House plants, this post is an excerpt from my 8m² balcony/garden. The pandemic has changed our social lives and it seems we are living in our minds and our homes pretty much 24X7. Spending time with nature can help a lot in alleviating symptoms of depression, loneliness, anxiety, and stress. House plants are super fun to maintain and good pass time when there is absolutely nothing to do. House plants purify the air and improve health and wellness overall.

If you are staying by yourself, house plants could give a good company and add a small routine in the morning. Caring for plants is an extension of self-love and discipline. You don’t need a lot of space, to begin with. House plants are a great asset to any home in non-virusy times too. Let’s get started on turning our rooms into a forest oasis.

Productivity Tidbits

Before we jump ahead a small note on productivity and how our brains work. Our brains are not as evolved as we think. We have a tendency to avoid things that are hard to do, survival mechanisms in-grained to conserve energy. Our minds feel reluctant to do tough things as a measure to save energy and help us survive. This prevents us from picking the A items on our to-do lists. Assign a carrot to your to-do list and cut down items that seem easy to do but aren’t as fruitful.

When encountered with unfairness our mind jumps to fight or flight mode, a response hard-wired in us for survival. When confronted/ put on the spot it’s a natural tendency of our brain to be defensive and be less objective. Human beings aren’t entirely driven by reason and rationale, a lot has to do with irrational decisions and emotion. The split-second difference swaying our decisions, either way, is a good example.

We constantly have to make decisions every day, every minute, every second. The more things you put on auto-pilot, the more productive you’d get. Avoid making your day to day tasks tedious. Decision fatigue is real. Whether it’s deciding what to eat, what to wear, what to buy it all comes at a cost. Keep things that are important to do within your closest reach and you will NOTICE the difference in what you do As Marie Kondo says let go of things that don’t spark joy, apply the same to your daily routine and you’d find for yourself how effective and fulfilling your life would get.

When making your to-do list → be clear to add in an A, B, C, D, E to your tasks, ensure you absorb in your mind how doing things that are going to help you in both the short and long run are higher up in your priority lists. Do them before the “easier” and “brain fulfilling” tasks you chose over in your daily routine. Optimize your energy and you will optimize your life 🙂

A little bit of greenery in your room and outside your house inspires creativity and restores vitality. Some great plants that are low maintenance and hard to kill would be snake plant, pothos, Syngonium, jade, holy basil, monstera bamboo palm. You could add ferns, vines, and even succulents if you wish to get more involved.

To quote:

“[People] laugh at the stupefying odds against anything accidental growing exactly like this, like us, out of mindless wood… The odds are nothing compared to the first great rolls of the cosmic dice: the one that took inert matter over the crest of life, and the one that led from simple bacteria to compound cells a hundred times larger and more complex. Compared to the first two chasms, the gap between trees and people is nothing at all.”

When you’re a perceptive, quiet human, plant language makes sense. If you listen close enough, you’ll hear it. And the lessons embedded in the leafy whispers are human, too.

I hope you enjoyed reading, please feel free to leave your comments and suggestions down below. Stay healthy! Stay safe.

Akansha

Writing this post pains me deeply because so much of it is about personal experience and pain. While it makes me quite uncomfortable to write about this topic I think it’s important to address the elephant in the room. We are living in the 21st century but unfortunately, most people around us seem stuck in the 18th century. Sometimes it makes me wonder if they took a time machine from a time where misogynistic tendencies used to be thought of as chivalry. Time and time again women have been suppressed, mansplained, and even looked down upon in the society and our workplaces.

Our offices are no longer safe for women to work. This problem is further worsened in tech where the gender ratio is skewed all the more. I speak from experience as a woman who is educated, privileged, and shielded from a lot of things that women take for granted. Nevertheless, this is a topic I feel very strongly about, so much of it is about being in your truth, being naked and exposed.

I have faced countless instances of gender inequality and harassment in the workplace and each time I learned that it’s important to step forward and fight for your right. You cant be passive-aggressive or ignoring what is happening around you. If you feel something is up, it is! trust your instincts and take timely action. Despite the sexual harassment and sensitivity training, I see a serious lack of empathy, understanding, and even common sense in dealing with such situations among leaders. I have had pretty disappointing discussions with my team members, managers, and the namesake leaders who need to be educated enough to handle these problems in the workplace. Women must not be told to contain it, or live within boundaries. Enough is enough and there needs to be strict management and policies when such incidents are reported by women. I don’t want to publicly shame some sexual perpetrators but if you’re reading this post you know who you are. Consider this a warning because there is more coming. I have found that our corporate law doesn’t support women when an untoward incident/accident happens. There is a natural tendency to blame women for being too vocal, open, or in some way responsible for being harassed. It’s NOT your fault, period.

Over the past several years a number of high-profile stories of pervasive workplace sexual harassment at “leading” companies has been exposed.Sexual harassment is an issue that really matters. You cant talk about gender equality when women are always treated as second class citizens and objectified. A women’s job is not to “brighten up the room” get an effing plant duh !

Okay I know there are more pressing concerns right now, First off, as we all know, there’s a pandemic raging the planet. 2020 has truly been the worst year of my existence. Not only are we social and physical distancing we are losing on precious time and memories. Unbelievable!

That said, this would forever be a dark spot in my memory a big scar. To all the victims of sexual harassment, my heart goes out to you. I am so sorry for whatever you are going through right now, please don’t blame yourself. Here are four things you can do to help prevent sexual harassment.

1. If you see someone being harassed, don’t be silent. But, call the harasser out and tell him to stop his action. 
2. Speak out. Or if you can, make a campaign about stopping sexual harassment.
3. If you hear people excuse sexism by saying, “boys will be boys then, and girls will be girls” just call it out. 
4. Don’t be afraid to raise your voice because your voice matters, really.

Remember, every little action counts. We can do just a smalls step to bust gender stereotypes. For instance, remember that chores have no gender. Maybe, your family often assign tasks in a very old-fashioned way without even realizing it. For girls, they’re the ones who take care of domestic things like washing dishes, cooking, setting table while for boys, they do more physical tasks like mowing the lawn or climbing ladders. Next time teach your boys some household chores- let them do the laundry, cook food because when you are living on your own not only do these life skills come in handy you are setting the standard for generations to come.

I think that’s all for now. I wish I could talk more about it. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Have a great day, and be safe

Much Love

Akansha