How to a have a more productive day: 10 tips

I found this long ago in Facebook and I immediately saved it on my desktop. It's been sitting on the little corner of my screen and I thought I should share it with you :)

So here it it is! 10 tip top tips on how to have a more productive day:

Want to have a more productive day? Follow these 10 simple steps:

1. Make a plan for your day.

For this one to work best, create the next day’s play the night before so that every morning you spend time executing, not planning.

2. Break larger tasks down into easy to accomplish bits.

Splitting a project into smaller pieces can help you feel a sense of accomplishment as you check the items off your list, and it can provide you with a way to finish the project without being overwhelmed.

3. Prioritize …ruthlessly.

It’s important to accomplish the most important tasks first: always set your priorities. Figure out what must be done, do that first and rank the rest of your work according to importance. 

4. Block out distractions.

When you have real work to be done block out distractions If appropriate, turn off your phone, or let it going to voicemail. In some cases, you might be able to use the equivalent of “do not disturb” to keep distractions at bay.

5. Set a timer to define uninterrupted work stretches

One way you can focus your energy is to set a timer. This can also help you avoid distractions because you’ve set aside time for a specific purpose. Don’t allow yourself to do anything else while the timer is on. You might be surprised at what you can get done here.

6. Take breaks to recharge and refresh

Taking a break can help you be more productive. A 10 to 15 minute break after a dedicated period of work can help you refresh yourself and recharge. Recharging can help invigorate you and reset your mind to work more efficiently for your next productive period.

7. Don’t make excuses or procrastinate.

Instead of making excuses look for ways around the problems. Find creative solutions and try to maintain a bright outlook. You’ll get more done if you focus on solutions and stop wasting time making excuses.

8. Reward yourself to reinforce success.

One of the best ways to avoid burnout – and resulting drop in productivity – is to reward yourself. Provide a small reward if you meet your productivity goals for the day. Remember, these don’t have to be material: in many cases, verbal reinforcement of success is equally rewarding.

9. Maintain a positive outlook.

Scientific studies provide it time and time again: positive attitude can help you improve your productivity. Look on the bright side and you’ll have more energy / your mind will be clearer, helping you identify solutions more readily, and get more done. 

10. Know how hard you work, and when.

Be aware of when you are most productive. Pay attention. If you are most productive in the morning, that’s when you should hit it hard and do as much as you can. Keep on top of your work habits, and you’ll be more productive.

Things I wish I knew before I graduated from school: Making a Roadmap

I remember the moments that I was so eager to graduate from college. I anticipated the moment when I can finally call the shots on whatever I want to do with my life. The financial freedom, time...oh how I awaited the moment that I can finally move freely. Now that I finally got it, I don't know where to start.

Freedom after graduation is both exhilarating and overwhelming. For a good 20 or so years of your life, you take orders from your parents/older brothers and sisters etc. Now you are thrown in to a new phase that no one but you can make the decisions that will shape your future. Exhilarating because you feel a sense of independence, overwhelming because you have no one to blame but yourself if you mess up.

Going back to my crossroad, I really did not have a solid plan as to what I would be doing after graduation (crazy right?). I thought that I would be fine with doing anything as long as I can manage to do it. However, it only left me confused. I was jumping from one career path to another in just a span of 5 months after graduation.

Word of advice: start drafting your roadmap when you are nearing graduation time. Trust me, it will really help you a ton once you step off the stage and receive your diploma. You will have a direction and a goal and you will not be wasting time trying to figure things out.

Job Life 101: Nuggets of Wisdom- Sending Your Application

Finally I have thought of something sensible to write about which I can do on a regular basis. Anyway, currently I am working as the marketing supervisor for the company I work in. I feel that I was thrown in the position too soon considering my career so far (I only graduate last March 2013 and as of this writing this is my 5th month at work).

As a supervisor, one of my concerns is to screen applicants and find out who fits to work with me in my team. Apparently, I discovered, that a cover letter is a very important part in sending your application. There were a lot of applicants who just submitted their resume without even indicating the position that they are applying for. What the heck am I supposed to do with your application if you just sent your resume?

A cover letter shows your sincerity and courtesy in the job and the company you are applying for. If you think that you can score an interview if you mass send your application (one applicant even had more than 15 recipients in his/her email), it does exactly the opposite of that. No one will waste their time entertaining your application (or if they are sorely desperate, maybe they will). So yeah, if you are sitting on your lazy bum waiting for a callback, maybe you didn't include a cover letter. Better get started to writing one.

What happens before the red tide comes

The monthly visitor, the red tide (I personally call it "river flows in you"- inspired by yiruma's composition haha), whatever you call it, it's always a big pain. Us girls know the pain that we have to endure every month: the muscle cramps and the berserk mood swings. We all know what happens when it happens. But this time I'm going to talk about what happens before it happens: PMS.

PMS (Pre- menstrual syndrome) is a "collection of symptoms, with or without physical symptoms, related to a woman's menstrual cycle." Basically its what you feel that signals you that your period is coming. It's different for many girls and it can range from irritability, unhappiness, increased appetite, discomfort etc. 

It's really hard for me when this time of the month comes. On good months I just feel an increase in my appetite and I want to eat everything that is edible within my radius. On bad days my mood swings are so extreme I just find myself blowing up on every little thing that irks me or I want to strangle my boyfriend. Because of extreme mood swings I end up hurting my family and especially my boyfriend.

Girls have it tough that we have to endure all of this for a good amount of years in our lives. We really can't do anything to change it, but we can do something to manage it. Here are tips how you can manage it (although I'm claiming that this is not the way to stop PMS, it will only HELP manage it)

1. Maintain an exercise habit. The blood circulation really helps.

2. Eat bananas. Bananas are loaded with vitamins and minerals like potassium, zinc, iron , folic acid, vitamin B6 and calcium.

3. Get adequate rest and sleep. Not having enough sleep can even make you cranky on normal days, how much more on your period? Imagine the crankiness level amplified a hundred times.

Those are just some of my tips on how to manage PMS. PMS isn't an excuse so that people will pardon you for being a b****. Do something to manage it.

When the sweetness fades

Love has been represented in a million ways for years.

I don't know how people viewed love and relationships in the previous centuries. I can only speak of how it is now and in the last few years.

Almost all people think that love and relationships are all about that butterflies-in-the-stomach-and-everything-turns-to-fairywonderland. A person will think their partner is the most perfect thing in the world. Everything around him/ her blooms with roses and lillies and everything else seems so much better. He/ she wants to constantly be around their partner and bask in their presence. I'm not sure if I'm making sense with my description but basically one is in such a state of euphoria that he/she may be blinded by this phase. It's perfectly natural for two lovers to be in this phase initially.

The Real World

When we were still in our elementary and high school years everything is all planned out for us. For many years our routines were the same: we woke up, prepared ourselves to go to school, sat in the classroom the whole day and absorbed all the things we could in class, went home, did homework,sleep- repeat. For a good 20 (or more) years we are accustomed to that kind of life. For those 20 years some of us may have anticipated to live independently and finally have the freedom from the very monotonous and mundane activities of our formative years. We crave for the day that we will finally be graduating and start on our new chapter in life.

When the day finally came that we have crossed and are now on the first few pages of this new chapter in our life after graduation, we didn't anticipate the burden that we now have to carry. We now have to decide how to plan our lives. We have to choose between career paths and how we could grow as a person. The possibilities and consequences of our decisions and actions are endless.

This new freedom that we now enjoy can be both exhilarating and scary. This freedom can empower us to make a path of our own, to follow our dreams and to challenge all obstacles that hinder us from achieving that dream. This freedom is also scary in the sense that we do not know how it will eventually all end up. Will we fail? How much should we suffer to achieve our goal? Is it all worth it? Why not take the easier road? The risks that always accompany our decisions can cripple us from actually realizing them.

Now I'm in this point of my life. I have to make a choice and no one else can do it for me. I don't know how my decision will end up. I don't know how it will affect my future. I don't know if I'm even making the right one.

Despite this confusion I have one thought that can help me check if I'm on the right track: as long as I am happy with that I'm doing and I see myself growing in all aspects of my life, then it must be right decision.

I can't recognize you anymore

I've been longing to write about this subject for the longest time and now it will all be laid down.

Bleached hair and wacky colored contact lenses. Tons of make up piled and piled and piled in an effort to achieve a flawless and perfect face. Girls willingly subject themselves to tedious routines to look polished and pretty as they step out of their doors and face the day. Because of this, I can't help but feel that most girls today have become slaves of forever struggling to achieve society's brand of beauty.

This image has been haunting me for so long. It testifies make up's capability of transformation and possibly detaching from one's true and natural self. Most of the things that you see are fake: fake eyelashes, eye liner and contact lenses to make the eyes bigger. The disparity between the two sides of her face is so glaring, it's actually scary.

I will be a hypocrite when I'm condemning make up so much when I myself use it.I do put on a bit of lipstick to add some color, and for special occasions I dab on a natural palette on my face, that's it. I firmly believe that make up should primarily be able to accentuate your natural features, not transform you into someone who your friends would not be able to recognize anymore.

Girls will strive to achieve the perfect look but what they don't know that is is actually a futile attempt- because 95% of what they want to get is f.a.k.e. They don't know that the glossy girl that they are envying is actually wearing hair extensions,  clip- on bangs, and again- contact lenses and fake eyelashes. Her hair has been bleached and colored and 50 shades far from her original hair color. Is a woman's natural beauty regarded so low these days that girls will resolve to subscribe to things that are fake to "fix" it? Why do they feel the need to "fix" it? I really do hope that girls, specially the younger ones, will learn to be comfortable with their selves and feel confident and proud of the natural beauty that they inherently posses. Yes you look absolutely pretty with the ton of makeup you just put on, but people are appreciating the mask that you just painted, not the real face behind it.

Finally done

Finally I'm done with the layout of this blog... this is my 3rd attempt at blogging and somehow I just couldn't find my "niche" or what I would want to constantly write about. While I was on my unplanned hiatus from blogging, I reflected deep and hard about the things that were happening around me. There are just so many thoughts going around my head that I just had write them down. There are also times that an idea would just pop into my head and I had to put it down lest I forget it. And since there was a ton of schoolwork that I had to do before I graduate, I just couldn't find the time to put this blog together.

This particular blog of mine is primarily and greatly influenced by the president of my university, Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ. The whole gist of his idea is using the social media, particularly blogging, to express your opinions and influence others. This may be the closest thing that I may have to do in terms of exercising the skills that I have gained in my journalism class back in my junior year of college.

Another factor that influenced me in putting up with this blog is my interview with a local blogger. When your popularity will sky- rocket because of your blog, you can't help but be superficial about the content that you are going to write. There are also some that blog just for the freebies and perks.

I feel that there are so much more matters happening around us that need to be reflected upon. Hopefully I can maintain this and somehow spark a reflective and critical attitude to whoever may read my blog.