Time Blocking, CS Club, Harvard Interview, and Indigo

Recap Of My Week

Housekeeping

Hello everyone! Thank you all for reading and supporting my last newsletter. I genuinely appreciate it. To continue with the theme of the last post, today's post will be a recap of this week. I will share my ideas, thoughts, moments, experiences, and favorite media of this week. 

Overall, the week was fulfilling and fun. I managed my time relatively well. I spent a fun time with my close friend. The weekend was a bit of a roller coaster, but I am on top of the track now :)

Now to elaborate….

Time blocking 

In terms of productivity and time management, the concept of “time blocking” takes the podium for this week. On Monday, I was introduced to Cal Newport’s brilliant time-blocking strategy. “Time blocking” is simply allocating certain hours of the day for specific tasks. Although I have scratched time blocking in the past, I fully started implementing it this week (and it’s amazing). After watching Cal Newport’s useful video on time management (I highly suggest watching it), I was directed to the video on his site, where he clearly explains his time-blocking strategy and specifically how to use his time-block planner. When I first watched him explain his strategy, I found it simple and promising. I wanted to try it right away. The idea is to assign “work” to specific times during the day. For example, a simple 5-hour time block from 9 am to 2 pm may look like this: [ 9-11 am: Finish homework, 11-12 pm: break and do admin tasks (such as responding to emails), 12-2 pm: write essays]. A time block like this one allows you to be intentional with your time and to spend it most effectively. However, sometimes a task might take more than the time you allocated to it and there's a simple fix for that. For example, if I finished the “homework” by 11:30 am instead of 11, I would simply reschedule my original time block plan by choosing to take only 30 mins (instead of an hour) for “break and admin tasks.” Alternatively, I might decide that I’ll spend less time on the essays today. This is easier to do in an online system such as google calendar, but if you are using a physical time blocker like Cal, you can redraw your boxes for certain tasks and shift the tasks as needed (watch the video for a visual example). The premise of using such a system is to be proactive with our time and prioritize the important over the urgent. It also allows us to allocate time for shallow/admin tasks that would typically lead to web surfing and distractions if done reactively. Cal describes his specific system more thoroughly in the video and I highly encourage you to check it out. 

I began time-blocking using google calendar this Tuesday. I usually block the hours from when I come home from school to before I go to bed. It allows me to prioritize my most important tasks such as homework and make time for more shallow tasks like checking emails. Most importantly, I love that I don’t need to think about what to do after I get home as it’s already planned out. It reduces stress and frees up time for relaxation. 

I believe this is a game changer in terms of being intentional with your time and also getting things done effectively. I encourage you to start now. Take out your calendar and time block certain hours in your schedule tomorrow. “Be proactive, not reactive.”

Image source: Clockwise

My New Club Advisor!

This year, I founded the computer science club at my school to provide younger students with an opportunity to learn computer science. Originally, my computer science elective (only for seniors) teacher was my advisor for the club. The plan was for him to teach the students while I run the other parts of the club. However, my teacher experienced a personal problem and missed several weeks of school, which halted the club. Upon returning he declared that he is unable to continue running the club. However, I was passionate about teaching students what I knew about CS and wanted to continue the club. Since then, I have been looking for a new advisor to just supervise the club as I teach club members. This Thursday, after asking several teachers, I stumbled upon a math teacher who was willing to be the advisor for my club (woohoo!). Additionally, she minored in CS during college, which is amazing. I was so happy to have finally found a new advisor, who had a background in CS. The club will experience a reboot since I will be primarily making and teaching the lessons (instead of my teacher). I am so excited to craft interesting lessons and teach students web development starting next Friday. I hope to practice and improve my teaching and public speaking skills through this opportunity.

Break up with Phone Challenge

This week, I also started the phone breakup challenge created by Catherine Price in How To Break Up With Your Phone. In the second half of the book, she proposes a 30-day challenge that aims to create a healthy and intentional relationship with your phone. I started this challenge a bit later because I wanted to do it with my friend. She finished reading the book right before this week started. So far, I have liked the challenge as it further encourages me to be intentional with my phone usage. Price suggests various thoughtful questions within the challenge and answering the question truly has helped me acknowledge my past and existing relationship with my phone. Overall, the challenge influenced me to lessen my screen time and encouraged me to live in the present. Once again, I strongly encourage participating in this challenge, even if you haven’t read the book.

Gym Inconsistency

Although this week was generally fulfilling, I did not go to the gym regularly. I chose not to go for situational reasons; however, by Friday it felt as if something was “missing” in my life. Working out is a significant part of my life as it not only affects my physical, but mental health as well. It was an immaculate feeling to go back to the gym this Saturday. I noticed the impact of missing several days and that wasn’t pleasant (Hehe). In the upcoming week, I am excited to go to the gym more regularly.

Broadway SHOW!!!

One of my favorite moments from this week is when my school gave out several Hamilton Broadway Musical tickets for $10. When I saw the announcement, I immediately told my friend “OMG, WE NEED TO GO.” The following day, I bought the ticket of course. I have watched 3 Broadway shows before and I loved all of them. Although, I wouldn't love to pay full price for them. Additionally, I’ve heard about Hamilton so much and always wanted to see it. I am extremely thrilled to be going to the Hamilton trip from my school. 

Image Source: IMDb

End Of College Applications

Until this week, most of my “work” besides school involved working on college applications. However, this week it was relieving and peaceful to be finally done with all my college applications. Although, I still needed to open my portals for some schools.

Harvard Interview

Staying in the college route, another one of my favorite moments from this week is my Interview with a Harvard Alumni. Honestly, I approached the interview in a relaxed manner as I had prior experience with college alumni interviews. At first, the interview was a dynamic between him asking questions and me answering them. However, as the interview progressed and we both learned more about each other, we engaged in interesting intellectual conversations. I lost track of time as we conversed about living intentionally and synoptic vs practical theory of learning in schools. I was so surprised when he told me that he played cricket before. I don’t expect a typical interviewer to even know about cricket.

Favorite Media

This section will be short. Starting with…

Reading about Bangladeshi Feminist 

When I was researching ideas for an assignment in my creative writing class. I came across the first Bengali Muslim feminist, Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain.  As I read about her story, I was intrigued by her intellectual writings about women's rights. Through her writings, she brought exposure to the injustices against women in India and Bangladesh (pre-independence). She encouraged women to pursue education and leave their cultural cages. I resonated with her writings as my views align with her in terms of women’s inequality, especially in my home country. In the future, I can see myself in similar efforts to end the unjust cycle created through a cultural interpretation of Islam in many Bengali and Desi families. In addition to her writings, she also founded various women's institutions to make education available for girls. I am so inspired by her and admire her efforts toward bringing equality among men and women.

We often talk about famous women's rights activists in the US; however, I think it is important to notice other intellectual and courageous leaders who played their role in closing the gap between men's and women's equality.

Image Source: The New Nation

Podcast

I was so intrigued when I listened to the conversation between J.T. Ellison and Cal Newport in the Deep Questions podcast. JT Ellison talked about her career as a thriller author. It was interesting to understand the intricate and difficult process of writing a successful fiction book. Her story involved extreme dedication, hard work, and passion for writing. I learned about the tiresome process before a publisher recognizes your book and also the various writing communities many authors engage in.

Music

The playlist that played in my headphones this week was RM’s newest album Indigo. I particularly liked these songs: wildflower, still life, closer, and lonely. I recommend checking them out!!!

Thank you so much for reading the newsletter. I hope you enjoyed or found some value in it. Have a beautiful day or night!