How to Develop a Consistent Writing Habit

The most important quality in a writer's life is consistency. Consistency is the key to successful writng. Writing is like caring for a baby. You can't stop taking care of a baby for two weeks all on a sudden. You can't then restart the next week when you are fresh and relaxed. That's not how you care for babies, and that's not how you write. Writing is exactly like taking care of your baby. It is diffifult, time consuming, and needs dedication and consistent loving effort.

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So how do writers manage their daily lives along with writing? that is a question to ask. In fact, if you want to write full time, you need to understand the meaning of the words 'full time'. Full time means all the time you have. That is all your waking hours, that may, and generally does eat into your sleeping hours. In short, a full time writer may not get time even to sleep. Eating, bathing, brushing, washing, cleaning, having a relationship and raising a family suffer. Oh yes, forget all that. You may not have time to have sex! Wouldn't that summarise this discussion in a single sentence? It does, provided you like it.

But, this need not be the case with everyone. For some people, writing comes as natural as hunger and thirst. Blessed ar such writers. The natural ones. They only need to sit at their desks, and take a pen. Writing happens spontaneously. Ah! How wonderful would that be! Unfortunately, such writers are born only once every bluemoon. That is why we have only one Shakespeare, one Márquez and one J.K. Rowling in the entire human history. We can try to be like them. There is no guarantee that we can ever be like them. In fact, that is the beauty of life. No two of us are alike. I may produce excellent fiction. But I may never become as popular as Márquez is.

Thus, as writers, we have to keep writing. We must not get desperate about not completing the daily quota of pages. It is not in completing quotas that we become writers, but in having consistency. Like taking care of a baby. Everyday, every hour, every minute, your stories must continue to live in your minds. That is the secret. Nothing but that is the secret.

So, here are a few tips you can use to be consistent as writers.

• Make a schedule. At least a loose one.
• Make to-do lists.
• Maintain a journal (online/offline)
  

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Now, to write with consistency, make sure you have a place, a time, an attitude, and peace of mind. The following are some tips.

1. Say no to distractions

Keep distractions away. Don't sit in the street. Don't sit among ten 5-year-olds and try to write about meditation. The essence, is find a peaceful, distraction-free place to write. Keep your cell phones away. Keep your family behind the door. Keep your pets away. Keep only your pen and book, or your computer with you.

2. Use a timer

Decide to write for 30 minutes every day. So you know you have to write only for 30 minutes, and not 25 or 35 minutes. Sit down, write for 30 minutes and close the computer after 30 minutes. This gives you a sense of accomplishments and sense of completion.

3. Note down your accomplishments.

When you accomplish a milestone, do note it down in a book. Every week, look through your book to see your accomplishments. That will give you a sense of achievement

4. Create a habit

It is important to develop a clean and disciplined habit related to writing. It could be anything. For example, you might get up early and write for two hours before having your breakfast. Or, you would sit up late in the night and write for three hours. Whatever be it, you must make it a habit by forcing yourself in the beginning. Later, when it becomes your habit, you would naturally follow the habit, because it is your habit!

Conclusion

So here we are. Now we know what to do to be consistent in writing. How do you plan to develop your consistency? Please let us know in the comments. If you think we could improve this article by adding the tactics you use, let us know. We will include them. If you think some of the tips we mentioned are useless, let us know, we will include a warning with those tips.

Happy writing.

ഗാന്ധിജി: കുട്ടികൾക്കുള്ള പ്രസംഗം

എല്ലാവർക്കും എന്റെ നമസ്കാരം.

ഇന്നത്തെ എന്റെ പ്രസംഗം ഗാന്ധിജിയെപ്പറ്റിയാണ്. ഗാന്ധിജി നമ്മുടെ രാഷ്ട്രപിതാവാണ്‌. കുഞ്ഞുന്നാൾ മുതൽ നമ്മൾ ഗാന്ധിജിയെപ്പറ്റി കേൾക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. എന്നാൽ എന്തുകൊണ്ടാണ് ഗാന്ധിജിയെ നമ്മൾ ഇത്രയധികം ബഹുമാനിക്കുന്നത്?  അതിന് പല കാരണങ്ങളുണ്ട്.

ഒന്നാമതായി, ഗാന്ധിജി കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങളെ അധികമായി സ്നേഹിച്ചിരുന്നു. നിങ്ങൾക്കറിയാമോ കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങൾ അദ്ദേഹത്തെ ബാപ്പുജി എന്നാണ്  വിളിച്ചിരുന്നത്. കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങൾ ആണ്  ഇന്ത്യയുടെ ഭാവി എന്ന് അദ്ദേഹം വിശ്വസിച്ചിരുന്നു. 

Gandhiji

രണ്ടാമതായി, ഇന്ത്യക്ക് സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം നേടിത്തരാൻ ഗാന്ധിജി  വലിയ ത്യാഗങ്ങൾ ചെയ്തു. കാൽനടയായി അദ്ദേഹം ഈ വലിയ രാജ്യത്തു മുഴുവൻ  നടന്നു. ജനങ്ങളോട് സംസാരിച്ചു. അവരുടെ പ്രശ്നങ്ങൾ മനസിലാക്കി. അദ്ദേഹം നമ്മുടെ കൊച്ചു കേരളത്തിലും  വന്നിട്ടുണ്ട്.

മൂന്നാമതായി, അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ ജീവിതം വളരെ ലളിതമായിരുന്നു. അദ്ദേഹം ഒരു മുണ്ടും ഒരു മേല്മുണ്ടും മാത്രമായിരുന്നു ധരിച്ചിരുന്നത്. രാജ്യത്തിന്റെ നന്മയ്ക്ക് വേണ്ടി മാത്രമാണ് അദ്ദേഹം ജീവിച്ചത്. ഇന്ന് നാം അനുഭവിക്കുന്ന  സമാധാനവും അദ്ദേഹത്തിൻ്റെ കൂടെ പരിശ്രമം കൊണ്ടാണ്  നമ്മുക്ക് ലഭിച്ചത്. 

അതുകൊണ്ട്, ഗാന്ധിജിയെ ബഹുമാനിക്കേണ്ടത് നമ്മുടെ കടമ മാത്രമല്ല, നമ്മുടെ ആവശ്യം കൂടിയാണ്. ഒരിക്കൽ ഗാന്ധിജി പറഞ്ഞു, "എൻ്റെ ജീവിതമാണ് എന്റെ സന്ദേശം". അതായത്, അദ്ദേഹം തന്റെ ജീവിതം നമുക്ക് മാതൃകയായി നൽകി. നമുക്ക് സാധിക്കുമോ? അത്ര സത്യസന്ധരാണോ നമ്മൾ? അത്ര നീതിബോധമുള്ളവരാണോ നമ്മൾ? ഈ ഗാന്ധിജയന്തി ദിനത്തിൽ അങ്ങനെയാവാൻ നമുക്ക് തീരുമാനിക്കാം.

രാജ്യം ഭരിക്കുന്നവർ സ്വാർത്ഥരാവുമ്പോൾ ഗാന്ധിജിയാണ് അവർക്ക് വഴികാട്ടി. പഠനത്തിൽ നമുക്ക് താല്പര്യം കുറയുമ്പോൾ ഗാന്ധിജിയാണ് നമുക്ക് പ്രചോദനം. തിന്മയെ തോൽപ്പിച്ച് നന്മ ജയിക്കുവാൻ  ഗാന്ധിജിയാണ് നമുക്ക് വഴികാട്ടി. നമ്മുടെ ചുറ്റും സ്വാര്ഥതയില്ലാത്ത, മറ്റുള്ളവരുടെ നന്മ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന, നല്ലവരായ മനുഷ്യർ ഉണ്ടാവാൻ നമുക്ക് ഗാന്ധിജിയെപ്പോലെ നന്മയിൽ ജീവിക്കാം. ഗാന്ധിജി നമ്മെ നേരായ വഴിക്ക് നയിക്കട്ടെ, നന്മയുള്ളവരാക്കട്ടെ. അതിന് ഗാന്ധിജി നമ്മെ അനുഗ്രഹിക്കട്ടെ. 

നന്ദി, നമസ്കാരം.

Is there a god?

Every time we plan to buy a pack of biscuits worth ten bucks, we look for the best brand. We choose the biscuit of our liking based on whether the manufacturer is trustworthy or not. I wouldn’t buy my biscuits based on recommendations of celebrity brand ambassadors. The same is the case when we buy cars or houses. For that matter, we do not spend a pie without properly knowing what we are buying. But as believers, do we every try to verify the authenticity of gods? Do we at least try to see if a god is real or not? Not really. No one tries to verify anything related to gods.

What is God? No one really knows. Where is god? No one really knows. Has anyone seen a god? No, no one in their normal senses has seen a god. Yet everyone believes in gods. Some believe in a unitary god, some in multiple gods. But irrespective of the type of belief, everyone blindly believes in some kind of god/gods.

The only proven way to verify the existence of a god is ‘spiritual’. I mean, the use of some pure spirit of sorts. Intoxication is a known resource that induces apparitions, messages, bliss, and nirvana. It is one kind of hallucination. Once in a state of trance induced by some sort of spirit, people will be able to experience, communicate and interact with the supernatural. Others do not EVER ‘experience’ god, but believe ‘blindly’ in that entity.

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In my opinion, human beings postulated the concept of god because they were cowards and were afraid of taking responsibility of their lives. By ascribing the copyright of the world’s design to some unknown entity, humans conveniently transferred the responsibility for their own lives to a god. How funny is that! What is funnier is that even after so much cultural, scientific and philosophic advancement, humans continue to believe in this fictional character to be the almighty. I believe, the fault lies in our genes. Other animals don’t have this problem. Their genes are programmed to perform in certain ways where there is no scope for cartoon characters. From birth to death, they fulfil their functions and take full responsibility of their lives. They live beautiful lives. No fights, no wars, no jealousy and no sadness or madness. On the other hand, humans who believe in a supreme being fight wars just for the sake of their ego, and wallow in an ocean of their own tears.

What can we say? A world without gods would have been better? A world without gods would be more human? Whatever we say, the fact remains: that human believers are cowards. So, wake up. Take responsibility of your own lives. Be yourselves. Be human.

10 Tips to remain productive: Don’t miss the final one

No interest in work anymore. Utterly lazy. No motivation to continue at all! Have you felt this way? If yes, you are in the right place. Here are a few tips to help you remain productive for long. 

Note: You can’t become productive overnight. You must be willing to persevere no matter how demotivating your work is.

1. Be reasonable: when you make your to-do list, you must be pretty reasonable. If you ask yourself to climb Mount Everest tonight, you know you cannot. Be kind to yourself.

2. Challenge yourself: When setting your targets for the day, do not underestimate yourself. Give yourself some challenging level of work. If you don’t, you are making yourself lazy.

3. Divide larger tasks into smaller bits: When you have a complex task, go step by step. Evaluate yourself by the steps you complete- not by the completion of the entire task. It’s like eating. You can’t eat a burger at one go. You need to take small bites and enjoy every bit if you want to get good results.

4. Focus: When you are doing a simple task, focus on that task. Do not overthink about your progress. Do not worry about the overall task. In short, be in the moment. That is the shortcut to happiness.

5. Schedule your time: If you know you are productive in the mornings, give yourself the most challenging tasks in the morning. This way, you are optimizing your productivity.

6. Note your ways: It is a good habit to note down how you react to stress and pressure. You can refer to your notes the next time you face stress, and ask yourself not to fall prey to illusions. This will help you to remain productive and focused.

7. Give yourself some time, some love: Nobody can work all the time. When the clock strikes the end, STOP working and leave your desk. You need to relax. Your body requires rest. Your mind requires recreation. Your family needs you. You need to love yourself.

8. Screen time: When you are away from your desk, are you on your phone or TV? That’s not effective. Screen time should not invade your personal space. Use your phone’s timers to limit your screen time to say, 60 minutes a day (that may be a lot for you).

9. Organize yourself: This is important. You need to plan your time. Set some days off of your work. Go for a ride. Have a romantic dinner. Rest.

10. Self-appreciation: Every weekend, appreciate yourself for the forbearance, dedication and hard work you put in to your work and family. If you feel you have not been efficient, challenge yourself.

In short, you need to be kind to yourself. Productivity comes when your body and mind are at peace. If you don’t relax, you can’t be productive. Have fulfilling relationships. Eat well, rest well and sleep well. Things will fall in place.

Desk Exercises for WFH

Feel tired and exhausted from working at your desk everyday at home? Well, there is a solution. You can practice these exercises which can strengthen your body while sitting at your desk. These are designed specifically for you if you have a 9-5 desk job which became 9-midnight due to WFH!

Here are our best suggestions. 

• Neck-Stretch - First, rotate your neck from side to side, forward and backward. Then, look left and right. Take care not to roll your neck, which is not good for the joints in the neck.Voila- your neck is no more stiff!
  
• Wrist-Roll- Roll your wrists clockwise and counterclockwise every once in a while. This increases flexibility and increases blood circulation.
• Ankle-Roll: Roll your ankles clockwise and conterclockwise evey once in a while to increase blood circulation and flexibility. 
• Shoulder-Roll: Roll your shoulders clockwise and counterclockwise every once in a while.
• Compress-Release: Tighten and release your abdominal muscles. You need to hold for a few seconds and then release. 
• Chest out: Hold your fists, push your elbows to your chair's back rest, and stretch your chest outwards. Hold your breath for 2-5 seconds and release. Repeat a few times. This increases blood circulation.
• Face crunch: Make the ugliest face you can by tightening every muscle on your face. Let your face vibrate and shake with tension. Hold for a few seconds and release. 
  
• Compress-Release: Tighten and release your buttocks as tightly as possible Hold and then release.
• Extend 'em: Hold your hands up and stretch them as far as possible while holding your breath and tightening as many muscles as possible on your body.
• Foot Raises:Raise your feet one by one a few inches from the ground and slowly set them back on the floor. Your thighs and hip must feel the stretch. Repeat a few times.
• Look out: If you are lucky to have a window by your desk, and you happen to have green foliage outside, do look out every half an hour. It will relax your eyes, and increase concentration.
• Drink up: Every 15-20 minutes, take a sip or two from your water bottle. Notice that tea/coffee wouldn't work. You need to hydrate yourself. You might need to go to the loo a few extra times, but that's better than a headache by evening, right?
• Straighten your back: Awareness is the key here. Straighten your back everytime you become aware that your back is not straight. Right, it may take some time, but you will get it right.
  

5 Reasons Why I Love 'The Expanse'

The Expanse is a serialized science fiction video series based on a novel series of the same name, authored by James S. A. Corey. The show was initially produced by Alcon Entertainment for TV. After three seasons, they canceled the show. Due to popular demand, Amazon Prime Studios picked up the series and produced a fourth season. The entire series is available on Amazon Prime. Here are 5 reasons why I love the series.

1. It is realistic

Unlike other science fiction series, this show is realistic. It doesn't create a reality that is entirely out of our sensibility. The planets, interplanetary travel, etc. are portrayed as is predicted/expected by scientific realities.

2. It has real physics involved.

The Expanse uses real physical laws in its story and graphics. For example, people of the belt are taller and leaner because they live in lower gravity than earth. Another example is how they show zero gravity and generation of artificial gravity.

3. It has real human elements, not entirely super-heroism.

Though there is exaggeration to an extent, The Expanse does not go over the board and place super-heroic acts in the series. The characters have real emotions and have real human errors and weaknesses, which make The Expanse a true reflection of human lives, well- in a sci-fi sense.

4. It reflects human political struggles

The Expanse may be set in the future, but the way the Earth, Mars and Belt fights over available resources, the way politicians and gun-people interact wielding power and missiles reflects the way we humans fight. In a way, The Expanse shows us how we may destroy our Earth not so far in the future.

5. Its story is believable.

Watching The Expanse, knowing that it is set in the future does not make it an unbelievable experience. The Iron Man may be unbelievable because it is set in today's world, and we know it is not true to our experience. But The Expanse is set in the future, and it is possible that our future is going to be like that. In a way then, The Expanse is trying to show us or trying to form our future.

The Expanse is a wonderful experience. If you haven't watched, please do. The first episode is a free gift to you even if you don't have Amazon Prime subscription. Just use this link: https://www.amazon.com/The-Expanse-Season-1/dp/B018BZ3SCM

How is meditation useful if you are already a happy person?

When you decide to begin a journey, the only stumbling block before you is the question 'when'. If you decide to begin  your journey the moment you decide about the journey, you have achieved half of what you deserve. The other half comes to you if you have the determination to persevere in your journey. Every journey has a beginning. Beginnings are important because they set the mood, the course and the end of the journey. That is why they say, 'well begun is half done'.

Source

When I was part of the Society of Jesus, I used to meditate everyday. It was part of the discipline of the Society. Spirituality was personal responsibility, but discipline was external till you were considered an adult in spirituality. So I meditated when the bell rang. After I left the Society to live as an ordinary human being in the society, I realized that meditations need not start when a bell rang. After a while, I stopped meditating altogether. I found that life was fruitful and happy if one concentrated in one's daily routine with dedication. I was happy to work, happy to earn, happy to spend what I earned, happy to save some wealth, happy to love, happy to share. I was happy. I didn't need to meditate to be happy.

Life went on happily like this for about ten years. Just the other day, I got to think about the meaning of life. As always, I gave prime importance to happiness. I was and am happy. I have a family, I have love, I have decent savings, I live a decent life, I earn respect, and I have material possessions to live happily. But, when I thought about the depth of that happiness, I found that my happiness could be deeper, fuller and stronger. I found that I could do better if I knew myself better. I realized that I needed to get in touch with my own self in a better manner.

Source

How do I do that? The best way is to sit quietly with closed eyes thinking nothing. By meditating.

So I got back to meditation. Yesterday, when I meditated after a long time, I used some peaceful music to support my concentration. Also, I made sure that I didn't pray. Prayer is useless when there is no conviction of its usefulness. So I sat down, listened to music and concentrated on my breathing. It was wonderful. After 15 minutes when the music stopped, I felt relaxed and reset. I knew then that I would meditate again.