How to Clear Your Mind with a Brain Dump I’ve wished for a real-life pensieve since reading The Goblet of Fire for the first time. I remember feeling very surprised at the fact that Harry couldn’t relate to Dumbledore saying “I sometimes find, and I am sure you know the feeling, that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my mind.” Even at eleven/twelve years old, I remember sometimes feeling like there were just way too many thoughts and ideas running through my head. I’ve always been an overthinker, and my mom loves to remind me that I was born an old soul and loved to overanalyze things since I could talk. It’s safe to say that my mind hasn’t changed a whole lot. I still like to overthink and overanalyze, and having the added responsibilities of… well, being an adult, means that I also sometimes find myself feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. You probably saw me mention “brain dumping” quite a few times here on the blog. It’s one of my favorite tools that help me stay productive and get things done. To me, it’s also an act of self-care as it can help identify and master […]

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How do you make the most of every day? You make every day count. The secret to doing that lies in paying attention to the small things you do. It’s very easy to fall into those patterns where your brain just kind of shuts off. That’s usually what happens when you crowd your time with things like mindlessly browsing the internet or sitting in front of the TV. Over the last two years or so I felt almost as if I was slowly falling out of the pattern of intentional living. I noticed that I spent less time doing things that used to bring me joy, things that helped me grow and kept me feeling excited for each day. Once I’ve fallen out of that habit of constant growth, it was so hard to get my routine back to where it was. That’s when I had to remind myself, once again, that the key to making a change is to focus on those small daily habits. It’s all about taking it one step at a time. Procrastination, poor time management, over-indulgence- these are things we’re all a little guilty of, right? None of it is a big deal until it […]

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Digital technology was meant to make our lives easier, to make things better and improve our productivity. It’s supposed to save us time, yet we somehow waste more time than ever by getting lost in digital distractions and everything that technology has to offer. Right now, my phone is in airplane mode, yet I find myself automatically reaching for it every couple of minutes. I know that none of my notifications will pop up, but I can’t help it. I’m often not aware of just how easily I get distracted these days until it’s time to sit down and work or write. A 30-minute task can easily turn into a 1-hour task when you allow those distractions to pull you away from your work or chores… or even from getting some rest. HOW TO OVERCOME DIGITAL DISTRACTIONS DO NOT DISTURB This is an obvious solution to a problem: putting your phone in the do not disturb mode. Or, better yet, turning it off- which I have to do all the time. When you’re working on something important or very involved and you’re really “in the zone” do you allow things like an email notification or a phone call distract you? It’s hard to […]

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7 Habits That Kill Your Productivity So many distractions, so many goals and so little… time. Doesn’t it sometimes seem like the more you try to focus on getting things done, the less productive you end up being? Take creating a schedule or a to-do list, for example. I am a notorious list-maker and I swear that some days I spend more time creating my schedule or a to-do list, than I actually do on completing those tasks. Or, I’m working on something important, and the next thing I know I’m compulsively browsing the Internet looking at cat videos. I mean, cats ARE the unofficial mascot of the Internet, some will argue that the sole purpose of inventing the Internet was to share cat videos, and despite my fear of them (childhood trauma, don’t ask) I still find them cute. The point is, productivity has always been a work-in-progress kind of a thing for me, and I’m guessing that some of you share this experience. Life happens, things change, and when they do, you have to work around that stress or other life events, to stay productive. Busy doesn’t always equal productive and the important thing is to focus on […]

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Time management: Daily habits that will help you save time Around 40% of the decisions we make every day are made out of habit. This is actually not that surprising, but it also means that you can “train” yourself to develop new habits by constant and persistent repetition. Time is one of the most valuable resources you have, it’s also a very limited resource. Having good time management skills will help you live a healthy and productive life. The first step is learning to value your time. We often waste our time on such small, insignificant things, we procrastinate, we put things off. Sometimes it’s other people that waste your time- but that doesn’t usually happen unless you allow it. So how do you develop habits that will help you save time? By constant and persistent repetition. What are some of the most important time-managing habits to work on? This depends on our individual schedules, responsibilities, and priorities. These are some of those time-managing habits that helped me the most. TIME MANAGEMENT: DAILY HABITS THAT WILL HELP YOU SAVE TIME 1. MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR MORNINGS + EVENINGS Spend a few minutes in the evening planning for the next day. Prep as […]

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