I have been working from home for five months now, and while it was good at the beginning, the negative effects of isolation and anxiety gradually started to take a toll on me. A day’s work would leave me mentally and emotionally fatigued which then transforms into physical exhaustion. I haven’t had a full eight hours of sleep for weeks. Yes, even on weekends. Recognizing what’s happening, I unconsciously spent the last couple of weeks taking a step back and protecting my mental health. To me it made sense because forcing myself to remain productive by sticking to my usual routines and constan ..read more

The past three months have been emotionally draining. It’s exhausting trying to even think about it. Nary a day went by where I would wake up and be greeted by heart-wrenching and anger-inducing news trending online. This must be the darkest timeline Abed was referring to. It’s enough to make anyone crazy, so says The Joker. I distanced myself from the melee as much as I could, never minding being considered as apathetic or apolitical. I limited my time on social media and focused my energy on other things instead. And it gave me peace of mind, I’ll tell you that. I was able to focus more on t ..read more

On more lockdown news, the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) here in the Philippines has been extended until April 30, 2020. Oh, well. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I actually miss going to the office. This work-from-home arrangement is undeniably convenient and all, but somehow, I long for the sight of my co-workers pretending to be busy at work, the noise of people chit-chatting in the hallways, and the smell of brewed coffee in the office pantry. Oh, and I miss the feeling of my Friday commute! Somehow, ending your week when you’ve worked at home isn’t as satisfying as when you ..read more

Three weeks into the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Manila and my daily social media usage has skyrocketed faster than I could say ‘Duterte‘. With everything that’s happening around the globe, I need to stay informed and whether we like it or not, social media is one of the few things that connects us to the outside world. Without it, my mind would go crazy trying to think about what the heck is going on. And it’s not just the fear of missing out that’s a factor here. As an HR practitioner, it’s integral to my role to gather information and to disseminate those information. So, I had t ..read more

Book #9 This is part of my “Essential Reading List” and thus, it remained in my shelf when I started minimizing and donating my old books. And what better time to pull it out of my shelf and re-read it than now? The book is just what it promises to be: a complete foolproof manual on how humans can survive in the event the dead starts walking again to take over the world. The book does not posit that zombies are a possibility but rather a reality. The last section of the book is in fact dedicated to narrate several recorded attacks beginning from 60,000 B.C. It’s practically the bible ..read more

Book #8 Many pundits regard this book as one of the best in the realm of personal finance. Originally published in 1926, this book still holds potent financial wisdom that is still relevant and useful even 94 years later. What separates this book from the rest is its form – its lessons are spread out in separate parables rather than the usual prose. Whether this approach is effective or not is totally up to the reader. Personally, I found it a bit dragging at times because I like my fiction purely for enjoyment; some topics are just better dealt with straightforwardly. Nevertheless, the ..read more

Netflix is launching a mobile-only plan in the Philippines for only PHP 149 ($3) per month. This is on top of its Basic, Standard, and Premium plans. This new plan is targetted for the low-income segment of its local market. Netflix executives obviously see it as a good opportunities as Filipinos spend more than 3 hours a day consuming online content on their mobile phones. Now I see two potential problems with this: An Unnecessary Expense It basically proves how poor the country is, and how these big corporations will take advantage of it, and how the poor will continue to be poor b ..read more

It’s Day 1 of the “Enhanced Community Quarantine” here in the Philippines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. People from the entire island of Luzon (where the National Capital Region belongs) are restricted from leaving their houses unless for the purpose of buying food and medicines; public transportation is suspended; and heightened presence of military personnel is implemented. This will run until April 12, 2020. My company fortunately allowed its employees to work from home for the entirety of the quarantine but being part of Human Resources, I was also somehow expected to check on the situa ..read more

My every day casual browsing through the Internet would often expose me to these types of ads and recommendations: “Minimalist Apartment Makeover” “Check out these new minimalist sneakers!” “Minimalist Bedroom Chair $60.00” MINIMALIST. CHAIR. FOR $60. You have got to be kidding me. There’s no denying that minimalism has slowly inched its way to becoming a household term nowadays. It’s refreshing to see random individuals sharing their minimalism stories and journeys, and how it changed their lives. There is one big con that it brings, however: consumer capitalism. Could it b ..read more

I have a confession to make: I used to judge people. A lot. I looked down on people for going to book sales to buy piles of books they’re never going to read. I silently criticized my co-workers who waste their precious time lining up at overly-hyped restaurants and milk tea shops because it’s “for the Gram!” And I felt a heightened sense of schadenfreude every time my friends regret and whine about their bad purchasing decisions. Yep, I was that guy. But thankfully something hit me in the head and made me realize how unbelievably smug I was. Who died and made me King of the World anywa ..read more