Promises during quarantine

I have been wondering for so long as to how to improve my abilities wrt work. I had decided to take up some courses. Dedicating time for the study was the problem.
I got that resolved with quarantine. I have plenty of time now. The only this that is lacking is the desire to study. Also, I started obsessing about someone far beyond my league. He has a fabulous life and going through his FB profile I realized that he has an adorable (read extremely pretty) wife and kids. The pics look as if they are taken out of a fashion magazine. My general confidence in my looks took a nosedive from there. One good thing that turned out from that is my resolute to work on my belly that has remained more or less the same after pregnancy. Who am I kidding! my extra-large tummy that had been my constant companion from idk 10 years? I hope I will atleast stop it from bouncing off and running before me :P
So, physical fitness is going to be a part of my life
The other thing, the most important one, is to be good with latest technologies. This is where I am stumped. How do I get into the groove
I need to plan out something

Life in the time of corona - part-1

Right before bedtime is the moment that D chooses to open up her profound mind (I see parents nodding)

 Yesterday I was really scraping at the bottom of my ‘leftover patience’ jar when she came up with concerns about her ‘safe’ future. She wanted to figure out the best way to live immune to the misfortunes of the world. The Indian mother gave her the quintessential advice - study hard, grab every opportunity that comes your way, be healthy, earn well and settle in a rich country.  That’s when she made her concerns more clearer.

“I don’t want to catch diseases like Covid-19. And even if I catch it, I want to recover fast.”

“We as a species is stretching beyond a capacity that nature can withstand, exploiting it and changing the biosphere brutally. New diseases are nature’s way of soft resetting. All you can do is to stay healthy and be in a comfortable position to seek medical assistance. Maybe staying in less populous, rich countries with better medical facilities will help.” I replied halfway through my sleep.

“Rich and better medical facilities are not enough Mamma. The government has to be better prepared as well, like ours. If I stay in a different country, I will have to hustle back to my nation when pandemonium strikes. I am probably safer here.”

I hope, in the coming days, we as a society will be disciplined enough to stand with our government and prove kids like D who are watching us, witnessing how we are responding to the situation, that we are worthy of their trust.

The sand under my feet

For a couple of months, I have been having this nagging feeling that my job and career may not be as secure as I thought it would be. Taken that I am working for an MNC which is infamous for their hire and fire policy, I am not supposed to feel comfortable enough in my job that I can take it for granted. But recent developments in my organization and the plight of a close friend made me wonder, am I adequate to survive? Can I grow? What am I missing?

In my previous organization, my astute manager used to give me two feedbacks, which I have to agree to. One is that I am not aggressive enough in a competitive environment. The second is that I lack the bigger picture, though I am good to focus on a particular issue and execute with laser-sharp perfection. Apparently, I am lacking both the most important soft skills that are needed for growth. To an extend I recovered from the 'aggressiveness' aspect of it. I can put up a non-emotional fight and convince the other side of technical discussions and designs. The second thing is really really hard to come by. That is when I tried to get a mentor who is shrewd and enlightened to guide through my stagnant career.

My lead started helping me with this. The points she made were thus. To get a bird's eye view of things, you need to start approaching the entirety as a solution and not as a requirement that needs a design and coding to solve. One needs to know where the component fits in the entire product and the impact that it makes. I can start this reading the available user-guide documents. Once you have an idea of the product, you need to know what are the similar products that are in the market and what are the solutions that they offer, as well as the new emerging technologies in the domain. For me it's security. Basically, I have to read, a lot of technical stuff, something I am not used to.

The next one she pointed out to me was that I have to do the whole thing in the same amount of time I have left with me. Just because I have to learn more, the days are not going to grow long just for me. There comes the need to be efficient at work. I need to cut the time spent on 'stuff' that are not a necessity - basically social media. I am planning to use the 10mts technique and slowly improve my efficiency.

She added one more point. If I am so worried about my job, I should be prepared with the latest technologies. The best way to do this is to take online training.

Now I am left with 14 hrs and I have to make the whole thing happen!!!
I can't think of a castle when sand under my feet starts slipping away. I need to build it when I am still standing on a firm ground.