The sound of pages being turned. The smell of old books. Coming home to a bookshelf full of new books to escape into. Discovering new authors. Pulling out favourite quotes. These are landmark moments in every reader’s journey. But our journey of diving into a book begins from the purchase of the book. We walkContinue reading “Book haul 2022 ( & Come book shopping with me )”
12 Christmassy stories to put you in a blissful Christmas mood. The one that makes you think of warm fuzzy socks, your comfortable blanket, a mug of hot chocolate and depending on which part of the world you live in, snow. This book delivers what it tells you it will, 12 Christmas-based romance novels. IContinue reading “Book Review : My True Love Gave to Me”
Here are some quotes that grabbed my attention while flipping through the pages of this book. Hope you enjoyed reading this post Don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below. Stay connected: Keep reading:
And I think the whole work from home culture has taken a hard hit on students and tweens.
Lockdown was a huge change for every single one of us. And without a guide, we are struggling to find a way to adjust to this and get out of the slump.
So for once and for all let’s turn this lockdown upside down!
First off we need to understand that this lockdown is now a way of life. This is now your new normal. The sooner you embrace that, the easier things will become.
Everyone has online school/classes.
Doesn’t matter when your classes begin or end, what’s important is what you do before and after that.
Raise your hand if you crawl out of bed as soon as the alarm rings, brush up and plop yourself in front of your laptop for the school day with 3 seconds to spare.
Phew!
I know most of us do.
But then I realised that was not how I wanted things to be.
So I made a change
Wake up an hour earlier.
Yes, an hour earlier. Or at least 45 mins earlier.
Get up.Stretch.Get some fresh air.Shower.Get dressed and then sit for school.
This simple thing will set your intention for the day . You will have time to breathe and ease into your morning.
Now coming to online learning.
First off-stop killing your eyes.
Pomy is a simple app I use on my laptop (or 20-20-20 Vision on my phone) to remind me to look away every 20 mins for 20 seconds.
And for someone like me who has sensitive eyes, it has made all the difference. My headaches are under control and my eyes don’t tire out that quickly.
Some other productivity tools for school would be Google Keep and Todoist.
Google keep is the easiest note-taking system and it syncs all my notes onto all my devices.
Todoist is a lifesaver. It allows me to create projects and list tasks according to priority.
So school’s out!
You’re tired. Eyes all puffy. Back and shoulders hurting and maybe you even feel a headache coming on.
So before you go any further grab an eye mask, close your eyes and just rest for a while (20 mins should do.)
After your power nap, freshen up and get ready to tackle the rest of your day.
Don’t push yourself to work. Instead, pick something you would enjoy doing -like painting or a personal project.
And that brings me to the concept of a personal project.
Instead, of spending your time binging on Netflix pick up an online hobby class, start reading that books series you always wanted to or maybe work on your origami.
Personal projects don’t have an end date or a finishing line. It’s just something you can incorporate into your day.
So start brainstorming. Start investing in yourself and spend your time doing what you love.
The outdoors being closed doesn’t mean your health should take a backseat. Try a healthy meal plan or a home workout just to get your blood pumping.
Keeping fit will really help you stay positive throughout your day.
After a round of self-care go and connect with the people around you. Call up your family living out of state. Check-in with your best friend. Or plan a game night with your siblings.
Gradually make your way back to your workstation or study table and grab those assignments. Complete your day’s work.
Its late into the evening now so kick up your feet and relax.
Read a book.Doodle.Turn up some music and dance like no one’s watching.
If there’s one big takeaway I have gotten from this entire experience it’s this:
Plan your wake up and sleep times in 90-minute increments every night.Ensuring you have a systematic wake up time gives you control over your day.
A day plan
Don’t try planning your entire week or month right now.
Take it one day at a time
A simple template you can use :
a.Schedule for the day
b.Goals to accomplish
C. Assignments due
d.Work /study to catch up on
Use cues
What are cues and why are they so important for your routine?
Lemme explain…
When I wake up every morning, the school bus arriving is my cue to get up on time and get dressed.
Tests and assignments by school are my cues to study every day.
Small things like that act as your cues. So now its time to make new ones for during the lockdown.
like for example :Breakfast could be your cue to get some exercise
Use reminders.
Every day now is a Sunday. Keeping track of the day and time becomes quite tedious and difficult. Using reminders or alarms to keep you on track is a good alternative so you don’t lose track of time.
Get a fresh perspective.
Put the days gone behind you. Try to look at things from a new perspective. What did work out? What didn’t?
What can you do differently.Wipe down the drawing board and start afresh.New goals, New routine, new habits.
Deadlines
Setting deadlines for each one of your projects or goals keeps you on track. You know where your finish line is and you can work accordingly
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You are motivated to stay on top of your work, homework, school, projects and online courses while simultaneously accomplishing your goals like meditation,yoga, exercise, books to read etc
You are motivated to make the best possible productive use of this time.
STAGE 2: DETERMINED
You were motivated for 2 weeks or so and then you realized that you tried to do too much and so you begin cutting corners.
Is yoga really that important for me to wake up at 6 in the morning?
Nah
Do I really have to get up and take a jog today?
Nah.I’ll just do it tomorrow
STAGE 3: SATISFIED
You tried waking up early. You really did. But somehow you alarm magically forgot to go off. Every single day
.You also believe that it is not in your best interest to workout today so you sink into your couch to binge-watching.
Yet by the end of the day – after a lot of complaining and pushing you somehow manage to tick off a few things from your to-do list .
And maybe read 3 pages of your novel.
STAGE 4 : FRUSTRATION
You want to get things done. You wanna accomplish something today but everything around you seems to be stopping you
The TV distracts you. You somehow managed to waste 4 hours shopping for shoes online.You just have to finish that next episode.
By the time you know it the sun is down and the day is gone
Things out of your control prevent you from getting something done.
You just aren’t able to perform well today.
You can’t succeed no matter how hard you try.
When you have done one wrong thing, you throw yourself into a shame cycle.
In short you are bored, annoyed, irritable, tired and crave for a change.
STAGE 5: ANGRY
The smallest things set you off. You cannot, absolutely cannot spend another second in that same room
You are sick and tired of the same environment. Same wall.Same space.
This brings me to my last stage
STAGE 6: LOST AND CONFUSED
The days go by when suddenly – with a strike of lightning you are jolted upright with a stark realization:
What in the world am I doing?
You feel lost because you don’t know what to do.
You don’t even know what you are supposed to be doing.
You don’t know what the future holds for you.
You just need that small push to make it through. A small push to get you into the groove
You have lost your path and that’s okay. You just need to get back onto your feet and keep walking
I’m kinda starting to understand why pets try to run out of the house when the front door is open.
DAY 19 OF LOCK DOWN
The lockdown has taken a toll on every single one of us.Being told to stay within the four walls of our home for another 20 days doesn’t make it easier.
Wherever you are in the world ,since you and I are stuck in the same boat (quite literally) why not start or revive or revisit that list of goals we had.
Where are your goals at?
Just because the lockdown confines you to your apartment doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish them. What happened to that book you were gonna finish reading? What happened to the skills you were going to work on?
Here are the goals I have for this quarantine period
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ART AND DOODLES
Painting, sketches, pen work, doodles,zentangles, mandalas, crafts, embroidery are just some ideas over the top of my head
Get working on some DIYs for your room. Or how about you finish that canvas painting you never got to?
Try relaxing by making some beautiful mandalas
MY GOAL: At least another few paintings and a doodle a day
What better way to release all the pent up anger, stress and worry inside you that by penning down your thoughts.
Try your hand at writing a song, a poem or even a brain dump.
This is my third post in the Quarantine diaries series and I hope to write some more soon.
MY GOAL: 30 mins of writing a day
MOVIES TO WATCH
Remember that list of must-watch movies you made 3 summers ago hoping you would get to them- instead of randomly scrolling through Netflix and watching whatever rom-com you found?
Yah. It’s time to dig up that old box.
Start looking for movies that actually interest you.
Thrillers, historical drama and movies based on real-life events are in my box.
Inside out and Onward are a few favorites.
MY GOAL:Disney and Pixar movies with a few documentaries
FITNESS
Do I need to stress the importance of this? I know it’s very tempting to just stay in your couch the whole day with your fuzzy blanket and maybe some refreshing lemonade.
But you shouldn’t
Walk. Skip some rope. Jog in place. Stretch every hour.Try some aerobics .
Just do something to get your body moving instead of lazing around the whole day .
MY GOAL:90 minutes of exercise a day split into 45 minute sessions
If you see your closet with clothes stuffing out or if you see your bookcase with books stuffed in all different directions than you know it’s time to declutter your space.
WORK
School has assigned us a boat load of work to do over the next few weeks.
A couple of projects,A 3000 word handwritten essay ,a couple of worksheets and so on.
Start listing down everything you have to work on and spread it throughout the day.
SKILL BUILDING
There must be a couple of things you have always wanted to learn or something you have always been fascinated with.
The lockdown has moved many online skill teaching platforms to open up 30-day free access to courses. So get started and get learning .
MY GOAL: Working on my blog writing
STUDY
You obviously have a few chapters or maybe even a book or two you need to complete before that next exam of yours. Allot only an hour or so a day to hit the books.
MY GOAL: Prepare for the upcoming school exams
ROUTINE AND HABITS
Build a routine, A basic one. Just so you know what you need to get done every day
RESEARCH
It’s time to prop open that laptop and start researching. What’s that one thing that you have always been in awe with. Pick it up and start researching. Who knows where you will end up.
I have decided to revisit my old craze of the Egyptians .
MY GOAL: Revisit the Egyptian and maybe the Harappan civilization
my take on the world 