Category: Ideas and Reflections

Parkinson’s Law

On May 3, 2017

Ever heard of the Parkinson’s Law?

It says “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”.
If something must be done in a year, it’ll be done in a year. If something must be done next week, it’ll be done next week. If something must be done tomorrow, it’ll be done tomorrow.

This is how it might look.

Maybe the work gets done.

But what about the Quality of it?

For example,
Majority of Engineering students start preparing for their exams a day before. And worse, most of them start a night before. Eventually, their preparation is done. But what about the quality of it.
Another instance where you plan something for your friend’s birthday. But you keep postponing the plan until 1-2 days before. And finally, you skip some things.
You eventually get things done but is the quality of the work the same as you intended it to be?

Both of these have been my personal experiences. Slacking and Procrastinating.

Twinkle Khanna resonates the same in her book “Mrs Funnybones”. The person you become is an aggregate of all the things you did and didn’t.

So, how to overcome these?

Use Pomodoro’s : Instead of slacking, sit down for 25min, eliminate all distractions and just start doing stuff. The flow will come.
Use Ingvar’s Rule : What would you do if you have only 10min to get something done. If you split your day into 10-min increments, and try to waste as few of those 10-minute increments as possible, you’ll be amazed at what you can get done.
Plan Ahead : Have a solid plan for the day so that you don’t face the dilemma of what to do.

Hey Guys, thinking of getting an MBA? Prior to that, grab a copy of Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman where you can learn business concepts like Value Creation and Marketing and also cool stuff like Parkinson’s Law and Ingvar’s Rule.
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Quotes I Try To Live By

By gaucho

On April 18, 2017

In Ideas and Reflections

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
– Mark Twain

“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.”
– Peter Mcwilliams

“Noble and great. Courageous and determined. Faithful and fearless. That is who you are and who you have always been. And understanding it can change your life, because this knowledge carries a confidence that cannot be duplicated any other way.”
– Sheri Dew

“Each time we face our fear, we gain strength, courage and confidence in the doing.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

“You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.”
– Marianne Williamson
“The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It’s the same thing, fear, but it’s what you do with it that matters.”
– Cus D’Amato

The last quote is my favorite cause it’s my own .

” Only you can Define or Defy your Limits. What are you gonna do Today? Define or Defy ? ”
– Gautham Reddy

Best Ice Breaking Activity

By gaucho

On April 16, 2017

In Escapades, Ideas and Reflections

Ice Breaking activities usually happen after everyone introduces themselves. What if we have an Ice-Breaking Activity in the introduction itself ?

This revelation came to me when I attended a Microsoft Student Partner Summit [MSP-SUMMIT] in Bits-Pilani this March. All the MSP’s started introducing themselves by telling their names and some additions like their hobbies etc. But by the end of the introductory session, I couldn’t remember at least a quarter of the names of the people. What’s the use then? I then spent some time thinking about it and an Idea struck my Mind.

What if we have an introductory Ice-Breaking activity wherein each person comes forward and performs a set of actions and we then have to guess the name of the person. Exactly like dumb-charades but with our names instead of movies.

It helps in 3 ways :

You have a very less likely chance of forgetting the person’s name.
You can easily start up a conversation with anyone either by mentioning the action the person did or by suggesting another way to act (in good humor).
And its fun to think about the different ways you can charade your name.

Try it out the next time you meet a new set of people. You could propose the same and you’d make a very good first impression for initiating.

Have you heard about Meetup? Excellent platform for you to meet new and like-minded people. I joined the local Toast Masters and Bicycling club through meetup and I had some of the best days of my life.
Please do Like and Comment and also share this article with your friends if you found it useful.
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Image Copyright: Google

5 Simple Steps to Get Quality Sleep

By gaucho

On December 3, 2016

In Ideas and Reflections

Quality Sleep is very Important. Agreed.

An Adult needs to sleep 7-8 hours everyday. Agreed.

But how many of us get both good Quality and Quantity of Sleep ? . In this busy age, it’s almost impossible to get 7-8 hours of sleep without getting stressed about all the things to do.

I’ll tell you what worked for me in having a good sleep for the past 3 months.

Step 1 : Fixed Sleep Schedule.

I have a fixed Sleep Schedule wherein I sleep at 12pm and wake up at 5am. Solid 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

Step 2 : Staying away from all electronic devices

A good 45 minutes before my sleep I put away my laptop and phone. I then read a chapter from a book and complete my daily entry in my journal.

Why to stay away from electronic devices? I’m putting it in a simple way. Melatonin is a hormone which needs to be produced by the body for us to feel sleepy. An essential natural process. But looking at our laptops and phones hinders its production. Thus we don’t feel sleepy even when scrolling through the Facebook newsfeed at 2am.

Step 3 : Listening to Sleep

This is the most useful hack I use. Just before going to sleep I either play a song or play a podcast.

How does this help? My mind is focussed and I don’t drift into thoughts. And I usually immediately fall asleep. Podcasts are more effective here. Just queue 3-4 songs or better, play a 15min podcast tonight and watch the difference.

Step 4 : Power Naps

As I mentioned, I get only 5 hours of sleep in the night. To compensate for the remaining 2-3 hours, I take naps of 10-20 mins during the day whenever possible mostly during commute or after lunch. Helps me in remaining active throughout the day.

Step 5 : Diet and Excercise

Regular excercise in the morning keeps you fresh and energetic throughout the day and your body would automatically shut down at night.

A Healthy diet results in a healthy mind and a healthy body, ultimately resulting in healthy sleep.

These were the steps which worked for me. Tell me how they are working for you or better, tell me which steps do you follow?

Since I mentioned Podcasts, I would highly recommend to check out the PodcastAddict App on the Google Play Store. In that, The TimFerrissShow was the single most influencing podcast.