Tag: Work

  • Deep Reset

    Cal Newport defines the deep reset as:

    an intentional reconfiguration of your life to amplify the small number of things you’ve learned through experience that you value and minimize those things that get in their way.

    Cal Newport

    He first introduced the idea in a blog post in 2020. I did not understand it then but he fleshes out the concept beautifully in episode 219 of the Deep Questions podcast. You can listen to the YouTube chapter on The Deep Reset.

    I resonated with the way he went through the relationship demographic populations had with work. Specifically, the reaction millennials are now having to work. Cal suggests the deep reset as an intentional process of the millennials reaction to work.

  • Transit to Work

    The BEST bus came to a stop. He climbed the steps looking at the rivets that seem to hold the rickety red colour bus together. He did not feel like going to work. He was forcing himself to do it. With measured steps he climbed in.

    As he showed his pass to the bus conductor who checked it on his device to verify that the pass was valid he moved on to an empty seat. He sat next to an elderly gentleman who wore a half shirt and trousers. Sitting down he wondered about the day ahead. He remembered the work that was due today and the large pending folder. He wasn’t stressed about it like he used to be since he now worked in a public sector bank. However, his experience in the private sector always made him uncomfortable about keeping work pending. It seemed like he was adjusting to the new work culture rather slowly.

    He was brought back to the present when the bus hit a pothole. Half the passengers in the back seats were tossed up. A few cursed in various languages. He just smiled.

    Slowly, the bus got more crowded and the crowd started pushing into him. The elderly gentleman wanted to get off at the next stop. He stood up and began moving through the crowd towards the exit. Some people grumbled as they made way for him. The bus was licensed to have only 20 standees. It said so in English, Hindi and Marathi along the gangway of the bus but it always carried more than that number at peak hours.

    A little while later, it started to rain. The glass shutters were pulled down to stop the rain from getting in. He was sitting next to the window.

  • At Bharuch

    I usually look up the place I am going to – if not days in advance then at least while going there using a mobile web application. While reading up about Bharuch where I have been since October 6, 2011, I found little or no information. The geographical information (which I have taken recent interest in learning more about) about the place is lacking. The Wikipedia article on the town just keeps on repeating a similar set of facts and figures and is in need of copy editing and addition of a lot of information. Google Maps doesn’t do much better. While it has captured major town locations, it does not have road names for every road. In short, it is a mapper’s paradise.

    All of that said, my first experience of staying in any place other than Mumbai can be best defined with just one word – SLOW. Bharuch is a slow town. It is a small town. Although, it is a town that is growing at a frentic pace as the nearby Dahej SEZ project is building up. The landscape is changing – faster than the pace of life here. People seem to be only coming to terms with the change. Slowly, there are more people from outside Bharuch in Bharuch than people who are originally from Bharuch.

    It has been 2 weeks since I have been in this town. I have spent most of that time going to and fro to work and learning the ropes there. I am yet to go into town and explore it like it should. Mostly, it is the heat that stops you from wanting to go out anywhere after 9 AM in the morning. Then, it’s only after 4 PM that it is even worth considering going out. The constraints that this places means that I have not had time to explore this town.