Disclaimer: As always, pick what advice best fits and suits you. You choose what to believe in. I also picked the advice that I wanted to believe in!

What this book is about:

This book really encompasses the ideas behind the vulnerability that one feels when dealing with change. Brene discusses how many people develop shame for being vulnerable and how vulnerability can actually be a good thing. 

What it has taught me:

Vulnerability is an emotion that one faces when they are in fear and opening themselves to disappointment or anger.

Vulnerability can be so many things, for example being a beginner at something. To become vulnerable, you need to be able to identify what is stopping you from being vulnerable and share our feelings and our experiences  with people who have earned the right to hear them. Then, you can know yourself and be able to articulate your boundaries to anyone. 

There are ten guideposts to Wholehearted Living (engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness/ facing uncertainty, exposure, and emotional risks, and knowing that I am enough)

This is a brilliant list and some of the guideposts include cultivating gratitude and cultivating calm and stillness in order to be able to live through Wholehearted Living. 

Scarcity is a problem of this world.

The world, including social media and consumerism, makes one believe that they are not enough because they don’t have enough things. This creates scarcity and that’s why a lot of people are not confident and cannot be vulnerable. Give up this scarcity mindset to be more successful. Examples of beating scarcity nclude learning new things, exercising in public or getting fired.

Think of friendships as marble jars

Being vulnerable builds trust and you can only be vulnerable with someone when you trust them. When you befriend someone, be cautious and start slowly with what you tell them. If they portray that they are trustworthy, add marbles to their jar and you can be more vulnerable. If they are not trust worthy, you can stop being vulnerable with them.

Shame is a common emotion (the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.)

Guilt – I did bad

Shame – I am bad

Embarrassment – something too common but you are not alone/the only one who has faced this so it will pass

Guilt is positive while shame is destructive 

Many also have a victim or Viking mindset.  To fix this issue, develop shame resilience. We judge people in areas that we are vulnerable to shame, especially picking folks who are doing worse than what we are doing, so be aware of what you judging others on. Worthiness is my birth right and you have to remember this to develop shame resilience. 

A woman’s weakness is motherhood and a man’s weakness is to be perceived as weak.

One of the studies that Brene discusses in the book is the study on the weaknesses of men and women. The top weakness for both men and women is looks. After looks, the second weakness for women is motherhood and whether they can be good mothers. This is because of the stereotypes that women are told from a young age. For men, the second weakness is to be perceived as weak. As women, we should allow men to express themselves but also keep our own boundaries. 

Foreboding joy, perfectionism and numbing are the three armors of vulnerability. 

Many people try to stop feeling vulnerable by using these three armours. 

To fix this:

Gratitude is the antidote of foreboding joy (the feeling that everything is too good to be true)

Own your stories and be able to talk about your failures to beat perfectionism (the feeling that you need to be perfect).

Feel your feelings to avoid numbing your emotions.  

Leaders find potential in processes and people.

Leaders are important and they are those who are vulnerable enough to take responsibility for the team and have faith that there is always potential, hope and strategy for a team to succeed. 

Be the parent you want your children to be.

For all the prospective parents out there, the best way to parent your child is to implement whatever you are trying to teach them. For example, Brene says in the book: 

I do want to live by my values and it’s okay to be imperfect and make mistakes in this house. We just need to make it right when we can. 

What I like about this book:

This book distilled a lot of evidence and research behind each point which was very insightful and made the book interesting and unique. Also, it contained some unique ideas, such as the fact that everyone has felt shame before in their lives. 

What I dislike about this book:

It was quite a long book and I believe it was due to the in-depth explanation behind each case study and survey so perhaps that could be shortened. Also the book swayed into different directions later on, such as parenting. However, overall, it was an uncommon book to read. 

My Rating: 4/5

This book is one for anyone to read because everyone wants to achieve goals, but you have to dare greatly to achieve these goals. So therefore, I feel that everyone should read this book! I also found it easy to read and it flowed quite well so hopefully it will not be a hard read for anyone. 

Where to buy the book from (not sponsored):

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Leadby Brené Brown

I hope you have enjoyed reading this article. This link is not sponsored. Comment down below if you have read the book too. If you enjoyed this article, please check out my other articles too:

• My 2023 Reflections As A Medical Student 
• My First Term of Medical School | Exams, Essays and Events 
• My First Month of Medical School | Moving Out, Freshers And Workload
• The Ultimate Guide To Ace Year 12 | Revision, Friendships And Supercurriculars
• How I Got All A*s At GCSEs | 10 Tips Every Year 11 Student Should Know

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

Different schools have different criteria, so right from before, I want to point out as a caveat, that I am not an expert on this and also that you should pick what you think is right for you.

For those who are wondering, I did my GCSEs on 2021 (got teacher-assessed grades) and here are the subjects I did: English Literature, English Language, Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics as Triple Science, RE, Spanish, Geography, Drama and Photography. It was a pretty good experience overall! I feel grateful to have know most/all of this wisdom from before.

Now here are my tips:

Know which subjects your schools offer and how many you have to choose

The first tip is the most straightforward one yet so many people fail to do this – look at what subjects your school offers. In my school, for example, they had a somewhat limited range of subjects. We had to pick one language, one humanity and then two other subjects. I was selected to do Triple Science and it was compulsory to do RE. Make sure you know all the options available and what you have to choose.

Explore the course curriculum and assessments for each subject.

Now that you know which subjects you are allowed to pick from, you now want to start reading further into each subject. For example, for GCSE Music, do you need to know how to play an instrument? For Drama, do you have to do group work? How many exams do you need to take for GCSE Sociology? Are the exams coursework-based or linear? Ensure you dig into this, but don’t spend hours delving into this. 

Know the deadline for picking your options

Now of course, if you keep researching into this, you might end up taking hours and hours. And remember, that choosing what subjects you will do is important but shouldn’t be stressful. Make sure you know what subjects you will do one week before submitting your options to ensure that you are not stressing about it.

Pick subjects that you enjoy and are relatively good at

This is something that teachers say and is so true – pick the subjects that you currently enjoy and you are relatively good at. Don’t pick Computer Science when you know you hate it but you want it to look good on Results Day. This is because the grades are what matters at the end of the day, so it is better to get a 9 in GCSE Food than getting a 6 in Computer Science. Sixth forms and universities generally look at the grades, not the subjects. 

Don’t pick subjects because of a specific teacher or friend.

Again, this is something that must be emphasised. Don’t pick a subject purely because your best friend is doing it and you want to be in the same class as them. Also, don’t pick a subject just because your favourite Ms Williams (no hate to Ms Williams’s out there) is teaching it. That friend or that teacher will be sitting your exams for you in Year 11, and remember that you will find friends in your new classes.

Discuss with your family and teachers.

I would highly recommend discussing your options with your family and teachers. They want the best for you. But also, don’t let them pressure you into picking a GCSE subject that you know you dislike. E.G. I had a teacher who wanted me to do Computer Science but I knew it wasn’t my favourite so I didn’t pick it and that is okay! 

Don’t discuss what you will choose with your friends.

I cannot reiterate this tip enough! Please do not tell your friends what you have chosen until after you have submitted your GCSE options form in and you can no longer change your subjects. Why? Because it is very easy for you to get influenced by your friends’ options or even feel bad that you will not be in the same classes as them.

Make sure you choose carefully before submitting the form.

Make sure that you even make your back up subjects choices that you don’t mind doing in the worst case scenario. And then give in the form with confidence!

Listen to yourself.

Follow your gut and listen to what you want to do. It is that simple.

Remember that this is not the end of the world.

These GCSE subjects generally do not determine which career or degree you will get into. Really, the main ones that count are English, Maths and Science, and luckily for you, they are already compulsory! You must know this, that it is okay, and that these subjects you choose are not the end all be all.

Those were my 10 tips for picking the right options for you! 

Happy Subjects Choosing!

Please share this article with anyone who is picking their subjects right now.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

• My 2023 Reflections As A Medical Student 
• My First Term of Medical School | Exams, Essays and Events 
• My First Month of Medical School | Moving Out, Freshers And Workload
• The Ultimate Guide To Ace Year 12 | Revision, Friendships And Supercurriculars
• How I Got All A*s At GCSEs | 10 Tips Every Year 11 Student Should Know

In this article, I will be sharing some tips that I have learned over the years on how to improve every aspect of your life for the new year. The new year is a great opportunity to reflect on your life, remind yourself of your goals and grow yourself. But remember, you can also do that every day, and you don’t require a specific day to get started – just get started!

These tips will hopefully be a bit different and also it’s all about reflection so reflect on how you are doing in that particular aspect right now, and what your dream self would be doing.

I will be focusing on 5 different aspects of life – health, relationships, religion, school and social media.

Health 

Now health consists of 2 main categories – physical health and mental health.

For physical health, I would suggest investing time and even money if needed to work on your body. Schedule times in your weekly routine where you will focus on your physical health, whether it is the time to meal prep, the times where you will exercise or even when you will do your skincare routine.

For mental health, I would highly recommend being more mindful. This could be done by regularly checking up with yourself on how you are feeling by either meditating, journaling or even talking to a loved one.

Relationships

Our family and friends are really important. Hopefully, you have spent some time with your loved ones to enjoy the beginning of this new, wonderful year, but if not, now is the chance. Reconnect with your loved ones and give time to them. And one thing that I think everyone needs to improve on with our relationships is listening more. Everyone loves to talk about themselves but remember to listen more and make the other person feel heard. In no way does this mean that you can’t talk about what you are interested in but try to listen more attentively, as it will help you to build closer, long-lasting relationships with others.

Religion

I could not post this article without talking about my beautiful religion Islam. Islam is the ultimate source of peace and happiness and if you have a religion or you are a Muslim reading this, my advice would be to reflect. Of course, reflection is key for everything, but specifically for religion, I do believe that it is your own personal and close relationship with God and only you know how you feel about God, what you believe in and what you commit to doing. As a Muslim, you can ask yourself: when was the last time I prayed? When was the last time I read a few verses of the Quran? Be honest with yourself, and remember to be kind to yourself. If you feel embarrassed or guilty, do not fret, Allah is there with open arms to forgive His slaves so seek forgiveness sincerely and you are already one step closer. Through reflection and research, you can then start to guide your own path to becoming closer to God.

School

As an A-Level student myself, I could not forget school and studies. School can be quite stressful at times, especially around this time when you may be having exams. My tips would be to definitely take a pause and start to look at what revision techniques you are using for each subject and your daily routine for school. Is there any way you can improve it? Work on your weaknesses and don’t be afraid to also change a few things around if needed and if they are not working for you. Get advice from people who have gone through the same school year you are in right now, and then choose what you want to follow and what you don’t want to follow.

Social Media

The last one that I wanted to mention which is easy to forget yet so many people indulge in every day is social media. Social media is such a huge part of your lives. And therefore, this is the time when you want to look at your social media profile. Who are you currently following? Who do you look at? Are they having a positive impact on your life? After reflecting on this and making necessary changes, you can then schedule times where you won’t look at social media. This is not a social media detox where you don’t look at your social media for 1 month and then instantly start using it for 5 hours a day again. This is scheduling times in the day where you won’t look at social media during the day e.g. right when you wake up in the morning, 

Those were my 5 aspects that I wanted to focus on. Again, instead of giving ideas of goals you can have (which I am sure you already know), I wanted to instead help you build a closer relationship with yourself, look at the flaws and weaknesses, and work on them. This year is the year of healing and growing, and if you agree with that, then please make sure to stay tuned in this blog for more articles, related to self-development, food, travel and positivity.

• My 2023 Reflections As A Medical Student 
• My First Term of Medical School | Exams, Essays and Events 
• My First Month of Medical School | Moving Out, Freshers And Workload
• The Ultimate Guide To Ace Year 12 | Revision, Friendships And Supercurriculars
• How I Got All A*s At GCSEs | 10 Tips Every Year 11 Student Should Know

Thank you so much for reading, and have a lovely day!

In today’s article, I will be suggesting some activities that you can do that can potentially help you to open more doors and opportunities for you in the future. This may assist you as you are not waiting for your dream future to happen, you are taking action from now. Make sure to stick around for these magical tips:

Focus on academia

Even though not everyone might be academic, there is not hiding the fact that having a qualification in your sleeve can definitely open your doors to future career paths. So, even if your heart is set on msic, having a good set of grades can be a good back-up plan to go to and there is no harm with a back-up plan.

Participate in extracurricular activities

There are so many benefits to participating in extracurricular activities e.g. making new friends, learning a new skill, learning time-management and doing something new. So don’t hesitate to find an extra-curricular activity that suits you whether it is creating a podcast or even joining a virtual webinar.

Find your talents

Everyone is talented in their own ways and you cannot neglect them. Find out what your talents are, because they can be very valuable. For example, if you see that you are great at art, then you could one day sell paintings and make money off that.

Build networks

Especially in your teenage years, you should definitely interact safely with a wide variety of people to learn those valuable communication skills. You never know which lesson you will learn from someone or what help you can offer to someone else. Also, by having many people know you, it can be easier to build a brand.

Participate in the local community or competitions

I remember that one time in 2018, where I decided to take the leap and enter the NHS 70th Celebrations Art Competition and amongst over 150 people, I managed to win my age category! You never know where putting yourself out there will take you, so ensure to get involved.

Read books to gain knowledge

Books are a way to escape into another world, learn new knowledge and also build focus and concentration. So what are you waiting for? Grab some new books that have good information in them, sit down and read!

Discover yourself

Success is very relative? What does it mean to you? Ask yourself these questions and then further develop your goals and fully accept yourself. By adopting self-love and self-confidence from a young age will ensure that you have a good base to achieving your goals.

Take advantage of the facilities around you

If you have the capability to start a podcast right now and you want to do it, what is stopping you? Don’t let fear stop you and take full advantage of what you have been given to start going to your dream destination from now.

Learn new skills

Nowadays, skills make an individual stand out from others. And you don’t even need much to start learning them. Whether it’s by watching free YouTube videos or learning from a course, check out my article on this: How To Learn New Skills For Free

Manage your time well

Time management and self-discipline are two skills that will definitely help you for the future. Get started from now to ensure you manage your time well and adopt positive, sustainable habits.

Those were the ten ways that you can open your doors for more opportunities now and in the future. Be sure to comment down below what are some other ways you can be successful.

And if you want to learn more, check out this recent article to ace your online exams.

So without any further ado, let’s get started:

Why can’t some people achieve their goals?

• Not specific enough
• No deadline
• No way of incorporating it in their routine
• Not a priority
• Not attainable
• Not measurable 
• No motivation

These may be some of the reasons why you are not able to achieve your goals. You need to figure out what is keeping you from achieving these goals.

How can you really achieve your goals?

Step 1: Identify what type of person you are right now

Before you dive into the meat of how to achieve goals, you have to figure out your starting point which is who you are right now. Try to identify what type of person you are in 5 different aspects in your life e.g. family, friends, career/education, hobbies/spirituality and health. Be quite detailed on this and this will assist you on reflecting who you are right now and give you direction to your goals. For example, you may realise in terms of health, that you may be exercising very little.

Step 2: Identify who you want to become

After realising who you are as a person, you now want to start thinking about your dream life and the exact person you want to be. Again, make a table or create a vision board and write what your ‘dream identity’ would be doing on each of those 5 aspects you focused on earlier. You may start to really discover those things that you want to do. For example, your ‘dream identity’ might be exercising at least once a week in the ‘health’ aspect.  

Step 3: Write specific steps on each aspect

By doing the previous step, you now know how you want to be in each aspect of your life. It is now time to break down each step. For example, in your ‘health’ aspect of your table or vision board, you may have said that you want to exercise once a week. Now you really want to ask yourself the following questions: What type of exercise will you do? What time of the day will you do this? Do you need to buy a gym membership? How long will you exercise? Answer these questions.

Step 4: Break it down

Now that you know all the details of every small statement on each aspect of your ‘dream identity’, you can start to really take those steps to ensure that you fulfill these goals. For example, if you want to treadmill at the gym once a week, get yourself a gym membership as soon as possible.

Step 5: Incorporate it into your to do lists and/or habit tracker

You have paid for your gym membership. You know all the steps to go and exercise so go ahead and write down your first day of ‘exercise’ in your planning system or to-do list where you plan every day. If you want to gym every Sunday for one hour, add it to every Sunday of your academic yearly planner or bullet journal. You could also add it to your habit tracker.

Step 6: Don’t focus on the outcome. It is a system and a lifestyle change, not a temporary goal.

When writing it on your to-do list for the month, remember that this is not something that you will stop after a certain period. It is a lifestyle change. If you plan to exercise once a week, it is something you may want to do for the rest of your life. So enjoy the journey when you exercise every time and don’t necessarily focus on the outcome.

Step 7: Consistency.

The last step is extremely important. You need to pick yourself up in the days where you feel like to break out of that ‘dream identity’. Embody that ‘dream identity’ every day and whenever you don’t feel like going and doing something, ask yourself what your ‘dream identity’ would be doing. Don’t make it a dream anymore, make it a reality, Be consistent.

Those were some of the ways that you can fulfill your goals. Follow this step-by-step guide and this may help you to really achieve your goals and make it a reality in 2021.

What is your number 1 goal for 2021? Comment down below.

New here? Please check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.

P.S I have reached over 1000 users on my website. Thank you for clicking on and reading my articles!

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

Who is God? Does He exist? And can you really be practising your religion in the 21st century?

This is for all of you to answer but in today’s article, I will be sharing a few of my personal tips that have helped me to practise my religion Islam in the 21st century despite having other responsibilities such as school, social life, podcasting and even blogging on this website.

In Sha Allah, you will be able to incorporate some of this advice in your life.

Find out the ‘why’

Without knowing the ‘why’, you will never feel the motivation to get started. So before you jump into the complexities of Islam, you need to start off simple by doing your research. What are the core values of Islam? What are the five pillars that really makes a practising Muslim? Is it really that hard? Write a list of questions down and then try finding the answer. Islam is a way of life so you will find it. 

You need to research but one thing I must say is that please try to get verified sources when researching such as the actual translation of the Qur’an, the six books of Hadith, YouTube channels like FreeQuranEducation, Bayyinah Institute, Mufti Menk and even Shaykh Hasan Ali. 

It may feel overwhelming but do 5-10 minutes research every day and it will unravel the beauty of Islam.

Do not make it seem as a chore

When you are researching, please do not make it feel like a chore. This is why I advise you to research at your own pace and try to understand everything carefully. If you see something you disagree with, ask questions. ‘Seeking knowledge is a compulsion on every Muslim.’

Get involved with people

If you do have people around you who are practising Muslims, then do go and speak to them. Again, please take into mind that a practising Muslim is NOT equal to Islam or perfection. You need to figure out what you believe in because everyone has their own way of following the religion.

Know your priorities

A lot of young people neglect their religion because they believe that they don’t have enough time. However, recently I watched a TED talk and the speaker said that it’s not about not having enough time, it’s just that that activity is not a priority. So, many young people don’t pray because praying is not a priority to them, and not because they don’t have enough time. Praying is powerful because it helps you in your hard times, it structures your routine and makes you feel like someone is always there for you, so make it a priority.

Incorporate it into your to do lists

If you keep forgetting to pray, start small. Write the prayers in your to do lists and use the MuslimPro app to alert you when it is Adhan time. So, your to do list which is essentially your list of priorities of the day will have your Salahs on it and you will be reminded to pray.

What to do if you don’t feel like to practise it:

If you start your journey of practising Islam, you may have obstacles. But you would have had obstacles anyways even if you didn’t practise Islam. So I would advise you to carry on and go for it. Remember, Satan is trying to make you feel like it’s so hard to practise Islam when in reality, it is surely achievable and will transform your life for the better. Just believe in it. 

Please do not give up. It is a sign that you received this article, whether it’s because you are feeling upset, want to know who God is or you just want to practise your religion more. 

Allah knows best.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

Step 1: Find out what work you have missed

For each of your subjects, ask someone in your class or your teacher about what you have missed. They can show you and you can understand how much work you have to catch up with. 

Step 2: Try not to miss any more school

After seeing this huge amount of work, you may feel overwhelmed and confused on how you are supposed to catch up with previous lessons and stay on top of the current lessons. The best thing to do is not to add extra work on yourself and just try not to miss any more school. 

Step 3: Make a revision timetable and a routine

For the first few days or weeks of catching up, you may feel disorganised. My tip would be to create a routine with times designated to do work that is being set now but also times where you are completing tasks from the previous lessons that you missed. Try to focus on one or two different subjects every day and if you follow this, you will see progress. 

Step 4: Create to do lists with deadlines

Now that you have made a routine and know at which times you will study (remember to incorporate breaks!) you now want to start creating daily to-do lists with deadlines. I like to use my bullet journal and I can also migrate tasks for future dates. Plan every day and make sure what you have to do and this will keep you on track to finish the work. 

Step 5: Remove distractions

Now you may sit at your desk, your couch or the floor (wherever you study) but you don’t feel motivated to get started. Is it because you have your phone next to you? If so, remove your distractions and start being productive.

Step 6: Seek help from your teachers, friends and parents

Whether you are feeling stressed with this work, or you don’t understand the catch up work, I would advise you to seek help from your peers, teachers or parents. It is okay to share your feelings and get some help.

Step 7: Ask for a time extension

If your teacher has set a specific deadline for an assignment, and you feel that you cannot keep up with it, it may be worth asking for a time extension to your teacher so you have more time to complete it. 

Step 8: Don’t stress

Please do not stress. It is just not worth it and will end up wasting more time and energy than actually doing the work.

Step 9: Catch up on holidays

If you have a few tasks that are not urgent and you know you can delay, perhaps you could migrate it for the weekends or the holidays. Since lessons do not happen on the weekends or holidays, you won’t have the current lessons to go to and you can spend this time catching up. 

Step 10: Manage your time efficiently

Catching up is all about time management. When you make your routine, please do include some breaks and maybe some extracurriculars, skills or hobbies that you can also do alongside studying. This will ensure you are not getting bored with studying.

Those were some of my tips and advice on how to catch up. It is okay to catch up with work. As always, comment down below how you catch up with work when you miss school.

Please check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

In today’s article, I will be answering this question to ensure that you have a distraction-free zone to complete all your tasks.

What Is A Distraction?

A thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else. – Google

For example, if you are trying to do your math homework while also trying to talk to your friends unnecessarily, it may decrease your productivity and efficiency of that task or it may just take longer to complete the math homework. Everyone gets distracted but it’s about how you deal with it.

Examples Of Distractions:

• Phone 
• Social Media
• Unnecessary Noise 
• People Talking To You
• An Untidy Area
• Negative Thoughts
• Being Hungry
• Being Tired

How To Remove These Distractions:

Phone

If you are not using your phone for your work and you don’t need it while working, put it away.

Try not to place the phone in your work area. Put it in another room, give it to someone else in your family, put it in aeroplane mode or even use an app such as Forest to grow trees while you are studying. These are all pretty good ways to ensure that you are not using your phone while studying.

Social Media

Well let’s say that you need to use your laptop for your homework but you still have access to all your social media in your laptop…what do you do then? In that case, I would say to place an extension on your laptop. Use these at your own risk. With these extensions, you can block certain websites that distract you for a set period of time while you are working so you can’t access them. Problem solved.

Unnecessary Noise

If you are studying in a library, for example, and there are people talking which is distracting you and making it difficult for you to focus, I would suggest trying to block out the unnecessary noise by either playing white noise, listening to non-lyrical music or even moving to another area. If it is someone who you know making the noise, you could simply tell them to quiet down respectfully.

People Talking To You

If you are trying to study and your brother comes into your room and starts distracting you, you could simply try telling them to come back when you are free. Try to maybe have a notice on your door to let your family know when you are studying if needed to prevent them breaking your bubble of concentration. If your friend tries talking to you face-to-face, explain nicely that you are studying and they can come back after a set amount of time.

An Untidy Area

Sometimes, the distraction may lie in where you are studying. If you look at your study space and realise it is untidy before even starting to study, chances are you may feel like procrastinating. Therefore, if needed, spend 5-10 minutes before starting to study to tidy up. Not only does it make you feel put-together, but it may also increase your productivity for your next study sessions.

Negative Thoughts

If you are trying to study while having worries, it may decrease your productivity as the worry may take control of your focus. Instead, try to write down these negative thoughts and write the solutions next to it. If you don’t have a solution, then assign yourself time for when you will deal with that problem, either by thinking about it or talking to someone. This will ensure that you can give your full focus to your work.

Being Hungry

Some people cannot concentrate if they have not had their food. Therefore, in order to solve that problem, you could simply make sure you have proper meals during the days and also make some quick study snacks to have while you are studying. Mind you, I said ‘quick’ which means you can make the study snacks in 5-10 minutes, it should not cut out your studying time to make these.

Being Tired

If you have not had enough sleep the night before, it is more likely you will feel tired and lose focus very easily. Try to get the work done quickly and then have an early night to get the optimum hours of sleep you need. If you are just tired because you have had a long day, take regular breaks in between your study sessions so you have time to rejuvenate yourself.

There were some of the distractions that I could think of. Remember, it is okay to get distracted or even have a low day because it’s part of human nature and you can learn how to deal with it. But just keep working hard and don’t stress.

Comment down below what common distraction do you face. Please check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

Make a weekend to-do list.

I would recommend that on Friday after school, make a weekend to-do list with all the tasks that you want to do. This includes your homework, chores, events and also all the rest of the things on the list. Then, you can prioritise your tasks. I recommend leaving one day of the weekend for mostly studying and revising and the other day to do extracurriculars and have fun. 

Wake up early.

Try your best to stick to wake up around the same time at the weekends as you do in school. Not only will your body clock be used to waking up at that time, but you will also realise that you have time in the morning to be in that productive mode. A bonus is that of, for example, you wake up early on Saturday and do all your work in the morning, you might even have the rest of the weekend free.

Study and have breaks in between.

This article would not be complete if I did not mention something that all students do and that is to study. Of course, when I say study, make sure it is adapted to you. Some people like to work for 8 hours straight (which may not be healthy) and they finish all their work and others like to spread their work out and have regular breaks. Regardless of what type of person you are, ensure to put your phone away while studying if you don’t need it and work in a clean environment.

Practise some self-care.

A lot of students forget to do this in the midst of their busy lives but remember to incorporate some self-care into your routine. For example, you might have a spa routine on Sunday mornings or write down your feelings. Remember the weekend is the time to study and relax.

Exercise.

Another thing that you can definitely do in the weekends is to exercise. Whether it’s by doing a workout at home or going to your local park or gym, getting some form of exercise is really good.

Do an extra-curricular.

Extra-curriculars are so important to ensure that we all are learning things even outside of school. Your extra-curricular at the weekends could be joining a club, writing an article for your website (like what I am doing right now) or even learning something for a course or YouTube video.

Talk to your family.

If you are busy during the weekdays, chances are that you don’t have enough time in the weekdays to talk to your family who literally lives under the same roof as you. Make sure to spend at least 2 minutes to greet everyone in your family and catch up with them.

Do chores.

Cleaning your environment can actually make you feel so organised. Ensure to clean your desk, for example, and see how you feel afterwards.

Reward yourself e.g. hobby.

It is important to reward yourself every now and then because it gives us motivation for the future. Make sure to reward yourself by either performing a hobby or even going out with your friends (stay safe though!)

Get ready for the next week of school.

On Sunday evening, when your weekend is just about to end, start to prepare for the next week of school. Ensure you have completed all your homework, packed your bag and tidied your outfit for Monday, and maybe even done some meal prep.

I hope that this article will help you to have more of a productive but fun weekend. Make sure to take these one step as a go and incorporate them into your routine and you will realise that you won’t get that bored at the weekends. 

As always, please comment down below your thoughts on this article and feel free to check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

So, in today’s article, I will be sharing a few tips on how to meet new people and make your best friends this year. There is no direct answer to this and these tips are not guaranteed so take these tips to a pinch of salt. But some of these tips worked for me when I moved schools back in Year 8.

Let’s get started:

Firstly, figure out which institutions you can make friends from.

School is not the only place you can make friends. You can make friends in extracurricular activities, online and also in the workplace. Try to find which are applicable to you. For example, if you attend a regular ballet class, try to make new friends from there this year.

Have a few conversation starters up your sleeve. 

If you are shy, introverted or you just want to know how to converse with someone, then make sure that you have a few conversation starters. Here are a few:

• Smile
• Introduce yourself
• Be yourself 
• Compliment them
• Try to find a similar interest e.g. if you see someone wearing a BTS t-shirt and you like BTS, then tell them you like it too and then talk to them about it
• Keep regular eye contact
• Adapt to others’ personalities (different people act a certain way)
• Ask a question about the topic or class you are in
• Keep the conversations going

Make sure not to overdo any of these. However, if you realise that the person you are talking to is not very interested, uncomfortable, or tries to move away, then chances are that they are not for you. 

Know your standards and what the characteristics are of a bad friend.

Sometimes, if you are new to making friends, you may not realise that people could trip you up. This is not always the case but just lookout for these signs.

• Making you feel uncomfortable (peer pressure or doing things you don’t like)
• Bullying you or making you feel bad about yourself
• Giving you fake promises with no justification 
• Tries to leave you out (especially in times of hardship) or refuses to be your friend

Again, don’t just judge a person if they only do any of these signs once or twice. Ensure that they have done these a couple of times and you then know that they are not for you.

After you feel like you are getting along with someone, know what to do next.

Take things slowly but if you, for example, if you are in a secondary school like me and you have a phone, possibly ask your parents if you can give them your phone number. This way, you can talk outside of school and keep in touch with them regularly. Some friends can be there to help you with your homework, while others may be there for you to go out. It is your choice of what you want to do. 

If you do go out with any of your friends, do tell your parents in advance for your safety and security especially if you are just a child or teenager.

Those were my tips on how to make good friends and possibly even meeting your best friends this year. Do not feel afraid to put yourself out there, however hard it may be.  Everyone is different and some people will like you and some won’t so just move on if needed.

Even if you are shy, don’t be afraid as they are just people like you. 

For more tips on how to make good friends, check out my podcast linktr.ee/TheChatLibrary, available in over 5 podcast platforms. 

These were my tips. Make sure to surf through my website for more information: http://surobiscribbles.com/category/advice/.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!