bed on Saturday mornings. I blame half of that time on hangovers. Other times, I would have no choice but to join in the house chores for the weekend and miss the ambience and the quiet solitude that the hotel offers. In its place, I will settle for the comfort of my dinning table, the loud screams of competing kids, the steady whiff of a lovely breakfast from the kitchen, the ferocious bark of my Caucasian -Max and the noisy rattle of generators of all sizes in the neighborhood.
Despite the work and family demand I still managed to churn out 111 blog post in all last year!
A good many of these post came from active contributors like Jolade, Dupe Bobadoye, Dr. Kbaba, Abidemi and a few other literary enthusiast. They made the journey worth the while.
There are probably about half a dozen post or a little more that I haven’t quite started or completed during the period, but I will get to them in good time.
This year alone, we have notched 27 post (January – March) and still counting.
The global count for blog post since inception (November 2019) is just about 280 posts!
Let’s drill down to 2021(Last year) to get a sense of the blog post that got the most views, the most page visits and was extensively shared. In short, the post that went viral!
The data for this is taken from google analytics and AFS analytics tools. Both are the primary source for monitoring the trend of visits to my website and the behavior of viewers.
Here we go;
1; Be audacious, take that blind leap – My interview story
You can read the post here
- This is the ALL-TIME most read post on my blog and aside from being evocative, the story marks a turning point in my career and the lessons learnt are just as important 14years after.
2; You have been ghosted – How to deal
You can read the post here
- I guess a lot of people are dealing with absentee boyfriends and girlfriends and this post appears to provide some sort of explanation to the ordeal most young adults are dealing with. The comment section for this post was buzzing with other true-life experiences too.
3; Come, lets do ponzi – if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
You can read this post here.
- The twitter audience lapped this post up pretty quickly. It literally went viral at the time. It came at a time when Ponzi schemes were going burst in Nigeria and explanations were not forth coming. The post puts their ordeal in context allowing the lessons to be distilled to every reader.
4; Unlocking hidden Potential
You can read the story here
- As far as comments are concerned, this post had a good dose of readers’ comments and activities within the comment section. The post tells the story of a young lady and how her sudden change of mindset opened up a vista of opportunities for her. This post went viral on LinkedIn as HR leaders shared the post throughout various industries.
5; 26 phone call etiquette tips – Know more
You can read the illuminating post here
- I bet no one ever read those small leaflets that comes with a brand new phone. Perhaps because the phones were not purchased brand new or why waste precious time reading what you already know. This post critiqued our changing lifestyle fueled by our growing dependence on the mobile phone. There are rules for using the mobile phone and this post is a reminder to all you defaulters.
6; What do women really want.
You may read the post here
- There was no way this post wasn’t going to have a great readership. I am convinced that many young adults are bemused with the mysteries of courtship and the confusion about how to keep their woman/ladies happy. This post got a decent view and kudos must go to the writer – Jolade! She did a fine job!
7; Are you a paycheck away? – from abject despair
You can read the post here.
- This post comes a distant 7th on our most popular blog post for 2021 but rightly so. Most young adults in paid employment must be brutally honest with themselves about how vulnerable they are especially the risk of going broke within a month of losing their jobs.
There you have it, I hope this was a good read.
Thank you for following!
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5 thoughts on “Most Popular blog Post of 2021”
You are actually a prolific writer with great talents. I appreciate you and what you do. More strength and abundant wisdom.
Creativity is a trait every good writer has. Good writers task themselves to bring out new ideas or present old or common things in new and exciting ways, well done .
Yea am one of those guys who is still amazed at your writing skills and how you’re able to make time to put in such great posts. Well done Akin
After reading this particular post its very clear to me now how you manage your time out to write and I must say its a huge sacrifice…. Well done Akin, I really appreciate your gift ..
Thanks for bringing this together Duke. Was able to read some other posts I missed .