December without Snow

I am in the mood to celebrate life and December is my favorite month.

So, I have ordered a few more books and my Sundays are mostly about trying to cut down the clutter and soaking up the sun. 

 I am trying to get back to my original self, being more grateful, trying out new hobbies and hoping that this month is where I get to be creative again.

Last month I traveled, planted some more plants in my tiny balcony and started posting in Instagram. I also sprained my left ankle.

I have so much stuff coming for the blog and I am positive that my new change of routines and way of working will ensure I actually can get them done. So, it’s just not a concept running around wild in my head!

For some random links that I have been browsing recently:

• Let’s start with the gifts: click here 
• How about unwinding for the year by doodling and learning about its benefits: click here
• Thinking about starting your own and finding out the latest in the tech world journalism: Click here
• If you follow a end of day or beauty routine, ever heard of the capsule format: click here
• Why Scrum is a scale free architecture: Click here
• How about some serious reading on how social media and mental health are connected: click here

Anyone interested in browsing through the top 50 project management blogs (By Feedspot). can look up here.

(Pic Courtesy: Pinterest)

Where is Project Management?

If that’s what you are wondering, you are not alone.

If you look at my last 3 posts, there’s nothing about project management really. However, all of them will hopefully make you think about being a better professional and a project manager and sustain it over period of time.

Because being a project manager is not a onetime thing, you have to maintain your title, the success of your project and your reputation.

Anyways, this space for me has always been very personal. I have mostly written things that I have been going through in real life. See my first blog post from eight years ago here . That’s what I read/research on and that’s what I mostly write about.

So, hopefully this change of track seems interesting for you. What are you thinking?

(Pic courtesy: pinterest)

Finding your Zone: What you Need to Learn from Winners

I have always wondered what it takes to sustain the intensity of the work required to be successful. It can be easy to be in a positive mind frame every day when you are living life. 

In my search for finding successful people I turned towards athletes. It must be a huge pressure to perform and ensure failures and get back at it again. I learned that some athletes can learn to trigger a feeling of success through smell and sound alone -- outside of competitions. For example, when some athletes are feeling in a really strong, powerful state during training, they smell lavender oil and listen to a certain song. They then repeat these steps before competitions to bring back those powerful feelings. "It can actually elicit quite strong emotions," said Fletcher, explaining how connecting to these neural pathways can help trigger the unconscious brain, pushing the athlete into a really positive state of mind. 

Conditioning your brain is the secret to not only win Olympic medals but also win in the race called Life. Top tennis player Andy Murray often leafs through a notebook during his tennis matches to remind him that he's prepared, capable and ready to win. 

Getting into the zone – also known as “being in a state of flow” – usually happens when we are energized, in a good mood and doing things we enjoy and have some level of skill that meets the demands of the task.

Will a checklist help? Perhaps.  If routine that is continually done and adapted with years and comfort level- you might be able to recreate your zone over and over again. Sometimes it can just be music or a song, sometimes the same setting/place, a perfume.

No matter what it takes, its something essential to continue doing the good work and being you. And its’ not easy. So make the changes and see what gets you in the zone and keep doing it. I don’t think I get into the zone on a regular basis but it helps a lot when I do.

Few things I have been trying to do:

• Have a routine
• Repeat the routine during the same time everyday (till it becomes natural and just repeating it puts me in the mood- to relax or write or feel positive)
• For me sound, visuals and smell work great- I use songs, sometimes visual boards (my office has one) and perfume (I have set perfumes for days when I am not quite myself to make me be myself)

We are all humans and getting into the zone might end up being challenging but that’s what we should look at it- a challenge that needs constant work and adaption.

(Pic courtesy: Pinterest)

Whats in my Bedside Table- The Reading List

This is whats going on right now.

The last book I read was The Sleep Revolution.

Current Read- The Checklist Manifesto.

To read- The Talent Code.

To see why you should be reading these as well, check this space next week.

Whats in your bag?

(Pic Courtesy: Soma Bhattacharya)