My Favourite Blogs

I've been spending lots of time these days with highly intellectual and creative people, and well, the downside is that I'm being made fun of how infrequent my posts here are. And the upside of that is this post--not quite like the earlier ones, but really something I feel an urge to share.
The idea is simple enough--these are my favourite blogs, all regularly followed. (Thanks, Google Reader!) I don't read every post, but definitely glance through them all and slow down when I find something that really interests me. And that does happen often enough. ;)
The number of great blogs around is limitless, but my time and typing ability are not, so I thought I’d keep myself to the ones I'm really addicted to.
(The list is really random about order and categorization; that's just me. :D)

Seth's Blog

Stepcase Lifehack

Health Nut Wannabee Mom

Wise Bread

ReadWriteWeb

Digital Photography School

43 Folders

Ultimate Geek Girl

Lifehacker

Mashable!

Make Use Of

Digital Inspiration

Mintywhite (Windows Tools, Help & Guides)

TechCrunch

Ask The Admin

Zen Habits, Write to Done

Newsman--Rajdeep Sardesai's Blog

A big big thank you to all those wonderful bloggers. You're a huge help and inspiration. And hey, intellectual, creative people, thanks for the inspiration here too! You guys finally made me type what I've been meaning to for weeks. :)

My "Productivity System"

During the last many months I've been reading about productivity like crazy. Some of the great people around are coming up with highly effective systems for efficient time management and happiness. I'm lagging in the race and hardly know beyond the ABCs of Getting Things Done, Zen To Done, or Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Successful people. Recently I read an article on Stepcase Lifehack (one of my favourite blogs) on why you should learn a productivity system. The basic idea is that people who make these great productivity systems have loads of experience and knowledge to be sure their ideas are practically successful. This is what they do best, and we should leave this job to them.
The information overload on productivity was making me guilty somewhat, because I seem to be the only one not managing all my tasks according to a world-famous system. I'm still not perfectly convinced that this is a job best left to the experts. If something works for you, use it. If you can't decide what's best for you, the experts are always there to help. Makes sense to me! So yesterday I got thinking, and realized that, no matter how simple, I do have a productivity system after all. My very own! And here it is:

1. If you want it done, schedule it.
Every task that needs serious time and attention from me has to be planned. I don't have a fancy notebook or software that keeps track of these things. My to-do lists are usually in the form of a note to self on my cell phone, or as a new sticky, or penned down on a small scrap of paper that stays in my wallet. The idea is simply this: if something needs my time, it has to be scheduled. Maybe for "some time within this week" if I can't focus on the timing too well, but usually my to-do's are on a daily basis.

2. Acknowledge the importance of voids. (An idea originally Umberto Eco's.)
Even when I plan each hour or so of my day, there are always voids I keep in between. Rather than keeping time aside for relaxation, I use the voids. An example of this would be:
4-5.30 pm: Math
6-8 pm: Physics
9 pm: Revision
So after I'm done with math I know I have some time for a tea break. This also takes care of things that unexpectedly pop up, and there's some room for stretching in case math takes longer. Similarly, after physics I know I have enough time for dinner and walk and if I have time to spare it can be used for something unplanned.

3. Plan more than you know you will do.
My usual daily plan has about 110% of what I really want to achieve within the day. Goes with the idea of "Shoot for the moon, and you'll at least land among the stars." I make sure the more important tasks get higher priority, and at least those get done for sure. And sometimes I actually end up doing the extra tasks as well.
So this is how I (try to) stay organized. My system is far from perfect and I keep borrowing ideas from the experts to make it better. So far I'm managing just fine this way. If ever I think I'm overwhelmed, I know there's David Allen or Leo Babuata (among others) to help me out!

Suicide Note 1.0 (Don't be alarmed!)

One of the most extreme things a human can do is to kill another. Take the level of craziness some notches higher and you have enough for suicide. I believe that in 99% of suicide cases the emotional upheaval veils a better solution. (Killing animals is extreme to me too, but it is an inseparable part of civilization by now.)
YET I've realized there's one powerful aspect of suicide—the suicide note. Yeah, right? Here's how:

Today somehow I started thinking of how I would write my suicide note if I ever had to. I made a mental list of the reasons that trouble me enough. And as I thought about each one I realized that most of these, partly or wholly, directly or indirectly, are self-created troubles. The remaining few might not be my fault, but then were they really significant? Not on the scale of a human life.
Thus the idea of suicide (so to speak) dissolved and I flexed my be-grateful-for-everything muscles.

The catch here is that I'm NOT even close to suicidal to begin with. Hardly a surprise then, that the reasons that were anyway not strong enough to drive me to suicide, didn't succeed (or should I say fail?). But what's relevant is not that I survived this activity, but that I felt better after it. By listing out my problems I realized that they are neither HUGE nor irreparable. The result: I felt more in control of my life and (more) grateful for all the good stuff—once you start counting it's a whole lot.

This time all of this happened and I just went with the flow; next time I'll drive the flow of thoughts: (Try this out.)
1. Grab a pen/cil and paper.
2. List out all the problems and reasons for unhappiness in your life.
3. Categorize them according to which ones you are responsible for, which ones don't have a solution (are you sure?), which ones don't deserve the attention, etc.
4. Write down what you can do about each one—try getting rid of it, work your way around it, stop bothering about it—whatever gives you power over the problem.
5. Read the whole list and start executing around the ideas you generated. Gratitude muscles twitching a little? Flex them and count your blessings.

Oh, and whenever you write* your Suicide Note 2.0 please give it a more positive name and let me know about it, and the whole experience.


*Make sure you write it out—2.0 is all about the written form. Your brain will also react better.

The Pleasure of Discipline

Every time I enter my room, a sign on the door stares me in the face and shouts out loud: "The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret." The price of discipline, or rather the reluctance to pay it, is the reason why so many of us do not reach the heights of our potential. Discipline is often the difference between being successful and being regretful.
However, I think a more relevant concept is that of the pleasure of discipline. If that sounds foreign to you, you're not alone. The first time I developed this idea, it took some time to put pleasure and discipline together.

Before getting up this morning I'd been lounging around in bed for some minutes. Then I said to myself, "You have two choices--continue with the bad routine, or get the discipline juices flowing. Put mind over mattress." That was enough to propel me out of bed. I almost sleep-walked to my washroom, and happened to look into the mirror. What I saw was a sleepy face, with a slight hint of reluctance and irritation. I hardly paid any attention and took a shower--something that would ordinarily happen hours later. I cursed myself as the cool water made me shiver. That lasted a couple seconds, and after stepping out, I saw myself in the same mirror again. Spontaneously and impulsively I gave one of my biggest, brightest smiles. It was big and bright and most importantly a genuinely happy smile. I was so happy with myself, feeling utter delight at having snapped out of a bad habit (or at least having started the journey). And the happiness was anything but short-lived.
After getting ready, I went to the Gurdwara, took a walk around the block, and came back home, feeling great. The next few hours were enthusiastically productive--there was some revision to do before I wrote an important exam later in the morning--and I enjoyed the studying way more than ever. Not only that, the exam was great, and now, hours later, I'm still excited and happy (and it's rubbing off on the ones around me), not tired at all, and smiling days worth of smiles sitting here.

AND it doesn't get close to ending here either! Tomorrow morning when I think about how great today was, I'll have another reason to shoot out of bed and give myself the same experience all over again. Again, it doesn't end there. The chain reaction this day will hopefully initiate, will keep getting bigger and better and bring more happiness and contentment into my life!

The moral of the story: Once you overcome the initial resistance of trying out something new, or developing a new habit, or shedding an old one, you can't help thanking yourself for it. The circumstances we've always lived in have a way of trying to pull us back when we try to escape. It's painful to resist, but once you pay the price of discipline and overcome the force of gravity, the investment pays off and the profit is all yours--The Pleasure of Discipline.


* "Put mind over mattress." and "The price of discipline is always less than the pain of regret." are ideas from Robin Sharma. *

A Rainy Day!

Thanks God, for the beautiful weather today. This rain is a delight for the soul, a treat for the beating heart.
Today I saw the clouds swivelling past more swiftly than ever. I could look up directly at them and see the interplay of the coming and going, the composing and dissolving of the dark and the white clouds.
The cool breeze, the breathing earth, the pair of birds gliding against the misty backdrop... it all made me feel so one with You!
Rain is pearls falling from the brink of heaven, pearls that wash away the pains of the body.