Due to the CoVid-19 Pandemic, more and more employees are working from home. Not all could do so, but as a researcher and lecturer at a state university, I have been advised to start working from home last week and I find it a bit challenging to do this since the environment at home is so cozy. But I have been doing my best in following my 8-5 duties as much as I can at home. Here is how I effectively work from home:

1. Create a daily schedule.

Just like any regular work day, I created my work from home schedule and made clear that I would only be working on certain hours at home. This is my schedule:

5AM Wake up and call family members that are living abroad, 6AM Active Yoga, 7AM Tend to garden and take a bath, 8AM Cook and eat Breakfast, 9AM - 12NN Work from Home: Administrative work

12NN Lunch, 1PM-4PM Work from Home: Prepare lectures and study on research, 4PM Clean room/house, 5PM Cycle or at home workout. 6PM Dinner, 7PM Learn Dutch, 8PM Restorative Yoga, 9PM-5AM Sleep

I do have an 8 hour typical office work but now I have been working from home, as you can see I only work for 6 hours daily (for 6 days a week). I didn't want to overwork myself and still want to be active at home. Sometimes, the schedule changes especially when I have online classes or research group video calls.

2. Pretend as if you are at your workplace.

I like to pretend as if I am going to work. I wake up and realize we are still in community quarantine but the night before, I already listed the work related stuff I need to do for the day. So I would wake up and prepare for work the way I usually do on weekdays, take a bath, eat breakfast and start working on the appropriate work hours.

3. Choose a dedicated and comfortable work place. And stay away from bedroom and kitchen.

I personally chose to work at my study desk at home which I rearranged to face opposite my bed to avoid feeling sleepy and thinking about sleep. I also invested in a comfortable office chair. Back in college and grad school, I used to study at the dining table, kitchen counter top or living room. Which I realized was a bit inappropriate since counter top chairs are too high and I keep slouching and studying at the dining and living room wasn't ideal as well as I keep moving my books and notes when somebody needed to use the room.

4. Plan out what you will be working on.

As I mentioned in point 2, I always create my to do list during the last minutes of my work time. The work mode is still ongoing so everything is still fresh on my mind and I get to see what things needs to be done the next day.

5. Use pomodoro during work.

It is important to take breaks in between work hours. As they say, sometimes the most productive thing to do is rest.

6. Prepare your meals the night before.

I usually cook twice a day (breakfast and dinner) to save on gas, energy and time. For lunch, I would heat up leftover breakfast or dinner.

7. Exchange time during travel to exercise.

I realized, so much of our time is wasted when traveling to and from our workplace. In my case it takes half an hour in the morning to work and hour (or more) going back home. Since, I'm working from home, the time I would have spent to travel would be allotted for exercising.

Moving out of my parents house and living alone for a year was a great experience so far. Deciding on getting a place of my own was a bit scary at first, but after hearing "roommate problems" from my co-workers and friends, I knew I made a good decision. But not all times I was happy about living alone.

If you have been planning to get a place of your own for a while now, you might consider these things before you do:

1. Deliveries and Repairs.  Let's just say you don't work from home or you could be in so many places at one time, but somebody calls to deliver or repair something and you have to come home ASAP. Lucky for me, I could leave my work place when I didn't have any class but sometimes, its tiring for me to travel back to my apartment to attend these type of things.

What I do now, is that I address my orders or delivery at my work place and schedule repairs after work hours or during the weekends.

2. It can get lonely and boring. Even though you have a lot of friends, or a boy/girlfriend, there comes a time when it gets lonely or boring at night.

During my first month in my apartment, I constantly watched TV shows and movies to distract me and I also started blogging again to keep me busy. After that, I brought my dog into my apartment to lessen the loneliness and accompany me during my morning and evening walks/jogs.

3. You will fear for your safety or well-being from time to time. A week before moving in, I was so worried about what my first night in the apartment would be like and I doubted the safety of my neighborhood. My shift during the first 5 months at work would end around 9PM and I would come home almost 10 in the evening.

Having my dog with me makes all the difference in the world. And when I hear something unusual outside and I get mini-panics about my safety, I would go and double-check my windows and doors and remind myself I'm going to be fine.

4. Nobody zips your dress for you or checks if you look great or not. If you have seen the movie "How to be Single", it is all kinds of "relate" when living alone. One of those things were zipping the back of your dress alone. It is my worst nightmare. I usually had my mom or sister zip my dress or I'd ask them if my top and bottom combo is good back at home. Having a full-body length mirror should be a necessity when living alone.

As for zipping your dress there are three things to solve this problem. One, give your arms a bit of stretch everyday. By stretching your arms, you are more likely to pull that zipper, honey. Two, donate or try to refrain from buying those type of clothes. Three, well, you could make a magnet that pulls the zipper just like the main character in "How to be Single".

5. Its all on you. If you get sick, you have to suck it up and take care of yourself, my advice is to keep medicines at home (such as cough, fever, flu, pain relief, diarrhea meds, etc.). You're rent and bills? All on you. If you leave dirty dishes on your sink, you are going to go home with dirty dishes on your sink. If you left food on the table that has gone bad, then scold yourself. One of the toughest things I had to do by myself now is grocery and market shopping. I don't do this back at home. I had to learn the hard way to lift things, deciding and purchasing groceries in the market and carry everything I bought in a public transpo.

6.  Forgetting things. I'm a forgetful person. It was a honestly challenge now that I am on my own. When I forget to give my dog water or unplug my fan or close my back door, I got nobody to ask or do these things. I have to literally go back from work and do it.

7. Mastering portion control could be difficult and you may have to throw out a lot of food from time to time. I always cook during the weekends. And I would tell myself the leftovers (if there are) are for weekday dinners. But I sometimes forget this and I'd buy dinner already or have dinner with friends. At the end of the week, when I'm cleaning out the fridge, I get sad because of the leftovers that went bad and needed to be thrown out.

8. If you die, nobody will probably know. This might be a bit exaggerated. But a bit scary as well. If you are choking and couldn't breathe, nobody's gonna help you.

So there you have it, just a few disadvantages about living alone based on my experiences. As of the moment I'm living with my parents but will be be living alone again soon.

I've recently been going to yoga classes lately. I was drained with work and having anxieties, I knew going to the gym wasn't a solution. Good thing my co-worker invited me to her yoga class. And this is what I have been bringing with me:

1. Yoga outfit. The yoga class I go to starts an hour after I finish with work. So I usually bring my outfit with me such as sports bra, leggings, dri fit shirt, slippers, face towel and an extra shirt after the session.



2. Comb and hair tie. I bring with me my Hua mulan comb to fix my hair before and after class.

3. Water bottle. A reusable water that could keep hot water hot and cold water cold for a few hours.

4. I place a few drops of Human Nature Lavender essential oil on my temples.

5. Human Nature All-Natural Sanitizer in Floral Burst for after class spritz for my hands.

6. I transferred my Lazy Girl Dry Shampoo in an empty herb container and I apply it on my hair with an old but clean makeup brush.
7. Human Nature Skin Shield Lotion. The venue of our yoga class is in a gazebo in a middle of a garden, hence, we often get bitten by mosquitoes during a rainy day. Before classes start, I like to apply some mosquito repellent lotion, though I am not fond of the scent of this particular product, it does its job perfectly.

Some people say what you do and when you wake up in the morning affects your entire day. For me, I believe how you spend your night has a huge impact on your morning or your day, in general. What you felt the night before is still what you (usually) feel when you wake up. What you did last night such as watching 2 seasons of your favorite TV series, shows on your face and your actions the following day.

What should we be doing at night before sleep?

1. Read books. As they say, growth requires learning. Most successful people read personal growth books to improve themselves, their business, their career, or their hobbies. By allotting time to read, you get to expand the horizon of your mind in a relaxed way.

2. Spend quality time with family/friends. By spending time with your friends and family, you get to stay connected with the people who really care and support you.

3. Plan and get ready for the next day. The key to prevent forgetting things and having a stressful morning is to plan the night before. Simple things like planning and ironing your clothes, creating your to do list, prepping your bag and lunch for work, setting an alarm, and more could lead to a stress free morning.

4. Clean Up. This habit was a rule by my mom. By cleaning up (even for a few minutes) before bedtime helps minimize the clutter in the room. You don’t step or tumble on anything when you wake up, you know where everything is so you don’t have to rummage through your barrage of stuff when you’re in a hurry.

5. Unplug from the world. We know that the blue light from our phones mimics the brightness of the sun. Hence, the brain stops producing melatonin (the sleep hormone). By disconnecting from the world such as not checking your email or social media before bed helps signal the brain that its bedtime and prevent distractions.

6. Meditate. I just recently started meditating purely because of its amazing benefits. I started with 5 minutes in the morning and at night. Now, I feel like I have less anxiety, less stress, I could focus and internalize ideas better.

7. Disconnect from Work. When I get home, I usually don’t do any work related tasks. I already spent 8 hours of my day for work, I would rather spend the rest of my day pampering myself, wind down, or doing things I love.

8. Prioritize Sleep. By not getting enough sleep, you don’t get to replenish your energy which leads to feeling tired or sluggish. Thus, it could lead to low productivity and sometimes headaches.

We are currently living in the world of people in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. We are brainwashed by advertising industries into believing that happiness could be achieved by consuming - by having more stuff. It will never fully satisfy us, yet, we keep doing it.

I, too, experienced chasing happiness by buying stuff. And more stuff to top it off. A few years ago, makeup and skincare was my happy pill so I set aside 10% of my monthly salary just to buy new products and make myself happy. But honestly, I wasn't. Accumulating all these new products actually gave me anxiety in the long run and bam! I realized that, in a year, I have spent more than what I earn (in a month) on products that I'm not really happy about.

Here are my realizations:

1. The excitement will wear off. I usually purchase stuff online and I get so happy when I click the purchase button. When the delivery service calls, I get that excitement back and when I open my parcel too. But days after I purchased the product and used it, I won't definitely feel that excitement anymore. When I get tired of the said product, I look for new or better products in the market, I purchase it, get excited and the cycle continues.

2. There is always something new. As I said in my previous point, when I get tired of the product I bought, and when a new one comes out on TV, I have this urge to try the latest one. Manufacturers, advertising, etc. will always release a new and better product from time to time. How would they earn money, right?

3. Each purchase adds extra worry and maintenance to our lives. When we purchase something, we have to organize it, try to find ways to maintain or manage it. And there will come a time when it gets broken, scratched or stolen. If you think about it, buying more stuff consumes our time (i.e., cleaning and organizing), money (i.e., maintaining), attention (i.e., we worry when it gets stolen or broken). And it sometimes distracts us from what really matters in our life.

4. Our purchases cost us more. Buying products always involve us money. But how did we acquire that money? By working 8 hours a day. Is that new phone really worth 60 days worth of work?

5. Shopping will never satisfy us. Ask yourself: when was the last time you were satisfied with shopping? By taking a good look of our closet, we'll know if we ever got satisfied or not.

6. Experiences makes us happier.  We often experience temporary happiness when purchasing stuff, and we stop having that happiness when we don't. But as I said, its a vicious cycle. Hence, we need to find experiences that will fulfill us in the long run.

7. Spending Money You Don't Have Can Lead to Stress. When we keep buying stuff to satisfy us, there will come to a time when our finances will be shaky. We start buying stuff with our credit card or buy a car through a loan that we could barely pay. These cases, when managed poorly leads to lower quality of life, debt and stress.

How to Stop Buying Things You Don't Need:
1. Declutter. Through decluttering, you assess what you have and what you don't use. By the time you pass by a store and want something, you would probably tell yourself "Oh, I have a similar one at home." And skip buying it.
2. Be grateful.
3. Change bad habits and routines into healthy ones.
4. Slow down.
5. Experiences makes us happier.

Hello! I'm Dubhe. I'm a researcher and I used to run a beauty blog for 4 years. I blogged about the latest beauty product releases, reviewing them and finding more products I could recommend. Throughout those years, I would respond to reader comments or DMs about makeup or skincare products that I would recommend them with their skin issues. I am no dermatologist or esthetistician, but I'm glad that my readers, friends and family took my hobby and experiences seriously and trusted my words. Along the way, I would blog about personal growth, minimalism and small space living. It took years before I could find my voice and influencers and companies to recognize me. But when I finally did, I stopped and deleted my blog. All those late nights of creating content and back aches of taking bulk photos were deleted because of one realization.

My life and my blog was too complicated.

I needed time to reassess my life. There's a lot going on that I had to juggle my career, my social life, my mental health, my physical health, my research, my hobby. I knew (as of now) I had to keep them all to find balance with my finances and my happiness but I knew I still had a lot going on. Even with my blog, I embraced a minimalist life but I still had a ton of beauty products (which I defended - "this is for my blog"). Keeping up with the latest release of beauty products stresses me out and led me to buying more stuff and accumulating them.

But after this realization, there is one thing I was sure of -  I can't stop writing. Since college, I found that writing is something I love doing. I admit, I'm not good at it but I love crafting my thoughts into words and communicating with other people. Even in my research career, I have no doubt I enjoy writing. The reason I stopped blogging was to find my niche again, I want to find what I want to write without the stress, without the pressure. And embracing a simple life and incorporating it into every aspect of my life is an amazing journey that I want my readers to try as well.

So here I am. Starting a fresh new blog which I hope will help people from all over the world to embrace a simple life.

What to expect from my blog posts in the future:

• Minimalism 101: I'll be talking about how to be a minimalist for beginners.
• How to Simplify Your Life some topics will touch on travel, fashion, interior, finance, etc.
• 30 Day Challenges: This is inspired by Matt D'Avella's 30 Day Experiments where I will be doing 30 Day Challenges (every month) with respect to health, fitness, personal development, minimalism, etc.
• Personal Development: I will be sharing the things I learn from self-help books.
• Read the Bible With Me: My personal attempt of being closer to God, why not do it with the online community, right?
• Simple Beauty: As a previous beauty blogger, I still want to talk about cruelty-free, vegan, and organic beauty. 
• Transitioning to Low-Waste/Plastic-Free Lifestyle: Doing it one step at a time.