Memory Repository 🧠

Reading time: 5 min To design a clear and visually appealing informative medical poster, you're going to need a handful of things. I once attended a healthcare communication course with over 400 other healthcare students. In this course, I designed a top scoring and well-reviewed medical poster explaining a complicated medical concept for a layperson audience. Designing posters can be intimidating. Translating complex information into something anyone can understand is not always easy. Fello...

Reading time: 1 min I used to keep small documents that have sentimental value. Things like movie tickets, plane tickets, maps/guides, booking documentation, birthday cards / farewell cards, etc. Scanning (or just photo taking) is now so accessible and so clear on phones. There's no reason to keep such documents anymore. And so, I'm planning to say good bye to most these documents. Other Notes and Thoughts I'm a mild data hoarder. I like my backups. By the way, go back up your devi...

Reading time: 5 min Summary: If you take ages to mentally approve expensive purchases, consider the following calculation method: "Total cost ($) / Life expectancy (days)" - Is this daily cost lower than what you would be willing to pay every day to use it? If yes, buy it (if it clearly improves your life). I take ages to mentally "approve" expensive purchases I have this problem. I can afford to spend on new or "extra stuff" that enhances my life, but I'm quite frugal. I find it very ...

Reading time: 3 min Summary: Greens powders/drinks often contain massive amounts of unhealthy sugar and very little fibre. Consider psyllium husk if you want a fibre supplement. Psyllium husk has good research and medical backing behind it. The Problem With Greens Powders & Drinks So my partner recently picked up a "greens drink," i.e., a vegetable and fruit smoothie. We were on a trip, and our vegetable intake was down. The smoothie claimed to contain an equivalent of 50% of your ...

Reading time: 2 min I finished the Lobotomy Corporation last week. It's a game where you manage "abnormalities", monsters or SCPs if you will, and manage threats that occur in your facility. I started this game in 2019. I finished in 2024. So difficult. So unforgiving. And such a great story. (Also very confusing plot until they re-translated the entire game. The lore is expansive with multiple far more popular games that came after, see Library of Ruina and Limbus Corporation, along with a ...

There are 3 types of people in this world- Drifters: Those who do not think or care about future outcomes. Dreamers: Those who think about future outcomes, but don't care enough in the present to take action. Doers: Those who think and care enough in the present about future outcomes to take action. I find myself moving down that list as I grew up. From someone who really didn't care, to someone who dreamed but didn't take any responsibility, and now to someone who assumes control over out...

Reading time: 4 min So, I'm now a proper pharmacist. No longer a pharmacy student, no longer in training. The new time, energy, and cognitive demands of a fast-paced hospital environment took quite the toll on me when I first took up the position. I'd go home, eat, shower, head to bed, and then question where all of my time went. But unfortunately, there are other priorities in my life that aren't sleep and work: I have to clean my home I have to get my groceries I have a relationship to m...

Reading time: 1 min I developed an interest in laundry detergent recently, in that I went out of my way to check different brands and their ingredients. Something that particularly urked me when checking the detergent containers were the claims on their containers: "5-in-1" cleaning effect! (Or whatever.*) "Antibacterial! Antiviral / Antifungal! Rid of smells! Removes stains! Whitening!*" ...That's just describing the how "detergent" chemicals wash stuff away in 5 different ways. That's ...

Reading time: 2 min | Productivity What is My Automatic Decision System? A few months ago, I detailed a system I implemented into my life to reduce unnecessary decision making, to save time and mental energy for work and decisions that actually matter. I called it my Decision Autopilot System. Any regular decision I make is either automatized, made irrelevant, or randomised. I recently went through a period of overburdening with many important, stacked commitments, all occuring within the ...

Reading time: 5 min | Health I followed these 6 steps when moving to my new home and it stopped my nose allergies. I live with allergic rhinitis (also known as nose/nasal allergies, or hay fever if seasonal). That means with the slightest allergen exposure, I can get a runny nose, uncontrollable sneezing and watery eyes for the rest of the day. Often, I experience these symptoms at home. I used to just control my symptoms with medication (being a pharmacist and all), but lifestyle change sh...

1. The active ingredient of coffee is caffeine. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant. It's typically used to reduce fatigue and drowsiness, although there are other medical uses. 2. The effects of drinking coffee usually start after 15 minutes. It peaks around 1 hour after. Most people will experience a caffeine half-life (the time it takes for your body to rid of half the caffeine) of 5 hours. There are numerous factors that can affect caffeine metabolism, including smoking (reduce...

Reading time: 3 min Every decision we make contributes to decision fatigue. This is why choosing what to buy, choosing a route home, and choosing actions is tiring. We make an uncountable number of decisions every day. By eliminating these choices, we can: Save time by thinking and planning less Free up mental bandwidth for more important decisions Spend more time on goal-oriented action. This is where a Decision Autopilot System comes in handy. It's a personal system that allows you to b...

Reading time: 1.5 min Recently, I was presented with an opportunity to teach a failing high school student evidence-based study techniques, and how to implement them into their life. I used to be such a student. I was mediocre at best. I eventually fought my way up to pharmacy school, and managed to top score my final year classes, and held the title of Dean's List for some years. I was elated I could help someone in my previous position to improve themselves and achieve the results they wan...

Reading time: 3 min 90% of students trade a disproportionate amount of time & energy for minimal returns. They take consistent action & implement the latest productivity tips/apps. But fail to achieve their goals satisfactorily. Here's is why, and the dead-simple solution. Many students believe that improving efficiency and task-goal alignment is the best way to productively achieve their goals. But there is an important factor missing in this: The effectiveness of their actions...

Reading time: 1 min The Art and Business of Online Writing by Nicolas Cole was the most valuable book I've read last year about online writing. This book plus the writing course Ship 30 For 30 and the 100 Day Writing Challenge on Listed.to is what gave me the courage to share valuable learnings and experiences on social media, for those who might find it useful. Recently, Nicolas Cole and Dickie Bush (both highly successful online writers) have written a new ebook on online writing, The 5 Pi...

Reading time: 2.5 min During pharmacy school, I noticed that most healthcare students believe that re-reading lecture notes and writing notes was how students should study.  Yet, these are the most ineffective, time-consuming study methods.  Despite learning and studying being a student's job, students are never taught how to learn and study effectively. From primary to higher education, students are not introduced to the psychology of learning and effective study methods in their general cur...

Reading time: 1.5 min I won an award by procrastinating.  I wrote a thesis in 7 days while taking pharmacy classes and working on my side commitments. The first day was outlining, and the last few days were spent writing. I procrastinated for a few days in between. 2 months later, I received an award for the paper. This is how I wrote a thesis in so little time and maintained high-quality writing: 1. Leverage your subconscious mind by procrastinating. On the first day, outline your paper a...

Reading time: 2.5 min In my first year of pharmacy school, my task manager was an utter mess. A huge spread of incomplete projects, all competing for my time, energy, and attention. It was a dumping ground: studying for pharmacy exams, student society duties, writing papers, online self-learning courses, and daily writing, all awaiting my input. Nothing without a class deadline would ever get done. And I would rarely prioritise my own long-term wants and well-being. After experimenting for 4...

Reading time: 1.5 min Yes, I did encounter a sleep paralysis demon. That day, I was extremely fatigued. I fell asleep, lying perpendicular to my bed. It was supposed to be a quick lie down, but I soon dozed off. When I woke up, I felt keenly aware of my surroundings. I felt like I could see. Everything in my room felt visible to me. But I knew my eyes were not open. I tried moving my arms and fingers- they wouldn't budge. I started thinking: "Wow, so this is sleep paralysis. Cooler than I...

Reading time: 1 min I distinctly remember once partaking in a mindfulness session with fellow students. We breathed, meditated, and did some simple yoga (by which I mean we just lazed around on fancy mats and cushions). I’ve briefly fallen asleep several times in this highly relaxed and calm state. The instructor pointed out that quite a few of us were falling asleep and noted that it was good that we were relaxed and becoming aware of our own sleepiness. The whole idea of mindfulness is t...

Why I'm slow with making purchase decisions I'm told that I take ages to make purchase decisions when it's something I don't immediately need. Need, as in it would not seriously affect my ability to live reasonably. I would stand there for a few seconds, contemplating, or come back to it after walking around elsewhere (or after a week in case of online shopping). I might note it down on a temporary wish list. During that time, I evaluate the following: the 'utility' (satisfaction, happines...

Reading time: 1.5 min In my downtime after returning home today, I played a game that involved moving my body. (It's Switch Sports). It's my way of keeping myself somewhat active while having fun on rest days from regular workouts. I set myself a start and end time (totalling 30 minutes) for this leisurely activity to be productive and save time for other things. However, setting start and end times for leisure activities dampens enjoyment of the activity. This phenomenon is supported by a p...

Reading time: 0.5 min I dreaded working on a paper today, and I've been putting it off all morning and noon. By the afternoon, I told myself to use the two-minute method. I told myself that I'd work on the paper for two minutes. If I really wanted to stop by the end of those two minutes, then I may stop. All I have to do now is open the documents and read the highlighted paragraph (that my past self highlighted for easy continuation). I had successfully put my foot in the door and started ...

Reading time: 2.5 min In a previous post, How to stick to a habit, I detailed how I managed to initiate and concrete a habit of working out to improve my health. It involved stacking my workout time with video watching time (something I consider pleasant), and aligning exercise with my goals (maintaining good health and converting unproductive time into productive time). One study placed something similar to the test. The researchers surveyed university students for books that were “difficult...

Reading time: 3 min Shiny object syndrome is when one continually chases new or trendy things. I faced this phenomenon last year when I came across RemNote. RemNote was a relatively new piece of software that offers a new way of taking notes, outlining, and making flash cards that follow a spaced-repetition algorithm. RemNote seemingly solved all problems I had with Anki, an old but trusty open source spaced-repetition flash card software. One major issue I had with Anki is that it's diffic...

Reading time: 2 min How often do you underestimate the time required to complete something? Our ability to make time estimations is terrible. From how much time we require to complete a task, to how much energy we consume, we tend to be way off from reality. One study asked students to estimate how long it would take them to finish a paper under: realistic conditions (the best realistic estimate), perfect conditions (“everything went as well as it possibly could”), and worst possible con...

Reading time: 2 min Photo by nikldn on Unsplash Pleasantness and convenience are important aspects of maintaining habits. Both of these are what makes a habit easy to follow. One makes you want to do it, and the other makes it easy to start. One recent medical study on foods demonstrated how ready-to-eat, nice tasting snacks can help individuals add healthy food items into their lives. Lifestyle modification (such as diet and exercise) comes before medication when it comes to healthca...

Reading time: 4 min I really don't like sleeping early. This is something I seriously struggle with. Time before bed is time that I have complete freedom over how to spend, whether I use it to socialize, exercise, catch up with work or study, consume entertainment, or rest. Work and study are particularly dangerous for me. Whenever I re-establish healthy, early sleeping hours, I eventually push my sleep schedule later and later into the night to finish my studies, assignments, or other commitm...

Reading time: 2 min The envelope budgeting method is a where we place our available money for budgeting that month into physical or theoretical separate envelopes for different types of spending or areas of life. When we have to spend in that area of life, we take money out of that envelope. Once that envelop is depleted and emptied, no more money is to be spent in that area of life, until that month ends, and we renew the budget. When we budget our money, we become conscious of how we spend...

Reading time: 5 min What makes a good password? It should be a chain of characters unknown to and not readily guessable by other humans, and It should have sufficient randomness and length such that it's not one of the trillions of guesses per second modern computers can make, and It should be easily memorable, ONLY to you. It's hard to balance the first two with the third condition. Implications: No common words or phrases should be used. Nothing publicly related to you should be used. ...