This post happened a bit late. I have no other excuses other than me being busy with some personal stuff.
Without further ado, here are my April favourites!
Favourite book(s)
I read The Street Lawyer by John Grisham this month and needless to say, I loved it. It depicts the sufferings of the homeless and poor and how a lawyer stands up for these vulnerable people by sacrificing the materialistic ‘well-being’ that life offers (Here’s my review of the book).
I have also started listening to the audio book Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. The book talks about various ways in which we can declutter our digital lives and carefully curate technology in such a way that it benefits us in the long run.
Favourite blog post
I recently came across this blog post titled How to Read: Lots of Inputs and a Strong Filter by Morgan Housel and it really resonated with me. It basically says that we should steer clear of the idea that if we start a book, we are bound to finish it. Instead, we can start with multiple books at once and then streamline it as days go by, only to end up finishing those books that really kept us interested in the long run.
I think it is a very important idea, especially for a ‘completionist’ like me - who has always struggled with DNF-ing a book. There have been a number of times when I completed a book just to avoid that itch in my mind. In the process, I did not read to enjoy, but to avoid the sense of having something unaccomplished. Reading this article helped me to take a step back and evaluate my stance.
Favourite organisation/productivity technique
Last month, I shared Youtuber Ali Abdaal‘s ‘HGL-method.’ This month, however, I blended Ryder Caroll‘s bullet journal (BuJo) method with the former one. BuJo is a great way to organise one’s workflow. However, over the years I did not keep up with it as I was not willing to work on the fancy outlines shown by others. While I agree that it does not need to be fancy and decorative in order to be effective, I lost my interest over it. I love simplicity and work better with the ‘less is more’ mindset. I also ended up using a digital app as it means I get to minimise my everyday carry. However, last month I stumbled (again) across Ryder Carroll’s YouTube channel, where he discusses the minimalistic and simple spread to do your BuJo. I was tempted to try it again. And I loved penning down my tasks on paper. The simple action of crossing a completed task on paper gave me the initiative to be more productive. Plus, Carroll’s method is simple, minimal and not time-consuming at all!
Favourite playlist
I love working to lo-fi beats and ambient sounds. For someone, who can be easily distracted, it is quite a game-changer. I usually prefer ambient sounds to lo-fi beats as I find them more soothing, helping me to focus more. A few weeks ago I came across a Spotify playlist of wonderful and soothing nature sounds. I have been using it for almost any work I do at my desk (I am listening to it right now while I write this blog post).
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(Photo by Eric Rothermel on Unsplash)
Anwesha RC 