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2021 was a little bit chaotic cause I went through real
productive months to the ones, where I achieved nothing.

In 2021 I learned to rest, appreciate weekends, be more mindful and
had my first vacation in 3 years (highly recommended).

And in the end, 2021 was a year that created questions, I need to find answers for.

Here's the small review of my year. ⤵️

## Table of contents

- [Timeline](#timeline)
- [Statistics](#statistics)
- [Book of the year](#book-of-the-year)
- [Application of the year](#application-of-the-year)
- [Movie of the year](#movie-of-the-year)
- [TV-show of the year](#tv-show-of-the-year)
- [Course of the year](#course-of-the-year)
- [Achievement of the year](#achievement-of-the-year)
- [Image of the year](#image-of-the-year)

## Timeline

Here's the small timeline of things I've achieved during the year.

<Timeline2021 />

## Statistics

| /\               | Count      | Emoji |
| ---------------- | ---------- | :---: |
| Meetings         | 200+       |  📣   |
| Interviews       | 200+       |  😈   |
| Lectures         | 300+ hours |  😵   |
| Talks            | 4 hour     |  🧐   |
| Hired Candidates | 10         |  👶   |
| Students         | 300+       |  👨🏻‍🎓   |

## Book of the year

Peter Thiele's ["From 0 to 1"](https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296)
describes Silicon Valley's history and products in the nutshell.

He tells the story of great products by giving almost scientific
explanation of the main components of which the company should be composed.

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Great book if you want to understand how the market works and what you
should do to have a place in there.

See other great books I read:

<Books2021 />

## Application of the year

Although I found [Headspace](https://www.headspace.com/) a few days ago, it completely changed the
way I go to the gym. No, you got it wrong, I mean mental gym, because
Headspace is a great application that helps you to live more mindful.

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- Mastering and making meditation a habit
- Letting Stress and Anxiety go
- Mindful Eating

a little list of things headspace helps you to achieve. It's like a great psychologist just in your pocket.

#### Other recommendations:

- Spotify — is an application that changed the way I use music. Its
  algorithms are understanding me better than any of my friends.
  In the recent update, they even add lyrics and make the ideal application even better.

- If you are a macOS user, then you must have [Setapp](https://setapp.com/).

  [Setapp](https://setapp.com/) is a subscription for a bunch of great services that make life easier:

  - Paste — smart clipboard history
  - CleanMyMac — emptying RAM, smart delete system, protection, and many more...
  - Magnet — window manager you were dreaming about

- Yandex Comfort+ and Business

  During the year I decided to stop using any other than Comfort+
  and Business Plans. The Decision changed the quality of my life and experience.
  Now using taxis is not a bunch of stress anymore.

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- Netflix

  As always, my big love for watching TV Shows and Movies

## Movie of The Year

[Don't Look UP](https://www.netflix.com/am/title/81252357) is an absolute winner in the category.

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Leo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, and great Meryl Streep are
hurting a little bit by showing the reality we are leaving in. Great team and the even better idea behind are making "Don't look UP" the best movie I watched.

#### Other recommendations:

- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- House of Gucci
- The Mauritanian
- Dune

[See the list of all movies I watch on LetterBox](https://letterboxd.com/vre2h)

## TV-Show of the year

The last season of ["You"](https://www.netflix.com/am/title/80211991) was shocking for me. I was waiting
yet another development of the same problems of Joe, but this time the show was not only about one hero,
but about a bunch of problems that torture modern society:

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- Relationships after wedding and marriage in 2021
- Postpartum depression
- Virtual vs Real
- Falsy standards and beliefs

At the same time, it shows that heroes want to change, they do their best in the fight against habits and sinful wishes.
In the end, they fail but need to continue to live.

#### Other recommendations:

- Money Heist
- Sex Education
- Squid Games
- Vikings

[See the list of all tv-shows I watch on MyShows](https://myshows.me/m/Vrezh10)

## Course of the year

[Google's Certified Project Management](https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-project-management) course is an absolute winner for me.

It consists of 6 courses that cover Project Initialization, Execution, Closing, Scrum, and even a capstone.

I have completed 4/6 during the year, but even now the knowledge and
The expertise I got is beyond any expectations.

The course every PM should take.

## Achievement of the year

Now I'm a Master in Psychology.

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- Internet addiction
- Сlip Сulture
- Losing the ability to read books
- The phenomenon of social network apps

All these topics are in the middle of my scientific interests and I
tried to research and cover them in the work.

Hopefully, the thesis will be published and available very soon so I can share it.

## Image of the year

<h3> Artsakh. Stage. Me.</h3>

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My year in a review in different categories: books, articles, tv-shows, memories, achievements, applications, etc.

🎅 2021 in Review


Nowadays, when consuming information is so easy, it's become almost impossible to keep yourself concentrated even an hour without being distracted. Being able to work in a focus mode is the primary goal of every person who wants to be productive and avoid attacks of anxiety.

## Table of contents

- Part 1. [The Flow Mode](#part-1-the-flow-mode)
- Part 2. [Applications](#part-2-applications)
- Part 3. [Notifications](#part-3-notifications)
- [Literature](#literature)

## Part 1. The flow mode

The flow mode (or focused mode, or deep work) is the mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity <sup>[1](#literature)</sup>.

ℹ️ You can find additional information about the concept in the [literature](#literature) section.

> “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

For now, let's talk about different tools that may help you to keep this flow mode.

## Part 2. Applications

In this part, I'd like to share applications that helped me to keep focused mode on by taking the "massive attack" of distractions.

ℹ️ Note, you don' t need to use all mentioned applications together, just choose the ones that fit for you. However, I highly recommend giving a chance to all of them. After some time you'll start to see their positive influence.

### Pocket

❗️Availability - [Web](https://getpocket.com/) / [iOS](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pocket-save-read-grow/id309601447) / [Android](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideashower.readitlater.pro) / [Browser Extension](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/save-to-pocket/niloccemoadcdkdjlinkgdfekeahmflj?hl=en)

> Pocket allows you to save the information and read it later. When you find something you want to view later, put it in Pocket.

![pocket-app-image](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6e/06/05/6e06055fd7702f8e9b458b296087f475.png)

So now you won't be jumping forth and back every time you see an article worth reading. Just save to pocket (one click) without fears that you might miss important stuff.

### The 20-second rule

❗️Availability - [Browser Extension](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-20-second-rule/mlonnhlhamjoopabmomhbdlddiomojpp?hl=en)

> Application that enables you to make distracting sites 20 seconds harder to reach by showing you loader 🔄

This extension will give you 20 seconds gap to fully realize whether you want to continue browsing to the site or not. You will have to just add distracting apps to the list.

### Blank page

❗️Availability - [Browser Extension](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/empty-new-tab-page/dpjamkmjmigaoobjbekmfgabipmfilij)

> With this extension, new tabs display a blank page instead of the usual new tab page with thumbnails

"Blank Page" will help you to avoid opening "another important social network" every time you see it on your favorites list cause now you can see only a blank page.

### Tabsets

❗️Availability - [Browser Extension](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tabsets/ifohmndbcefggppiblfofpbkmdfmeing?hl=en)

> Stores sets of tabs for later viewing

Tabsets helps you to avoid keeping tons of different tabs at the same time by saving them into structured named folders.

### Haze Over

❗️Availability - [MacOS](https://hazeover.com/)

> This app automatically highlights the front window by fading out all the background windows

Haze Over will give you an opportunity to focus on the one tab so your attention won't be taken away.

## Part 3. Notifications

> If you want to remember just one thing from this article, then here it is: "Mute all (no, I'm not kidding, ALL) notifications".

I have dedicated an independent chapter for the "Notifications" to make clear its importance.

From my point of view, the role of notifications is underestimated. They are unnoticeable but very dangerous so I recommend to start following them and you'll understand how often they are distracting from important tasks. My advice is turning them off (in case of messengers, mute almost all chats).

🚫 If you have a fear of missing out, I'd recommend to create routine tasks to check notifications every couple of hours in a bunch. You'll be notified about everything without moving attention to the phone every time some shitty advertisers consider you as their target.

Thanks for attention, be healthy and focused.

## Literature

1. [The flow mode - Wikipedia](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)>)
2. "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" — Mihalyi Czikszentmihalyi

3. "Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World" — Cal Newport

4. "Путь Джедая" — Максим Дорофеев


About flow mode and the tools which may help you to keep this mode on!

The Flow Mode


_Inspired by the Coursera course "Learning How to Learn" by Dr. Terrence Sejnowski and Dr. Barbara Oakley. Note, I’m not a scientist and all information below based on the researches mentioned in the [course](https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn)._

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## Table of contents

- Part 1. [How to cope with procrastination](#part-1-how-to-cope-with-procrastination)
- Part 2. [Chunking](#part-2-chunking)
  - 2.1. [Illusion of competence](#21-illusion-of-competence)
  - 2.2 [Seeing the bigger picture](#22-seeing-the-bigger-picture)
- Part 3. [Explore memory: long and short term](#part-3-explore-memory-long-and-short-term)
- Part 4. [The importance of rest and mindfulness](#part-4-the-importance-of-rest-and-mindfulness)

## Part 1. How to cope with procrastination

Procrastination is the process when your brain tries to change the focus from the tasks that increase your anxiety. You should know that a lot of tasks at first make you feel bad and that’s okay, you should be okay with that and keep in mind that this sneaky feeling will go away as soon as you will make your first steps. To fight those feelings try to use tips below:

- Divide and Conquer

  - Divide big tasks into small chunks (in the best case a lot of 30 minutes achievable tasks

- Pomodoro technique

  - The technique is based on dividing your work into 25-30 minutes intervals when you’re concentrating on one thing

  - That’s why in the previous section I recommend dividing big tasks into small chunks. In the best-case scenario, you can use each timer for a sub-task that you’ve created in the previous step.

- Reward

  - Use rewards after each complete Pomodoro. It’ll make you more comfortable with achieving tasks.

  - Keep a planner journal
    The journal will help you to track your progress. Note that writing down your work completion time is very important. It’ll help you to avoid overworking and burnout

  - Try not to fill your journal with a lot of tasks (4-7 is best) cause it may increase your anxiety level

  - Try to start each day with a hard task. Even if you procrastinate the remained task, at the end of the day it’ll make you feel better that at least you’ve done something

## Part 2. Chunking

Chunking is the process of uniting bits of information through meaning. You can’t remember tons of information without understanding and creating a big picture that’s why you need to understand how to form chunks. Use tips below to improve your ability to create and maintain chunks.

- Importance of context
  - You should understand the context in which the content you’re trying to “chunk” is going to be used. Use the top-down process (mentioned below) to make sure you buy into context.
- Spaced repetition
  - You need to repeat the information that you need to “chunk” regularly to keep neural connections tight (see Chapter 3 for more information)
- The bottom-up process
  - Is the process when repetition and practice can help you build strong chunks
- The top-down process
  - Is the process of seeing the bigger picture to better understand the context in which the “chunk” is going to be used. For example, you can look through the whole book, explore chapters and images to better understand.

### 2.1. Illusion of competence

Sometimes when you’ve just read the material or watch the lesson and the material is in your working memory (see Chapter 3), you might be in a state called “illusion of competence”. It’s the state of mind when one might think that he mastered the topic. At the same time, you should understand that knowing and doing are different things. To avoid such a bias, use tips below:

- Try to use the knowledge you’ve just learned by doing
- Recall
  - The process when you’re trying to regenerate the material that you’ve consumed right before. (For example, try to close the book and recall everything you’ve just learned)
  - Retelling information and content to yourself or someone else might help you to be fluent in the topic and understand what parts you miss.
  - Mini-tests might help you to understand (Coursera’s tests after chapters do help to understand the material better and get back if you missed something)
  - Avoid highlighting a lot of content
    - Highlighting might give you the wrong assumption that you’ve worked with the material and mastered it. Try not to take a fancy to highlight (one for a chapter is enough), instead use recall techniques

### 2.2 Seeing the bigger picture

As I’ve mentioned in the ‘Top-down’ process, seeing a bigger picture of the material might help you to form a better understanding and create strong “chunks”. At the same time, you should be aware that there’s some biases that might disturb you.

The first bias that might disturb your learning process is the Einstellung effect. It describes the bias when the first idea on “how to solve a problem” might block other ones (even if they’re better than the first one).

Another bias is Overlearning. It refers to a state when some is practicing newly acquired skills more than it needs. It might lead to a state when you are focusing just on one point of view related to the topic.

If you want to really master the topic and avoid biases mentioned above, Interleaving technique might help you. It’s the process of jumping back and forth between different problems and situations. It gives your brain time to analyze the issue and come up with a better solution. A good sleep or walk might also help you to overcome overlearning and Einstellung effects.

## Part 3. Explore memory: long and short term

Let’s review long and short term memories and understand the differences between them. First, we need to understand that memory is the faculty of the brain responsible for storing and retrieving information. They’re highlighting two kinds of memory: long and short term memories. The difference between them is in the capacity and duration. Some studies show that in the short term memory we might store from 4 to 7 chunks of information and they have time limits and if we aren’t careful of repeating and practicing them, they are going away. Meanwhile, the long term memory capacity theoretically is infinite.

If you’re interested in improving your memory and ability to memorize information, consider using following tips:

- Spaced Repetitions
  - Is the technique of repeating information or practicing the skill regularly with some skipped intervals
- Memory palace technique
  - The technique is based on the knowledge that (evolutionarily) we’re remembering places extremely good. So we can use this knowledge and connect the information we want to memorize in the context of places we know

## Part 4. The importance of rest and mindfulness

Sometimes the only thing we’re concerned about is productivity and self-improvement. And if one continues thinking only about work or learning, it might lead to the point when some will have no fuel left to continue being productive or even worse it might lead to burnout. If you want to prevent yourself from being in a state when you can no longer work without the help of other people, you might consider the following tips.

- Work-life balance
  - One should know that setting boundaries between work/study and life can really help you to achieve harmony and have a healthy state of mind. Try to set borders between working and resting hours. Elsewhere you might be in a situation when you have troubles in both areas.
- Leisure time
  - Try to set a time when you’re done with the work and dedicate remaining hours on leisure. Sometimes you can even have a list of things you want to do (e.g. watching tv shows, reading fiction, etc.)
- Physical activity
  - Studies show that some intervals of physical activity might improve your learning skills and help you to better solve problems.
  - At the same time, such physical activities as running, walking, and even lifting heavy weights will improve your health and give you more energy to face daily routines and problems
- Mindfulness practices
  - Studies show that mindfulness practices are tightly coupled with switching on your brain’s default mode network which helps your brain to better process information that you consumed during the day.
  - Consider meditation, repeating mantras or even physical activities mentioned above as a way to practice mindfulness
- Sleep
  - I guess I shouldn’t write that sleep is the most important part of rest and processing information, so I’m not going to tell you tales about profits of getting good sleep, I just want to ask you to get enough.

Thanks for your time and attention.


A little list of tips which may help you to increase your productivity and start learn better. Based on the work of Dr. Terrence Sejnowski and Dr. Barbara Oakley.

Management and Learning tips

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😈 Unpopular opinion. Ep 2

Ep 2: Designers are the most important people in the product creation process

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