To-do list app

I had been searching for a good to-do list app for some time now, trying and rejecting half a dozen apps in the process. 
My search seems to have ended, for now, with To-Do Prime. 

It has most of the features I was looking for, syncs across multiple devices, can work offline, has no ads, and is free.

Work smart... And hard!

The worst advice I ever received was: Don't work hard, work smart.

The "Work smart" part is fine, but it's a capital mistake to think that working hard and working smart are mutually exclusive.

theme-based weekdays

In a fleeting conversation, I heard of "theme-based weekdays" and began to think how it could be implemented. Here's a possible approach.

Monday: The begin day. For many of us, the major hurdle to getting anything done is to actually start it. Hence Monday would be the day to begin all new activities.

Tuesday: Bill clearance day and repair day. The day when you pay all the monthly bills, EMIs and other dues. And place service calls to repair anything broken. Car servicing, AC maintenance, electrical repairs... And most importantly, health checkups.

Wednesday: Study day. Search for new certifications or courses. Read a book. Write a blog. Do a review of the study progress of your kids. Learn a new software.

Thursday: Communication day. Call up friends and relatives. Chat with distant ones. Wanted to meet an old friend but didnt know when? Go out and have dinner on this day. Also, this would be a buffer day to contain in any tasks that may have overflown from previous days.

Friday: Inventory day. Take a stock of your finances, as well as anything is needed in home. Check the balance sheet. Any risks? Any opportunities for more RoI? Plus, this would be a hobby day and/or social activities day, parties etc.

Saturday: Clean-up day. Remove obsolete papers and other stuff. Take backups, make space for new things. In addition, you may use this day to contribute back to the society in whatever way possible to you: Donating material to orphanages, teaching kids or planting trees.

Sunday: Family day. Spend time with your family at home. And if you need to go out, take them with you. Sunday could also be your planning day, where you sit back and think not only about the week or the month ahead but also about the medium and long term goals.

The idea here is not to limit yourself only to the activities specified for each day, but to have one focus area for every day of the week. Of course, the days and activities allotted to them would change as per each individual.

Career Mitra

For the students who appeared for SSC examination, the Maharashtra Education Department and Shyamchi Aai Foundation have created a web site that shows various career paths available based on the marks scored or your interests. It has lots of career guidance and online counselling facilities. Hope this initiative reaches the students that need it the most.
URL: http://mahacareermitra.in/#/

Why forget?

One activity that would immensely benefit each one of us and yet does not need any additional investment, is to decide we will never have to use the statement "I forgot". With the plethora of reminder mechanisms available -- mobile alerts, email notification, web sites dedicated to generate reminders -- it's indeed amazing we still manage to forget anything.

All relationships, be it personal or professional, rely upon commitments. And nothing is more detrimental to a commitment than to forget it to begin with.

Boot Loader

As a kid, my morning routine was rather messy, doing things haphazardly, out of sequence, wasting the time. Very inefficient. 


Then, I read about boot loader, the program that loads operating system when you start up the machine. It performs many tasks in an elegant sequence, an orchestra of files being executed in an optimal manner. I was fascinated to see a machine working so logically and rather embarrassed about my own booting up process every morning.


Since then, for the last 20+ years, I have tried to stick to what works best for me. Of course, marriage has added some subroutines like PREPARE TEA, but otherwise it remains unchanged.