Behavioural activation for Monday Blues

As a part of our Monday Blues series, we will talk about behavioral activation to single out our stress factors and how do we beat Monday Blues.

Though the theory is detailed, let me try and explain the essence of behaviourial activation. Every day as you start out at work, make a list of tasks that you want to do or complete during that work day. Now once the list is done, assign difficulty levels to each of these tasks and see which ones are more difficult than the other. Once you have this sorted out, try out the most difficult one first and then move on to the next difficult one. While this is one of the suggestions from behaviourial activation, it also means that you would be finishing the most toughest of tasks early in the morning when your energy levels are high. Once you move on to the next task, they get easier and easier to help you solve better.

As a result of this model, you would be rejoicing and easing away as you move on to the easier tasks as you pass through the day. This is extremely helpful in a desk job as you can easily get carried away. So try out the listing on tasks, organizing from the most difficult to the easier ones and breeze through them.

Most importantly this helps in creating a positive mindset to help overcome stress and any avoidance behaviour in handling various tasks that you ought to complete. You can use this every day to a great professional success and skip the avoidance behaviour and waste less time. Try it and let me know what you think. Beat the Monday Blues and have a great day!

Book review: The Fall of Shuruppak

Are you someone who likes fantasy books and appreciate a technical writer who uses his creative writing skills to recreate history? Are you someone who loves academic writing and non-fiction books that makes novels look like a mirror of a civilization readable? 

Well then you must love Dr. Shankar Kashyap. I was asked to review his latest book - The Fall of Shuruppak. In this book he brings to life the ancient kingdoms of Harappa with a finesse of a surgeon with the chaos of the magic from the ancient civilizations as if he has been there really traveling with the protagonist hero and his small group of truth seekers who take up this adventurous journey through the ravishing jungles, fighting ferocious creatures, long sojourns in treacherous rivers, storms and shipwrecks.

What makes you buy this book is the impressive storyline that will grip you and keep you inspired to read more. The interesting, awe inspiring well planned cities of ancient India thump your pride as the doctor uses his years of research to paint a very realistic picture for your reading pleasure. When the lovable protagonist Upaas, a doctor himself, is accompanied by his wife Lopa and the crown prince and the fearless soldier Parthava narrates the story to you, you just sit there and listen.

The interesting turn of events take them in search of various sages while they encounter extraordinary people, scientific discoveries, new lands, threats, fire fights, abductions, miraculous and close encounters while being street smart and move on to the next location.

If this book were a movie, you wouldn’t have anything less than the Lord of The Rings scale. Unfortunately we don’t have many books celebrating the great civilisations of Harappa and Mohenjedaro around Indus Valley with their advanced technology, know-how and what not! When I came across Shankar’s book, this was pure joy.

The epic battle between a mythical creature demon and Enkidu and the great loyalty and friendship between Emperor Gilgamesh and his journey to seek a solution helps us understand the great cultures and values of the Sumerian civilization and their practice of medicine, cultures, religions, how they treated their people, visitors and guests, their economy and what not. The Fall of Shuruppak is less of a fantasy book and more a journey of self-discovery and bonding while educating us about one of the greatest civilizations of the world.

For more book reviews check out this link.

Rating: 3.5/5
Verdict: Pick it up just for celebrating our ancient culture

Buy Harappa 2 : The Fall of Shuruppak

12 ways to beat Monday Blues

Faced with Monday Blues?
Want to know how you can beat Monday Blues?

Everyone around me have come in with a grumpy face to work and it reminds me that it is a Monday! We face Monday Blues meaning that we all face some issues with the situations every day. So here are 12 easy ways to handle Monday blues. 

1. Start with a smile! Monday blues are more about your emotional needs than physical and need not necessarily mean you have to suffer. Once your emotional needs are tended to, the situation can improve a lot. So start your day with a beautiful smile or share a joke, spend time with someone you love and come to work. See the Monday blues disappear. Smile your Monday Blues away!
2. Identify the problem: Ask yourself this. What is the reason for my feeling this way? Why am I prone to Monday Blues? How do I avoid Monday Blues? Is it because of someone or something or is it because you have a problem with someone? Most of the times, it is essential to identify the reason to solve the problem. So identify, then face it.
3. Look forward to a Monday: I would suggest you look forward to working on Monday. Have goals, plans, meetings, schedules and also plan something interesting as to how you will go and achieve your goals that day. It is very important to get that in place as it would assure you a sense of purpose. So plan and look forward to a Monday to beat Monday Blues.
4. Plan some exciting things to do: Every Monday, have something exciting to do. I know what you would say. Monday Blues and excitement don't go hand in hand. Which means you need to plan something very interesting like a tennis match with your buddies, a family cook out with your loved ones which is there to look forward to once your day at work is over. Even a working lunch would do a lot of good for you when you plan. So make exciting plans for Monday to beat Monday Blues.
5. Unwind on the weekend: Make sickening plans to enjoy your weekend. This is to ensure all your pressure weans off once you finish your weekend and come back recharged when you come back to work. plan to beat Monday Blues with a party.
6. Eat well: One of the greatest motivators is good food. Have a good healthy filling breakfast on Monday. Go fully on to work and beat the hell out of your Monday Blues.
7. Listen to good music: What jives you on? Plan that music playlist and keep it going so you can work your magic while your favorite tunes take you away! Music is such a good mood enhancer and in most cases helps your performance too. Sing and dance your Monday Blues away.
8. Wake up early: Start your Monday early to beat the feeling of Monday Blues. A good start to your day could be reading your favorite book, listening to something you love or just go for a walk. Start your day with blazing colors to make it happen.
9. Be cheerful: A cheerful person would spread joy around. (S)he would also help in creating a happy, warm, positive atmosphere around her work space and it is very important to get that moods right. not just on Monday but every day. So by default, be cheerful and happy! A cheerful attitude takes your Monday Blues away.
10. Help someone: At work, on the street, from your team, friends and family. Help someone so you can take that positive energy to work and meet your expectations. You can always use some positive energy anytime of the day. So genuinely help someone. Helping someone beat their Monday Blues helps you beat yours.
     
11. Hydrate yourself: Keep yourself hydrated. Grab that coffee, juice box or that bottle of water. Keep yourself hydrated and refreshed. It will help you come out of the boredom and stay active throughout the day. So be on your toes and be healthy. Keep sipping. Flush out that sad Monday Blues feeling and some toxins out.
12. Power dress for success: Yes go ahead. Pamper yourself. Grab that green tie that you like, wear your favorite jersey if that is your mojo. Dress to your confidence and make it count. Once you have your confidence in Monday Blues rush to their exit. If you need to relax, do that. If you dress for power, do that. Doesn't matter what you wear as long as you wear to success and go ahead.

Now that we have 12 ways to counter the feelings of the Monday Blues, go ahead and make a positive contribution to your team, company and most importantly to yourself. Say no to Monday Blues and have a great Monday!

For more tips, read our Monday Blues series here.

A part of India's life for 100 years

Understanding consumer psyche is a tough job. Like I always say, understanding consumer is the most important person in any business. Collecting consumer insights and using them to get in to your consumer's head to tweak your message to meet their expectations and understanding what they would like to see is very important. Nestle is one of the brands that managed this successfully over a long period of time. The latest ad that the brand floated is one of the best and most compelling that I have seen in a long time. Watch the advertisement and add this to your consumer behaviour notes or consumer behaviour in marketing and their implications in marketing strategy. 

So Nestle comes up with this ad which traces the important moments in Indian history. It is very nostalgic, communicates the greatness of our nation with historic references to show that they have been a part of our culture, our memories and have been there always. Brilliant concept. Very easily one of the best advertisements for 2015 from the grand old Nestle.

Say Hello to The Conditioned

His name is Ramundo Arruda Sobrinho and for 35 years, this 77-year-old homeless man spent his days doing his passion: writing poetry and short stories. But his work remained completely invisible to the world until one day in 2011, he befriended a woman named Shalla. 

The video below is a critically acclaimed documentary called “The Conditioned” and it tells the incredibly story of Ramundo’s life and how it changed after giving Shalla one of his poems. Shalla was so touched by Ramundo’s poetry that she started a Facebook page to share his work with the world. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle.

One Day At A Time, Sweet Jesus

I'm only human, I'm just a woman. 
Help me believe in what I could be 
And all that I am. 
Show me the stairway, I have to climb. 
Lord for my sake, teach me to take 
One day at a time. 

Chorus: 
One day at a time sweet Jesus 
That's all I'm asking from you. 
Just give me the strength 
To do everyday what I have to do. 
Yesterday's gone sweet Jesus 
And tomorrow may never be mine. 
Lord help me today, show me the way 
One day at a time. 

Do you remember, when you walked among men? 
Well Jesus you know if you're looking below 
It's worse now, than then. 
Cheating and stealing, violence and crime 
So for my sake, teach me to take 
One day at a time. 

Both teams win

Jonathan is the hero!

Social Media Leader of the Year

The new age marketing has been redefined by the social media interface. The amount of time people spend on social media is amazing or in other words overwhelming. Managing a brand's presence online and offline is a tough job and gets more difficult when you are pitted against the best in the business - clientele. In this context, this comes as a blessing and recognition to the hours spent in achieving what we wanted. A big shout out to my team, family and friends. Thank you.

I won the Social Media Leader of the Year award at the 'National Awards for Excellence in Digital Marketing and Social Media'. Some of the pictures from the event.

Illuminate

Illuminate while you can. Life is short. Make it bright.