How to stay productive and learn with ease

In my opinion, a person is most productive when his / her all departments are working normally, this includes, body, mind and soul (the connection between body and mind). The term Soul is often connected with spirituality, see detailed definition here https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/soul.

Noises are many, shall you listen to every advice, shall you attend all type of classes, online, offline, crash course, full time etc., etc., etc.. The answer is NO. Whatever you do with full concentration is the most productive part of your productivity system. That is the stage when you focus on One Task, outside noises do not disturb you. Whether you read algebra or go through a history page or you are setting your OKRs for your company, it's completely normal, not tiring and you are into it.  

OKRs that stands for Objectives and Key Results. Students can set OKRs for college programmes. To know about OKRs see official website https://www.whatmatters.com/

Listen everyone, but time is limited. Try to listen to those who have already achieved it, who has already cracked an examination, who are already working and taking a product to the next level. Learn from Doers, Hack Gaps, those who are doers will infuse a positive sense of doing in you. Books are many, magazines are many, websites are limitless, AI is bringing you new knowledge, online classes are there, videos can teach you anytime, anywhere, but hold on, before you decide to take that class and learn from lectures, chose certain options, give them a try, and then select one that fits you and not your classmate or a work colleague necessarily. 

Learning from different sources is awesome, and knowing more will take you close to success where you will say, Aha, I have cracked this. But in the heavy load of information, being human, and in the quest of to know more, get more, we forget the fact that we have only 24 Hrs in a day, our energy level is certain and our body and mind need continuous resources to strengthen. Information load is so high that we do many things, follow many methods to achieve quick success, we go by stories because stories are interesting. In all this, the most important thing we forget is how much to do around what?  

For example, to learn set theory, you can follow your syllabus, take 4/5 mock tests, and buy one guidebook and practice book to increase your problem-solving speed. There is no need at all to solve problems from 10 books that are recommended as marketing gimmicks. Yes, you heard it right. Books are marketed that way too. And no wrong in one sush practice but when you buy a new practice book when exams are nearing, I think that may cause you distraction.

When you solve problems from one practice book, repeat solving them again, do it 2/3 times, you will notice, your approach of problem solving is different as well as time taken.

Entrance Examinations test you not only for knowledge but also for your way of approach to solve a problem. This is not about memorizing or learning. Indeed, this is about how beneficial you would be to college and industry after completing the coursework. The way of approach to solve any problem comes from practice. Yes, when you can do more, do it, that is completely fine, but not meeting your tennis buddy till the exams are over will not help you in cracking Bernoulli's Theorem.  

Keep a balance, and you can crack any exam with learning; and learning is the way you approach to solve a problem. Seats are limited, demands are high, no problem in that, it's not about one test only. It's meaningless, if your test preparation won't teach you a problem solving approach, and that approach will come from a selection of a few books, few classes, and a few mock tests. Strike a balance, Hack Gaps. Crack any examination that you want to. 

Under preparation and Over preparation both hampers your performance. Before you begin must identify your topics and classify those according to difficulty level. This way you will know how much emphasis to go give on what? Once you know you can prepare better and prevent under doing or over doing.  

Inspiration source: Vox.Com, i was searching internet for some articles and found Vox article, the website is pay walled, i read only a few lines before it shown Paywall features, but headline was so interesting that I read it somehow and this idea came in mind perhaps helpful to you test takers. I have not paid them; they need a mention for great work.

First Edit: 3 September 2025 

Ganapati Festival in Mumbai spreads love, joy, boost business and give a reason to strive

Career Care wishes all of you Happy Ganapati Fest 2025. The students and anyone can see the die hard spirit of Mumbai during Ganapati Festival. This business capital is known for Never Stop attitude and it keeps moving. What is special about Ganapati Festival is you will see the spirit of help in everyone. Go to any Ganapati Worship Place. Nobody will ask who you are, from where you came, why you came, no questions, you worship or not completely your wish. You can stay in one such place and enjoy watching or helping organizers or simply sit  idle and relax amid the sounds of Drumbeats and singers singing religious songs; people dancing with or without song wishing each other Ganapati Bappa Morya which simply translates to Happy Ganapati Festival.
Lot has written about this beautiful festival across the internet. Videos go viral in no time. This is heavy rainy season in Mumbai, city witness all kind of rain, huh, its torrential rain, who stops, those drummers, those organizers, those people who stand in queues to worship, those take leaves from office of 10 days to worship Ganapati Bappa at homes all are never tiring attitude. The festival rolls the economy, gives business a ray of hope amid heavy rainfall when the festival gives reason to people to smile and work hard without thinking twice, obviously the season gives a boost to businesses, and those who are seasonal workers like drummers and idol makers get reason to earn money. This gives them a livelihood.
And you can see the patience of Mumbai people, imagine roads are jammed because someone is bringing an idol of Lord Ganesha or taking it on Day 10th to immerse in Holy Waters amidst, dance, religious songs, celebrations and heavy rain pouring, no passerby even say 'Huh', no that is against the spirit of celebration, spirit of religion and spirituality. Nobody asks people to not complain when there are roadblocks but I bet it once you are in the atmosphere you will become part of the celebration without you knowing yourself.
Students or anyone who is struggling to make a career, do something better in life, want to do something different or seeking peace, I think must watch Ganapati Festival in real time. The largest set up Ganapati Celebration is called Lalbaugcha Raja. Link given only for your ease and not for clicks, I strongly suggest see Mumbai in person, now or next time, its never late and learn one of the happiest ways of living without complaints.

Dear Friends, Career Care wishing you Happy Independence Day 2025

Today is Independence Day, the day on which we gained Freedom to become Guardian of this beautiful Nation called India. Our ancestors who were not only from our homes but from our neighborhood, from the same land and outside of our National Geography handed us the responsibility to take the nation to the next level leveraged with beauty. We called this nation our Motherland, India.

The people of those times, definitely some and certainly who have taken the bigger roles and whose message still after so many years reminds us that we are the people of this wonderful land became our Heroes. The message of those people in words, through books, newspapers, magazines, and audio & visual media is so alive that the words said by those men and women become Lessons of Life for many.

One such personality was Gandhi Ji, his name became immortal, you know why, because he took the bigger responsibilities, he took the bigger risk towards everyone, he not only fought with British, but also fought with the thoughts of inequality spread across length and breadth of not only in this country but also worldwide. The vision of Gandhi Ji was a Hindustan, an India, a country, a nation that would be open for learning, open for course correction over time, open for brotherhood where everyone would be responsible towards its people, its values with open mind; a nation where there should be no difference between poor and rich, between this skin color and that skin color, between different genders, between geographies etc.

The message of Bapu was that we should build an India where everyone should be open to learn, open to take responsibilities and open to teach others by good deeds that we are Indian. We are a nation of a billion plus people, our geography is vast, we speak many languages, we celebrate many cultures and our strength is UNITY. Our responsibility is to ask questions, and questioning begins from the self. When you question yourself, you design better questions, you strive for answer and this quest you THINK Better and this builds your moral, develop your strength and you ask next big question to yourself; and when this quest is continues, you build your strength to spread love and harmony, feel responsible towards nation building and you build values. This all comes from learning and learning empowers you to ask big questions not only to yourself but those also who are responsible like you to perform their duties and enjoy their rights same as you do.

Learning makes you powerful, knowledge is a form of economy that builds your strength and then you strive to transfer this strength from one person to another, from one generation to the next generation. When you transfer knowledge that gives you Peace and then you Spread Peace and then people remember you as a person who has contributed to the Do Good Cause.

Do Good, Stay Blessed, Strive, Spread Peace. Let’s Hack Gaps.

Happy Independence Day 2025 to you and your loved ones.

Yours Truly
-Dk

Must Read Book: "Measure What Matters"

 Whether you are a college student, graduate student or executive professional Measure What Matters' is a treasure. If you have read this book already, that's super cool. If not grab your copy. This is not a promotional post. Measure What Matters teach you about how to implement OKRs in work settings. I have gone through this word by word and really now I know the first step.

I don't belong to a family of entrepreneurs or management professionals and nobody was there to guide me. These are books, books, and books only those helped me truly in living life. Everyone has a choice so does you. I like reading around and about science, engineering and technology. I do buy a book when its title attracts to my eyes. Any word, any phrase, any mathematical symbol when in a Title get my eyeballs. Then I try my best to read it before anyone else reads.

Measure What Matters is written by John Doerr who worked for Intel with Sir Andy Groove. The book is divided into Two Sections; section 1 talks about OKRs, and Section 2 is about CFRs. You can find this book from shopping websites very easily.

Personally, I love to call this book Andy Groove Theory of Management.

And, I can bet on it, once you read, the learning not apply to work settings but a lot in personal life too. OKRs and CFR are about how you approach to a problem, execute program to solve it and get results. This book will take your understanding about execution to next level. Yes, if you are programmer your approach to execute the program next day will change.

Measure What Matters is a must read book. To know what will you get inside go through those pages and say Thank you to John Doerr. Hack Gaps

 

Time management when exams are rescheduled

The change in schedule really put me off. And a rescheduled exam date is a complete put off for me. World over exam dates were changing, campuses were closing, students were asked to leave the hostel rooms, classes were going online; all because of Novel corona virus. Thankfully it's gone now, of course after causing a worldwide havoc but we have to move forward. Time to time exam dates change for various reasons, while a few students may feel joy as they may get more time to prepare but often one such a change puts many students off. They need to reschedule everything and that takes a lot of time and energy. Time management is important in such situations.

Nobody can help it, we have to go with the flow. For a limited number of students a change in exam dates could be an opportunity to learn those topics or prepare better, but for the majority, a change in date is really a put off.

However, if you are the one who is waiting for the fresh exam dates, here are some suggestions in case you fall in my category.
1. During Covid-19 dates were rescheduled keeping your safety in mind, so you can maintain social distance. But in a general scenario there could be other reasons, for example, in India capital New Delhi schools are closed during winter months for long due to pollution causing bad health. Staying indoor is the key, to make maximum use of time. You can make good use of time to self-study, learn a new hobby or complete a course; there are many online courses or you can read a good book. You can use extra available time as an opportunity to learn new things or pick a new hobby.
2. Pursue an indoor hobby. For how long you have not played with Guitar or not seen your favorite movie. Chill, relax and make your day while staying inside. Learn cooking or read some books. Learn one new thing everyday that requires you to stay indoors and you will realize you have learnt a lot while alone. When you have a hobby you learn much more than what you do in a classroom. Because it's relaxing, you do not feel any pressure, and you get good results. Also this helps in improving concentration.
3. Solve some old question papers: I suppose you are well prepared to take the exams on any date, download some old question papers, or may be older, and take the test in exam-like conditions. Evaluate your performance. You can design your own question paper too. Or maybe involve a friend, ask him to set questions for you and you do one such for him. In the social media age you do not need to travel a distance for exchange of question papers with friends. 
4. Pursue writing: Who knows you could be the next Sidney Sheldon. Or redesign your home using old things. Or learn a new computer language. Why not learn some Python instead. if all this does not help take to Rubik's Cube. Period!!!
Staying active is important, other things fall in place. Maybe a math lesson is toughest for you, pick a topic or maybe one such topic that is not part of your syllabus, and soon you will realize you can do it. 
5. Relax. Though such holidays are really unfortunate, make the most of it. Do you remember the last time you really rested well without worrying about catching up with something early in the morning? Give your body and mind complete rest, getting bored is not bad either.

Manage your time well, its a commodity, make good use of your time, and prepare better.

Last updated: 5 September, 2025