Good evening from Jamjar Diner. The evening has opened up. Canceled a podcast recording and a couple calls. Skipped a friend’s party. All C4E folks are about town. And college starts late tomorrow. So, from what I can see, I have 12 free hours starting now. I could do whatever (do the actual doing on my To-Do list) and be wherever (I’ll be found at the gym and then home later.)

I’m also well-slept. Even Jamjar is empty on this hour of a Thursday. I have to not plan or coordinate anything. Oh, the cognitive freedom this is. Wow!

The day has been a mundane one. And have I ever talked about how much I love those. The simpleness of nothing-huge-happened-today. That I hope compounds over the years. And maybe, just maybe, something nice could come out of it. Until then, I will find my joy here. Before I tell you some stories from today, here’s a tiny gallery to indulge me.

1. Yesterday, I learnt about the idea of Ramen Money in startups. Basically, making enough money to cover basic living expenses. Read this.
2. The summers are not kind. Stepped out around 1:30 PM today. Plus, the Mumbai traffic, courtesy dug up roads. Felt terribly dehydrated after. Took me some ORS, a nap and mushy bowl of Daliya to recover.
3. Spent a lot of time trying to find some good-looking, comfy, all-purpose and cheap shoes. I’m very particular about these. So much so that the last sneakers I bought was 2 years ago. All my shoes have worn out. I wish I could get 100 of everything I like. Anyhow, new ones should be in soon. Excited.
4. Does someone have tips on packing your bag? Mine is always a stash of cords and money and receipts and notebooks and keys and random skincare — where everything I need in the moment is always lost. And while I love my rule – bag of tiny bags; I haven’t found a system that works for me.
5. The bulk import feature on Canva clubbed with Grok/GPT/Gemini can be half a content team. Been experimenting with it along with Nina for Decoding Draupadi; and I love it so much. Makes things way faster. Today, we made some 30 reels along with captions. Tomorrow, we could do 30 more. Now I need a tool to make scheduling these easier.
6. Happy update: I am no longer of my attendance reports. The last 3 semesters, I’d have a full-blown panic attack every time college sent its bi-weekly notification. Why? I had to repeat a semester because they’ve got really stringent attendance policies. Made good use of the time off, but also hated it so much. I’m fixed now.
7. I don’t have much to say today. I did jot a few things down, but nothing seems interesting enough to report. Maybe I should write down a paragraph exactly when some thought strikes. None of my notes seem exciting now. Lesson learnt. So much for Day 10/30.
8. Ah, last thing. Have split my gym time into two sessions. Weights in the morning. Cardio in the afternoon. To save time + get a focused slot with my trainer. Both these sessions are now my routine anchors. Skipped the cardio today, will go now.

Bye now!