Time Management and Self-Care Strategies to Reduce Burn Out and Succeed at Life

We all have 24 hours in a day but no one has time. This leaves us feeling stressed, burnt out and like failures. In this episode we talk about looking inward to figure out what time management system works best for you. There's no one size fits all! We also talk about what self-care really means.

Mastering time management and a self-care practice are essential to leading a successful and balanced life that makes you happy, healthy and fulfilled.

Show Notes:

1:09 - Shamsiya explains why you need to start by looking inward before you can determine the best time management strategy that works for you

8:39 - How do you document all the aspects needed to determine the best time management strategy?

11:39 - Differing opinions on sleep

16:33 - What is self-care? It's not one thing. It's the process of taking care of your being in a way that brings you peace and happiness

21:45 - Time eaters - these are the activities that you should remove from your life

28:55 - Remove drama, negativity and the things that don't serve you

30:05 - Consistency can be hard but it's one of the main ways to avoid failure and get results

33:00 - How to add more time to your life

35:53 - The time management systems that Shamsiya and Rachel use

----

Links:

Failure Decoded Instagram

failuredecoded.com

Your Hosts:

Shamsiya

Instagram

LinkedIn

Rachel

LinkedIn

Twitter

Instagram

Transcript

[rachel]: 0:02

everyone and welcome to another episode of failure decoded i'm one of your hosts rachel i have my co host here samsa and she's goin to be walking you through four

[shamsiya]: 0:12

ah

[rachel]: 0:13

approaches that she's identified to time management i think time management is a struggle for many

[shamsiya]: 0:19

many

[rachel]: 0:19

people especially entrepreneurs you know as an

[shamsiya]: 0:21

oh

[rachel]: 0:21

entrepreneur you have a million it's going on you know if you have a small team or no team at all

[shamsiya]: 0:26

yeah

[rachel]: 0:27

you know everything falls on you and sometimes it can be difficult to really identify you know those most important tasks that need to get done to really move your project or business forward you want to kick it off tell us our four approaches

[shamsiya]: 0:41

hello everyone high rachel time okay it's the most sorrel thing ever we all have twenty four hours nobody has time why is that so everyone's busy exhausted doing a million things but they do not have time to socialize to meet friends to sit down for a proper meal to read a book everyone is just scrambling for time we all are experiencing that and this was even before the pandemic heat we are taking care of children our work are responsibilities were trying to find time to meet friends but we are still not satisfied we are still wondering why do we feel so burnt out and exhausted and that's because we are not in control of the time that we have and time is the only thing that belongs to us it's actually a blessing we all have been given twenty four hours but we have not been able to master the art of optimizing it and leverage in it and reaping the maximum benefit of the available twenty four hours the problem is that we approach time management with respect to productive ty and what is productivity success at your work place this episode is definitely for people who lead a high impact life but it will resonate with each and everyone a few because we all lack time now we are constantly on social media were connecting we're putting out posts were doing everything but we very alone and that has helped us forget that we need to eat we need to sleep we need to respect the time that others are giving to us we need to analyze all of this and we cannot do it if we start managing our time only with respect to the jobs that we are carrying out at our work places or our careers in fact it has to begin with you are the core the core just imagine you're the sun and then it has to work its way outwards like a ripple effect its way you are content in understanding what is time what you are and all the other aspects of your life it's only then that you can handle your immediate circle which is your family that's your spouse your partner your kids your pets and then the outer circle which would be your extended family or and your job your neighbors et cetera so it's almost like you are the core you manage your time you equip yourself with the tools needed to take control of the time and then you will be in a very good place to understand the time that your kids need and your spouse needs your pets need and also be well equipped to adjust adapt and be flexible enough to accommodate their and that is also the basis of self care you cannot allot yoursel if one opar day one you know one week a month or one month you know year for self care self care has to be inherent in every aspect of your being and this is not just what i'm saying there's a lot of research out there there lot of scientists and researchers working to understand how to optimize time management and when the pandemic hit it kind of just everyone was just in a disarray people were not able to understand what to do with the time and now everything is getting back to normal people still struggling to find some semblance of normality with you know everyone has different schedules the kids the schools the work and it's just a chaotic world out there that's because we have been taught and given tools to use our time to the best but we haven't really been taught what time management as such is so there is a very good article in the harvard business review that i kind of like it resonated so well with me and the author actually puts out a very nice analogy is saying if you're going to give the best tools in the you know kitchen knives set in the kitchen and even the recipe to the chef to the person he's not going to become a michellansta chef for i start she you have to understand the workings you have to learn the skills so in my episode in this talk i will be outlining the four concepts i feel are very relevant and that if applied will give you the power to control time and the reason actually many of us have heard this and this is very true there is one person who like leading a high pact life she's a co she's taking all these making all these decisions and then high rest decisions and she's just living the life that she's always wanted but then she quit her job she couldn't handle it anymore she didn't want it and she went out on vacation she was living the beach life with her husband and just like but you know what she was just not happy even there after a while she just started thinking about all the competition that she was missing the energy just going out having you know to prove herself that's something right to be there at your workplace having reached those heights having proven to your family and friends that you know you are made of something this is the rule that you carry it's important for all of us to have that part of the idea you can't just leave it and go and live a beach life it's not going to help you that's because people have been approaching work and responsibilities in a very stressful manner and we have not been taught or we don't learn how we can avoid that burn out approach and take it in a more sensible and a more peaceful mindful wait so that we are still working the high impact life really good jobs and still enjoying the life and creating a balance but not striving to have a balanced life so the first concept is to be aware so be aware of yourself as the core you are person what matters to you and what makes you the eccentricities your health your spiritual health your physical health your financial health your mental health your g levels what's the performance time for you are you a morning person are you a night person what is your stamina like you know do you have high mental and physical stamina or your you know just on in the middle of the spectrum understand all of that understand your age you know young are you young are you old are you what gender are you because women also have to take an account their menstrual cycle think about what kind of food you're eating what is the process of your meal like are you cooking it are you buying it are you a week end are you a non wedge are you pre disposed to any conditions do you have for bias or anxiety are there some triggers you know that can set you off what makes you happy do you have habits are you you know do you have some hobbies or do i'm sorry do you have any sport that you play are you leading a disciplined life you have any vices and you have addictions what is your culture like where do you live what is your religion bring all of that in perspective because you need to make time for all of that and also understand what is the resistance that these aspects are bringing into your life so that's the real

[rachel]: 9:09

how would you sorry i was just going to how would you recommend

[shamsiya]: 9:12

oh my

[rachel]: 9:13

umlikedocumenting

[shamsiya]: 9:14

ye

[rachel]: 9:15

all of this is there some kind of process you've used

[shamsiya]: 9:17

oh

[rachel]: 9:17

to keep track of everything you just mentioned like so many different things

[shamsiya]: 9:21

oh

[rachel]: 9:22

so it's like is there like a list somewhere that someone could find and say okay like these are the things i need to keep

[shamsiya]: 9:26

oh

[rachel]: 9:26

in mind like in order to figure out like your

[shamsiya]: 9:29

oh

[rachel]: 9:30

like am i a morning person

[shamsiya]: 9:31

i

[rachel]: 9:31

you know or am

[shamsiya]: 9:32

yeah

[rachel]: 9:32

i a night person i feel he's those tests on line for example it really made me think of that it's like you're either like a bear or there's a wolf there's always a different animal

[shamsiya]: 9:41

yeah

[rachel]: 9:41

characteristics to even just determine your sleep pattern i

[shamsiya]: 9:44

yeah

[rachel]: 9:44

am definitely a bear

[shamsiya]: 9:46

oh

[rachel]: 9:47

i'm not like an early morning person

[shamsiya]: 9:49

he

[rachel]: 9:49

or anything like a night i think an owl is like the night

[shamsiya]: 9:51

yeah

[rachel]: 9:51

and

[shamsiya]: 9:52

yeah

[rachel]: 9:52

um

[shamsiya]: 9:53

there's a wolf

[rachel]: 9:54

have

[shamsiya]: 9:54

i think

[rachel]: 9:54

you

[shamsiya]: 9:54

the wolf is the morning person i think

[rachel]: 9:57

have you done anything like that to determine this or is

[shamsiya]: 10:00

it

[rachel]: 10:00

it more just like in your gut

[shamsiya]: 10:01

yeah

[rachel]: 10:01

you kind of know who you really are

[shamsiya]: 10:04

i think

[rachel]: 10:04

yeah

[shamsiya]: 10:05

i did take up the test and it's not the reason i mean it's okay if you want to follow these tests but it's mostly not even it's your habit and you know and the thing is it s going to change it's going to change over time you know when i was like younger when i was in my research career i was a morning person like i would because i had to be there were certain lifestyle changes i had to make because i was okay this is something very important i had to share when i was there were times when i was running these huge experiments and i was running it in two different labs in two huge labs and these two labs are in two different parts of the city and i had to sometimes it just happen that i have to run that experiment on the same day and the preparation to run each experiment is like pre experiment is like four hours and then you run the expert no it's a whole week and then you run the experiment for four hours now if you have two experiments to run you're thinking like oh my god that's a lot of work and i have to carry that out in one day that's like eight hours and then there's also the struggle time in between and that that's the time when i was like can i just plit myself into i don't have enough time to do this and i had to be flexible enough i had to skip my meal or i had to skip my sleep or you know because most of the people who work in research centers you know they just stay

[rachel]: 11:27

m

[shamsiya]: 11:27

in the lab they run over night experiments

[rachel]: 11:28

right

[shamsiya]: 11:29

but i decided pre and that i would not be doing that i would have like these you know limits to my being in the lab so that i can have my own space but sometimes you just have to be flexible enough to go and do it on the pandemic has taught us that you cannot just be one kind of person there's so much of flexibility needed and the adaptability that has to come into being so yes you can be a morning person when you're in your twenties but when you're thirties or forties probably you will be a morning an night person which currently i am you know and i usually find time in the afternoons to nap so it's like you to do what you can in that but it would be awesome if you figure it out if there are tools if they are guides but i think there are a lot of mentors out there

[rachel]: 12:20

a

[shamsiya]: 12:20

who help you with aligning your lee patterns and you

[rachel]: 12:24

i

[shamsiya]: 12:24

know

[rachel]: 12:24

play

[shamsiya]: 12:24

they call sleep and meditation coaches you know you can if you are not able to figure out because some people have severe sleep anxiety and you know they sleep

[rachel]: 12:32

yes

[shamsiya]: 12:32

disorders and

[rachel]: 12:34

oh

[shamsiya]: 12:34

they need that kind of help so yes you it's tests

[rachel]: 12:38

oh

[shamsiya]: 12:38

are good to help you but if you but not really like not the real scale of things can be determined by these kinds of tests much deeper

[rachel]: 12:47

ah for

[shamsiya]: 12:47

than

[rachel]: 12:47

sure

[shamsiya]: 12:48

much

[rachel]: 12:48

i

[shamsiya]: 12:49

deeper

[rachel]: 12:49

feel like it's also like you know not everyone has the luxury to decide

[shamsiya]: 12:53

oh

[rachel]: 12:53

when there a morning or night person you brought it up right it's like you know if

[shamsiya]: 12:56

yeah

[rachel]: 12:56

you have kids and they're up in the middle of the night you're not and

[shamsiya]: 12:59

yeah

[rachel]: 12:59

you know eight hours of sleep like you just don't have a choice right if you have dependents that you know

[shamsiya]: 13:04

yeah

[rachel]: 13:04

that you have to care for plus a job

[shamsiya]: 13:06

yeah

[rachel]: 13:06

you know

[shamsiya]: 13:07

so that's why you when you are understanding the core of what you're doing and what you are as a person you're satisfied and you're you know you're like happy at peace you can do with just four hours of sleep you don't need your eight hours and something i heard at a conference for persition nutrition it was like now they even have some

[rachel]: 13:28

he

[shamsiya]: 13:28

webinaurs for sleep and stress management and recovery and they say that if you get four hours of good sleep it's pretty good you know it's fine

[rachel]: 13:37

really

[shamsiya]: 13:37

you know

[rachel]: 13:38

that's interesting because i've heard that like if you get

[shamsiya]: 13:40

oh

[rachel]: 13:41

less than i want to say six hours for adults six hours like the bare minimum that it actually causes like brain issues

[shamsiya]: 13:49

yeah

[rachel]: 13:49

it leads to all simmers

[shamsiya]: 13:50

a

[rachel]: 13:50

and in the future and things like that so it's really interesting there's so much different information out there

[shamsiya]: 13:55

there is so that's why you need like someone to help you with it you know it cannot be for anyone and everyone you know if you're

[rachel]: 14:01

yeah

[shamsiya]: 14:01

especially if you're okay if you sleep well in those four hours it's fine i think it's okay sometimes i've had to do that and i felt like fine and also some people find that their energy levels kind of dip if they sleep a

[rachel]: 14:14

m

[shamsiya]: 14:14

lot you know like if the sleep eight hours they feel like you know what i don't feel fine you know like you know because they are used to sleeping just four hours or the body just needs four or five hours so if you can figure that out for yourself it's good but it's very complex you know time management as such is very complex it's you know there these all of these awareness and adaptation and arrangement that we talk of is just the superficial part of it right there's so much more you have to take into account so even where sleep it's not just sleeping right this hole your health and the nutrition and then your stress your job and there's many other factors that influence it so if you can figure that out if you're an assignment with your thought process it's good but there is also rich search to show that very few people can correctly self identify how well they are time management

[rachel]: 15:06

he

[shamsiya]: 15:06

like i can say i'm very good at time management apparently not because there are some tests available for this and if you take it up you know it'll kind of give you the clear picture of how well you are because now you are only understanding how well you can document your goals or your you know how you can plan or that's are you good at being adaptable are you flexible enough are you you know are you good at all of that you can figure that out or bring in an expert to help you understand where you you know where you stand on time management scale yeah

[rachel]: 15:39

i feel like there's like a business here

[shamsiya]: 15:41

oh

[rachel]: 15:41

because i'm even thinking about it like even just

[shamsiya]: 15:42

oh

[rachel]: 15:42

determining the sleep is kind of challenging like i used to use like a fit bit and it would track like your your rem cycles so it's always really interesting to see that right and i would tell you like when you were awake and

[shamsiya]: 15:54

ah

[rachel]: 15:54

it's weird because it's like oh i don't even remember being awake but it knows based on your kecacadian rhythm of your heart

[shamsiya]: 16:00

yeah

[rachel]: 16:01

um so there's that which is like you have to figure that out then there's the nutrition portion

[shamsiya]: 16:06

yeah

[rachel]: 16:06

and i know nutrition is like a really big thing and there's so many

[shamsiya]: 16:09

ah

[rachel]: 16:09

like intolerance is

[shamsiya]: 16:11

m

[rachel]: 16:11

sensitivities today just because honestly a lot of the food we eat is crap

[shamsiya]: 16:15

at a

[rachel]: 16:15

because it's so process there's always chemicals in it that just your

[shamsiya]: 16:18

yeah

[rachel]: 16:18

human body is not meant to eat right so it's like i know there's like specialists for that there's specialists for sleep there's probably like coaches you know specialists for

[shamsiya]: 16:27

m

[rachel]: 16:28

determining like you know time management it's almost like you need this all this wrapped into one

[shamsiya]: 16:32

yes

[rachel]: 16:33

beaus like even just the thought of having to get all these different people

[shamsiya]: 16:35

oh

[rachel]: 16:36

to help you figure out

[shamsiya]: 16:37

it

[rachel]: 16:37

you know

[shamsiya]: 16:38

it

[rachel]: 16:38

just who you are and how you best work is kind of crazy when you think about it

[shamsiya]: 16:42

yeah i think do you think we can do it ourselves i think we can do it ourselves for a lot like for a lot of people it's possible unless you're you know really you need help you have a condition predisposed to something you know then you should reach out to these people

[rachel]: 16:58

like a specialist yeah

[shamsiya]: 16:59

yeah

[rachel]: 16:59

for sure

[shamsiya]: 17:00

for sure but i think it would just sitting down and just understanding there's a there is no process honestly rachel but you can do it we all have to and most people have figured that out here the pandemic you know they have gone through this assignment of ideas with what they're doing with

[rachel]: 17:16

yeah

[shamsiya]: 17:16

their time and they have had that

[rachel]: 17:18

priorities

[shamsiya]: 17:19

ye

[rachel]: 17:19

i think the priorities shifted a lot

[shamsiya]: 17:21

priorities

[rachel]: 17:21

during the pandemic

[shamsiya]: 17:23

tis so and people have aligned their ideas they believe they become more content and more at peace they were cooking at home they were baking they were spending time with their kids

[rachel]: 17:32

yeah

[shamsiya]: 17:33

and family but um and i think that is what we need to do on a daily basis if we can hold on to that you know if we can just hold on to the semblance of being us and what makes us happy then we will be able give our best at our work place it shouldn't be us planning everything for our jobs and then working our way towards us a self care we would never reach there you know i would never be

[rachel]: 17:59

yeah

[shamsiya]: 17:59

able to make time for my manicure peticure or whatever it is that i have to do if i'm just focused on that so this way it's better that approach i think has worked well for me no matter what you know and it also increases your productivity and productivity is also for yourself right in general

[rachel]: 18:18

yeah for sure so basically i guess would your recommendation then be

[shamsiya]: 18:22

thank

[rachel]: 18:22

pick a couple of self care you know rituals or whatever you want to call it

[shamsiya]: 18:27

yeah

[rachel]: 18:27

that that you know most resonate with you and then find a way to fit them into your day because i know that people mention it all the time like oh yeah self care self care

[shamsiya]: 18:35

yeah

[rachel]: 18:35

i i find it's become such

[shamsiya]: 18:36

yeah

[rachel]: 18:36

a vague concept it's like what is self care like what is it

[shamsiya]: 18:41

what is it

[rachel]: 18:42

is it a bubble bath like is

[shamsiya]: 18:44

ye

[rachel]: 18:44

it like a run like i don't know

[shamsiya]: 18:47

yes exactly that is what it's not an activity it's everything it's when you realize what you're doing is bringing peace to you you're aligned with that belief system you know what like we were having this conversation this is good this is nice there's no resistance here so this is self care you know we're doing something we're taking care of our being take care of your being figure things out i think just to be clear or just to give people a hack play a sport sport run you know sit out look at the rain when it's raining that time out you know just bring yourself out disconnect disconnect actually disconnect disconnect from your kids disconnect from your family disconnect disconnect you know create that barrier around you just sit don't use your phones don't use all of that you know just disconnect and think what you want to do meditation works well for me and that that works well for me is not because you know when i meditate become like you know like no like a bud or something

[rachel]: 19:48

zen or something

[shamsiya]: 19:49

no no meditation works for me because it just helps me realize how bad

[rachel]: 19:56

oh

[shamsiya]: 19:56

i am at it you know i'm trying to zone in it's like the million things that are coming in all of those problems and that's when that that's a reality like i'm so misaligned you know i'm so not in alignment with what i be doing when i'm doing you know when i'm praying i'm not really praying when i'm eating i'm not only i'm not really eating i'm just like doing a million other things so just an is mindfulness you know it's a very important aspect that is being taught to kids today there a lot of workshops for kids to start being mindful what is being mindful it's not just like random like being and full being a mindful spender or a mindful person it's just being mindful of everything that you do when you're eating don't use your phones when you're working don't do something else you know just be in that moment live that

[rachel]: 20:47

yeah

[shamsiya]: 20:47

moment i think

[rachel]: 20:48

like be present

[shamsiya]: 20:49

just be present and sport

[rachel]: 20:51

yeah

[shamsiya]: 20:51

i think sports and games and just physical activity help you reach that even without thinking it you know because you are doing

[rachel]: 20:59

hm

[shamsiya]: 20:59

that activity completely there and if it's like a team sport it's like even amazing because now you're like learning it's like a learning hack like you're learning to align your belief system your your tricks your moves with everyone else it's amazing you should get into that that's what i feel

[rachel]: 21:17

yeah

[shamsiya]: 21:17

you have any tricks

[rachel]: 21:18

for

[shamsiya]: 21:18

under

[rachel]: 21:18

sure

[shamsiya]: 21:18

your belt

[rachel]: 21:20

you know so for me it's funny i never really thought of this in this way but

[shamsiya]: 21:24

yeah

[rachel]: 21:24

something i do to just um yeah almost like take a step back and clear my mind is

[shamsiya]: 21:31

a

[rachel]: 21:31

and this totally makes me sound like inert but i don't care but i play chess and there's his website called

[shamsiya]: 21:36

i

[rachel]: 21:37

chess dot com and you can play against anyone in the world that just like matches you up with someone and you have ten minutes to play a game and the thing i've noticed about it is that i have to be completely focused on it because you have to be thinking like one step ahead what

[shamsiya]: 21:51

oh

[rachel]: 21:51

move are you going to make next like you know you're trying to look for all the patterns and

[shamsiya]: 21:55

yeah

[rachel]: 21:55

everything

[shamsiya]: 21:55

we think

[rachel]: 21:56

else just washes away at that time i am like so solly focused on this game and it's amazing because it's like ten mine my time it like lets me take a step back and then i can just go back to what i was doing

[shamsiya]: 22:07

so it's

[rachel]: 22:07

so

[shamsiya]: 22:07

just ten minutes

[rachel]: 22:08

i never thought of it as self care

[shamsiya]: 22:09

oh

[rachel]: 22:10

until like right now and you're like oh yeah like makes you just zone out for a second like oh yeah

[shamsiya]: 22:14

yes that is self

[rachel]: 22:15

there

[shamsiya]: 22:15

care

[rachel]: 22:15

we go

[shamsiya]: 22:16

and chess is the kind of game that's actually helping you build your neurons and the more it's a thing right the more chess you play there are more new nerve cells being born and created more interactions happening it's kind of one of those games that everyone should play it kind of you know as you said talked about lzamers and all those you know diseases mental disease neuro degenerative diseases can come about these kind of games really help with at and sports is also one of those things and doing all those puzzles and you know keeping our mind active meditation is good so yes that's a very good thing but not mind craft and all those weird games that can take away like hours of your time

[rachel]: 22:59

right we're

[shamsiya]: 22:59

now

[rachel]: 22:59

not playing wow or whatever world of work after people

[shamsiya]: 23:02

whatever that

[rachel]: 23:02

like

[shamsiya]: 23:03

is

[rachel]: 23:03

yeah i spend like literally days of their lives playing this yet totally

[shamsiya]: 23:07

yeah that's like i think we should then move on to the next concept is this is something that i have realized and i was just like

[rachel]: 23:17

yeah

[shamsiya]: 23:17

googling randomly and i found this word which is like cronofages you know of pages cronohages it's like time eaters i was actually able to say time wasters but time eaters so these are the it is that you should remove you know from your system if you already have them that is bench watching you know bench watching series ben watching anything like i don't know what are people ben watch i think serious right mostly so

[rachel]: 23:47

netflix that's

[shamsiya]: 23:48

yeah i want to say that

[rachel]: 23:49

when when netflix is like oh are you still there because you haven't moved for

[shamsiya]: 23:54

yeah

[rachel]: 23:54

like three hours yeah

[shamsiya]: 23:55

yes

[rachel]: 23:55

i've been there a couple of times

[shamsiya]: 23:57

i don't binghwatch because i don't i don't like watching something for a long time but i was just randomly having this conversation with my sister and she's like oh my god i'm almost done with the series i'm like what how did you do that like in one you just sit and watch over like all the episodes all together and i'm like oh my god like how i can't do that thank god i can't do that you know but obviously there are other things that i can do it's sort of social media consumption you know like we all just have phones and were browsing we're going mindlessly through posts and feeds of others is not really helping you in any which way on very mindless

[rachel]: 24:33

no

[shamsiya]: 24:34

no

[rachel]: 24:34

yeah

[shamsiya]: 24:35

it's a mindless active

[rachel]: 24:35

as you feel bad usually

[shamsiya]: 24:37

after

[rachel]: 24:37

to be

[shamsiya]: 24:37

it

[rachel]: 24:37

honest

[shamsiya]: 24:37

exactly right

[rachel]: 24:38

yeah

[shamsiya]: 24:38

yeah and it's like thirty minutes have gone where have they gone now this is where it's gone not gaining anything from it and then banging like food banging there are some people um who just want to relax and have fun and they think that food is a good way to do that and this is something that is very true as food scientists i can say that the reason why people today are obese and reach out

[rachel]: 25:10

oh

[shamsiya]: 25:11

like when you go to the super market the first thing the pick is you know all these salty and high calory and high sugar foods is because they want to

[rachel]: 25:18

ah

[shamsiya]: 25:18

eat that because they are so stressed in their real lives they want that instant gratification that these foods give them it's a fact um and there are policies people are trying to get the policies to remove these kind of foods from the super market but so that's another whole topic we should have a discussion on later on but yes banging food drama in general life your friends gossip you know all of these this kind of consumption like you're constantly craving that is something that you need to remove these are eating up your time exhaustion

[rachel]: 25:55

now it's funny about all these as i feel like he's like a bit of a a pattern

[shamsiya]: 25:59

i

[rachel]: 25:59

here where

[shamsiya]: 26:00

i

[rachel]: 26:00

it does give you that

[shamsiya]: 26:03

instant

[rachel]: 26:03

instant gratification it's like that dopeamine hit like it's like

[shamsiya]: 26:06

m

[rachel]: 26:06

watching t v or you're eating junk

[shamsiya]: 26:08

m to

[rachel]: 26:08

food or gossiping like in the moment like for a second it doesn't give you this weird like good feeling but then afterwards you feel really crappy

[shamsiya]: 26:18

m it's a dip it's a

[rachel]: 26:20

yeah

[shamsiya]: 26:21

dip

[rachel]: 26:21

it's a dip

[shamsiya]: 26:21

that dip

[rachel]: 26:22

yea definitely

[shamsiya]: 26:23

it's not that sustained energy and it's not dopamin you know it is something similar to dope because dopimeanis good kind like that's when you get when you're down saying or you're you know you're out there exercising or you're not having amazing conversations with people or but all of these ages mimic molecules that are just going to go high up and then you know the dip is going to be so low and i feel somehow that's the key here never do something that can bring your energies to up and then you have this instant low kapin also does that but it's okay i drink coffee you know it kind of gives you that but if you're constantly drinking through the day people experience that up and down and they get exhausted

[rachel]: 27:08

hm

[shamsiya]: 27:08

really early on that's the reason exhaustion is also very think you need to identify why you're exhausted you know it's your diet it's your life style it's all of those other things you know when i was in india the pollution with a big factor getting people tired and exhausted it is a fact you know the air quality is also important to make sure you're breathing good air you out there you have a lot of plants around you or you're just going to where the plants are try to remove exhaustion from your system and as you mentioned instant gratification we're talking about instant energy instant high people go on vacations and holidays i feel like for me it's a good thing we should do it but if you're just going there to you know run away from

[rachel]: 27:57

m

[shamsiya]: 27:57

your stressed life it's not going to help you you know you have to go there to you have to enjoy your life and then go you should have like a normal life then you go on these holidays and then you come back when you have your normal life but if you're really stressed at work you're stressing a life you think of wacationis going to solve your problems now it's not going to solve your problems what do you think rachel

[rachel]: 28:20

yeah i kind

[shamsiya]: 28:20

m

[rachel]: 28:20

of agree i think it's like a temporary fix um and i feel like we've all been there but it's like you're so excited you're like looking forward to this trip you know whenever you get all your work done you put that out of office on and then go and then like the last day of the trip all of a sudden it's like let's get this anxiety feeling

[shamsiya]: 28:36

a uh

[rachel]: 28:37

oh my gosh i don't want this to end like

[shamsiya]: 28:39

yeah

[rachel]: 28:39

now it's over and like i have nothing to look

[shamsiya]: 28:41

oh

[rachel]: 28:41

forward to and i just have to go back to my routine and you're right i think that's probably one of those cases where if you're not energized to get back to your work or get back to whatever

[shamsiya]: 28:50

eh

[rachel]: 28:50

your your projects are working on it probably means it's the wrong

[shamsiya]: 28:53

a

[rachel]: 28:53

project or wrong job or wrong situation for you right

[shamsiya]: 28:57

or the

[rachel]: 28:58

like

[shamsiya]: 28:58

wrong

[rachel]: 28:58

that sunday

[shamsiya]: 28:58

timing for

[rachel]: 28:58

scares

[shamsiya]: 28:58

the holiday

[rachel]: 29:00

yeah yeah but you ever heard like of like sunday scares where it's

[shamsiya]: 29:04

yeah

[rachel]: 29:04

like at the end of the week end

[shamsiya]: 29:06

yeah

[rachel]: 29:06

you know you're just dreading the week after

[shamsiya]: 29:09

i used to experience

[rachel]: 29:10

that's

[shamsiya]: 29:10

that in school all the time

[rachel]: 29:13

like that's just like no way to live

[shamsiya]: 29:14

kay

[rachel]: 29:14

your life you know

[shamsiya]: 29:15

oh

[rachel]: 29:15

it's kind of awful

[shamsiya]: 29:17

yeah so what do you do like i usually work on sunday cause i try to you know start working

[rachel]: 29:22

just get ahead of it you know why like i feel like i don't get the sunday scares as much anymore like yeah obviously it's lie a little bit sad at the weekends over because it's fun to just you know

[shamsiya]: 29:32

yeah no dude

[rachel]: 29:34

more flexibility yeah and be free to just not do work if you don't want to like

[shamsiya]: 29:38

yes

[rachel]: 29:39

obviously i sometimes do things on the weekend to but you i don't feel like i have to where is like during the week it's ike oh no this is like a work day to be working

[shamsiya]: 29:46

yeah

[rachel]: 29:48

no honestly like even like doing

[shamsiya]: 29:50

as

[rachel]: 29:50

this for example this is like one of the new projects that we've been working on it's fun like i find this stuff really fun

[shamsiya]: 29:56

m

[rachel]: 29:56

it's trying to find things i think that make you happy right kind of lie back to what you said like that

[shamsiya]: 30:00

yeah

[rachel]: 30:01

stuff that gives you energy and i understand that

[shamsiya]: 30:02

yeah

[rachel]: 30:02

that's not always ole aren't always in a situation where they can do that um

[shamsiya]: 30:07

m they

[rachel]: 30:08

yeah

[shamsiya]: 30:08

are

[rachel]: 30:08

maybe

[shamsiya]: 30:08

not

[rachel]: 30:08

it's a side hobby then or a side hustle or something that just

[shamsiya]: 30:12

oh

[rachel]: 30:12

gives you energy and makes you feel happy

[shamsiya]: 30:14

yeah just find something that's more relevant to you there are a lot of other things that you can do this culture this religion and there is meditation the the things people can figure it out everyone should be able to figure that out and yeah society is another thing as much as we like being in a society it can be very training to have conversations constantly you know with people conversations that are not helping you so if you can figure those things out and remove it if you it's like affecting you you know so remove it you know just

[rachel]: 30:48

yeah

[shamsiya]: 30:48

cancel it out it's fine

[rachel]: 30:49

it's just like drama and negativity i find like for me personally negativity really gets to me it actually

[shamsiya]: 30:55

yeah

[rachel]: 30:55

makes me start to feel angry like when people are just like jumping on

[shamsiya]: 31:00

a

[rachel]: 31:00

everything and it's like oh my gosh come on like there's got to be some positive to like this situation but yeah i totally get it like negativity really bugs me it brings

[shamsiya]: 31:08

really

[rachel]: 31:08

me down

[shamsiya]: 31:09

really right i mean it is the most natural people should all sit and think if negativity is a part of their lives if they are negative people they should constantly and productively work towards becoming more positive because they're not doing themselves a favor forget about your friends constant negativity is just eating up your head space your brain space your mental health your productivity in general so yes please keep out of negativity and keep negativity out of yourselves it would really be what you're doing yourself and then lack of consistency rachel how amazing is this we were talking about consistency

[rachel]: 31:45

yeah

[shamsiya]: 31:46

and you know the lack of it has to be removed from your lives

[rachel]: 31:50

i feel like consistency is the hardest thing honestly because

[shamsiya]: 31:54

yeah

[rachel]: 31:55

it's like even when you start a new project have this initial enthusiasm

[shamsiya]: 31:59

sure

[rachel]: 32:00

it's yes

[shamsiya]: 32:00

a

[rachel]: 32:00

i'm so excited

[shamsiya]: 32:01

a

[rachel]: 32:01

this is

[shamsiya]: 32:01

rat

[rachel]: 32:02

awesome i want to work on this

[shamsiya]: 32:03

yeah

[rachel]: 32:04

like how do you sustain that for a prolonged

[shamsiya]: 32:06

you can

[rachel]: 32:07

period of time because the truth is usual when you start something new

[shamsiya]: 32:09

a

[rachel]: 32:10

you don't see immediate results might not see results for months

[shamsiya]: 32:13

oh

[rachel]: 32:13

that really brings you down

[shamsiya]: 32:14

ye

[rachel]: 32:15

the thing is it's the people

[shamsiya]: 32:16

yeah

[rachel]: 32:17

that are consistent that just push through day after day after day for months on end

[shamsiya]: 32:22

yah

[rachel]: 32:22

that see results it's almost like

[shamsiya]: 32:24

yeah

[rachel]: 32:24

almost guaranteed some kind of result if you put in that level of consistency and intensity

[shamsiya]: 32:30

yeah

[rachel]: 32:31

a sustained period of time

[shamsiya]: 32:33

of course

[rachel]: 32:33

i'm almost convinced that that it's like a guarantee

[shamsiya]: 32:36

it is a guarantee because you're not worrying about the outcome and you're just worrying about creating good stuff or content in this case or just being consistent with your productivity not worrying about the outcome that's the right approach to have to all things and you can take this to your works place as well and of course you know if there's conflict and or if you are in a stressed stressful situation not something easy to work through you this is where you kind of lie get intervention your family and friends or you know professional help to help you resolve those conflicts or if you're you have vices and if you're in you know in a situation where you know you are dependent on certain substances you need to consciously and pro actively remove and eradicate all of this because there is no short you have to like think on and we have seen as we've heard stories rachel so you know it's doable right working working your way everyone has drama everyone has baggage everyone has a back story this is something i'm telling you everyone has that but you have to be able to work your way towards that resolve all of this send it back because it's going to be constantly in the back of your mind it's training you and it's very import and for your assignment your health your mental physical being to and also for your immediate family that lives with you for you to be centered and consciously please work to remove these addictions and conflict and trauma from your life that's important if something is not serving you remove it that's the point that i'm trying to make here then there are certain activities which is something recent although i kind of wrote it as activities that create the ill sion of time well i think they should i should have just said activity s that swell time up give you more time you know and i love this because it's so true and they are certain actor these that actually give you more time as in what is time you know it's what it's time really what would you do if you have like a lot of time time is so transient and it's still there so what are these activities i can trick you to believing you had more time because you're you're peaceful your content so on the whole i was just thinking mindfulness but if you can just break it down like if you're a mindful eater you know you just sitting down and joying if you're having two meals a day be mindful about it take ten minutes out of your skedyou sit down and eat if you're just just mindful shopping if you're going shopping just be mindful about it like take it as a process enjoyed if you want to buy purchase whatever mindfulness means to you you know you can be a conscious spender or you just want to buy the good thing so you just want to enjoy the experinc of shopping enjoy it be true to that on also about your emotions you know how you're reacting your irritability or it's okay you know understand break it down be conscious of what's why you're behaving a certain way what's triggering you you know just like be mindful about it it's okay to have emotions that's not good to always ignore it you know you can't have repressed anger just be mindful about what you are behaving and why you're behaving that way then spending time with family or something we tend not to do more now but it's something that is very good at increasing your happiness cotin giving you more like and orphans in your system and making your life like giving meaning to your life so take time out to spend with your family friends people who mean to you it's very important to connect with people because there's nothing that can replace people's interaction there their energies they're warmed in the touch to try to yourself in places where you can get these kind of meaningful interactions then of course you know volunteering or if you have some volunteering actually has to be separate to hobbies volunteering is where you are giving you know giving more of yourself your time so giving is a giving in general is a very nice activity is very productive and i'll just you know help be more at ease and give you a self of being complacency being being aligned i think volunteering is very good i used to volunteer initially for a lot of corporate social responsible project and i know the joy it brings even if it's hard work i would take some time out to do it even with the busy schedule it was just something i enjoyed doing then of course activity s boats just some hobbies that you have some people like knitting some people like cooking you know actually just going to the grocery store and picking all these green leaves and peppers and deciding what to cook that itself is an activity that can you know bring a lot of good feeling make you feel relaxed it's something that you should strive to do but again some people have to identify what stresses them out if cooking is something that's stressing you out please stay away from it you know if shopping is something that's stressing you please stay away from it everyone doesn't have

[rachel]: 38:17

essentially

[shamsiya]: 38:17

thin

[rachel]: 38:18

it's it's like anything that makes you happy it's just a matter

[shamsiya]: 38:21

yeah

[rachel]: 38:21

o determining what it is like someone can't decide for you like you really have to look internally and say like

[shamsiya]: 38:26

no

[rachel]: 38:26

right hate cooking but i really like playing soccer

[shamsiya]: 38:29

yeah

[rachel]: 38:30

go play soccer okay

[shamsiya]: 38:31

yeah please please don't do anything that triggers your stress hormones know

[rachel]: 38:36

right

[shamsiya]: 38:37

but sleep well manager stress levels try to reguvinate periodically there is a lot of help out there if you can do it really good you know find find find help to help you be more positive and align yourself these activities will help you swell time and you know and then when you're at your workplace just go for i just be the bad you have to be because you're so in control of your time in yourself so you can just put in your hundred and ten percent at your place that's something i personally believe can happen and finally it's just the tip of the iceberg things that we always learn and we have to use to manage our time there's things i can just talk just immediately now but i would also like to hear rachel's point of view because we've always we've always learned you know how scheduling is important how planning is important and how writing it down is important you know there s available there you know there are special tools and there's all these fancy things that are out there to help you create a more disciple and organized life style so yes organizing your life style de cluttering it planning or goal setting that we already talked of rachel all of these activities are part of the arrangement arrangement of your time and that is what we have been taught most of the time what about you rachel what are some of the practices that you follow in your day to day basis

[rachel]: 40:10

so i would say for this it's one of those cases of

[shamsiya]: 40:13

yeah

[rachel]: 40:14

do as i say not as i do because i definitely feel like i have strategies i wouldn't say

[shamsiya]: 40:20

oh

[rachel]: 40:21

i'm a hundred percent of them or that consistent with it but there are a couple strategy that i've just learned over time but i have tried to implement and i do find it does help so the first one is there's actually a book about this it's called

[shamsiya]: 40:35

ye

[rachel]: 40:37

i think

[shamsiya]: 40:37

yeah

[rachel]: 40:37

it's called the one thing and it's a business book and basically what it says is you need to identify every single day what's the one

[shamsiya]: 40:46

yeah

[rachel]: 40:46

most important thing that's going to get you closer to goal give me anything like you can apply to anything in your life but

[shamsiya]: 40:53

oh

[rachel]: 40:54

let's say let's use it for a business case now what's the one thing today that you can do in your business that will actually get you to where you want to go so forget all the small little task i know there's a lot of like you know admantasks or a little like fluff things that

[shamsiya]: 41:08

yeah

[rachel]: 41:08

yes like they need to get done it's important but it's not the most important so i think a way to really prioritize your day to identify the most important thing

[shamsiya]: 41:20

yeah

[rachel]: 41:20

and make sure you get that done and i think this is when it's good to understand you know you as a person it's like are you a morning person if you're a morning person get that one thing done as soon as possible in the morning when you wake up do it when you are your freshest if you're a night person maybe you do your best work at night do that one important thing during that really peak time for you personally

[shamsiya]: 41:41

oh

[rachel]: 41:41

that's the one thing that you know the first thing that's the first thing i would say the second thing is i make a lot of to do lists but i find it's kind of just there there's not really any order to it

[shamsiya]: 41:54

what

[rachel]: 41:56

so i found i found that what helps me is if i put the to do list in my calendar it makes it easier so what i do is essentially time block say you know from nine to ten i'm recording this podcast from ten to eleven i'm editing an episode that we recorded previously this week you know from whatever twelve to one it's like okay i'm doing lunch i'm going run whatever and it's okay afternoon back to it you know i'm doing copy for social media and writing blog posts or whatever it is and i don't think you necessarily need to stick to the exact time frame i find visualizing it and seeing a time lock in your calendar makes me more likely to stick to it and just seeing it on the list like no date or time attached to it

[shamsiya]: 42:40

yeah

[rachel]: 42:40

because if i just see like me to do this for the week i'm like well i don't really feel like doing that right now i'm just going to do it tomorrow tomorrow and tomorrow that's like well whatever i'll just push it to next week

[shamsiya]: 42:49

procrastination

[rachel]: 42:49

i find like yes it's procrastination and especially

[shamsiya]: 42:52

yeah

[rachel]: 42:53

when you're working solo and for yourself you don't have a boss telling you this is the deadline it's so easy to push the dead lines

[shamsiya]: 43:01

yeah

[rachel]: 43:02

because it's like well i just made up the deadline and no one is going to call me on it if i don't do it

[shamsiya]: 43:05

we

[rachel]: 43:05

so i'm just going to move it to another day

[shamsiya]: 43:08

yeah

[rachel]: 43:09

i would say the time blocking is a big one and then if you can get an accountability partner that would also probably really help you with time management

[shamsiya]: 43:16

you

[rachel]: 43:16

for

[shamsiya]: 43:16

have

[rachel]: 43:16

example

[shamsiya]: 43:16

one

[rachel]: 43:16

like

[shamsiya]: 43:17

oh

[rachel]: 43:18

i don't but it's like if i actually look at individual projects like this podcast for example like we're working on this together which i think is amazing like i'm so glad that like i don't have to do it alone because

[shamsiya]: 43:26

yeah

[rachel]: 43:28

okay well ches is relying on me to get that edit edit an episode done because we want to post it and launch and all that so i think just like having either like a partner or even just like a friend or something that you can say like i really need to get this done and to check up on you and call you i don't know if you don't do it i think is a way to help you at least stick to it

[shamsiya]: 43:49

actually that makes a lot of sense and that's kind of like even if you don't think of it it kind of like applies to me as well absolutely the resonates i'm sure it will resonate with a lot of others that those are good ideas perfect

[rachel]: 44:04

what's your structure like how do you manage your time like i know you've kind of

[shamsiya]: 44:08

yeah

[rachel]: 44:08

talked about how you figure out you know you as a whole and like how to be present and all that is like okay let's say everyone's figured out that they've got that done what's next

[shamsiya]: 44:18

oh

[rachel]: 44:18

how do you go about managing the time

[shamsiya]: 44:20

yeah

[rachel]: 44:20

the actual time in your day

[shamsiya]: 44:22

the actual time in my day is like i have like certain activities that i have like blocked out for myself for my family and then for my whatever my run or my exercise so what is my time that's important this is this is my time this is my me doing something productive or i'm helping or i'm studying something or i am working on some other project or i'm writing something down so i do like structure it out it's nothing very detailed i don't have a detailed process as such but what is important what has helped me during my research time in the lab is my diet was very and so i had to focus on eating the right kind of food that would give me sustained energy and also help me um you know also helped me with my stamina levels so because earlier on i had thought i had like lower stamina lower energy i was not eating the right food so yes nutrition is a very important part sleep is a very important part i try to take some some time out i don't really get a lot of time in the night in the night to sleep i'm working till two and then i now again i'm up like around six six thirty so there's not enough time so i try to take some time out in the afternoons to take a nap which really helps we really like aliens my energy system on nutrition diet is obviously that stress management is very important so i do get triggered and i do feel anxious there are some things i'm predisposed to so i cons consciously try to work together being aware of you know what my faults are where you know what's not helping me being productive what's you know taking away from my energy and bringing a lot of negativity so i kind of like consciously worked with that's it you know these are the things everything doesn't also like meditation is a very important part i have not perfected that yet working towards it so that's something that's working prog that's the matther everybody cannot do everything these are the things i have identified it works well for me and some people have a very different approach to life so my approach is going to be so different from your approach so it's always good to be in tune with what you are as a person before you decide i am i'm not a very listty person and i don't write it down but i do write down important things you know and this is an advice to everyone please map out your important urgent activities if you have a doctor's appointment you have to write it down and you have to go and see the doctor do not procrastinate do not push it so these identify what are important things in your life write it down i do that my two do lists are is nothing or maybe thrust a grocery shopping list which i sometimes make yes

[rachel]: 47:12

well yeah i mean everyone's different right like some people live by having a list and

[shamsiya]: 47:17

m

[rachel]: 47:17

others don't so like i totally agree it

[shamsiya]: 47:19

m

[rachel]: 47:19

really is determining like what works best

[shamsiya]: 47:20

so

[rachel]: 47:20

for you

[shamsiya]: 47:21

oh

[rachel]: 47:22

but i do feel like those strategies

[shamsiya]: 47:23

i

[rachel]: 47:23

are good right it like

[shamsiya]: 47:24

oh

[rachel]: 47:25

the very least identify what is most important in your day and make sure it's scheduled and stick to it if there's one thing you're going to stick to at least do that and then so of course i throw in a bit of self care activities which honestly can mean anything

[shamsiya]: 47:39

yeah

[rachel]: 47:40

that's like the one thing i've learned is like i feel like self care can essentially mean anything like everyone is different who knows what makes them happy yeah that's great okay

[shamsiya]: 47:48

yeah

[rachel]: 47:48

time blocking self care and

[shamsiya]: 47:49

yahya

[rachel]: 47:49

one most and your most important task

[shamsiya]: 47:52

what is that

[rachel]: 47:54

is that changes every day right that's that's a thing that's

[shamsiya]: 47:57

yeah

[rachel]: 47:57

another thing like it's different for everyone right it

[shamsiya]: 48:00

i did

[rachel]: 48:00

totally depends what your goals are like who knows

[shamsiya]: 48:02

yes absolutely it's just amazing how like if you were at andy seminars their programs decide design to help you with your sleep and your stress management on your recovery target in nutrition you know they're stalling your profile or schedule and it's a business as you said but it's also helping a lot of people so if you want to yes there's help available out there do you reach out to experts i'm sure they can help you guide you

[rachel]: 48:31

yeah for sure

[shamsiya]: 48:32

dick

[rachel]: 48:32

well thank you

[shamsiya]: 48:33

yeah dick

[rachel]: 48:34

thanks sorry go ahead

[shamsiya]: 48:36

you know nothing i was just like take

[rachel]: 48:37

no

[shamsiya]: 48:37

control

[rachel]: 48:37

say it

[shamsiya]: 48:38

take control of your time you know be in charge of your time that's

[rachel]: 48:43

s

[shamsiya]: 48:43

that's it

[rachel]: 48:44

it's a very good thing yeah you got a yeah you're right it's

[shamsiya]: 48:47

yeah

[rachel]: 48:47

up to you i think at the end of it really is up to

[shamsiya]: 48:49

yeah

[rachel]: 48:49

you figure it out

[shamsiya]: 48:52

wow

[rachel]: 48:54

right okay this is great

[shamsiya]: 48:56

oh

[rachel]: 48:56

thank you so much for sharing those those different approaches

[shamsiya]: 48:58

ah thank you rachel for bearing with me

[rachel]: 49:02

no what are you talking about is great

[shamsiya]: 49:05

just did that out

[rachel]: 49:07

yeah