But the frog was more scared seeing me, and it squirmed its way into the little space below the door, near the hinge. I was like, “Noooo!!! Don’t do it!!! You’ll get stuck!!!😭”. But it was too late 😭 (As if it would understand my screams).

I realised that I am in a position where I cannot open the door because if I do, it would hurt the frog. I started to feel bad for it. I wanted to help it escape, but I don’t dare to take it out on my own. We both felt stuck in that situation.

I tried knocking on the door softly, but it made things even worse. The frog squirmed even further, nearer to the hinge.

I looked closely at the frog. It looked scared, poor froggy 🥹.

I thought, “Maybe I should just take my bath towel and come back, what if it’s wondering, 'Why isn’t she going away?' ” But that didn’t solve the problem.

I knocked on the door again, but this time, near the hinge. It helped. I immediately stood back, and it found its way out on its own. I found myself cheering up for the frog. Proud of you, lil’ froggy! 🥹.

I was feeling sad and overwhelmed throughout the day, but this incident lit me up. It made me wonder, “Aren’t our lives similar to what this frog went through?”

We may be burdened by the pressure of deadlines, commitments and many other things screaming urgency right on our faces. We might feel stuck, just like the frog did. Things might seem unfamiliar and scary. No matter how impossible it seems right now, this is a reminder that you’ll find a way out. The froggy did, so will you!

For the time being, here’s a chill pill from blu sonic: the song ‘Karanguna Loop’ 🔂(Click here). I assure you, it’s gonna be in the loop!

But wait, what if I told you this is a phrase our brain uses on us daily? Does not sound familiar? Maybe that’s because our brains are too good at keeping that question very subtle.

Picture this. You are trying to get a hard task done, say, studying for an exam. You study for some time, but then, your brain starts to crave an escape. You think, “Okay… I have studied until now, lemme just watch a reel… Just one… That shouldn’t hurt!”. You watch one reel, and without thinking, you watch another one, another one, another one… And you end up scrolling for hours. That’s our brain’s way of asking, “Trick or treat?!”, and tricking you in the process, when you thought you were giving a treat. Sad. But why does this happen?

Our brains have a lil’ problem. It doesn’t know how to distinguish tricks and treats since it is wired for instant gratification. That leads to trick no. 1: Your brain starts craving for an escape when you stretch yourself out a bit too much. So, how to give a treat in this scenario?

Take breaks. Preferably, not using the phone. Try doing something that’s not visual, like reading something that interests you or listening to music. Anything that does not keep you glued to the screen.

I know what you’re thinking, “I knew this already. Easier said than done 😒”. Well, I agree. It requires willpower, which requires more brain power than the task at hand. What a loop! 😤

But you would have noticed that your brain does not crave for anything when you’re doing something that you enjoy. That’s trick no. 2: Keep the task at hand enjoyable. I will get back to this one later. But for now, let me tell you a small story.

I am consistent with playing LinkedIn games (not all of them, though). But I couldn’t keep myself consistent with practising DSA (Data Structures and Algorithms). I always wondered why. Both required logic to solve, just that DSA was a bit harder. Later, I realised what kept me consistent with LinkedIn games. That’s trick no. 3: Accountability.

I always sent my score of the “Zip” game to a friend of mine, and he sent his score, and we kept a healthy competition between us. We still do. Hence, along with Zip, I play other games as well. You thought I was gonna talk about streak and leaderboard, huh? Tricked! But don’t get me wrong, it does work for some people.

I have tried to keep myself accountable in a similar manner with DSA by giving my current LeetCode stats (LeetCode is a platform to practice DSA, a.k.a. coding in layman’s terms 😅) to some of my friends, but it didn’t work out as I thought it would. DSA is harder and takes more time than LinkedIn games. Also, each person would be at a different level in terms of what they know to solve. So, I wanted something else to keep myself accountable.

I know that I like working on Google Sheets. More like, I enjoy working on it. 😶‍🌫️ You can see where I am getting to.

I maintain a sheet that stores the LeetCode problem I solved, what category it comes under (difficulty and topic), the last solved date, and the next review date. I add these dates to my calendar, so that I don’t forget to get them reviewed as planned. Once I am done for a particular day, I select another set of problems for the next day and add them to the calendar as well, so that I don’t waste time deciding on what to solve next. Since I enjoy doing this, I have become consistent and keep myself accountable with solving LeetCode problems. It has also made my learning structured.

To summarise, trick your brain in some way to get you to work, and give proper treats when the task is done. Only you know what works for you.

Your brain is doing a marvellous job; it deserves a standing ovation.😌

Reached this far? Damn. Thought this one was about Halloween? Sorry, you got tricked! 🤪

But hey, if you got some value reading this, consider it my treat! 🙂‍↕️

This wasn’t the case until a few months ago. Back then, I felt lonely despite having people around. Sounds like you?

What if I told you that it is not necessarily because you haven’t found your niche group or because no one cares? What if I told you that it could be the prejudices you have that are causing the hindrance? What if the problem lies in the way you handle conflicts? Let me tell you a story.

Yesterday, I presented a project idea I had been researching for a while to a friend. I was anticipating a positive response from him because I worked hard on it, and usually, he gives me that. But this time, I got a conflicting opinion. He just shared an opinion; he never meant to start a fight. But I wasn’t prepared for what he said. I felt as if I had been slapped right on my face. And then, the fight began.

We attacked each other just like pieces are attacked on a chessboard. But we made sure that we weren’t saying things that conflicted with ourselves (well, this can happen in a heated situation), that’d be like attacking pieces on the go without checking whether it’s a trap.

At the end of the fight, we realised that both of us were triggered to some degree. We were surprised by how we handled the fight, because none of us was hurt. To understand what happened, we analysed the fight together like a game review.

Both of us had a say in the fight, and our views were shared without getting misunderstood. None of us was trying to keep the peace to save the bond we shared; rather, we carefully chose the words being said. We listened to understand, not to react, and responded accordingly. We were not trying to cook our responses while the other person was speaking.

So, who won the fight? Well, I’d say both of us. We had something to learn from each other because of that fight. And guess what? This was our first fight! We were pretty sad about not having fights until that day. 😂

In the end, it doesn’t matter whether you won the argument. What truly matters is whether you survived the uncomfortable situation without breaking the beautiful bond you have. But that shouldn’t mean that you must try to keep the peace at the cost of your words being unheard. There is a fine line between the two.

So, why not stay calm and respond to the conflicts you have? That will get you heard. Even if the other person does not cooperate like my friend did, staying calm in an argument gives you an upper hand, as it sends them a signal that you are not triggered, and that triggers them. Sweet revenge? 😉

Don’t get me wrong here. Staying calm doesn’t mean staying silent. It only means that you’ve got to listen to the other person and understand where they’re coming from. Listen to their views with an open mind, without letting in your prejudices. No one is born with it; it is our life experiences that shape our perspectives, and it’s different for everyone. We have no right to judge that. We hate getting misjudged, so why do that to others? 😌

Not sure when I am gonna write next, or if I'm ever gonna write again. Until then…

¡Hasta la vista!👋