jugrajsingh

[jugrajsingh]

So yesterday Khaled Hosseini posted about his daughter coming out as trans and his staunch suport of her is going to make me cry for real.

As a queer Afghan whose own father had been homophobic when he was alive, there's something so very cathartic about seeing someone so high profile unapologetically supporting his queer child. This is a huge step forward for the queer Afghan community and I'm so happy for his daughter.

[jugrajsingh]

STUDY MASTER-POST

• Making a schedule

• Every schedule is different. You shouldn't feel the need to make every second productive just as long as you find enough time to finish what you need to for the day.

• Make sure to sort your to-do list first. Start from the things that are the most urgent and important. After you do this, you can choose to either start with the hardest task so that its out of the way. Or you can start with the easiest so it gets your momentum going.

• When you make your schedule, give extra time for yourself to finish a task. Suppose, if you say you will take 40 minutes to finish a summary, schedule it down to 60 minutes so even if you end up procrastinating in between or if you take an extra break, your entire schedule is not throw into a mess.

• Account for breaks. Always. Take regular breaks between every task. Don't make it too long, 2-5 minutes for a small task and 15-20 minutes for a big task.

• Once you're done with your to-do list, make a schedule with a set amount of time for each task. Try to start exactly when you planned you would.

• Make sure to do tasks in chunks of 20-60 minutes, whatever works for you. Because humans suck at focusing for more than 50 minutes in general.

• Take a small 5 minutes break after one chunk of 20-60 minutes. After you finish 4-6 chunks of 20-60 minutes, reward yourself with a long break, like 20-60 minutes depending on how much work you have left and what time you can spare.

• Getting stuff done

• Break bigger tests into small chunks so it's easier to get into. So rather than saying "I will completely this chapter today," you can do "I will finish 5 pages of this chapter now and then 7 in an hour. I will finish the remaining 9 pages, 4 hours from now." That makes the work smaller and you also feel more productive.

• Most people have a problem with starting. So just start the task and say you will do it for 5 minutes without getting distracted. Once you get through the first 5 minutes, you should have no problem getting through the rest of the task.

• If you still can't get yourself to work after 5 minutes, the problem is not you, its the task. See what's bothering you about the task. Do you not understand a concept? Or do you not have all the required resources for it? Look into it. If you can't find the problem with the task, move on and get to the next task. You can deal with this later.

• Your work space

• Work space can make or break your momentum. You can be the person who works best with all your materials sprawled on the bed. Or you can be the person who gets work done best in a library. Don't try to make things fits for you when they clearly don't.

• You could be the person who gets more work done at the evenings or in the mornings so don't feel pressured to get work done at the set time everyone says you should do at.

• Remove things that distract you. If you get distracted by the internet, I'll link some things that can help you out in the resources section down.

• Don't over crowd your working space, keep it to a minimum so you don't get too distracted.

• Self care

• The most important thing, no skipping this. Sleep well, everyday. For a minimum of 6 hours no matter what. You can break it up if you can't sleep for long hours in a strecth but make surr you get that sleep.

• Get fresh air and move around. For a minimum of 30 minutes everyday.

• Make sure to eat at least two full meals a day. Try to eat as healthy as possible and snack in between meals.

• Make time for the hobbies/interests you love. Let yourself explore and have fun. You deserve it, you're beautiful.

• How to avoid burnouts

• Break works into small chunks as I mentioned earlier. So rather than saying "I will completely this chapter today," you can do "I will finish 5 pages of this chapter now and then 7 in an hour. I will finish the remaining 9 pages, 4 hours from now."

• Make sure to reward yourself. Doesn't have to be anything big. Give yourself a nice cup of tea or bake a cake from time to time. Reward yourself.

• Do shower and change into a new set of clothes every single day. It really helps. Seriously.

• Make sure to at least work for 30 minutes a day on days you don't feel motivated enough to work so that you don't slip into leisure mode.

• Make sure to maintain a school-life balance. It's a very thin line so make sure to finish your important tasks before going out and doing something fun.

• Resources

• This chrome extension blocks websites.

• This blocks websites for the Mac book users. (This is free but there's also paid verified alternatives here.)

• This website gives alternatives to any software or website, paid or free. Mac or PC or LinusX compatible versions.

• This lets you print any website without all the clutter in it.

• This lets you highlights parts of a web page and lets you share it.

• This checks your writing for grammatical and spelling errors.

• This is also for checking your spellings and voicing in anything you write.

• This lets you convert URLs into QR codes/ shorten URLs.

I'll add more but I gotta dash to class so just these for now.

Have a nice day. ^^

[jugrajsingh]

[jugrajsingh]

Sending you love 🥤 Happy Monday and keep hustling 🧡 Hashtags - #motivationmonday💪 #motivationlines #motivationon100 #morningmotivations #quotemotivation #motivationwords #motivationtime #motivationalstatus #motivationaltalks #motivationthoughts #motivationallife #motivationgoals #motivationquotesdaily #motivationtips #motivationalquotesinc #motivationlife #motivationhindi #motivation100 #motivationmindset #needmotivation #entrepreneurmotivation #selfmotivation #motivationdaily #motivation101 https://www.instagram.com/p/CRx9l-yjOrU/?utm_medium=tumblr

[jugrajsingh]

How did a freelance client scam me? In the last one year, I have on-boarded and said goodbye to many clients, and here are few signs of a spammy client, according to my experience. 💰 Asking for advance payment for access to work. ✍ Asking you to write multiple samples. ❌ Refusing to sign a contract. 😴 Vague project details. 😯 Paying much higher than the market rate. 👻 Linkedin or Instagram profile with no image. Did you fall for a scam when you were starting out? Are there any other scams that I missed mentioning? Share with everyone in the comments below. #ContentWriters #writersofinstagram #writerscommunity #writerslife #writersofindia #writersnetwork #writersblog #writerso #marketingdigital #marketingtips #marketingonline #marketingstrategy #marketing101 #marketingagency #marketingplan #marketingsocial #marketingtools #MarketingIdeas #MarketingStrategies #marketingtip #marketingadvice #marketingblog #marketingmanagement #marketingautomation #marketing10 #marketingexpert (at Delhi, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQOMSPojrC0/?utm_medium=tumblr

[jugrajsingh]

Send me hugs for to actually sit down and write something that felt like an accomplishment last night but someone how doesn't make sense now 😄 https://www.instagram.com/p/CPfPGTtj25L/?utm_medium=tumblr

[jugrajsingh]

[jugrajsingh]

It feels like i never existed here. The platform is so weird, everytime i hit up here, there’s sense of insecurity that bumps in.

Can’t help?? trust me i’m super problematic with everything happening around. So these days me and my conscience aren’t doing good together.

Here’s a small something i shared with a friend who is equally shitty as me or maybe more problematic. who knows :)

“The world is suffering….i have lost people i talked online….i have people who tell me their parents grasping to breathe. Can’t tell who is suffering more.

We all are enduring the pain. What’s the option? Will thinking more about this help? No. Will reading articles help? No. Will scrolling the internet help? No

We are all equally in this and comprehending in whatever capacity”.

[jugrajsingh]

you know, regarding the crap happening in my country, india - what shocks me the most is the silence. people who were protesting against tr*mp a couple of months ago, people who were yelling ‘democracy is back!’ when biden won, people who protested against the hathras rape case, etc. are silent now.

people, and even my friends, who call themselves activists, are silent. they say that they’re too afraid of what people are gonna say.

but you know what? there are people right now, in delhi, who doubt whether they’re gonna make it through the night, and yet i don’t see an ounce of fear on their faces. 

there are people DYING, people being CRUSHED under the boots of a fascist government - a government arresting activists, protestors, blocking internet from the CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY, violating not one BUT SEVEN HUMAN RIGHTS, KILLING innocent people and so much more shit… but y’all are silent. y’all are afraid of what people are gonna say, and that is so SELFISH. to care more about your reputation than about other people’s lives, their rights.

and don’t even get me started on the so called “activist” celebrities in our country. there is something seriously wrong with y’all.

not much is being asked of you - spreading awareness is enough. there are people that i know, my friends, neighbors - that are unaware of what is happening in OUR country, and what do you expect, really, considering the media blockade, and the arrest of anyone who dares utter a word against our government. this is fascism, PURE FASCISM, and in the country that was said to be the strongest democracy in the world.

shameful.

[jugrajsingh]

humans are obsessed with escapism - through movies, books, music, art, daydreams. our souls really weren’t made for this world.

[jugrajsingh]

#169: Free Writing Planner and Word Counter

I was making small changes to the Writing Analytics website last week, and I decided that I wanted to build some free tools for writers. I added a new section and made two simple mini-apps to start.

The first one is a simple writing planner. You put your goal in, choose which days of the week you want to write. Then choose a deadline or daily goal and the planner will create a plan for you that you can screenshot to post on social media for accountability or print out to post above your writing desk to remind yourself of your goal.

Planning your writing ahead of time is simple and effective. (I wrote about it earlier.) It puts things in perspective and forces you to consider how realistic it is that you will finish the project.

Writing books takes lots of time and effort. Sometimes, the difference between reality and wishful thinking is pretty slim.

Let’s say you’d like to write an epic fantasy tome — between 120-150k words. Perhaps later, you’d want to write a sequel or make it into a trilogy. Right now, you have a demanding job and can only write on the weekends.

Let’s put those in the planner. 

If you average about 1,000 words per day, you can expect to finish on 8 January 2022.

That is if you never skip a day. And that’s just the first draft. Revisions might take you another year or so. Multiply that by three for a trilogy.

Are you ready to spend the next six years writing that one story? If you’re in your 20s, that’s like 10% of the rest of your life.

Perhaps it would be better to start with some short stories in the same universe first. Maybe a novella. Post them on the web, get feedback. Put out a collection or start a Patreon so that you could perhaps change to a less demanding job and have more time to write.

Writing 1,000 words five times a week makes a project like that a lot more realistic. You’d be done on 30 April 2021.

You can find the planner here: www.writinganalytics.co/planner

The second tool I built is a dead-simple word counter. Paste your text in, and it will count characters, words, sentences, paragraphs and pages. Comes in handy when you wrote something in an editor that doesn’t come with a word counter.

There are quite a few other word counters out there. But they’re usually buried in ads. There aren’t any ads on this one.

Another notable thing: it works directly in your browser without uploading your text to the server or storing it in any way. So your writing remains safely on your device. And it works on mobile 🎉.

Here’s the link: www.writinganalytics.co/counter

Meanwhile: Writing Analytics was featured on Beta List!

This week, my writing app got featured on Beta List — a discovery platform for new startups. Thanks to everyone who took the time to check it out.

Special thank you to Evee for the generous comment. 🙏

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Past Editions

#168: Decisions, decisions, decisions, November 2020

#167: Social Media for Writers, November 2020

#166: The Right Time to Write, October 2020

#165: The Tip of the Iceberg, October 2020

#164: Moving on to the Next Thing, October 2020

[jugrajsingh]

#168: Decisions, decisions, decisions

Making decisions has really affected my productivity over the past few weeks. I start my day with several things that I want to get done. Often, just the act of deciding which one should I do first seems to get me stuck.

It happens when I write too. Should I kill that character now or in chapter 22? I can spend months racking my brains over this, considering every possible way that my decision will affect the story. But I will never be 100% sure until I write the thing and see how it works.

Sometimes, the deciding takes so long that I could’ve finished the thing in the meantime. It annoys me so much.

Decisions are tough. They take a lot of mental energy. Even to make the most mundane decision, you have to build this mental model of the likely consequences. You will also have to live with it if the decision turns out to be the wrong one.

The natural remedy would seem to be to get better at making decisions, and you certainly can do that. Learn different strategies and whatnot. However, this won’t make the process of making decisions any less draining. On the contrary, applying all sorts of tools will take more of your time and energy away from the main task.

The real solution to this is to figure out a way to make fewer decisions.

Make fewer decisions

We take strange comfort in decisions that are made for us. We do it all the time. Whether it’s because we don’t care enough or because we don’t have the time. The radio or TV is a perfect example. These days, everyone has the power to create a custom playlist of things to listen and watch. Lots of people choose to give that power away and watch TV instead where the programming is decided for them. You trust the station to show something interesting. Instead of looking for new music releases, you trust your favourite radio station to curate them for you.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, applying the same principle to the decisions that you’ve made in the past is how you can make fewer decisions every day.

Planning, systems and habits

Every time a decision comes up during the day, you should be ready. Ideally, you’d have decided in advance. When removed from the immediate situation, you will make much better choices.

That’s where planning, setting up systems and developing habits comes in. You can’t prepare for everything, but when you really think about it, the majority of stuff that comes up is something that you have to deal with over and over again.

Examples

Here are some examples to illustrate what I mean.

Planning

Set goals and deadlines.

Schedule your writing in advance.

Outline the major plot points in your story.

Set up a weekly planning session.

Set up a monthly review session.

When planning, you still have to make a decision. The difference is that you can make it at your own pace. You’re more likely to act out of consideration rather than on impulse.

Systems

Have a few writing exercises that you do when you get stuck.

Create accountability for yourself.

Set up constraints (e.g., if this takes longer than X, flip a coin and carry on).

Ask trusted friends for advice.

Hire an editor/coach to help you.

Systems or frameworks are a great way of implementing repeated decisions. It’s basically a set of steps that you follow every time you run into a given problem. Instead of flailing around, trying to figure things out on the fly, you simply follow a playbook that you prepared earlier.

Habits

Write at least 50 words every day.

Think about what you’re going to write tomorrow before bed.

Your morning/evening routine.

Listen to the same playlist when writing.

Habits are a way of internalising your decisions to a point where you no longer have to think about them — like brushing your teeth. You don’t wake up every morning and consider the pros and cons of brushing your teeth or whether you should do it before or after breakfast. You just do it.

Final Thoughts

Most of the decisions that we make day after day are way less important than they seem. Nobody’s going to die if it turns out that you should’ve made your characters kiss three chapters earlier. When you’re stuck, err on the side of action. Worst-case scenario, you’ll have to go back and start over.

Little, everyday decisions don’t seem like a problem. But they compound in a pretty significant way over time. Is there a decision that you find yourself doing over and over again? Set up a system or a habit to take care of it.

Want More?

My email subscribers receive a notification when I publish these posts along with a few things I found interesting or helpful on the literary internet every week. Click the link below to join the club.

SUBSCRIBE

(I won’t spam you or pass your email to a third party. You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Past Editions

#167: Social Media for Writers, November 2020

#166: The Right Time to Write, October 2020

#165: The Tip of the Iceberg, October 2020

#164: Moving on to the Next Thing, October 2020

#163: Making Space for Writing, October 2020

[jugrajsingh]

Guide to use Grammarly for your writing😍 No matter what position you hold or whether work as a content writer or not each one of us has to write ✍ We send a lot of emails on a daily basis to our clients, customers, managers. Have you ever felt embarrassed about errors made in your writing? Now use an AI-based tool called Grammarly to proofread your content and make it easy to read. It is easy to use Grammarly and can be added as a chrome extension to proofread as you write. So next time when you write the Grammarly will indicate the errors in your content and indicate the changes accordingly. If you are looking to buy this tool. Visit flickover.com and avail the tool for just 200/ month. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ #marketingtip #socialmediaconsultant #instagramstory #instagrambusiness #instagrampost #socialmediaexpert #socialmediaagency #brandingagency #instagramtips #brandingagency #growthhacking #socialmediamarketingtips #socialmediagency #buildingempire #growyourbusiness #socialmediatips #entrepreneur #businesscoach #contentmarketing #instagrammarketing #marketing101 #socialmediamanagement #instagramfollowers #ceomindser #freelancingbusiness #freelancinglife (at Gurugram) https://www.instagram.com/p/CEi22TbjaV5/?igshid=ucoez1rfo1k1

[jugrajsingh]

Stop expecting creatives to work for exposure.

Tbh, connections and exposure don't pay the bills. Just because someone make living out of their passion doesn't mean they'll work for free.

[jugrajsingh]

Something unusual happened last week. I woke up to a call from one of my previous client. Client: Hey, Jugraj how are you doing? Me: I'm doing good. How about you Client: Fine. I have a new 2-3 projects for you. I want to speak to you about it. Me: How can I help? Please drop me the details on my mail I'll respond. Client: Sure. But there is a concern about prices. As you know due to this pandemic entire business was close for 2 months. Is there any scope of negotiation. Me: Negotiation. But I need to put the same time & skills it would be really difficult for me to reduce the prices. Client: I understand it but I really like the quality of work. Please take your time and write me back with your decision. Me: okay give me some time I'll write you back. I wasn't sure what to do. I have worked with that client previously & now he has asked me to work for a lower price. I too didn't want to drop this opportunity. After contemplating I dropped him a mail stating that I agree to negotiate but I won't charge less than 'X' amount with the condition that I expect the continuous flow of work (to meet the cost) with advance payment (not to feel working for free) and relaxation in deadline. The client agreed to this and we had this documented. #clientnegotiation #project #prices #freelancing #freelancers #work #projects #client #dropprices #negotiation #amount #finance #deadlines #skills #money #workplace #boss #bossbabe #clientservices #services #skills #value #freework #contentwriting #contentwriter #writers #copywriterslife (at Delhi, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CED4sQfjX3U/?igshid=cxtaqp3wo1zt

[jugrajsingh]

Google recently announced an option of "People Cards," which will allow all the users to build their online presence and allow others to discover them on Search.  With this feature's help, Google allows users to create a virtual visiting card on search engines where they can highlight links to their website or social media platforms and about me section that helps them introduce to all the readers.  The feature by Google is aimed at helping freelancers, influencers, entrepreneurs, prospective employees, self-employed people discover and help the prospective clients, and other users find them. The feature of "people cards" was released on 11 August for all the users across India  One someone tries to find you on Search with your name; the card will be available. There will be an option to search with the name, profession, and location, which users can tap to see their card. To prevent the discrepancy of information for people who share the same name, the search will show multiple options. The users' unique information will help them distinguish from each other and discover the one with the right credentials and details.  If you are not in India, you may be able to access the feature using a VPN. But remember, even when you create your profile, it will only be visible to people in India.  Go now and grab yourself a virtual business card that helps you set your own identity and help people discover you. If you are self-employed or freelancer, it is the right way to market yourself and create a strong online presence.  #woah #woahdance #vairlvideo #trendingwears #trendingchallenge #mbctrending #almosttheweekend #wearitwednesday #wildlifewednesday #wednesdayevening #googleranking #seminardigitalmarketingtrends #digitaldesigntrends #digitalmarketingtrends2019 #mktdigitaltrends #digitaltrendsetter #digitaltrendsetting #socialmediastar #instadaily (at Delhi, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDyxhpMDTiL/?igshid=1grmis0b6g3ic

[jugrajsingh]

Is blogging dead? Whoa! That's scary . I know. When I tell people that I write blogs all they say is - Who does read your blogs. It is for the 100 the time I came across a similar answer. But I was not stopping. I decided to leave it on the audience and see what they like. So I conducted a poll asking people to choose from to options Blog vs Podcast. The results were the opposite of what I expected. Most people preferred reading blogs over the podcast. Now I know this might not be the perfect benchmark to answer the question. But they gave me the idea that blogging is still a thing in 2020. Though there are a lot of things that are have changed or does not work in blogging. People today prefer reading blogs if they cater to a particular niche. Second blogging about your personal stuff does not exist anymore. The quality of blogs is preferred over quantity and yes you supplement your blogs by adding video or audio content. There are about 500 million blogs and they exist because someone read them. Just don't blog anything for traffic. Keep experimenting to grow. Follow @_jugrajsingh for such posts. #blog #blogging #podcast #content #dead #blogpost #socialmedia #blogging2020 #bloggers #traffic #poll #audiencepoll (at Delhi, India) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDwQSUGDlcd/?igshid=aa5t2pnzqxfz