BECOME MORE PRODUCTIVE

Productivity is about the effective and efficient use of all resources. Resources include time, people, knowledge, information, finance, equipment, space, energy, materials.

Want to know more ways to become more productive? Check out the info-graphics below.

-Ankit

5 Simple Strategies for Beginning Again.

If I want something badly enough in this life it is 100% up to me to be an active participant of its creation, versus being an empty, complacent space holder of thoughts and ideas.

The most difficult part is to begin. So begin now. Begin again. And again, and again.

We all have something that holds us back, keeps us away from showing up to possibilities. For me, it’s putting my thoughts on the written page and clicking ‘publish’ to go live for others to read. It’s raw exposure. But guess what? We all have our shit! That is truly the best part of unveiling layers as we learn self-acceptance and how to practice endless un-attachment.

I am fortunate to speak my thoughts and theme them to ideas for students in yoga class; it is an outpouring of my raw heart and active soul. Spoken words are less permanent that way; not being visibly seen, but felt instead. My mind swells with ideas and concepts that bring me into states of exhilaration or depletion. Can I ever get out of my own way? The answer is yes. And it starts when we begin.

I have created a tumultuous relationship with understanding and allowing myself to be in the ‘now’ of moments. The mind, consumed with thoughts, travels ahead based upon failures of the past, to then be countered by attempts of working to surrender into the present moment. It takes work-conscious and mindful effort that only I can show up to do because no one else is going to do the work for me!

So how does the processing of beginning “now” become a reality? I struggle, like many of us do, but with dedicated efforts, I rely upon five simple suggestions for anyone to try:

1) Do something your afraid of—daily.

I don’t mean cliff jumping, driving a race car or any other adrenaline inducing activities, but this is something that makes you feel alive, even if you struggle with it. For some it can be as simple as taking a different route to work or finding a new coffee shop. For me, it’s writing. I am facing my fear of failure and owning my truths, but if I don’t do this, how I am really going to be able to show up the best version of me in every aspect of my life?

2) Find pause—now.

A pause is short. Intermittent. It’s temporary, just like everything else. This is a time to become an observer of “self” in any situation. It may be mid conversation that is emotionally loaded, prior to clicking send on your email or checking the latest social media post. It is a time to gather composure to check in, so you can begin right where you are to either stay on the same path or make a willing change to acquire a different result.

3) Love—more.

I’m not good at this. My walls of protection have kept me so guarded and single at the age of 35. It is not about practicing careless out-pouring of love; rather an investment into loving yourself more, so that you can actually unconditionally love others. It’s smiling at strangers and then holding eye contact, reaching out and communicating to people who have been heavy in my thoughts. Love is supposed to make us feel good. The world we live in needs everyone to take part.

4) Forgive—let go.

Hurt people hurt others. We cannot control the conscious states or operating levels of others. I have learned it is more difficult to hold onto resentment, which ultimately has festered into physical, mental, and spiritual roadblocks. It is not up to me to change anyone, however, I can alter my lens of perspective in order to gain freedom by forgiveness.

5) Joy—be playful.

Can you remember the last time you laughed so hard your belly hurt and slightly peed your pants? As adults, we are supposed to have our sh*t together but what ever happened to the innocent, happy, playful child that once existed? I was reminded by a healer in Bali to always take care of the “little girl inside.” I forget about her, a lot. She giggles, likes to play and smile, doesn’t care what anyone thinks and is really happy.

By beginning now, and again, and again, we can understand how to be grateful for the present moments we get to experience, regardless of just how difficult the current situation may be.

Begin now because where you are is exactly where you need to be.

-Ankit

Get rid of "Me Time" and increase productivity.

We all have things we do to give ourselves a break from our busy lives, but some those things might just be a force of habit. If you can eliminate some of of your unnecessary “me time” commitments, you’ll have more time and energy to put toward productive tasks.

Are your “me time” activities a hobby or just something you do because you did them before? It could be something you've done since you were a kid, or something a friend got you into. Whatever it is, taking a good look at your personal activities can help you free up some time for doing useful things.

Take an honest look at the things you do and see if you have any time-wasters that are only a habit. If it doesn't bring you the joy and down time it should, let it go. It can be tough because we often feel like we owe ourselves something, but you’ll have more time and energy to do the productive things. You’ll also have more time to do the fun things you actually care about. I suggests a simple test to help: If you wouldn't want to do it on a vacation, you probably don’t want to do it that much.

-Ankit

"One Thing Done Is One Thing Less to Do"

Melanie Pinola

Procrastination is a tough beast to beat, especially when you’re overwhelmed by so much to do. The quote above, actually a title of a post on Untemplater, is a reminder that every little bit helps.

Taking care of a task that takes even ten minutes (or five or two) can make a big difference for the rest of your day and week—particularly when it comes to your mindset. Consider creating a “done” list to keep up the productivity while you’re at it.

Find Your “10 Minute Tasks” Each Day to Stay Productive

Lots of us have problems organizing our day productively. We never seem to have the time. Keeping a list of "10-Minute Tasks" lets you get stuff done without feeling overwhelmed.

As we've mentioned before, if a task is shorter than 2 minutes, you should just do it now. For those tasks longer than two minutes that keep interrupting your day, bank them into a 10 minute slot. 

You can consolidate these micro-tasks into one daily 10-minute session. Doing so will not only help you remember to execute these tasks on a regular basis, it could also save you time. Instead of suddenly remembering one of these tasks in the middle of a larger project and derailing your momentum, you'll already have the time set aside to deal with them. You can do this with almost any regularly executed task, though some may require sessions longer than 10 minutes.

So if you need a little push to get through, just remind yourself that one thing done is one thing less to do.

-Ankit

10 Things You Should Do Every Day.

Via Jennifer S. White

Daily Mini-Resolutions

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. Why? Because I think we should be working on self-improvement and overall life satisfaction on a regular basis, rather than on some arbitrary date.

Having said that-in re-thinking my anti-resolution stance-I recently realized that I practice mini-resolutions every single day.

Here is a list of 10 of those things.

 1.      Open your heart.

Don’t let life make you cold and callous. Remember that to truly enjoy life you have to be open to the reality that sometimes it hurts too. Keep opening your heart to love.

 2.      Give sincere compliments.

I've blogged before about how our society is so critical that people often don’t even know how to receive compliments. I’m not suggesting you go around throwing out so many compliments that they become meaningless, but sometimes letting someone know that you notice them in a positive way is exactly what that person needed-and that positivity will come back to you.

 3.      Put effort into life.

My husband often says that people have a sense of entitlement, that they think they’re owed success or happiness. Guess what? You’re not. The reality is that life isn’t fair; happiness often takes working at having a positive outlook and mindset and worthwhile success comes from effort. However, I truly believe that God, the universe, or whatever you believe in, helps people that help themselves.

 4.      Be honest, but not hurtful.

Honesty should be your only policy, but not when this honesty serves to make you feel better while hurting someone else. Learn when to be open and forthright-and when to keep your yapper shut.

 5.      Sing.

Yes, sing. Singing clears our energy and brings lightness to our hearts. It really doesn't matter if you’re a good singer. Just close the door, turn on your favorite song and belt out a tune-I promise you’ll feel invigorated.

 6.      Play.

Every single day you should be doing something fun. Even if you have the craziest day at work or your kids are sick, there’s always one minute to joke and laugh with your spouse, to read a few pages of an inspiring book or to simply play along with your children (trust me, kids know how to have fun). Even making dinner can be enjoyable-if you have the right attitude.

 7.      Drink water.

I love water-a lot. If you don’t like water, too bad, drink it anyway.

 8.      Quit reading the news.

All right, I’m certainly not saying that we should become uneducated drones, but how often do you read unnecessarily damaging headlines-about depressing things that you can’t change or that don’t really affect you-and you feel like crap afterwards? So stop. Put down your phone or the TV remote and, I don’t know, sing a song instead.

 9.      Hug.

Hugging is so underrated. Hugs help you become happy and relaxed almost instantly. Too often the people that we love become ordinary faces that we don’t spend enough time loving in basic human ways, like hugging.

 10.      Forgive.

Almost every day presents us with challenging people or situations. These people and opportunities are put in our way because they serve to make us better people-if we allow it. So stop carrying old baggage around, and open yourself to the notion that every minute provides you the chance to start again-regardless of the date. Let yourself move forward-without the weight of burdens that don’t serve your best self.

While I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, I definitely do believe that every day can bring us closer to our highest, happiest selves; so consider trying these 10 small things on a regular basis-because it’s these little steps that get you where you want to be.

-Ankit

Johnny Cash’s Love Letter To His Wife In 1994 Will Melt Your Heart

Happy Birthday Princess,

We get old and get use to each other. We think alike. We read each others minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted.

But once in awhile, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You’re the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much.

Happy Birthday Princess.

John

The “best love letter of all time,” according to voters and me.

-Ankit

Another Year about to end(Merry Christmas)

Hi Friends,

As 2014 is about to end and the New Year approaches..

I wish you will get all the happiness of the world..

I wish you will never be upset.

I wish  you will start believing yourself as much as you want the world to believe in you.

I wish you pour your love into everything you do and I hope you will make your life a work of art.

I wish you will learn to smile.

I wish you will give yourself permission to stop being so serious and start enjoying life.

Happy holidays, to you and all those dear to you :)

With all my love,

Ankit

Joy of Giving

From the title you will think that I will talk about something to donate. It may be possible that by reading the title itself many people will just scroll the mouse and skip this section.

And this may happen because we think that we don’t have enough for us then how we can give others?

I don't think that this is true. We may have many things that we can give to others. They may not be be visible really but it is still there.

Don’t you have Love, Sympathy, Knowledge, Talent, Skills and most importantly the Time that you can share?

I have realized that we are so busy in our own chores that whenever someone asks for our help or guidance we shy away. This implies on myself too.

One day I realized that we are suffering from this habit. Everyone is spending their time with friends, watching TV, chatting on Facebook, playing games and still no one has time. Why? Why we are lying? I know we need some privacy but this is not fair. It may be possible that by spending some time to help others, it will make us happier than playing games and watching TV blah blah blah.

The joy you give to others, is the joy that comes back to you..

There are so many things we can all offer to those around us and believe it or not many of these things are free. If you have material things you would like to give away to those who have less than you do, give it and if you feel like you don’t have any material to offer, give them your time, your knowledge, your love and support and many of the things you have that cost you nothing but they value a lot.

“It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”

- Mother Teresa

I want to share with you a really beautiful story I found from internet about the joy and beauty of giving and the happiness that comes from giving without expecting anything in return.

A woman who was traveling alone in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream.

The next day she met another traveler who was hungry; the woman opened her bag to share her food.

The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his great fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman.

“I've been thinking,” he said, “I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

The woman smiled and that’s the “Joy of Giving!”

So please stop lying to others and yourself too. Try to serve one cup of tea to your watchmen and in response receive a big simile in his face. Write a thank you note to a teacher who inspired you. Offer your seat to a stranger, next time you travel by public transport. Clean your cupboard and donate your extra clothes. Donate eyes and come alive with others. Enjoy the Joy of Giving.

-Ankit Patel