Productivity & Personal Development | Health & Psychology | Digital Garden | I deposit valuable knowledge, learnings, and memories here | Pharmacist š
Reading time: 1 min I spent about 4 weeks going through the omega-3 and fish oil literature. Trials, meta-analyses, prescribing data, supplement labels. What was supposed to be a straightforward guide kept forcing me to say "it's complicated" at every turn. It's finished. 5,000+ words. 24 citations. Covers what omega-3s actually do, who benefits, who doesn't, the dosing evidence, safety risks mostā¦
Reading time: 1.5 min This post isn't the fish oil post. This is the post about why the fish oil post doesn't exist yet. I went in thinking: omega-3s, fish oil, well-trodden ground. Long and complex, sure, but manageable. I was wrong. Oh, so wrong. My standards are simple: Base things on authoritative dietary and clinical guidelines. Not brands. Not wellness influencers. Massive systematicā¦
Reading time: 1 min I've spent close to 12 hours on a single magnesium article. Magnesium is all over social media right now. People keep asking for my professional opinion, and I wanted to write something evergreen. Accurate. Balanced. Correct. So I started pulling apart the research properly. Then I couldn't stop. I checked study designs, sample sizes, flaws. I looked at whether the conclusionsā¦
Reading time: 1 min Summary: LLMs can be useful as an accountability coach. Iāve been testing this for a while, and Iām finding it quite useful: Declare a goal to it, and your commitment / what you will do. Have it be a sort of life coach or accountability partner. Just declaring it (and getting immediate feedback) provides a level of accountability that is a strong motivator to take action. Itāsā¦
Reading time: ~2ā3 minutes My old mattress wasnāt great. I often woke up with aches in my neck or back. For a period of my life, I stayed at a hotel. I never had back pain sleeping on the mattress there. Some time after, I sought out the manufacturer/brand and found the same (or a consumer, slightly modified version) of that mattress. I bought it. It was about four times more expensive than aā¦
Reading time: ~2 min Summary: Chew sugar-free gum after eating or drinking anything other than water. It stimulates saliva production, which washes away food residues, neutralises acid, and helps your teeth re-mineralise, reducing the risk of cavities. Eating or drinking leaves residues in your mouth. Bacteria convert sugars in those residues into acid. The acid literally melts your teeth. Chewingā¦
Reading time: 0.5 min Over time, Iāve mostly consolidated down to a single outfit. I just have a few identical sets. So far, only one coworker has pointed it out to me. And yes, itās obvious I shower and wash my clothes. They said, āItās great you found your style.ā I find it great for rushing to work in the morning and for laundry. No clothing decisions. No sorting. A lot of mental energy saved.ā¦
Reading time: ~2 minutes Summary Problem: I have limited time and energy in the evenings. Approach: I stack tasks with built-in pauses or low attention demands into the same time slot. Outcome: More gets done without sleeping less. I multitask by stacking things that fit together. Usually that means tasks with built-in pauses, or tasks that donāt need full attention the whole time. That way,ā¦
Reading time: 1 min Iāve been writing on Memory Repository for a long time. Itās been a useful place to think in public and keep notes. I treat it as a digital garden. I genuinely use it as a reference for reminders, things Iāve learned, and frameworks Iāve built or tested over the years. One limitation is that itās effectively a blind box. There are no comments, no view counts, and very littleā¦
Reading time: ~4.5 minutes Summary What most people call āAIā today are large language models that predict the next word, not systems that reason or verify truth They can sound confident while being wrong I treat them as assistants for language and thinking support, never as decision-makers You should always hold the āsecond nuclear activation keyā when using them for anything that matters Largeā¦
Reading time: ~2 minutes Summary (3 life lessons) Working hard and fast is not enough if youāre working on the wrong thing. Checking what actually works can save enormous effort. Anything important needs backups. When I was a child, I spent an embarrassing amount of time playing Animal Crossing: Wild World . In the game, you earn money (called bells ), repay your home loan, and slowly build outā¦
Reading time: 1 min Automate your email inbox to filter the noise ā auto-mark routine emails as read ā only leave the ones that are actionable. Emails such as: Purchase notifications Billing confirmations Newsletters you donāt read every time How: Create a filter in your email client ā filter by sender or specific keywords ā set those emails to automatically mark as read (plus automatic folderā¦
Reading time: 1.5 min My Use Case I track my calories to manage my weight gain or weight loss cycles as part of my fitness routine. I usually just use my ālaser eyesā to estimate the calories and protein content of meal. I'm quite accurate. Dietician vetted*. Yes, I'm a certified calorie counter. But I often forget to actually document and calculate my daily or weekly intake.** This is when I useā¦
Reading time: 3.5 min Summary: Proton Drive upload and download speeds struggle with many small files. Zip into 1 file before you upload/download to speed up. Consider Ente instead of Proton Drive if you want end-to-end encrypted photo backups. Proton Drive Struggles With Lots of Small Files I tried uploading a large collection of files to Proton Drive (over 100,000 files totaling less than 100ā¦
Reading time: 1 min For years, I've been looking for better wallet designs. One that is small, slim, and carries both cards AND cash (including coins). Many of the modern, slimmer wallet designs in the recent years are either: Card holder boxes with a cash clip (does not carry coins and the banknotes are on the outside*) Card holder with soft material (does not carry coins) No zipper or securedā¦
Reading time: 1.5 min Summary: Practising gratitude is an evidence-based way to raise happiness. After trying numerous methods, I now use my task manager as my gratitude journal. There are numerous benefits to this task manager method (high habit consistency, benefits of digital, delight of easy cross-day review of daily wins/gratitude). There's evidence that practising gratitude raises yourā¦
Reading time: 5 min To design a clear and visually appealing informative medical poster, you're going to need a handful of things. I once attended a healthcare communication course with over 400 other healthcare students. In this course, I designed a top scoring and well-reviewed medical poster explaining a complicated medical concept for a layperson audience. Designing posters can beā¦
Reading time: 1 min I used to keep small documents that have sentimental value. Things like movie tickets, plane tickets, maps/guides, booking documentation, birthday cards / farewell cards, etc. Scanning (or just photo taking) is now so accessible and so clear on phones. There's no reason to keep such documents anymore. And so, I'm planning to say good bye to most these documents. Other Notes andā¦
Reading time: 5 min Summary: If you take ages to mentally approve expensive purchases, consider the following calculation method: "Total cost ($) / Life expectancy (days)" - Is this daily cost lower than what you would be willing to pay every day to use it? If yes, buy it (if it clearly improves your life). I take ages to mentally "approve" expensive purchases I have this problem. I can afford toā¦
Reading time: 3 min Summary: Greens powders/drinks often contain massive amounts of unhealthy sugar and very little fibre. Consider psyllium husk if you want a fibre supplement. Psyllium husk has good research and medical backing behind it. The Problem With Greens Powders & Drinks So my partner recently picked up a "greens drink," i.e., a vegetable and fruit smoothie. We were on a trip, and ourā¦
Reading time: 2 min I finished Lobotomy Corporation last week. It's a game where you manage "abnormalities", monsters or SCPs if you will, and manage threats that occur in your facility. I started this game in 2019. I finished in 2024. So difficult. So unforgiving. And such a great story. (Also very confusing plot until they re-translated the entire game. The lore is expansive with multiple farā¦
There are 3 types of people in this world- Drifters: Those who do not think or care about future outcomes. Dreamers: Those who think about future outcomes, but don't care enough in the present to take action. Doers: Those who think and care enough in the present about future outcomes to take action. I find myself moving down that list as I grew up. From someone who really didn't care, to someoneā¦
Reading time: 4 min So, I'm now a proper pharmacist. No longer a pharmacy student, no longer in training. The new time, energy, and cognitive demands of a fast-paced hospital environment took quite the toll on me when I first took up the position. I'd go home, eat, shower, head to bed, and then question where all of my time went. But unfortunately, there are other priorities in my life that aren'tā¦
Reading time: 1 min I developed an interest in laundry detergent recently, in that I went out of my way to check different brands and their ingredients. Something that particularly urked me when checking the detergent containers were the claims on their containers: "5-in-1" cleaning effect! (Or whatever.*) "Antibacterial! Antiviral / Antifungal! Rid of smells! Removes stains! Whitening!*"ā¦
Reading time: 2 min | Productivity What is My Automatic Decision System? A few months ago, I detailed a system I implemented into my life to reduce unnecessary decision making, to save time and mental energy for work and decisions that actually matter. I called it my Decision Autopilot System . Any regular decision I make is either automatized, made irrelevant, or randomised. I recently wentā¦
Reading time: 5 min | Health I followed these 6 steps when moving to my new home and it stopped my nose allergies. I live with allergic rhinitis (also known as nose/nasal allergies, or hay fever if seasonal). That means with the slightest allergen exposure, I can get a runny nose, uncontrollable sneezing and watery eyes for the rest of the day. Often, I experience these symptoms at home. I used toā¦
1. The active ingredient of coffee is caffeine. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. It's typically used to reduce fatigue and drowsiness, although there are other medical uses. 2. The effects of drinking coffee usually start after 15 minutes. It peaks around 1 hour after. Most people will experience a caffeine half-life (the time it takes for your body to rid of half the caffeine) of 5ā¦
Reading time: 3 min Every decision we make contributes to decision fatigue. This is why choosing what to buy, choosing a route home, and choosing actions is tiring. We make an uncountable number of decisions every day. By eliminating these choices, we can: Save time by thinking and planning less Free up mental bandwidth for more important decisions Spend more time on goal-oriented action. This isā¦
Reading time: 1.5 min Recently, I was presented with an opportunity to teach a failing high school student evidence-based study techniques, and how to implement them into their life. I used to be such a student. I was mediocre at best. I eventually fought my way up to pharmacy school, and managed to top score my final year classes, and held the title of Dean's List for some years. I was elated Iā¦
Reading time: 3 min 90% of students trade a disproportionate amount of time & energy for minimal returns. They take consistent action & implement the latest productivity tips/apps. But fail to achieve their goals satisfactorily. Here's is why, and the dead-simple solution. Many students believe that improving efficiency and task-goal alignment is the best way to productively achieve their goals.ā¦
Reading time: 1 min The Art and Business of Online Writing by Nicolas Cole was the most valuable book I've read last year about online writing. This book plus the writing course Ship 30 For 30 and the 100 Day Writing Challenge on Listed.to is what gave me the courage to share valuable learnings and experiences on social media, for those who might find it useful. Recently, Nicolas Cole and Dickieā¦
Reading time: 2.5 min During pharmacy school, I noticed that most healthcare students believe that re-reading lecture notes and writing notes was how students should study. Yet, these are the most ineffective, time-consuming study methods. Despite learning and studying being a student's job, students are never taught how to learn and study effectively. From primary to higher education, studentsā¦
Reading time: 1.5 min I won an award by procrastinating. I wrote a thesis in 7 days while taking pharmacy classes and working on my side commitments. The first day was outlining, and the last few days were spent writing. I procrastinated for a few days in between. 2 months later, I received an award for the paper. This is how I wrote a thesis in so little time and maintained high-quality writing:ā¦
Reading time: 2.5 min In my first year of pharmacy school, my task manager was an utter mess. A huge spread of incomplete projects, all competing for my time, energy, and attention. It was a dumping ground: studying for pharmacy exams, student society duties, writing papers, online self-learning courses, and daily writing, all awaiting my input. Nothing without a class deadline would ever getā¦
Reading time: 1.5 min Yes, I did encounter a sleep paralysis demon. That day, I was extremely fatigued. I fell asleep, lying perpendicular to my bed. It was supposed to be a quick lie down, but I soon dozed off. When I woke up, I felt keenly aware of my surroundings. I felt like I could see. Everything in my room felt visible to me. But I knew my eyes were not open. I tried moving my arms andā¦
Reading time: 1 min I distinctly remember once partaking in a mindfulness session with fellow students. We breathed, meditated, and did some simple yoga (by which I mean we just lazed around on fancy mats and cushions). Iāve briefly fallen asleep several times in this highly relaxed and calm state. The instructor pointed out that quite a few of us were falling asleep and noted that it was goodā¦
Why I'm slow with making purchase decisions I'm told that I take ages to make purchase decisions when it's something I don't immediately need . Need, as in it would not seriously affect my ability to live reasonably. I would stand there for a few seconds, contemplating, or come back to it after walking around elsewhere (or after a week in case of online shopping). I might note it down on aā¦
Reading time: 1.5 min In my downtime after returning home today, I played a game that involved moving my body. (It's Switch Sports ). It's my way of keeping myself somewhat active while having fun on rest days from regular workouts. I set myself a start and end time (totalling 30 minutes) for this leisurely activity to be productive and save time for other things. However, setting start and endā¦
Reading time: 0.5 min I dreaded working on a paper today, and I've been putting it off all morning and noon. By the afternoon, I told myself to use the two-minute method. I told myself that I'd work on the paper for two minutes. If I really wanted to stop by the end of those two minutes, then I may stop. All I have to do now is open the documents and read the highlighted paragraph (that my pastā¦
Reading time: 2.5 min In a previous post, How to stick to a habit , I detailed how I managed to initiate and concrete a habit of working out to improve my health. It involved stacking my workout time with video watching time (something I consider pleasant), and aligning exercise with my goals (maintaining good health and converting unproductive time into productive time). One study placedā¦
Reading time: 3 min Shiny object syndrome is when one continually chases new or trendy things. I faced this phenomenon last year when I came across RemNote . RemNote was a relatively new piece of software that offers a new way of taking notes, outlining, and making flash cards that follow a spaced-repetition algorithm. RemNote seemingly solved all problems I had with Anki , an old but trusty openā¦
Reading time: 2 min How often do you underestimate the time required to complete something? Our ability to make time estimations is terrible. From how much time we require to complete a task, to how much energy we consume , we tend to be way off from reality. One study asked students to estimate how long it would take them to finish a paper under: realistic conditions (the best realisticā¦
Reading time: 2 min Photo by nikldn on Unsplash Pleasantness and convenience are important aspects of maintaining habits. Both of these are what makes a habit easy to follow. One makes you want to do it, and the other makes it easy to start. One recent medical study on foods demonstrated how ready-to-eat, nice tasting snacks can help individuals add healthy food items into their lives. Lifestyleā¦
Reading time: 4 min I really don't like sleeping early. This is something I seriously struggle with. Time before bed is time that I have complete freedom over how to spend, whether I use it to socialize, exercise, catch up with work or study, consume entertainment, or rest. Work and study are particularly dangerous for me. Whenever I re-establish healthy, early sleeping hours, I eventually push myā¦
Reading time: 2 min The envelope budgeting method is a where we place our available money for budgeting that month into physical or theoretical separate envelopes for different types of spending or areas of life. When we have to spend in that area of life, we take money out of that envelope. Once that envelop is depleted and emptied, no more money is to be spent in that area of life, until thatā¦
Reading time: 5 min What makes a good password? It should be a chain of characters unknown to and not readily guessable by other humans, and It should have sufficient randomness and length such that it's not one of the trillions of guesses per second modern computers can make, and It should be easily memorable, ONLY to you. It's hard to balance the first two with the third condition. Implications:ā¦
Reading time: 1 min The former CEO of Coca-Cola Brian Dyson once gave a speech detailing an analogy of how our life is a game of juggling five balls. Four balls are made of glass and represent family, health, friends, and soul. One ball is made of rubber and represents work. Once we drop one of the glass areas of life, it won't return to its original form.* However, in work, we can readilyā¦
Reading time: 3 min The human vs goldfish attention span claim A claim you may have heard is that human attention span is decreasing, to the point where goldfish now have a longer attention span than humans. After conducting extensive research (read: looking at the first page results of a Google search) , I generally got the following from many sources (with more or less similar wording): āHumansā¦
Reading time: 1 min This is what got me more productive lately. I applied this method not only to old commitments, but my current commitments as well. A daily goal to do the bare minimum every day to reach an end goal, noted as a daily repeating task in my task manager. Reminds you that you only have to do 5 minutes of a task before crossing it off. It's not overwhelming (underwhelming, really),ā¦
Reading time: 2.5 min I wrote this to share a way to easily finish up old projects. Old projects here refer to commitments that are 'completable' and do not have a strict, external deadline. Assess if the commitment now aligns with your priorities , and you are willing to invest time and effort into completing it. If yes, divide the goal or habit up into the smallest possible microtask, oneā¦