How to make better to do lists!

Posted on January 15, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

Planner, Crystals, Productivity, Smart Goals, Work Smarter, Women in Tech, Lifestyle, Life Lately, Life Tips

To do lists are the micro levels of my big dreams. Big dreams are astronomical, may take months or years to achieve them, require persistence and consistency. Consistency is where our daily to do lists come in.

I do want to preface this post by saying the following:

we shouldn’t be slaves to our to do lists
to do lists don’t own us
to do lists are meant to serve us

So if your daily to do list, post it or weekly planner spread is making you feel bad about yourself – throw it out, take a beat and start over again when you are ready!

We shouldn’t feel productivity debt (feeling like you always need to be doing something and rest is not deserved unless your to do list is completed) from not completing everything on our to do list & there is nothing you NEED to do to earn your existence.

But when you are ready to schedule the day you want to make it amazing – read on!

Side note: I’m writing this as I was feeling overwhelm trying to use notion. Notion is meant to be a tool to keep your life organized but there was too much scope creep in their product – for me at least. The idea that it might also need to look aesthetic, link to a Spotify playlist and my Pinterest mood board was a little too much. So I realized I need to step back and figured others might need to too.

So how do we make our to do lists work for us?

Figure out your big dreams, goals, priorities and projects. But also think about the habits you want to build and routines you want to have.
Pick a medium that works for you. Could be paper or digital, simple or complex. You’ll also want to choose a template: Is it just 1 sticky note for the day, or multiple colour coded ones, is it a weekly spread planner or an hour-by-hour list of tasks. This can obviously change but it’s a great idea to try something out.
Fill your list with your daily living + tasks that will help you got to your big goals. Example are meetings, but also your workouts (goal: to focus on fitness). It could be having lunch with someone and blocking 2 hours in the morning for writing (goal: to write a book).
Pick something to fail at. Not everything has to be checked off and not everything has to be done well. So knowing what can be moved to another day vs a non-negotiable will help you stay intentional and not feel like you aren’t moving forward.

Remember – it’s all about getting to outcomes (not getting things done). Your to do list should be on your side helping you build intentional habits and keep you 1 step closer to your goals!

Starting the new year with renewed focus and intention

Posted on December 29, 2022 by Bhanu Misra Marya

It was a GREAT 20 days of blogmas! I am pretty impressed with my ability, consistency and ambition. I think it was the longest streak of blogging I’ve had in a long time. For January, I’ll be returning to more regular yet less frequent blog posts. Maybe, it will be twice a week and centered around a new theme – I haven’t confirmed my creative process yet! :P

<Admin reminder for myself> I’ve also yet to share all the posts on Pinterest so that will take some time in January also. So between editing titles (taking out the word “blogmas”), promoting on Pinterest (and twitter & instagram for that matter) I know I’ll be scaling back. </end reminder>

So here is my first post – post blogmas! It’s a multi day vlog showing my routines & habits. All things I want to continue focusing on in the new year. Whether that’s nature works, morning workouts, journaling, reading, meditating, doing well in my career – it’s a reminder that my Focus and Intention needs be all about consistency. So hopefully it inspires others out there who want to start (or stay on …like me) the journey of their personal development and self growth.

Click here for Blogmas 2022!

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Blogmas | Books I read in 2022

Posted on December 19, 2022 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I’m one of the people that has a stack of books to be read. I’m constantly updating my good reads “to read” shelf. But I’m happy to report that this year I made a HUGE dent in my reading goals.

Links to books (all are Chapters Indigo, but you could check amazon or any local book retailer)

Here are some numbers

8 new/modern fiction books read
1 classic fiction book
3 non fiction/self development books
8 (all) fiction books with strong female characters

What went well

I was able to read fiction books fast
I need to balance all the fiction with some non fiction, spiritual & self development
Following BookTok & Bookstagram

What didn’t go well

Reading slumps came on quickly if I tried to read more than self dev book in succession
Tried to push myself to finish a book I was no longer interested in

Fav fiction book read this year

Verity (hands down)

Fav non fiction book read this year

The Four Agreements

Blogmas | Project50 for January

Posted on December 18, 2022 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I’ve mentioned many times (check here, here and here) that I’m all about goal setting, productivity and self development. I also have a thing for life hacks that offer consistent ways to improve in different areas of my life.

Enter #Project50

From my research (read: heavy google searching), Project50 is along the lines of 75hard but closer to 75Soft. Essentially a way to kick start your daily routines and create long lasting habits and rituals.

I should say, most of these things I already do daily, but there is no harm in calling out and trying harder. If you are interested in getting started, check out the IG linked above and also set 7 rules for yourself. The catch, if you miss any daily habit, you begin again from day 1. Check out my rules below & good luck!

Rules:

Wake up by 6:45am
- Sleep a minimum 6 hours
Complete a morning routine (without distractions)
- Mediate
- Journal
- Affirmations
- AM Hygiene
- List to a Podcast episode
- Weekly nature walks & forrest baths
- Plan your days in detail
Exercise for 45 min
- Cardio (20 min run, 3km or 4km run, Pilates or 5000 step walk)
- Strength (everyday except for active rest days)
Read 10 pages of a book
Dedicate 1 hour to learning daily
- Udemy (Python, excel, product, data, agile)
- LinkedIn Learning (product, agile, productivity, self growth)
- Free courses and ebooks (with actual note taking!)
Eat clean
- Llimit processed desserts, sodas and cocktails
- 2.5 L of water
- maximize fruits and veg intake
Create content to track your progress
- Blogpost (will be default mode to track)
- OneDay
- Tweet
- IG post

*Image from Pinterest

Blogmas | The biggest lesson I learned this year

Posted on December 16, 2022 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I was recently scrolling through TikTok and some someone post about what the biggest lesson that they learned this year. Without even watching the full post – I immediately thought about mine…(goes to show how mindless show intense my multi tasking is!)

I figured it would make a great blogmas post…

The biggest lesson I learned this year was maintaining consistency with my self growth practices.

Now as I’m saying that I realize it sounds very simplistic. But I realized not being consistent actually creates bad habits. Or rather, being consistent creates good habits. And for me those habits are helping me grow and develop.

So here’s the kicker: I find myself only being consistent with my self growth and development rituals (quality journaling, outdoors walks, forrest baths, deep meditation, creating content, making art, reading, learning) when I’m needing to change* something. And then, as soon as I achieve* that something I for some reason decide to de-prioritize those rituals.

Maybe that de-prioritization comes naturally because that thing I achieved takes up more of my time. But I’ve realized that I can’t let it. I need to be consistent with my rituals because they are the only thing that will support me in the long run.

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!

Blogmas | Do THIS before you create your reality with a #VisionBoard

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Bhanu Misra Marya

We are 18 days out from 2023. I hope between the get togethers, holiday meals and gift giving your are making time for YOU. As a mom of daughters, with a full fledge and progressive career with ambitions of growing my business – goal setting has always been my thing.

But with the new year I definitely try to be more intentional.

Below is the process I’ve developed over the years + sharing my vision board capturing visual cues of all the areas I’m setting goals in (wellness, learning, career promotion, financial abundance, family, friends and world travel).

Retrospective on the past year: I use the life audit wheel and do an audit of the areas of my life that went really well (10) and the areas that I felt I could have put more effort towards or that could have gone better (1 being the lowest on the scale)
Write in words what the life audit showed me: This is really about writing down what went well and what didnt. So now you have two representations of the past year.
Get clear on what you want to achieve: Now taking the written retrospective, write down all the things you want to achieve. Be as detailed as possible. And also make room to jot down the feeling you have when you think about these achievements. And most importantly, write down actionable steps to get where you want to be (full disclosure: this will take you more than one sitting)
Pinterest, pinterest, PINTEREST! You are gonna grab all images that show you achieving everything you clearly articulated in step 3.
Make you vision board: Now you are going to make a visual representation of what you wrote in 3. Before you make your vision board, make a gratitude list, meditate, light a candle, clense your crystals – just be in the most receiving space you can be in! Once you love what you’ve created (also: this could take a few tries) PRINT it out, save to all of your desktop wallpapers & make sure you look at it multipe times a day.

You’ll notice a pattern here, we think, write and visualize. Repeatedly. Why? Because the brain can’t tell the difference between something actually happening/how it feels when you achieve something vs when you just think about achieving it & feel the feelings. Once you brain believes you’ve achieved it, you’ll starting behaving in a way and taking actions in the direction of that achievement.

BONUS: Do future journalling – everyday of the new year, potentially as part of your morning journalling practice. This is where you write down everything of the day as it it’s already happened (ie: these will be the actionable steps you wrote down in 3 aboce). Again tricking your brain into thinking you’ve already achieved the accomplishment but on a daily basis.

Vision Board, Pinterest, Mood board, Future, Goals, New Years Resolution, Goal Setting, Happy, Abundant, successful, wealthy, prosperity, vitality, wellness

Want more? Follow my Blogmas 2022 journey here!