How I Reset My Life
Rediscover yourself and start anew
I’m an ordinary guy.
Pre-pandemic, my day consisted of mostly work, commute, and hang out.
Pretty average. I hardly did anything more than leisure in my free time.
Then — the pandemic shook us all.
OK, let’s quarantine and work from home. I’m lucky to still have my job intact. It’s business as usual for me, but what has changed? I don’t commute and hang out anymore. Only then I realized, we all have an unbelievable amount of time given to us.
Pre-pandemic, I thought my time was already full — or was it just my excuse to take it easy? I got time to complain about the pandemic, yet it also means:
I got time to be productive and seek positive change, right?
This realization triggered a change in my perspective. Over the past few months, I rediscovered myself in every single activity. For most people, the following events may be normal, but it has led me to a huge leap. Each of them is connected and reinforced my drive to be more productive.
This is how I reset my life in everyday activities.
Maybe you can reset yours too?
Family Time
When is the best time to enjoy home other than now? My commute has changed into doing housework. Babysitting is still my favorite even though my niece’s charm interferes with my work. Look at how adorable she is!
Right now, helping and spending time with my family is very workable with a full-time job at home. I even got more tasks done sometimes. Experiencing 24-hour at home gave me a different style of productive.
It’s killing 2 birds with 1 stone, but I still got time to be productive in another way. Then, I decided to kill more birds by investing in myself.
Acing Online Courses
In search of online courses, I found an article from Business Insider. The page contains a long list of 100 limited-time free online courses on Coursera. What a deal! (some of it are still available until 7/31/2020)
Even though it’s free, don’t underestimate it. Completing a course can be overwhelming since it’s designed for many weeks of study. But here’s my tip: it’s not a race, just take your time. When you have trouble committing, set a goal & stick to it.
I can assure you, it’s fun though! It’s somewhat satisfying. I’ve aced more than 10 courses during the quarantine. The knowledge is very vast and insightful.
Despite the urge to ace more, a book over my desk suddenly piqued my interest. I still got time to be productive in another way. So I grabbed it after completing the last quiz of the week.
So I Start Reading
I never liked reading.
I always spent my leisure time with games and watching movies.
Yet, my friend’s book managed to keep me interested. I had no other book available after reading the last page. Then the internet saved me.
I read quality readings online and instantly hooked up. Feeding off curiosities became my leisure. Writings on Medium feel like books to me. It became my daily source of inspiration since then. It’s my library now.
Readings inspired me so much that I wanted to write myself. I planned to do it since I still got time to be productive in another way. However, I have near-zero experience for writing; so I decided to start small first.
Commit to the 30-Day Rule
The rule is simple: do something for 30 days straight, no pause, no excuse. That something is yours to define.
I wasn’t confident in writing yet. Instead, I committed myself to post an inspirational quote each day on social media. No goals set, it was just for the sake of sharing. But some of my friends gave me positive responses, which kind of made me happy. The consistency and persistence paid off a little.
Feeling motivated, I felt the urge to try writing for real. I successfully implemented the 30-day rule on something simple, so why not try to take it to the next level? I still got time to be productive in another way.
Writing My First Article
I’m not good with words. I swear. But I’m good at overthinking.
Lots of reflection are going on in my head. Manifesting it into words isn’t my specialty, but I did try. To share what I deem worthy of sharing was the drive. Hoping it’ll be useful, even just for 1 person.
Writing never crossed my mind before, but surprisingly, it’s more enjoyable than I thought. There’s an idiom: when you enjoy something, time flies fast. I’m time traveling then.
I did have trouble keeping my promise to write. Forcing a habit is hard, but I learned from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People to “begin with the end in mind”. I remembered again the goal I set from the start.
Writing has made me realize there’s a start line for everything. Expressing yourself in public is never easy. The thought of rejection, failure, and being judged are scary. But we can never know what people think unless we try.
Takeaways
Pandemic derails us from our usual activities. Yet, it managed to grant me a chance to reset my life. What worked for me may not apply to you but a change in perspective will. Whatever it is you’re doing — it’s your choice to start.
Corona, could it be a blessing in disguise?
Well not really. It could have hindered us from another kind of opportunity.
But the reality is, humans still don’t have full control over the pandemic yet. Rather than worrying too much about it, focus on what we can control — which is ourselves.
“I am not a product of my circumstances, I am a product of my decisions.” — Stephen R. Covey
Whether you want to start a business, writing, or anything — start with a simple change. Take and manage your own steer. Keep doing it consistently.
So, what are the things you want to try?
This is my 3rd article.
If you’re a data science enthusiast, check out my first 2 articles:
