The Summary of Vacations-e-October

Bushra Rehman Khan
Nov 1 · 3 min read

31 days.

I got two vacations from work. 12 days and 5 days.

Here’s what I did.

Whiteboard on 31st October

The best thing that happened was me reading the newspaper. Like really reading the newspaper on a somewhat consistent basis. The credit goes to my (brilliant) decision to subscribe to the physical copy rather than the e-paper. I used to think that e-paper is more convenient, which I am sure, is true for a lotta hustlers but as October has proven — e-paper makes it a little convenient for me to ignore it altogether. Unless, I have The Hindu staring at me from my desk, when I get back from work, I ain’t gonna read it. Also, I like the way, I can use my pen on it.

Sure, I practically skipped 10 days including today’s but going from zero to 21 is a quantum leap. One, I desperately needed. So, kudos Bushra :) Keep it up.

About note-taking from newspapers, I am typing or voice-typing a few relevant bytes that I think could show up in prelims or I might write in some answers. For the issues, like major state visits or central themes on which we get lotta editorials, etc., I just prefer to write down the topic, the fillers I would get in any monthly magazine. This way, I don’t feel like I am actually making notes of current affairs — so no mental burden and also, I don’t actually have to make the notes — so less physical trouble.

Kind of like the perfect way out. Of course, I don’t know whether it will work or not, or to what extent if it does, but then again, who does know?

2. I completed FOUR topics of psychology. Seriously. Like totally. Awesome. The credit goes to Notion. It’s like the perfect note-taking and other stuff app. Its minimalist in one way, totally flexible in another — so the scope of me wasting time, paper and energy in making my notes look pretty has drastically come down. Although, I do think that I am writing too much into my notes — one of the classic cons of e-notes but I am working on it. And I will be fine.

3. Apart from that I didn’t do anything else. Ouch there. I practically didn’t touch, modern history or polity. I really need to do them now.

Also, I didn’t review the individual vacations like I thought I would. Furthermore, I wasted a total of five days of my vacations. But still, for some reason, I am not beating myself up, like I used to. I really don’t know what that means. Whether this is a sign of getting a more positive attitude, am I turning more forgiving or am I simply not seeing how big a mistake this was or the best one am I just hopeless of that elusive discipline?

Gonna have to figure that one out.

Speaking of discipline, I would like to state that I did get up on time for a few days, and for some reason and I feel kinda-on-track even though I am not really on track, so that’s a thing too.

This was the October that went by. I did better than September. I hope November brings more satisfaction.

Until next time.

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Bushra Rehman Khan

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23. Chasing away fears. In pursuit of a stronger person within. Trying out this blogging thing.

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