• How to build healthy habits

    Dr. Wood, author of the book, “Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick,” calls the forces that get in the way of good habits “friction.”

    In one study, researchers changed the timing of elevator doors so that workers had to wait nearly half a minute for the doors to close. (Normally the doors closed after 10 seconds.)

    It was just enough of a delay that it convinced many people that taking the stairs was easier than waiting for the elevator.

    “It shows how sensitive we are to small friction in our environment,” said Dr. Wood. “Just slowing down the elevator got people to take the stairs, and they stuck with it even after the elevator went back to normal timing.”

    (Link)

    Also, the article mentioned it takes 66 days in average for one to build a habit (if the action is being done every day.)

  • Astra-Zeneca Part Two

    We are fully vaccinated!

    When we had our first dose back on May, we prepared for 12 weeks of waiting time before the second dose.

    This is the picture from our first dose process (May 2021)

    I… forgot if I have wrote about my first dose experience here. Anyway! It was on May 15, several days after Eid al-Fitr. It was on Saturday, and we realized it was the first weekend during the vaccination program (the program started on Monday) so things were a bit super busy and slightly chaotic. The security teams were busily managing the lines and had to yell many times to give information.

    Anyway! We received news several weeks ago that the waiting time in-between doses for Astra-Zeneca can be reduced to 9 weeks. We didn’t have to do anything, though. We only need to wait for notifications on our second dose appointment — then two weeks ago, we received SMS notification that our second dose is on July 17 (yesterday.)

    There was not a lot of pics as I really don’t want to stop and making lines behind me ? But I can tell the committee has definitely upped their game! The lines are clearer now. There are several lines available:

    • Malaysia citizens, and…
    • Non-Malaysia citizens

    And…

    • First dose
    • Second dose

    It was pretty cool. The lines are easier to navigate, and there are security folks and volunteers on several points to help folks with checking their status and scanning the QR code on the MySejahtera app (this is the app for our contact tracing throughout the pandemic.)

    ALSO, shout out to the committee for providing Calm Room! For folks attending the vaccination process with concerns such as autism, panic attack, and/or anxiety, the team will be happy to help and attend their needs on Calm Room.

    For the second dose, the process has been super quick since our data has been recorded and the only thing needed is some clarifications and cross-check. I arrived on check-in point then escorted to the vaccination jab station — all in less than 5 minutes.

    Thank you so much, medical team!

    In total, it was a… 20 minutes (including observation time) process, I guess? During the observation time, the committee assisted us on writing the second dose information on our vaccine card. This is definitely helpful and making things faster (also, avoid typos.)

    It’s really bad that we are in the pandemic. I wish I could hug all the medics and volunteers there. They have been through a lot and working tirelessly to ensure we are all safe and healthy. Thank you so much, all of you! Stay safe and stay healthy!

    (Currently, I’m having mild fever (37°C-ish) due to the vaccine’s side-effect. Mild joint discomfort and dizziness. However, nothing super serious. Oxygen saturation is still okay and I can still taste and smell stuffs. I’m stocking up on isotonic drink and some multivitamins. Get vaccinated if you can, friends! Stay safe and stay healthy!)

  • In case you are curious; we had Javanese wedding (hence the kebaya I wore,) but I asked (forced my family, actually,) for the men to wear beskap Sunda-style attire. I also asked for the women in the families to go freestyle with their Javanese kebaya so they can walk comfortably.

    Happy 10th year anniversary, dear. For many years to come.

  • Tackling emotional exhaustion

    As… Risky as self-diagnosed is, sometimes you can notice some symptoms on yourself, or you have been feeling in a certain way about something, and social media helps you on recognizing such signs.

    I feel like I’ve been feeling emotionally exhausted. I have difficulties in waking up (and dreading the day,) small chores/tasks becoming a burden, and I unable to enjoy things that I used to enjoy.

    It has been going on for 1-2 weeks, and things just finally clicked today (I thought I’m just having lack of sleep, that’s all. Or maybe lack of sleep is part of the signs?)

    Then, I checked Google and found this link: How to Refuel When You’re Feeling Emotionally Drained. When I checked Google — with keywords “how to handle emotional exhaustion,” — most of the articles are from 2017-2019, so I omitted them as I feel it’s irrelevant. We are dealing with emotional exhaustion in 2020-2021, in a really specific case: The pandemic. The HBR article above dated from the 2020, so I feel it fits.

    The first step in reducing emotional resource consumption is recognizing the circumstances (e.g., situations, tasks, relationships) that deplete you, then limiting your exposure to them.

    I wonder if the emotional exhaustion started when I started checking my Twitter timeline. The time frame fits, though. I used to not checking my Twitter timeline, but I have been pretty active lately — and lets just say stuffs on Twitter has not been super great lately.

    We can’t order the pandemic to stop (as much as we want to!) but the discussions about it has been amplified tenfolds and even more on social media chambers. Now I wonder if it caused the unneeded stress on my end.

    I still need Twitter, though. Mainly for the account itself (to check Twitter Card Validator whenever folks ask why their link didn’t display images when shared on Twitter.) But yeah, maybe less rage-scrolling.

  • Shy Little Frog

    Shy little frog, singing along to this fun tune

    Lo-fi version on Spotify:

    (Featured image is an illustration by Twitter user @kapebeansies)

readme.txt

This is my personal blog, so anything goes. This blog has been around since 2014, which means you would, and could, see my past writings with different perspectives and mindsets at that time. This blog is a record-keeping of what I was, what I am, and what I will be. What I wrote in the past might not reflect who I am right now, nor me revisiting the topic.

While things here are generally PG-13, I must remind you that I’m an adult, which means some topics might be too heavy for younger readers.

Listening