7 things to do make the most of your time in Lockdown

We all wished for more time in our hands, more time with the family. Now that we have what we had wished for during the lock down, most seem to be struggling with it.  This could be a great opportunity for us to do things that we had always wanted to do. I would like to list a few high quality ways to use our time:

Learn a new skill

Our home and internet gives us plenty of opportunities to learn a brand new skill – a new human language, a software language, Excel shortcuts, Udemy or Coursera courses on any skill that you always had your eyes on but never got around to it. A lockdown gives you the ability to put in atleast your otherwise commute hours to use in learning something.

Continue reading 7 things to do make the most of your time in Lockdown

Breaking the spell of infinite scroll

In the post Get more out of your reading, I talked about using Pocket, a tool that helps you save web articles for later reading. Pocket also saves content for reading offline, so that you don’t have to remain connected to the Internet to read the saved articles. Perfect for reading during commutes.

Recently I shifted to a tool named Shiori for saving articles to read later. Cannot help noticing a significant difference between the two. What if there are more articles saved than the size of your screen? Pocket is an app designed with modern UI. It provides ‘infinite scroll’. Shiori has a good UI, but it looks very outdated, like an Android app from 2013. It also uses the outdated concept of ‘pagination’. This outdated concept is why I respect the app in the first place. Continue reading Breaking the spell of infinite scroll

Book Summary: Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

Title: Millionaire Teacher
Author: Andrew Hallam
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN-10: 8126568054
ISBN-13: 978-8126568055
Buy from: Amazon.in | Amazon.com

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The myth of centum

“Dad, I got 98 out of 100 in Mathematics.”, says the bright child with results in his hand. The dad’s discouraging response is, “Why not centum?”

While thankfully not a precedent at my home or my wife Priya‘s, the community that we belong to, i.e. Brahmin community of Tamil Nadu in India, is notorious for its insistence on getting the perfect score in examinations, especially in a subject like maths or science where all the questions are objective and you could potentially score 100%.

While I definitely question the extremely high score standards set by the community, my problem starts with the system itself. A system which makes it possible to score a centum in examinations. If you already know the answers to every challenge in a test, what did you learn that day? Continue reading The myth of centum

Get organised: Part 2: Cut through pile-up

In the first part of the series on getting organised, we learned how we need a place for everything and that everything should be in its place. Today, we learn about another common problem that comes in the way of staying organised, i.e. pile up. Things or activities keep piling up. Due to overwhelm, we let them pile up and do not deal with them. By the time we decide to do something about the pile, we have a huge backlog. Here’s how to systematically deal with pile ups or better yet, not let things pile up in the first place. Continue reading Get organised: Part 2: Cut through pile-up

Your Problem is not my Problem : Setting Boundaries

The Dreaded Request:

“Can you please..?”

These can be some of the most dreadful words that you could ever hear when it comes from certain people. An urgent unexpected request that we have said ‘Yes’ out of being nice. And then we curse ourselves and comply with the request. Or come up with an absurd lie and hope to not get caught.

The problem is because we fail to set boundaries in our relationship with others. How do we set boundaries and win back our life?

Let’s look at a few common examples and  consider suitable ways to handle it. Continue reading Your Problem is not my Problem : Setting Boundaries

Get organised: Part 1: Identity your spaces

This post starts a series of posts that teach you how to stay organised. The first of the posts talks about the different types of spaces around you, each playing a type of role for organisation. Sounds jargonistic. But let this post explain. Continue reading Get organised: Part 1: Identity your spaces

Book summary: Now Habit by Neil Fiore

Title: The Now Habit
Author: Neil Fiore
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN-10: 1585425524
ISBN-13: 978-1585425525
Buy from: Amazon.in | Amazon.com

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Rewarding yourself immediately: The ONE surefire way to keep your habits

Is instant gratification evil? Does working on long term goals need sacrifices such that you need to give up something fun today for a better future? Is working on long term goals a drudgery, which appears boring and monotonous?

The answer to all three questions is NO. You can build a good habit and make it fun and instantly gratifying. In fact, that is the ONLY way to keep up that habit long term. Let’s read on to learn more. Continue reading Rewarding yourself immediately: The ONE surefire way to keep your habits

Choose your words, frame your situation

It is often said that there are no good or bad events, just events. Whether it is a good event or a bad one is decided by the emotion that we attach to it. Sure, some events are frustrating and some are saddening. But they are only so if you decide to let them get to you.

Nothing lets you stew in your negative emotion than the words you choose to describe a situation. The human brain can quickly attach emotions to words from spoken / written language. The words you use to phrase a situation can directly or invisibly affect your emotions. The words you choose can either empower you to take control or leave you writhing in pain, self-pity and helplessness.

Here’s how you can choose your words carefully and frame your situation accordingly.

Continue reading Choose your words, frame your situation