Planning my day

A major part of my work life is planning my day. I plan both work and off-work activities to keep life moving smoothly.

I don’t see myself as someone who perfectly manages work. Instead, I focus on maintaining a balance between work and life.

After practicing project management for the past two years, I’ve realized that the role goes beyond managing projects. It’s really about managing life as a whole: where work plays an important, but not overwhelming, part.

Clarity is kindness: the 20 second technique

I’ve been looking for ways to share my ideas more clearly and briefly. While I can express my thoughts, I realized that my presentations were often too long, which made my listeners bored and confused for two main reasons:

1. I talked too much.
2. My audience had short attention spans.

I discovered that I hadn’t created a method to filter my ideas before presenting them. The challenge was the mental effort required to organize my thoughts. Writing allows for editing, but speaking is spontaneous and needs quicker thinking.

One helpful technique I found is to limit my speaking time to about 20 seconds before pausing for a moment of silence. This pause is crucial because it gives me time to process my thoughts and find a clear way to explain them, much like giving a short pitch. By focusing on key points and then pausing, I can engage my listeners better.

Instead of timing strictly, I now use verbal or thought cues, such as:

1. “That’s my main point.”
2. “Here’s the core idea.”

After these cues, I pause to let them respond. This approach makes the pauses feel natural in my speech rather than like a trick.

Since I started using this method, my meetings have become 50% shorter. I can share my ideas more quickly and clearly, which respects my audience's time and reduces confusion. This practice not only helps me communicate better but also encourages my listeners to engage. Overall, it has saved me time and energy by making conversations faster and more effective.

What is the real pain?

Is it when someone you love pokes you from behind and it hurts?

Is it when a stone hits you and leaves a mark?

Is it when a car hits you and your whole-body screams?

Is it when you lose someone who was close to you, and 

you don’t know how to fill that empty space?

Is it when you feel someone else’s pain so deeply that you wish you could take it away from them?

Or…

Is it when you finally realize that everything you believed about yourself is a lie?

When the world you built inside your mind breaks, and you don’t even know who you are anymore.

Is real pain something you feel when you can’t even explain that you’re in pain, when you don’t know what’s causing it, and you have no idea how to get rid of it or what to do about it?

The endless cycles of life

Sometimes I feel like I am stuck in a cycle of events, a loop. An ever-rotating wheel of life that keeps repeating, maybe every day, every other week, over the years, or perhaps even across a lifetime. This repetition seems inevitable. These cycles come with fluctuations, ups and downs, wins and failures that teach us how to live or perhaps even show us the way of living.

Some events leave a deep impact on us and those close to us. Some even ripple outward, affecting complete strangers, a butterfly effect where a small fluctuation in our cycle can lead to much larger events elsewhere.

I believe not all cycles are perfect circles. There are moments in life that will never come again, once-in-a-lifetime phases. Some cycles are oval, with troughs and crests, peaks, trenches, and plateaus of wins and failures, love and hatred, birth and death, both of those close to us and those unknown whose actions still affect us deeply.

Some cyclic actions intersect and then continue along their destined paths, or perhaps take new trajectories. Each new decision becomes a fluctuation. Some paths intersect with known and unknown people, creating endless possibilities of decision, action, and reaction.

Every path that leads to an event, or is led by one, triggers a chain of reactions within the cycle. Each of these can vary based on decisions made, shifting from its original destined path. Every new cycle is a new beginning, a new chance to explore.

I believe that a constant, unchanging cycle of life is dull. Who doesn’t crave change? These changes bring challenges, and it’s those challenges that make life worth living.

Maybe the cycles were never meant to end. They remind us that every return carries something new—a lesson, a wound, or a gift—and that change is never far, even when life feels familiar.

Life circles back, not to trap us, but to give us another chance to see what we once missed.

This post is my submission to the IndieWeb Carnival’s November 2025 theme, Cycles and Fluctuations, hosted by Alex Sirac.

Back to Blogging

It’s been months since I last posted on my blog. It wasn't intentional; I just couldn't find the time to sit down and write.

My wife and I have finally moved back to my family home. We will be living on a floor that needed extensive renovation. My parents had rented it out, and they left it in such disrepair that it became almost uninhabitable.

We invested some money and took out a loan to address the maintenance of the house and its systems, including electrical, plumbing, and interior work.

Now, we are all set. We have everything arranged, and today marks our first day living here—cooking, eating, sleeping, and truly making this space our home. I’ve also set up my workspace properly, complete with my favorite desk and a new wooden chair. There’s a corner dedicated to my books, where I can keep all my reading materials.

Today, as I worked at my desk, I felt a wave of happiness wash over me. I've managed to complete all my pending tasks and keep my To-Do board up to date.

Closing out tasks and finding time to write or read feels like a significant accomplishment. These small moments of joy from work contribute to my overall happiness. I’ve even managed to have my meals on time; tonight, I enjoyed a delicious round of pizza that filled my appetite with joy.

Not everything is filled with happiness, there are moments of heartache and challenges as well. However, focusing on the positives, I want to stay motivated and keep writing.

Hitting a milestone

Today, something unexpected happened.

My personal blog crossed 2,000+ views in a single day. For the first time ever.

That number might not seem big to everyone, but to me, it's huge.

What started as a quiet space for personal reflection has slowly grown into something much bigger than I imagined. And now, just six months in, my blog has crossed 14,000 total views.

All of this has happened with:

• No SEO gimmicks

• No paid ads

• No social media promotion

Just honest writing, quiet thoughts, and a bit of courage to hit "publish."

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Why I Started Writing

When I started this blog, I didn’t have a strategy. There was no niche, no calendar, no goal of going viral. It was a diary, really — a space where I could be honest with myself and with anyone who might happen to read it.

Most of what I write is personal. Sometimes it’s about navigating life, sometimes about emotions I don't always share out loud. Often, it’s just a way to slow down and reflect.

I didn’t expect many people to read it. I certainly didn’t expect thousands.

But here we are.

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What This Milestone Means

To me, this isn’t just about traffic or views. It’s about something deeper.

It’s about the power of showing up quietly, consistently, and authentically.

It’s about the reminder that our personal stories, no matter how ordinary they seem to us, can resonate with others in unexpected ways.

And it’s proof that slow growth is still growth. That you don’t need to chase trends or performance metrics to make something meaningful.

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What I’ve Learned So Far

⏳ Writing takes courage, not perfection
I still hesitate before clicking "publish." I wonder if it’s too personal, too boring, or too much. But every time I post anyway, I’m reminded that courage matters more than polish.

🌱 Growth isn’t always loud
Some of the most meaningful milestones, like a comment from a stranger who connected with your story or one returning reader, don’t show up in analytics but they mean everything.

🪴 Keep writing. Don’t give up
Even when it feels like no one’s reading. Even when your words feel small. The act of writing itself is powerful.

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A Quiet Thank You

To everyone who has read a post, shared a link, sent a kind message, or just taken a moment to linger on my words — thank you.

This blog was never about numbers. But this milestone reminds me that real connection is still possible on the internet, without the noise, without the hype, and without selling anything.

Here’s to writing that stays true.
Here’s to the quiet ones.
Here’s to the next chapter.

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Thanks for reading.

If you’re thinking about starting something — a blog, a project, a journal — start. Even if it’s just for you. You never know where it might lead. 

2 B R 0 2 B - a book review

 

Wow, what a story! 

2 B R 0 2 B might be short, but it hits like a punch. Vonnegut throws us into a future where births and deaths are perfectly balanced, and the cold efficiency of it all is both absurd and terrifying. I couldn’t believe how quickly the world pulled me in, and that ending left me stunned. 

It’s dark, satirical, and thought-provoking, the kind of story that sticks in your head long after you’ve finished. For just a few pages, it delivers so much.

fun fact: The title is a play on the Shakespearean line “To be, or not to be” from Hamlet, rendered here in a modern, almost clinical form: “2BR02B” (read as "to be or naught to be").

Heroes of the Real World

There is Superman for Metropolis.
There is Batman for Gotham.
But in the real world, there are no heroes — only ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

What really matters in life is how ordinary people, with no superpowers, believe in themselves and fight to survive each day.

The only thing that truly makes us “super” is the willingness to face life as it is, with courage, persistence, and honesty.

In today’s world, doing ordinary things, staying true to one’s beliefs, and working hard for the survival and well-being of one’s family and self is the real superpower.

Real heroes don’t wear capes: they’re ordinary people facing life and doing the extraordinary every day.

New directions in learning

It’s becoming harder for me to learn things with intention. Back in college, no one had to push me. I had this natural drive, an unintentional push that kept me curious and eager to explore new topics.

But now, at 28, that spark feels dim. I no longer feel the same excitement for exploration, and the urge to learn something new seems to have faded.

Things have changed, and life is slow now. It just revolves around three things: sleep, food, and money. Even the job seems to be only for money, and that is a bitter truth.

I have no worry or complaint about this slow life, but the important aspect is that I have started to enjoy it. I don’t see anything wrong in that. When I look back and try to reflect on my career, the hunger curve had once been a steep rise, and now it is almost flat.

I still have the hunger to try new things in life. Maybe my interests have changed. I am more into home décor and food exploration these days. I like to understand life, not from reading, but by living it.

Once I believed that a person who stopped learning would rust. But now I believe it is wise to learn only what is needed. There is no requirement for a conventional mode of learning. Learning can also come through experience and trying things on your own. Even mistakes are a way of learning.

Sometimes, every aspect of life need not have a reason, it's all a part of the new learning experience and I just try to dive in it and survive.

Life, productivity, and the illusion of shortcuts

Some days make me pause and think about shortcuts, ways to be productive and improve the quality of life. At first glance, the easiest shortcut seems to be faking or pretending.

But is being fake really a way to live a dream life?

The truth is, being fake can never be permanent. It’s like a bubble, shiny on the outside but ready to burst, often leaving behind a heavy impact on real life.

Shortcuts of any kind are always temporary. They may bring quick results, but they rarely sustain the journey toward something meaningful.

Life is meant to be lived in the real world, not in a pretentious bubble filled with false hopes. Making smart choices matters. Practicing rational thinking over purely emotional decisions can make a big difference. But these are not shortcuts. Shortcuts are more like giving up too early, depending too much on others, or chasing easy gains at the expense of real effort.

So, are shortcuts to productivity just a gimmick?

In some ways, yes. Productivity improves with practice, and there is no way around that. Planning better and using proven techniques can certainly help us improve the quality of life. But these are not shortcuts. They are deliberate practices that require patience, effort, and discipline.

They are not gimmicks but carefully developed approaches that have been tested and refined over time. And not every method works for everyone. It depends on the kind of life you are living, the life you want to live, and the life you have already experienced.

Shortcut philosophies usually appeal to those seeking a quick escape or temporary relief. But lasting productivity, and a truly fulfilling life, come from taking the harder path—living fully and standing firmly by the values that matter.

Because in the end, shortcuts might save time, but they never build a life worth living.

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This post is inspired by Robert Birming’s essay “No Shortcuts to Wonder.” I wanted to reflect on his ideas and share my own thoughts on shortcuts, productivity, and living life fully.