One step at a time,

One day at a time.

Let that sink in for a while. What does that mean to you?

If you've been keeping up with this blog, you'll know that being on a break from Uni definitely did not mean a break from work and responsibilities for me. I thought I'd be stress free for 3 months but that's not what is happening right now. 

At times, I find myself stressed out to the point where I am demotivated beyond words. I stress out about things that have yet to be done, and I just want to do them all in one go. But we all know what that will turn out. There are so many things I want to do and achieve but all I end up doing is nothing.

Trying to do everything at once results to not getting anything done at all.

That's when this phrase comes in handy. 

One step at a time,

One day at a time.

1. I try to be patient with myself.

I am naturally not a very patient person. When things don't go well or according to plan, I lose my temper and drop everything I initially plan to do. I get mad at myself for not being to fulfill my own expectations, and I rush through a lot of things that should not be rushed. This is something I'm trying to improve about myself because a little bit of patience can go a long way. 

2. I try to plan my day.

Every night, I try to look through the list of things I need to get done the next day to mentally prep myself of what I should expect and remind myself of errands or meetings that I need to attend to. I also check upcoming events, speeches or deadlines I have in the next few days or week to keep myself on track. 

Now, this is quite a challenging task for me because as I have mentioned, I am not a very patient person and I can't stand having to sit and look over my planner for just a few minutes because my mind is urging me to go do something else. However, I think this is crucial step that needs to be done every day to ensure that you have an efficient tomorrow! This is another thing I am trying to improve about myself.

3. Stick with it!

It's one thing to plan, it's another thing to actually carry out those plans. If you put that Pro in Procrastination like I do, we both need to work on that! Procrastination is a habit probably 99% of people possess, so don't worry you're not alone! But just because everyone else is doing it, it does not mean you shouldn't try to grow out of it.

4. I try not to stress out on the "have-nots",

Like I have mentioned, I tend to stress out a lot on things that I have not yet done. Whenever I am trying to work on one thing, my mind will drift off and worry about another. This will distract, disturb, irritate and finally cause me to abandon the work I was working on in the first place. Productivity = 0.

5. I try to be realistic.

I have made the mistake of trying to dump everything I have to do in one thing thinking "yeah, I can handle all this. That way, I'll have a productive day and all my work will be done!" Guess how that turned out? Horrible. I couldn't keep up with things and I ended up sulking the entire day.

Now, whenever I plan for the next day, I try to keep my plans realistic and I try to keep in mind time I have for each plan.

6. Be spontaneous once in a while.

After having said all that, it's clear that a well planned out day is better than a messy one. But whenever you find the time for anything besides work or errands, nothing is better than some spontaneous fun with the ones you love. Have a meal out or just hang around with the people who matter to you. Make use of that time before you need to get back to well planned out day! :)

Liyana

Only now am I jumping into this bandwagon! I am quite certain We Were Liars has been the talk of the entire reading community but I have only recently gotten my hands on it, and what I mean by recent is, last month. Hehe.

Maybe you've read other people's thoughts on this book, now let me tell you mine:

My initial reaction:

"What on earth am I reading?"

If it wasn't for the fact that I talked to my friend, Aainaa, about it beforehand, I wouldn't have continued reading. I am quite an impatient reader and I rarely give my books second chances so I'm very glad Aainaa convinced me to stay tuned.

A few chapters in:

I was already developing theories on why things were happening the way it was. Scenarios started being bizarre and I was getting more and more convinced that my crazy theories were right.

Towards the end of the book:

I WAS RIGHT!! I felt like such a genius for figuring out the most part, and if you haven't guessed it by now, I was well and truly engrossed in this book that I forgot my initial feelings towards it.

Final Verdict:

3/5 stars from me. The mystery in it completely pulled me in but I wouldn't necessarily re-read it again simply and only because it took quite a depressing turn for me and I'm not one to re-read a book like that again. However, I'm glad I gave it a chance and I think everyone should give it a read! From the title alone, it might seem like a Sophie Kinsella kind of novel but it definitely isn't. There were some dark parts, at least I thought so. It wasn't a super light read for me.

I'm not going to summarise the entire book for everyone because I don't want to give out too much details. You have to read it for yourself! But here's what you probably would want to know before reading the book:

The story revolves around a big and rich upper-middle class (or maybe even upper class) family, the Sinclairs. All is well and perfect, at least on the outside. Things took a turn for the worst after a horrific incident, especially for one particular member of the family, young Cadence Sinclair. Follow the story and mystery of the Sinclair family in this book!

Happy Reading, everyone!

Liyana

So it's safe to say we both had a satisfying day out!

Mission Project Henna & Sungkai, Accomplished!

Liyana

Here's to a better GPA for my third semester!

It's that time of the year again! How blessed we all are to see Ramadhan for another year.

To me, this year felt like it just started. I still remember New Years Day where I celebrated with a nap on the living room couch. Among all the other years, this year takes the cake for the most laid back New Years celebration ever. But compared to any other year as well, even though only half way through, this year has got to be my happiest one yet. 

Now, everyone knows being happy comes with it's challenges. The challenges I have faced this year were tough. It made me burst into tears more times than I would like to admit and it made me question my purpose in life a whole lot. However, I overcame them anyway. It was not easy but I did. These challenges led to my achievement in so many things. These achievements will be forever stored and framed in my heart and mind. 

The people I've met and spent my time with this year play a huge role in my success and happiness, and for that, I will be forever grateful. Without their love and support, pushing through every obstacle would've been next to impossible. 

There are so many wonderful things to be thankful for this Ramadhan and there is no better way to show how grateful I am than to take this holy month as a stepping stone to not only be a better Muslim, but also a better person.

I hope everyone else has about the same idea in mind and I wish you all a very very blessed Ramadhan. May we all see the end of this beautiful month as better people together!

Selamat Berpuasa to all my Muslim friends and family!

Liyana


As mentioned above by Liyana, it's that time of the year again! Syukur Alhamdulillah that we are all still alive and well to welcome this holy month of Ramadhan again.

Ramadhan is probably the month that I have been waiting for every single year, the feeling of Ramadhan to me is just indescribable. Every year I always have goals that I need to achieve during Ramadhan, and sadly, I have yet to cross out any one of them in my list *sigh* but not to worry, I am not giving up as I still can try to achieve them this year.

Completing Taraweh for the whole month has always been one of my goals during Ramadhan. Well I know it's impossible for us ladies, but I'm talking about those days where we can actually perform them. I have never surpassed 10 days or 15 days of Taraweh, and I want to change that. I long for the feeling after completing them for the whole month (or the days we can actually perform them) and if that day comes, I will be sure to write it down in my achievements list!

Reciting the Al-Quraan and actually finishing the whole Juz in this holy month is also one of them. This is a bit hard for me to do because I tend to sleep off my hunger than do anything else but again, inshaAllah, I want to change that. I will try to complete one Juz in a day, if I can. Although I know that is not impossible as I see people do it all the time, even during other months.

Third, would probably be... Me, cooking for Iftar. I am one of those ladies who can only cook simple meals, when I say simple, I mean really simple but I have always wanted to try to cook other food as well. I don't spend much time in the kitchen cooking as how I do in baking because I love to bake! Though, I guess it's time to step up and actually know how to cook real (and yummy) food. Since today is the first day of puasa, I shall try to cook something for Iftar later.. (and I'll be going on youtube to find food that I can cook after this).

On a side note, I have to tell myself to do something productive and beneficial this Ramadhan because I tend to get sad whenever I look back on my pervious years during Ramadhan and knowing I did not do anything that's beneficial that can help others, or to improve in myself when we know that this month is all about that. I am ashamed and I am determined to change that.

So I guess to me Ramadhan is the time to improve myself to be better, not just for now but for the hereafter as well. Although I have to put it out there that I am only human, I make mistakes and sometimes I get side tracked but I am trying my best to be the better version of myself than how I was a year a go.

With that I would like to wish every one of my muslims family and friends a very blessed Ramadhan, and I would also like to apologize for any of my wrongdoings, whether intentionally or otherwise. Let's hope this Ramadhan will help us to better ourselves and let's hope it will be better than the last! InshaAllah.

Sabrina

So if you're a UBD student, you're part of the RESULTS ARE OUT hype. Yes guys, results were released just a few hours ago and my group chats on WhatsApp were filled with crying emojis. Intense? No, not exactly. This happens every time. 

My results, you ask? I wasn't satisfied. Enough to get through but if you knew me at all, you know I am nowhere near satisfied.

However, let me tell you why I'm not all that sad about it.

If you knew me, you know I am almost incapable of counting my own change in a restaurant.

This goes to show that Maths is nowhere near my favourite subject. But guess what was one of the compulsory degree core I had to take last semester? Yeah, statistics. How did it go, you may ask? Horrible. The lectures were horrible. The assignments were horrible. The exam was horrible. I am not exaggerating when I say that I did not understand a thing the lecturer said in the last few classes. Not only that, I COULDN'T SEE THE BOARD. AND IT WAS A BOARD FILLED WITH NUMBERS. I kid you not, it was hell. I carried the terrible thought that I was going to fail the module because I knew nothing. But I scraped the bottom of the barrel by doing all I can to push through even though I knew the chances of me scoring were slim. With the help of my good friends, I made it. I did not pass with flying colours but I made it through. If you were in my position and you knew how bad I am at maths, you'd would give me the chance to at least be happy about the fact that, I, Liyana Sidek, did not fail statistics.

I was in a class filled with students who knew what they were taking from the first day they stepped foot in the lecture.

I took all the same modules as my 3 girls. All, except for one. Accounting. Now, I have never taken accounting before, ever, and I had no one with me. If you think that's bad, I had to take the same tutorial class as people with accounting background, so I had to kiss my chances of getting extra help goodbye. (Not that we get extra help). For this module, I didn't have anyone to count on for help, except myself. Friends and family would ask if I was doing alright and I'd say yes. When in fact, I was nowhere near alright. I had to go through chapter by chapter that was thrown to us in just 2 hours of lecture in a week and everything goes by in a blur. I would study for hours, on the verge of giving up every time. But guess what? I made it. Again, it was not crazy good but I made it. I did not fail. With the amount of work I put in, in such short time, I wouldn't say I'm incredibly proud of myself but I can say I'm glad I made it through.

Countless reports and late nights I thought would never pay off but God knows it probably played a huge part in saving my ass.

When trying to complete a group work, report or research, the devil in me always tells me to give up because let's be real, how many percent of this huge amount of work will reflect in the final grade? What I fail to realize is that, every percent counts. Without these group work, I probably wouldn't have made it.

So, everyone, regardless of what last semester had to give you, don't forget to look back and give yourself a good pat on the back for putting in the work. Think about all the times you've burned the midnight candle just to study and the times you've turned down an invitation to hang out just to finish a project. All these deserve your acknowledgement even if you think it does not reflect in your results.

But having said all this, I am determined to strive harder next semester even if it means having to shed more buckets of tears. I am all for it. Here's to making the most out of our holiday and next semester!!!

Liyana

Exams are over, the first year of Uni is done and I am back in the blogging momentum!

How I've missed this blog!

Hey guys! It took me a few days to get back to this blog after exams ended because I had to settle in. With everything going on around me and going on in my life, I hardly had enough time to take a breather! 

So for my first post back, let me tell you how the my semester has been overall.

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this here or not but I sure remember tweeting this multiple times - this semester has been Brutal with a capital B.

I had multiple breakdowns during the semester trying to juggle all my extra curricular activities, my academics and personal time. Everything got even tougher every passing day and I constantly questioned my decisions. I think I shed more tears than I thought I was capable of and I was in constant pain. I started losing sleep, I drag myself out of bed every morning tired and drowsy only to dread the day ahead of me. I was constantly scraping the bottom of the barrel for any extra energy to help me continue the day. 

What helped me get through this semester was the success I got from all my hard work. I am definitely not saying that in everything I do, I achieved success. No. I definitely faced failures and that added on to my stress but my success outweighed all the failures I got - in terms of quality, not quantity. I hold everything I've achieved with so much pride and happiness that it eliminates the sorrow my failures gave me. And I am proud of how far I've come in a short period of time. 

I've been so busy with all these that I barely had time to set aside for family and friends. Everything has been so fast paced that I forgot to feel the guilt of not spending time with my loved ones. When semester break started, the guilt was dropped on me and it hit me hard. Then I realised it was not only guilt but I miss everyone. Among those people are my very best friends, ever since high school. Most of them are in the UK now and the distance between us has been difficult.

Guys, this post is for you.

Things may not be the same like how it used to be, it may never go back that way. But it can be better. We've all shared the same school and same environment for years, but now it has changed. We can either see this as a barrier to our friendship or a chance for it to grow. I choose to see it as a chance for us to explore new things together. Why limit our friendship to a single place? 

We can explore together. We can learn new things together. We can grow together.

No matter where you all are, I miss all of you very very much.

Liyana