A chore called laundry

The first time I read someone say that folding laundry is therapeutic, I scoffed at the idea. Mounds of laundry is something that all...well, most, women grapple with. Some of my best days are when I can see the bottom of my laundry basket..no more laundry for the next few days. Although there are the mounds that need air drying and then folding after the drying is done. And that's a lot more than just shoving the lot into the machine and pressing a few buttons. This is dealing with each piece of clothing. Folding it and making stacks by category and people in the house. The perpetual, incessant nature of this chore is what makes it so loathsome. 

Ironing, is a whole different ball game. I know most of us end up outsourcing this chore now. But there are odds and ends that still end up on our plate. All in all these are the most dreary chores of a household. Especially when there is other more important work to do - like a business to run or a house to keep clean or kids to raise. When it just piles on and no one seems to bother with it. I think it's worse when you hate doing it. 

But what if I say that sometimes a little perspective is all we need....a some extra time on our hands. I took a sabbatical last year and I am still on it. There have been days when I have binge-watched, read, napped and did little else. It is hard to accept but there have also been days when I've looked forward to...relished the prospect of doing laundry! 

Don't judge me yet. Not till you have experienced the absolute luxury of having done nothing all day, when you just need something to get you moving, when even the prospect of laundry seems like a great thing to pull you out of the stupor that has lasted days. 

Having some time on my hands has made me look at it all a bit differently. It doesn't feel as much of a drudgery when I don't hate it. When I look forward to it as something that I can DO to gainfully employ myself while being on a sabbatical. 

It, first of all, makes me feel useful. Like I DID something for the great we good of the household. Otherwise I'd just be wasting away on the couch. Still! Folding gives another reason to be useful and do something with my hands. And with there being no hurry to get on with it because more important things are lined up, it can actually be soothing! There I said it! I don't like the prospect of putting it all away but when I get down to it, it can help calm down and have something to do. Unlike reading or binge watching- that are active things and that need a lot of brain power - folding and ironing clothes just helps stay with your thoughts. There was a time when I'd play music to make the task more entertaining but it's even better without the entertainment. 

Of late, I have started ironing my own clothes. Mainly, because I don't like the job of the guy it is outsourced to and I have been too lazy to find someone else. I have the time now, so why not! Ironing is whole other kind of meditative calm (I cannot believe I just said that!) See the creases straighten out is a whole different kind of satisfaction. All the clothes getting smooth and wear-worthy. 

For me, it also helps take inventory of my clothes. Like I get to see most of them together since I iron only when the mound of clothes is big enough. It's my way of showing love to them, stacking them one on top of the other to wear them when I step out (Who irons jammies one wears at home !!) I like to find new ways of arranging them. Hanging them on the rods or stacking them on the shelf. There is no best way to do it and I am always up for experimenting. 

That's another thing with me. I always keep changing things - so every time I fold and put clothes away, I wonder if there is a better way to do it. The obsession began when I moved to a comparatively small space of a Mumbai flat. Always rearranging things to see if there is a better way to configure it all to make it space saving and optimised. After 17 yrs, I can safely say that there isn't. But the obsessed mind rears its ugly head at times and there I go rearranging the whole thing to see what might come of it. The episodes have become far and few in between. (Although the last one was just last week when I ordered more bins to stack T shirts in a space of their own) And mostly it's the calm that has survived.

What brought on this topic all of a sudden? After another bout of rearranging clothes - the one I just referred to - I got down to ironing my clothes today with the aim of arranging them differently. So that's what I am at when I left that and sat down to write this. I think my attempt at switching things around might yield better results this time. Meanwhile, I am holding on to the calm all this brings to me and that's the portion I want to remember. I think it's all about reframing things (can't believe that I sound like an NLP practitioner, although I am certified in it) And for now, I have reframed how I look at laundry! 

My fitness story

The gym near our place in Delhi was a no-no. Only guys went to the gym. You could see them from outside. Working out with heavy machinery - it was almost like an alien land of sweaty men. Nothing to do with good girls living in a civilised society in Delhi. 

Till I got married and gained weight, I did not even know that was possible to my thin frame. My husband, familiar with gyms, suggested that I join one. Things seem to be different in Mumbai. There were unisex gyms where women worked out along side men. It did feel a bit strange. And I did not know then what I know now - that women's training plans are relegated to the cardio machines like treadmills and the ellipticals. The weights section is dominated by men, assisted by trainers who are men. Women are too frail to lift weights and try such stuff. And with all the testosterone in the weights section, women just stay away. 

I did not particularly enjoy going to the gym or lost a lot of weight but I guess it was a great way to get some exercise. I also joined yoga classes which was a great thing to do for women. A few years later, I joined a fitness center where we did a variety of exercises in a women's only badge. We did have kettle bell and weights on some days minus the testosterone-y craze since we were all women. That stint did help me build muscles and therefore my weight only increased and I sorta looked bulky making people think that I had actually gained weight (screw 'em!)

I quit a couple of years before the pandemic hoping to find a new routine, which never happened. And then the pandemic hit bringing with it a myriad of other issues - lack of exercise being one of them. With other things happening around the next couple of years just flew past. I only regretted not having an outlet for exercise and I did not want to join a gym with its testosterone infused atmosphere. 

That's when I started working out at home with YouTube. There is nothing like working out in the comfort of my own home. Initially, I was so unfit that any aerobics video was good enough for me. I'd be panting in a few minutes. So building stamina was easy to do through YouTube. I did not need expert advice or equipment to achieve that. 

It's been great 17 months working out at home with YouTube. I did advance to longer aerobics videos and currently am able to start HIIT as my fitness has improved. I did a whole quarter of weight training from the comfort of my home with an exercise group last year. But the pace wasn't good enough for me and I wanted to first lose weight through cardio - a goal that I am at even a year later. I did a mix of weights and cardio at home and it has worked out well for me. The calm of doing it all at home just adds to my overall well being. 

But now I feel the need for heavier weights. While talking to a friend, the topic of going to the colony gym came up. There are a variety of weights and also machines for leg exercises. There is no slot for women or promise of the air being free of male hormones. But it is worth a shot. However, I have decided to focus on cardio this quarter instead of lifting. 

But then the topic of gyms got me thinking. Why are gyms such masculine spaces? I was reading up on this and the need for gyms arose when when machines took over the heavy work that men used to do. They had to expend that energy somewhere. And hence evolved this macho space where men could be men. And women erroneously believe that they don't want to bulk up, keeping them out of the weights area. 

To this day, I am yet to come across a woman trainer - sorry for using binary genders - or a gym that's oestrogen friendly. A space for women, trained by women. Where we do some serious weight lifting! Not the pink and purple dumbbells! None of the patronising expertise of men like we are trying to get some space in their bastion. I'd like us to have our own bastion. Training spaces for women who can be taught the basics of weight training without having to be conscious or be watched by other people judging us or making fun for wanting to be stronger just like men are. 

I know this is a distant dream. And even though I considered going to the colony gym for a minute,I have deferred it because one, I love the comfort of my own home. And two, I'd like to give cardio my all and see if the needle on the weighing scale moves. Again, in the absence of a personal coach, I am going by my limited knowledge of the field. When I do get back to weights in the next quarter, I will give this decision another think. Till then, my home it is!

Encore Parenthood

I started watching Parenthood again - this series that I had watched a few years ago. It got too intense the last time I watched. I think I got through a couple of seasons. At the end of season 1, I can already feel the intensity. It's a cornucopia of adult problems and teenage hormones. I think parents don't need to watch it at all because the chaos is the lives they already live. 

The series is a story of 4 siblings - already one too many - and their families, with their parents in the mix. Adam is the eldest and the most sensible of the lot taking responsibility for every one. He's the agony aunt of the family - and it's strange how all the siblings just walk into his office for advice even though his boss has issues with that. And he totally fails to set boundaries 

Him and his wife seem to be this ideal couple who try to run their home well and communicate with each other. Adam's daughter, Haddie is almost the same age as his sister Sarah's daughter, Amber. So there's enough teenage hormones going on with the mothers and the daughters in both households. Adam's son, Max has autism so that's another level of drama. I really wonder if it's actually this hard with teenage daughters. I think it's that way more in the US where kids have new fangled ideas of freedom and independence at a very young age, where parents telling kids what to do is being controlling and parents don't have the right to say anything. 

Sarah, with teenage kids, just moved back home because her husband left, I guess. She moved into her parents house since she does not have a home of her own at the moment. She has enough skirmishes with her daughter who isn't serious with her studies at the start. Sarah, who worked as a bartender, isn't doing too great professionally either. Adam and Sarah are the ones who take the responsibility among the siblings.

Julia, a lawyer, comes next. She is a power career woman and the sole earning member in the family after her husband's construction business went bust. And there is the usual judgement that she is a busy, working mother who does not have the time to do school things for her 5yo

Cossby is the youngest and the most flaky. He lives on a boat and still does his laundry at his parents. He was living the carefree life when an old girlfriend called Jasmine dropped a 5yo in his lap as his son. And je gets into the role full on without exceptions. It seems a bit convenient that she comes knocking asking for help when it seems like it works for her. She makes him work around her schedule and her rules, later her mom's when Jasmine goes travelling for work. He hardly ever stands up for himself with Jasmine's family. He shud work out a custody schedule so that he has weekends and can have a life as a single guy for the rest of the time. But even thought he knows a lot of times that he is being taken advantage of, he chooses to say nothing.

And then there's their parents with a traditional marriage where the mother raised the kids and the father cheated on her. She is fed up of him in their old age and going through therapy to make it work. 

Unlike in the real world, the siblings are close to each other and seem to have no boundaries when it comes to discussing their lives. Based on the situation, they can be each other's agony aunts. As if the teenage hormones aren't raging enough, there is a cornucopia of problems with adults - mainly trying to deal with their kids. Even Julia's 5yo has issues with obedience and knows how to play games to get her way. There is a time when Haddie and Amber like the same guy creating differences between the parents too. 

Sarah starts working for Adam - he is forced to offer her an internship because he used an idea she shoot offhandedly. And when she get to know that he actually pitched it to his boss, she wants more than just being dismissed, Sarah suffers from low self esteem and will take anything she gets. Soon after she starts working for Adam she is flirting with an employee and kissing the boss! Way to go Sarah! The middle of season 2 and Adam still does not know about this because she goes to Julia for advice on this. 

In the middle of it all, Joel the stay at home dad has an identity crisis while they are talking about having another child! As if raising a 5yo isn't tough enough! If this all sounds complicating, imagine watching all of it. Strangely enough, I am still watching it since I have not even reached the point till where I watched the last time. So I am going to get till there and then take a break. It's intense yet addictive. But intense kinda always wins. I am not sure I can manage to watch 6 seasons of this. Definitely not in one shot. In these times of short attention spans, it is hard to watch drama series with 50 minute long episodes. It was hard even to watch something like Gilmore Girls. Downton Abbey was an impossibility. Parenthood falls in this category. So I guess I am going to be taking a bit of a break before I coninue t his hige family saga! 

Gender Bias in Language

When Adam in Parenthood has a problem with his 15 yo daughter Haddie buying and sporting a sexy bra, there is a confrontation about it. He thinks she isn't old enough to wear something like that for her boyfriend. His position isn't made any stronger by the fact that he is encouraging his own nephew - in fact drives him to a dance to help him woo a girl is likes. When Haddie brings this double standard up - that she cannot hang out with her boyfriend whereas Adam took he nephew Drew to hang out with another girl, he accepts that it's a double standard but then thats how the world works 

That's how the world works. Unfortunately no matter how liberated the world is, we still cannot tell our daughters that it's a level playing field. What a woman wears will always be a topic of discussion. Is the neck too deep? Is the hemline too high? Is a dress dressy? Is jeans too informal? 

I was reading a couple of articles on Medium where women have taken up exactly this topic - the double standards that extends only to women whereas no one bats an eye lid at what men wear. One of the authors talks about how she is always picked up on by of her family holiday for wearing jeans in summer - and not something more comfortable like shorts or a dress. The author prefers jeans so that is comfortable for her. Yet, her cousins and aunts comment on her clothing every year, even though her father, son and uncles are also at the same brunch table enjoying their pants and khakhis. 

The same author also shares an instance when she was asked to wear the company uniform of red T shirt with khakhis because all the boys were donning the same and she was the only woman in the group. While she refused point blank to wear it because neither did khakhis suit her figure nor did she feel comfortable presenting in them as a VP of the company. If women are made to wear men's clothes for uniformity, how about using something where men feel a little weird and women feel all the comfort? Unless women fight for them norm, that's yet to be seen how men take it! 

Women's looks are rife with bias and judgement. Yet another example that comes to mind is the way grey roots are perceived differently in men and women. As if it isn't enough that women start becoming invisible as they age - research backed - letting their hair grey adds to their irrelevance. While men are said to be distinguished because of their salt and pepper looks, women are flung farther down in the social order because of that. That's because looks are central to how women are perceived and how women perceive themselves. Looking attractive and put together is key to their standing in social/professional company. So greying just goes against them. It is one of the important things that needs putting together to maintain that standing. 

That's when it struck me - the very root of language is seeped into bias. A woman was burnt for being a witch whereas a wizard is a synonym for a master. 

Double standards are not just about clothes women wear (or looks) and are judged for it. A few years ago, I came up with a public speaking program and decided to call it The Speaking Wizard. The idea was to make someone taking up the course a master in public speaking. Isn't that what a "wiz" stands for? I ran this name by a few friends and one of them said that it sounded a bit sexist. This had not occurred to me at all. But yeah, wizard was the male version of a master in, ironically, witchcraft. I wouldn't call a program meant for women- The Speaking Witch! That would give it a whole new connotation. 

Another very similar thing that happens is for the words stud and slut. Seemingly innocuous 4-letter words that have absolutely opposite meanings just because they belong to opposite genders. A Stud is lauded for his powers and is a positive role model for a wimp. Whereas a woman is a slut even she is just as much as deemed to be sleeping with multiple people. The truth doesn't matter at all. 

I am sure if I were to google to find more articles on such bias, there will be plenty. I don't have a problem with the meanings of words. But the way they affect the lives of real women in the real world - even in the 21st century. It's not easy to tell ourselves that the world is truly liberated and so women and men will be held to the same standards. Unfortunately, no. Research shows that the more gendered a language is, the more the inequality in that geographical location. No matter how much we talk about gender inclusiveness, the bias goes deep and is unconscious a lot of times. In languages that use gendered terms, it is hard to leave the gender out. And so that will be a part of every conversation, specifying one gender or the other. 

And for the most part, languages always lean towards male-heavy. "He" is a general term used in English even though the author might say that he/she means it as a neutral term to make it easier to write and for the reader to understand. So how is language inclusive despite the caveat?! We are a long way off from gender neutrality in the true sense of the word. And this disparity will continue to manifest itself in our every day life. Research says that it'll take 132 years for the world become truly equal. Can we start taking baby steps towards it through more inclusive language? Not use the male or the female meaning words when we don't have to. Here are a few tips just to do just that.

7 Common Things That Have Gone Obsolete In Today's Times

I wrote about the advancement of technology that has transformed our every day life. But with the coming of the new, the old stuff has also phased out. New apps and new technology has taken the place of the old that we were used to. Even our habits and the way we think has changed. 

Today, let's look at a few things that have become obsolete. Since I started with Google yesterday, lets start with that:

1. Paper maps

With google map being at the tip of our hands, there are no paper maps anymore. In fact, without the app pointing the right direction to go in, I wouldn't even know how to use a physical map. How do I figure out where I am and which way do I need to go in. The live power of google maps has outdated physical maps. One doesn't need one in a new city. You carry your map with you in your own phone - to any city in the world. 

2. Landlines

Phones attached to the wall should seem so odd to entire generations that were born in this century. You had to leave your phones at home when you go out? Well! that was the reality. In fact I have also seen a time when there was no landline at home at all. There was no way to talk to friends or give them information of any kind in between school days. I remember not getting info about sudden holidays that the school had declared. 

This is a huge difference from the present time when we literally have Whatsapp groups that we are a part of everyday and every single piece of information is broadcast and accessed on a minute to minute basis. There are not just messages and information, but you can ask questions, initiate discussions. We live in a world of hyper connectivity. We aren't connected only a a time that we need information. But we are inundated by information at all hours of the day! 

It's a far away cry from a time when landline was the only option, our calls monitored based on the monthly bill that arrived. 

3. Bank visits

Internet banking is the blessing that has made visiting the bank obsolete. You can do most of your functions from the site online. There is really no need to visit the bank for all the basic things we need from our account. 

There was a time when going to the bank personally was the only way to get anything done. However, I still make physical visits to a particular national bank. But that can be solves if I make the effort to activate internet banking for that account. But personal visits to the bank are largely not required in today's times. And thank God for that! 

4. Dictionary

Although I have a dictionary and 2 different thesaurus, I don't remember the last time I looked up a word in them. They are so big, fat and heavy that it'd be a chore to use them now. Whenever there is a need to look up a word, one just reaches for the very convenient google search at the end of our thumbs on our phones. Like I mentioned yesterday, Google is the blessing that has answers to every thing - even words and meanings that we do not know of. Usages, synonyms, antonyms - you got it! 

Online dictionary is such an easy way to build one's language as opposed to hauling the big fat thing in olden days because that is the only thing that could give you meanings of words. 

How convenient and fun! 

5. Film and even digital Cameras 

This one is ironic because one form of it is obsolete but another is so ubiquitous that whole generations cannot live without it. Cameras used to be a big innovation at one point. The ability to capture moments for posterity? Bring it on. It used to be such a special thing. We were willing to wait for days so that the film on the camera could be developed just for the happiness of seeing the moments captures on our cameras.

There used to be photo studios for families like ours that did not own a camera. We could go there and get special moments captured. The families that owned a camera were definitely more sophisticated that the ones that did not have one. 

Thanks to cell phones, every one with a phone has a camera -  which is actually pretty much every one. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the camera on a phone is one of the innovations that transformed so many aspects of our culture. Platforms like Instagram exist solely for the photos that our cameras take as we go through life. Everything is "instagrammable", every thing needs to be documented. And thats a whole social, cultural phenomenon that has transformed the way we perceive life around us. 

6. CDs

This is something that became obsolete as I was using them. I actually had a CD slot in my laptop till recently. I thought CDs were a great way to store things that I do not wish to lose. But apparently not. CDs go bad and then obsolete, apparently. I am glad that I did not store all my old photos on them or where would I play it now when my laptop has no CD player at all. 

If floppy disks seem old generation, so are CDs now. Needless to mention, so are discman devices (Remember there used to be a walkman for cassette players? What's a cassette you ask? Never mind darling! That's alright!)

7. Phone books 

Yeah! Physical books that one had to manually write every one's contact details in - and addresses. Because snail mail was the only way to send physical information like invitations and letters to people. That was cheaper and the only means to fit in more information than an expensive phone call. There were alphabetised pages so it wasn't a total mayhem in there. One could easily locate contacts by the first alphabet of the person you are looking for. 

There are a few still lying around in my house. I don't have any though. I guess I had a cell phone fairly early - late by today's standards - but a few years into have a job was early enough for me. So all the contacts went into the cell phone and then was transferred cell to cell.

What are some other things that come to your mind? 

7 Technical Innovations We Cannot Live Without

The advancement in technology has been so rapid in the last decade of so that adult life seems impossible without so many things. I am a millennial from the landline era, for crying out loud. But still I cannot think of life without a few technological innovations. They are not so new, yet life unimaginable without them. Now, I wonder how did I even live my life without these virtual contraptions. 

1. Google maps

Life before Google maps was not knowing the route to the airport despite having gone there so frequently. A new city and my GPS challenged mind ensured that I hardly had any idea how to get to the airport. If the taxi guy did not know, I was as good as screwed. I only vaguely knew the turns. 

But now, the first thing that comes to mind is Google maps. the first thing I do now when I come across something new is to look it up on Google maps. The traffic, the route, the distance can be mapped in a matter of seconds. How did I even travel without availability of my co-ordinates at the tip of my fingers!!

2. Google Search

I have lost count of the number of times in a day, yeah! a day, I open google to look up something. This is a magical genie that knows about every thing. There is no information that is not at the tip of my fingers. All questions can be answered and doubts cleared using this one service. Books, places, people, restaurants are my most common searches - in that order. And it never disappoints! 

If I had this during my college, studying would have been so much easier. All the info right there to be read and saved, No endless photocopying and saving all that physical material to study for the exams. What a revolution! Although my college time missed this innovation, the rest of my life is not too late to Google about. Another thing I cannot imagine my life without. 

3. Taxi services

Standing in the rain for hours trying to get an auto is my memory before Olas and Ubers became an ubiquitous part of our lives. In fact, when I was training for a leading bank, travel was my biggest challenge. It seems anachronistic to say this was a time when Ola and Uber were not invented. 

And now, I know that long distance travel can be comfortably done in a cab using Google maps so I stick to the right route! What a luxury. At least the availability of this option assures that I never will have to struggle for a ride. Except when one needs a cab to the airport and is short of time!! 

4. Google Pay

This is the most recent entry into my life. I resisted this one for the longest time since I did not want to leave online trails of my bank account. And I wish I had let it stay that way so I wouldn't get duped online through my own Gpay! *Eye roll* But this is an easier way to pay online without having to use credit cards. I have come to be comfortable with this method with passing time. It's at least one of the easier ways to make payments straight from the bank account. 

5. Online grocery shopping

Gone are the days when we carried cloth bags to the vegetable market - ironically I carried one to the market just last week to buy fruits - but then this is not the only way to but vegetables and groceries. Thanks to the pandemic, online grocery shopping has become common place in every household. This is one thing that I am thankful for instead og having to lug bags into a rickshaw and lugging hem up to the house. I have hated that kind of grocery shopping forever. 

Online shopping is so much easier and convenient. I just need to click things into the cart. No stepping out or lugging things up and about. And this method of shopping has only gotten better with time. Earlier one had to wait an hour. But with multiple services promising 10-minute services, there is hardly any wait between ordering and the stuff being delivered. I think the marvel that technology is is finally here at our door steps. 

6. Zoom/video conferencing 

Another thing that the pandemic has made ubiquitous in our lives. I am always surprised to think that I do not have to step out to work. There are no geographical boundaries for my clients. 

Earlier, no one wanted to work together unless it was the same city. The idea of virtual meetings was alien and people were not open to them. But now, despite the world having opened, we pass around virtual meeting links to get our work done. Fast and effective, this is one gift of technology which has truly revolutionised the work world for good. 

For an entrepreneur like me, I can sit at home and work with anyone in the world. The sky is literally the limit while looking for clients. 

I do miss the physical interaction the int higher frequency of offline events. But real work does get dome through Zoom and equivalent platforms. And that's a great thing. 

7. AI/ChatGPT 

The power of AI is unveiling right before our eyes. I no longer need to google things and look for links that night give me the info I need. ChatGPT is the new genie that just spouts the info I need. This takes Seek and you shall find" to a whole literal level. From 200 calorie meal plan to the content for your landing page, there is no command that AI cannot carry out. Although humans will be required to write the prompts, the power of AI to do enormous amount of work for us in no time is a true testimony to what all technology can do for us. It's a new milestone in how many can manipulate the machine to do our bidding.  

Where AI will take us and where its limit is, only time can tell. But write now we can ride the power wave of this new fangled innovation at our finger tips that can do anything for us. 

What else comes to your mind when you think of technology you cannot live without? 

How to keep your new year resolutions

1st of December! Exactly a month to go for the new year. I stopped believing in resolutions years ago. And Jan seems like a precarious time to start something new. Too much at stake in terms of expectations. And we do falter no matter what. I think if i just continue with the quiet and happy life I have right now, I'll be good. 

If you are looking at doing certain things differently, here are a few tips

Make a list of things you'd like to do/change/start: Trust me! This is going to be a long list. While we are at it, we want to turn into a new leaf and then some. So many things make it to that list. don't hold back. go ahead and jot down everything that comes to mind. Carry the list around for a day or two, if you wish. 

Once you have that list, pare it down. Try really hard to choose 3 things. The most important 3 things. It could be health and fitness (the most common one), upskilling, more work life balance. Stuff that you really need to work on but it never gets done. 

Pare it further down to one. Just one. One that you'll begin the new year with. The one you'll work on for the rest of the month. As the saying goes - Well begun is half done. And you will need planning for that. 

Well! What will you do the rest of the month? Say, your goal is health and fitness - since that's the most common one. There are so many decisions to go through. Even if you already have a gym membership - figuring the way you'll work out will be no. 1, if you don't - what's the kind of fitness routine will you follow. Start with cardio and build strength into it? Do you have the resources to do that? What kind of dietary changes can you easily make? What time suits you the best? Notice your everyday routine in the light of the plan that you have made. Can you sustain the plan you have in mind? How should you tweak it to increase the success rate of your plans? 

Similarly, if you wish to learn a new skill, it's not a goal until you nail down the specifics. There are so may courses out there. Even if you have a few in mind, which one will you be doing? What part of the day will be set for your course work. What are some of the things that you can do to ensure the maximum success of your endeavour? 

Your goals may not be as big as losing weight or upskilling. Altering habits can be goals that may not require a lot of planning but they need conscious change in the way we live. 

One technique that comes to mind is habit stacking. One can benefit from this even when you set out to achieve bigger goals. You may want to be a more organised person instead of someone who spends all weekend clearing out the weekly clutter. Taking a page from Marie Kondo's book - cz the book is too impractical - learn to put things in their place as you go along. Shoes and bags, keys and receipts, jackets and books. It'll take you some will power initially until it becomes a habit. 

You may want to start making healthy choices to aid your goal of weight loss. Start by changing your shopping list. Ensure you have good choices in your fridge in order to make them. Stack soy milk instead of high sugar fruit juice. Stop buying cookies and stock fruits instead. Carry nuts and dry fruits to make healthy snacking easier. When those hunger pangs hit, you don't want to be stuck with nothing but stale sandwich from your canteen. Plan ahead. These simple things can actually help you achieve your larger goals. 

Goals are not achieved not by fluke. There is a lot of planning that happens. By deferring all the planning to the end of this month, we are setting ourselves up for failure. The good thing about this wake up call is that you will be a lot more prepared to be gun for success in your goals. 

What are some of the goals you'd like to plan for in 2025?