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Things I learnt from Highschool

Hey! Before I start this blog I think its important for me to introduce myself. My name is Anu, I’m 18 and just recently graduated from high school. And here are some of the lessons I learnt.

Now, I will be very honest here, and I think a lot of my fellow people will relate to me when I say this – high school is way too hyped. It is definitely not like those movies you see on the weekends in middle school and start fantasizing about. Its not all that glamour and glory and is mostly just like all your previous years of schooling except you probably have more work load (and if you’re like me then you probably don’t care about it)

Having said that, I don’t mean to bash those last few years of “fun” and “carefree” times. Despite all the trauma that high school gave me (that’s a topic for another time) I’m still grateful for some of the lessons that I learnt.

Not education based lessons though, cause all that I learnt in high school was trash. That’s right, I’m not actually going to dissect a flower or use integration in real life. I’m going to be very honest when I say this – I didn’t actually pay too much attention to my lessons, obviously I passed with half decent grades, but I don’t find my life much different from when I was the “top of the class” student. But I’ve digressed here.

The matter of fact is – no matter how unbearable highschool was, it taught me a lot of things I will actually cherish my entire life.

The first and I think most important that I’ve learnt is how to build networks and connect with people. I, like many people, did not have too many friends – only a handful of people that I could call friends, but, I did however, make acquaintances and also learnt the art of building a network and being able to form instant connections with people which, safe to say, has helped the professional side of my life.

My parents had always pushed me to take part in almost every co-curricular activity, that definitely helped me learn a handful of talents and also hone some skills but more importantly, I never had the fear of trying new things or being in uncomfortable situations and stepping out of my comfort zone. Also helps that I experienced stage fright and performance anxiety at a very early age and have gotten very accustomed to that nerve recking feeling.

Also, can we be honest here, the best part about high school had to be the rigidity and stability it gave to our day to day lives. I can truthfully say that I have not had a fixed schedule or work plan since I’ve graduated and that has really messed up my time management.

Speaking of which, I think the pressure of finishing a test/exam in a really short period of time actually made me better at getting things done in record time and also helped me actually think with a clear head even under massive pressure. (God bless exam season)

And lastly, I think the main thing that I have to give credit to high school (and my procrastination) for is this blog. Whenever I got a task/assignment from school that I felt was a “waste of my life” (which was almost all of them), I would procrastinate and instead write, some of which I then posted here (and some on my other site too) and now you’re reading them. So I guess I owe thanks to high school (and to you too…you’re awesome <3)

Having said all of this, I know that it is an absolute privilege to even go to school and receive education and I am really grateful for that. I also encourage everyone to stay in school – it will be worth it in the end. Also, never stop learning, it is one of the most beautiful experiences of life.

One Love

Will AI really take over?

Daily writing prompt
What are you curious about?
View all responses

Being an author who is dependent on many algorithms to push my work everyday and with AI becoming a major part of today’s time, I wonder if AI will actually take over some of these creative spaces? It’s clear that at the end of the day technological tools like these are making life easier for people and are here to stay. So I ask the question – would people still be interested in reading stories or creatives written by actual people, or will our curiosity of the Artificial intelligence world take over us and the only thing people would want to consume would be AI made?

Learning From The Past

Some people look back at thier past, to find happy memories, some find sad, hurtful memories, but the thing that will be common for everyone looking back at their past is that you can (and should) learn from the past.

The experiences, the people and the situations you were in – they all have a much bigger purpose in your life. They are there to help you learn and help you grow, for you to grow into the best version of yourself.

The past holds high notes of wisdom, notes that can change your present if you gain inspiration from it.

It’s fair to say that we’ve all had good and bad times in our past, times when we were happy, and times when we weren’t.

Always remember that life is like an everflowing river, constantly swirling and making new paths, sometimes carrying on with the old paths and sometimes making new ones.
No matter good or bad, your past can only control your present and future to an extent.

There is a fine balance between honouring the past and losing yourself in it.

Eckhart Tolle



We all have, at some point, made mistakes in our past, but replaying all the regrets from the past is not going to make any difference to the present.

The way to get over the regrets from these mistakes is to actually learn the proper lesson from it. When we learn from it, it is no longer a negative element in your life, rather, it becomes the positive aspect of our past.

Remember the lessons the past has taught you, but don’t let the fear from the past experiences affect the choices you make in the present.

We need to be able to learn from the past, but at the same time, it’s important to update those lessons based on the current situation and the person that you’ve changed into.

It's good to learn about the mistakes from the past and use them to make better decisions for the future but it's important to know that at the end, your mistakes only guide you, they do not reflect who you are.


We can’t change what’s already happened, so instead of thinking of those times, it’s important to grow into a better version for the present and the future.
Try to see the past as training for a better future and use the lessons to grow.

The way to actually grow from the past is to firstly have the self-realization and courage to accept the mistakes you made and acknowledge it’s consequences.
It’s important to have the courage to make changes to your actions to make changes for the future results.

Have the courage to recognise the behaviours from the past that are negatively affecting your present. Analyse those behavioural patterns and their affect on you.

Then, take responsibility for your actions and the mistakes. When you take the responsibility,it becomes easier to actually accept it and move on and also stops you from always bringing up the past and blaming others for the mistakes and problems you faced in the past.

Bringing up the past and blaming others for the bad in it is never going to lead to anything positive and will hinder your relationship.
We bring up the past and try to connect it with the present when we feel like we’re not in control of the situation, what we need to understand is that it does not help the situation at hand and instead pulls the focus away from the main issue.

Instead of holding grudges with people connected to a sad past, try reasoning with them and having conversations. Resentment only takes away power and energy from you, forgiveness sets you free.

Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.

Percy Bysshe Shelley



Once you understand and accept the past and every thing in it – good and bad, it becomes easy to learn from it and steer into a better future.

Teach yourself better ways to deal with situations and people. Teach yourself to actually be present at the moment and most importantly, teach yourself to be responsible for your actions and think about the consequences it can have in your future.

The best thing about looking at the past is all the good memories. Whenever you feel low or unmotivated and need something to cheer you up its a good exercise to look back at the times when you were in a better state of mind and felt powerful.
Think of the times when things went your way and you were productive and made positive changes to your life.

Try to remember things to the last detail and then use the same energy that you felt then. Manifest that power back into your life and harness that energy to drive away the negative energy surrounding you (sort of like the Patronus charm – Expecto Patronum ! )

STOP SINGLE USE PLASTIC – REDUCE, REUSE & RECYCLE

If you are unfamiliar with the term single use plastic, it simply means plastic that is designed and manufactured simply to be used one time.

We are all well aware of the ill effects of using plastic. Yet every day we see millions of plastic bags,cups, toys being thrown around carelessly.

It is time that we stop the misuse of plastic and actually take strong steps against it.
And to do this, you don’t need to make big sacrifices and changes to your life, every small change in your lifestyle can bring a change to the world and reduce your carbon footprint. Here’s how you can do it.

We’ve all heard about the 3 R’s. Very commonly known as Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In the most simple terms it means – refuse the items that you don’t need, reuse the items more than once and properly dispose the items that are no longer useful to you. At the end, it helps to cut down the amount of waste that we throw away.

“Outright bans on plastic bags may not be the best solution, but education and incentives to get people to stop using them are necessary.”

David Suzuki

REDUCE

The logic behind it is quite simple, if there is less waste, then there is less to recycle or reuse.

Before purchasing a product ask yourself – “Is there something else that I can use for this purpose?” , “Is this product necessary to do this task?” and “Is the item something that I want or something that I need?”
Asking these questions to yourself will help re-analyze the purchases that you make.

Also, purchasing multi tasking products can be a great investment – to your financial situation and to the nature.

REUSE

To reuse something simply means to repurpose things.
It saves them from landfills and dosent require extra expenditure of natural resources to recycle them and remake things out of them.

In today’s day and age, repurposing things has a new name – DIY or Do It Yourself. These are fun, interesting projects that you can do. It’s a great way to reduce wastage of things and also boosts your creativity.

RECYCLE

Recycling means to transform something back to a raw material and then making new things out of them.

It is a great way of properly disposing waste but it requires a lot of energy and time. Also, many recycling techniques are harmful for the environment.

So before you buy anything make sure that it is made out of non toxic materials, that way it can be easier to recycle.

Also, while disposing waste carefully separate the products that can and cannot be recycled.

Now that we know the 3 R’s
Let’s learn some of thier benefits.

As mentioned earlier, it reduces the amount of waste thrown into the environment thereby reducing the chances of polluting the environment.

Reducing and reusing our waste automatically reduces the level of greenhouse gas emissions.

Apart from that the 3R’s save land and money that communities and governments have to use to dispose wastes in landfills.

In addition to all of this, they also help to lessen the use of newer resources and energy, thus, making better use of resources.

With all this information in your hands, think about the change that you can make, with just one simple change in your everyday life.

POWER OF TOGETHERNESS AND HUMANITY

Preface
This was written in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic and a few days ago I came across this and decided to change it up a little based on the current situation going around.

During the time of this pandemic, all our lives have changed drastically.
We witnessed people being really sick, some coming through stronger and healthier and some who no longer hold our hands.
We saw the arrival of zoom meetings, Google meet and other ways of working, studying and connecting with people.

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.

Helen Keller

Since then we’ve all gotten used to this new way of life, in some ways, it has become the new ‘normal’.

Throughout this whole experience, right from the discovery of this virus, to seeing it rapidly spread globally, to then getting the vaccine (speaking of which, if you haven’t, get the vaccine!!!) and now to this point where things are getting more or less back to normal, we’ve consistently seen the power of togetherness and humanity.

We saw people coming together (while staying apart), keeping their masks on, staying home and most importantly, constantly supporting and cheering on the people working hard for us.

We’ve seen humanity evolve into this version of us that we haven’t seen in a long time.
We have seen kindness and compassion and love in each other’s hearts, and we saw some of them showing it through their actions.

I remember December 2019, sitting at home and thinking, “Gosh! 2019 was horrible. But 2020 is going to be my year!” (As most of us thought). But then 2020 came in with a bang, just not the kind we expected.

When the thought of staying at home with my family finally settled in, I was horrified, could you imagine, being home, stuck with them 24/7. Gosh!

But we all got used to that after a point and things started getting into a routine. We all learnt to deal with the people around us and the differences we have with them. We learnt to forgive our past and started looking for a brighter future (which most of us are still doing!)

Most of us have reached out to the people that we haven’t spoken to in a long while. That friend that turned their back on us in middle school, that aunt who was really mean to us and even little Billy from kindergarten (hi Billy!) and if you haven’t, then you should! Let go of the bad memories from the past and embrace this time.

I think that is what humanity and togetherness is about, it’s about letting go of the harsh past and working for a beautiful and better future, for ourselves and for others.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean, if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

Mahatma Gandhi

I won’t deny the fact that there are some people who tend to go in the direction opposite to humanity and cause trouble for others (hi Karen!) but at the same time, there are people that move and guide people to the direction of greatness.

This is another great trait of humanity and togetherness. Together we’re able to push past the point of negativity and let positivity take the spotlight.
We’re able to create and spread a sense of togetherness by spreading kindness and love to everyone around us.

We’ve seen time and time again, the power of togetherness and the message we’re able to spread together. Right from the #MeToo to the #BlackLivesMatter and then #AllLivesMatter and countless others that have taken the spotlight.

We constantly see people supporting each other and spreading the message of togetherness and love.

I won’t disregard all the bad things that have happened in the past, but through kindness, love and compassion, we’ve been able to get through those bad times and we’ve come back stronger and better than ever.

To anyone out there who is going through tough times, I want to let you know, things will become better.
Nothing bad lasts forever, just as nothing good lasts forever, which means we need to learn from these times and accept the change.

I want you to share the thoughts you have during these hard times and even in the good times. Share them with a friend, a family member, a loved one, a colleague or even me! (You can comment them below if you like, or you can mail me at talkwithanuwp@gmail.com I would love to hear from you!)

At the end, I want everyone reading this to know, we’re all going through the highs and lows of life, but we can come out of it wiser, stronger and better, using the power of togetherness and humanity.

THE ART OF LISTENING

Listening is perhaps the most important and the most difficult part of having a healthy conversation. The main reason why most people struggle with being good listeners is because of their ego and impatience.

Let’s take a deeper look at listening and (almost) everything about it!

What is listening?

Listening does not mean hearing just to respond. It is hearing to understand.
Listening is not to judge/analyse what the other person is saying, it means to fully concentrate on what is being said. It is about using empathy and compassion and understanding the complete message, including the underlying emotional message conveyed.


Active listening is a technique to develop our ability to listen and make an effort to truly understand what the other person is trying to say.
It doesn’t need to be about agreeing with everything that is being said, it’s about respecting the other person and their opinion and avoiding judgmental tones or words.
It is about listening to what the other person is saying without having judgment or assumptions.

Why is listening important?

Being a good listener makes you an even better communicator. Your conversations and/or feedback really depends upon your listening skills, if you’re not a good listener, your response can be faulty.

Listening is not only a learning opportunity for you, but it is also one of the fastest and easiest way of making friends and building your network.
As human beings we are social creatures and by actively listening to people around us, we are able to connect, co-operate, develop and understand ourselves and each other.

Listening is a critical skill to have in a workspace. It helps you learn about the people that you work with and allows you to have a crystal clear understanding of the conversations which will help you make better decisions and solve problems.

Good listening skills will help you understand other people’s perspective better and understand any underlying feelings that they are unable to express. Also, by being an empathetic listener, you create a space for taking your own feelings and thoughts into account and taking a much closer look at them.

Finally, listening is the first base for growth, it helps you make good decisions and at the same time it slows you down to take a careful look at a situation before taking any decision or giving an opinion.

How to be a good listener?

Listen for curiosity and not for the sake of listening just to reply. Real effective communication cannot happen if we pretend to listen and it will certainly not happen if we don’t listen at all.

When listening to someone, try to have your full focus on them and their story rather than getting distracted or reflecting on your past experience or thinking of an answer or comeback.

Try to listen with an open mind and give the other person space and time to effectively communicate and express themselves and give their opinion.
It’s always easier to come to a compromise or find the best solution when everyone has the opportunity to explain their experience and understand the other person’s position.

Ask questions and take into consideration the whole situation before coming to a solid conclusion. Try to take a step back and analyse the whole situation from the other person’s point of view before giving any answer or advice.

To make someone feel heard, maintain eye contact (but try not to be creepy!) and give subtle indications like nodding. You can also ask questions and/or simply paraphrase what they said (or you could combine it and do both! For example – “so you’re saying… because…and …?”). This will make them feel heard and understood and make you feel engaging as well.

What am I doing wrong?/ Things not to do

Poor listening skills create walls in Communication and make things difficult and build more chance for mishappenings and accidents, especially due to miscommunication or incorrect assumptions/conclusions.

The first and most important thing to keep in mind while listening is : listen to understand, not to reply.

So the next time you listen to someone, listen to actually understand what they’re saying.
Don’t try to finish their sentences or interrupt them, allow them to finish, that way you can have a proper idea of their point of view and come to a better conclusion.

Secondly, try to avoid any and all narcissism. Try not to make it all about you or think about your own past experiences while the person is talking.
Although it is good to give advice from past experiences and mistakes, not paying full attention to the speaker might make them feel that you’re not interested and you might miss out on any key points.

And finally, do not think about your reply or get distracted by anything else, try to keep your full attention on the speaker and their story.

ASKING WHY

Do you remember a time when you were young, asking questions about anything and everything around you. The innocent little ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘how’, and ‘who’ that made people around you laugh and more often sigh in annoyance.
Toddlers have more curiosity in life than most adults. They are not afraid or ashamed to ask the question ‘why’ to anything and everything that catches their attention.

If you’re one of the few adults who has questions about your surroundings and still have that childlike natural curiosity, great! Trust me, this curiosity will really open up your heart and mind to your surroundings and to the people around you.
You bring a childlike energy and happiness everywhere you go and a lot of people need that in their lives which is why you’re important to them.



Now if you’re someone who has lost touch with that innocent childlike curiosity, I suggest you bring it back! And here’s why :

According to lifehack, “When you question things, asking why regularly, it can move you in a new direction and get you thinking about your core values and beliefs.”

Because this article is all about questions, let’s start with this first question:-

Why is asking ‘Why’ important?

When we ask questions (especially why) we open new doors to new opportunities.
Asking why eliminated confusion that are caused by assumptions. Also, asking why brings a much clearer picture infront of everyone and brings the whole team on the same page. Questions are tools that help us explore and solve problems on the workfront. Questions lead to actions and inspire people to be innovative.
Good decision makers and prominant leaders constantly ask ‘why’, this helps in getting closer to the core problems and issues and gives an insight to solving the problem.



If you would have noticed, these points are from a ‘professional’ or ‘workplace’ point of view. So let’s go a little deeper.


Let’s see why asking ‘why’ is important for our relationships?

In any relationship being honest is the most important thing and asking why will help the other person be honest with you and you can get rid of all the worries and misconceptions growing in your mind.
If you’re someone who loves helping people and making people happy, especially people that are close to you, then you should ask them ‘why’. More specifically ask them about their lives, their dreams, why they chose their career? Why are they happy? Why are they sad? Why did they decide to wear the clothes that the are wearing?
The questions you ask can be big or small, light hearted or deep. What matters is you ask them questions.

When we show real interest in another person it makes them feel special. Asking why (or any other question) will lead to heart to heart open ended questions that can lift up the other person’s spirits, and at times, even yours!

Another benefit of asking why and questioning things around you is that you inspire people, especially young people around you.
When you openly question things and people around you, you inspire people, you inspire them to be fearless, confident and curious, all qualities that will help them (and you) to develp themselves and grow and ultimately become better versions of themselves.


I feel like we’re getting somewhat deep, so let’s go deeper, let’s see why asking ‘why’ is important for our self?

Asking yourself why you do things will give you a better outlook and remind you of the prize of your hardwork.
Many times we are so busy by the outside world that we forget to look in.
Check in with your inner self to make sure you’re okay and to calm yourself in any tense situations.
You can question yourself to motivate yourself and keep the confidence and faith alive in you.
Questions can change you as an individual and even the most smallest question has the potential to completely transform who you are.

Now that we’re a little more clear with the why let’s move to what.

So, what is a good question?

A ‘good question’ is a question that comes from your mind and/or heart and not an attempt to be cheeky. It should be a question that comes to your mind/heart from geniune interest and curiosity that can keep you up at night if you don’t get an answer to it.
Great questions are not those that have a (supposedly) right answer. Good questions are those that lead to deep and heart to heart conversations, whether with ourselves or with someone else, and help us reflect and think about things that matter (both professionally and personally).


Now let’s go one step further and look into the how.
How can we ask good question? Or more importantly, how can we bring back our inner naturally curious child?

Try to develop a confident nature, to ask questions and be curious without being afraid or ashamed. Use that confidence to encourage yourself to think deeply and develop new ideas.
Try to learn about new things through books or even online courses, this can help you communicate efficiently and ask deeper questions and it might even help you find a new hobby or passion.



An important thing to keep in mind is that people can become defensive or really shy or introverted by certain questions or sudden changes in topics or even suddenly getting a deep question thrown at them. When asking questions or going in for deep conversations try to slowly ease into the topic instead of randomly throwing it at them.



The most important thing to always remember is that questions are like a key to many unopened doors. Doors that can lead us inside a bigger world, better people and even inside a better version of us.

I have no special talents, I am only passionately curious.

Albert Einstein

LEARNING TO SILENCE THE INNER CRITIC

(W/ many other smart people)

Have you ever heard loud, harsh, cruel, negative and really hurtful criticizing words?

I feel like we’ve all heard those at some point of our life, either from outside or from inside. Now, we may not be able to do much about the negativity that comes from outside but we can change the negativity from inside.

So I did a lot of research, which consisted of reading, writing and watching a lot of Ted talks and I’ve found the top 3 ways to of silencing the inner critic and being a better you.

1) THE ONE RULE PRINCIPLE ( by Bhavna Nagar )

This principle simply states, ‘ If I don’t like it from the outside (words or tone of voice), then I can’t use it on the inside.’

This principle, according to me, is the most simplest and maybe the most sensible way of dealing with that nagging voice from the inside.

Bhavna compares this inner critic to a 2 year old, someone who just says whatever they want, and the only way to control this 2 year old voice, is by being a parent to it. Being stern, yet loving. Slowly with a lot of practice, learning and caring we’ll be able to parent this inner 2 year old.

2) C. A. S. T. ( by Melissa Ambrosini )

“.. to help cast aside our inner critic so our true self can shine.”

The way to do this is by following these 4 simple steps.

Step 1: Create a character for this inner critic.

Give it a face, a shape, a body and a name. It can be anything you like. This is really important. It will create a boundary between the inner critic and your true self. It’s important to know that those are 2 completely different things.

Step 2: Awareness

Be aware and know which of these 2, your true self or the inner critic, is doing the talking. Again, remember that they are 2 completely different things.

Step 3: Shut the door.

… on this inner critic. Every time these criticizing thoughts come knocking on your mental door, you tell them, “No thanks, bye!” and close that door on their face. Shut off the negative thoughts just like you would shut off a nosey neighbor when you’re on a bad mood. (Trust me, you don’t have any need for either of them!)

Step 4: Truth

When you do all the above steps, you will finally find out the truth, the truth of who you really are and what you are really worth.

3) 3 WAYS TO TAME YOUR SELF CRITIC ( by Ronnie Grandell )

1) Try to understand the critic’s intent.

The critic inside you is like an angry sports coach. They want you to succeed and be the best version, but they have really poor execution style.

So, the best way to do learn the really intention of this critic is by looking behind the angry, rude, mean, hurtful things that your inner critic says, find the real reason for these words.

Is this inner voice trying to push you into being a better version of yourself? Or is it trying to keep you away from a hurtful situation? Or is it saying all of this just to hurt you? Try to figure it out!

2) Take a step back and personalize the critic.

Just like before, give this inner critic a personality. Give it a name, a face, a way of walking, an accent, anything and everything you want. (Your imagination is the only limit.)

Create distance between this personality and your true self because they are completely different.

Now everytime this unhappy, mean, rude personality decides to pay a visit to your mind, push it away. Again, nosey neighbor. No thanks! (You don’t need that in your life, take it from me)

3) Create a compassionate personality.

Create a nicer version of the angry sports coach in your head. Again, give them personality, face, body, voice, everything.l

Let them be this compassionate, kind, nice, loving and supportive person that will step in to life you up and help you access your inner courage, your inner self and your inner commitment to the things that matter to you.

Now, doing all this research and learning has taught me so many things that I want to summarize with these 5 points:

1) Before taking validation from outside, we need to stop hurting ourselves from the inside. We need to be kind to ourselves before expecting someone else to be kind to us or being kind to someone else.

2) We need to think of this inner critic only as a part of us, not all of us. We need to distance ourselves from this part of us.

3) We need to learn to turn this inner critic into a life coach that will give us that little extra push to reach our goals.

4) We should accept our failures and make amends and try to make things right. But at the same time, we need to question this inner critic from time to time, we need to step back and understand what this inner critic is doing to our mind.

5) Listening to the inner critic will not always make us a better version of us. Sometimes (aka most of the time) it will just make us feel even more down which will just affect our productivity.

[ BTW…. If you want to know some tips to being productive, here it is …. #ShamelessPlug 😉 ]

Fun Fact (because why not)

According to many scientists and researchers, the inner critic is an essential characteristic for many psychological disorders including anxiety, depression and eating disorders. So it’s really really important for us to tackle this inner critic and turn it towards our own benefit.

Bonus Tip

All these tips, tricks and hacks are not instantaneous. You cannot just wish for it and then wait for it to come true, you need to work towards it. Each day take baby steps to silence that inner critic. It won’t be an easy ride, there will be times that you will fail, you will fall down and you will hurt yourself, but you have to get back up. And whenever you have thoughts like “why even try?” or “what’s the point of all this?”, read this article again, and know that the reason why you’re doing this, is not for anyone else, it’s for you. Why? Because you deserve happiness, and nothing should come in the way of that, not even your inner critic. ♥️

TOP TIPS TO BE PRODUCTIVE

We’re all humans and we all have dreams and goals, some big and some small, but the only way to reach these goals is by working towards these goals. But if you’re a procrastinator like me being productive and getting things done might be difficult. So here are some tips that might just help you be a better version of yourself.

TOP TIPS

1) Know your daily goals

This is the first and most basic step to being productive. This is important because not knowing the goals for the day makes us random and it takes much more time to get things done.
The best way to do this is by a to-do list. Write it down, either on a paper, or an app on your phone or even on your calendar, just note it down somewhere so your brain doesn’t need to remember all these tasks, it can just focus on the work at hand.

Pro tip – Instead of deciding all the things and tasks in the morning and wasting precious time, write it all down the night before, that way you can wake up ready to hustle.

2) Map your day

Map out the things you have to do, don’t just write down random words or vague sentences. Write down the actual steps and plan of action that are clear. This way you will have the exact steps lined up for you and you can do your work with lesser things going wrong.

3) Prioritise

Know the most important and crucial tasks of your day and start working on those.
When making a to-do list try to break up the task into smaller mini-tasks and get to work on the first one in the sequence.
Finishing the first task will encourage and motivate you to work on the remaining mini-tasks and it will be easier to finish the task.

4) Goals and times

We only have 24 hours in a day, so we need to put every minute to work.
After organizing all the tasks, assign due dates and timers as much as possible and try to get things done within the alloted times.
Develop the habit of working fast while doing the best that you can. (It’s not easy but practice makes perfect… or atleast the thing closest to perfect)
Also, try to get onto a task and finish it as soon as possible instead of pushing it away for some other time.

5) Track yourself

Keep an eye on your to-do list and your timing. Review these often.
Keep track of your to-do list to make sure that you’re not overworking and doing work that is not necessarily important.
Keeping track of your timing ensures that you don’t spend too much time on a particular task and that you distribute and use your time effectively.

TOP MISTAKES

1) Time crunch

Not giving enough time to complete a task is a mistake all of us have done at some point. It’s important to not take too much time to do a task but at the same time it’s important to allow yourself enough time to complete the task successfully.

2) Assumptions

… specifically assumptions that everything will go right. Always assume that there will be hurdles along the way and allot sufficient time to deal with these problems.

3) Not enough vision

Not having the proper vision and goal will just increase the number of hurdles that come in your path. Make sure that before you begin anything ( a project, a task, an activity etc) you have a clear vision and you know the path to that vision.

4) Stress

Constantly stressing out can put your mental and physical health at risk. It will also effect your productivity. Identify the stress causing factors in your life, develop ways to de-stress and if possible, avoid these stress causing media.

5) Depending on yourself

Don’t get me wrong, being independent is a great thing and often times it seems like the best course of action. But in most cases, doing everything by yourself can lead to eventual burnout.
We’re all humans and we all have only a specific amount of energy in a day, it is impossible to expect ourselves to do everything on our own.
Get help, it may be in the form of an app or a device that helps you organize your day and other small things like that or maybe even hiring people to help you out in your work.

EXTRA TIPS (because why not)

• Remove distractions – delete apps, place your phone out of reach and turn off notifications.
• Focus on one thing at a time.
• Keep your home and workspace clean and organized to avoid chaos.
• Get the proper amount of sleep.
• Exercise regularly.
• Eat healthy.
• Take breaks in between work.

If you want anymore tips on how to work efficiently then check out my other blog post here:-

https://anublogsofficial.art.blog/2021/05/23/how-to-work-efficiently/


(Shameless plug 😉 )

UNDERSTANDING LGBTQ+

Since it is pride month I feel like I should talk about this because it is really important.

I’m going to be honest, I didn’t really know much about the LGBTQ+ community until a few years ago. Well, I did know a little, but not the most positive things.

I come from a place where the whole idea of gender was not discussed openly, not that it is not discussed right now, at present, it is, but I want to take you back a few years ago.

To me, the whole topic of gender was limited to only ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’. I didn’t know about anything else until age 10 or 11. And I don’t blame my family for that, they’ve always been loving, kind, supportive and understanding. Even to my parents, the whole topic of LGBTQ+ is one big blur.

I think the reason for this has a lot to do with society, but I think tradition is the bigger evil here.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all here for tradition. I love my heritage, my culture and my traditions. Just in this case, I feel like traditions have pulled back the society that I live in.

You see, where I come from, any gender other than masculine or feminine was not heard of. If anyone felt any different from what was considered ‘normal’, they were just pushed off, or taken to priests who could ‘heal’ them.

In today’s day and age, the topic of LGBTQ+ is openly discussed in many places, and I’m really proud of that. Yet, so many people are scared to come out of the closet and be their real authentic selves.

Over the past few years, I’ve read and learned so much about this topic and I’ve seen so many people coming out and being their true selves. And I’m proud to see this change. But the problem is, this topic is yet whispered and often times hidden. And it really hurts me to see that such an amazing, wonderful and colorful side of the world was hidden from me for such a long time.

I’m still learning and understanding and figuring everything out, and I really need to thank the internet for that, if it wasn’t for the internet I would still be looking at the LGBTQ+ community from a negative light.

There is one thought that constantly runs at the back of my head, that is, there might be a little girl like me somewhere, who doesn’t know about the wonderful, amazing and inspiring side of the world, and that really hurts me.

From this blog the thing that I want to put out is this:

No matter what any society or tradition says, everyone has the right to be their truly authentic self and everyone should know everything there is to know about the colorful world that is out there. No one should have to live in a state of confusion or in way which makes them feel ‘abnormal’. We should bring this conversation to the front lines.

This topic or for that matter any topic which affects everyone should not be whispered, it should not remain hidden.

With that, I conclude.

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!💜💙💚💛❤