Celebrations all round…

Losika Writes is proud to announce that we have made an e-book version of the Savannah book… Wooohooo!!! We are working on more books having the e-book format as well as increasing the languages on offer but until then we hope you can support our side hustle and get yourself or your kids/nieces/friends/neighbours a copy and writing a quick review about the books.

Below are the links to get you to the books (board books and the e-book versions).

Happy shopping and have a great week ahead!!!

1. Losika Writes website
2. Google Books
3. Google Play 

 

 

 

 

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From the hood…

I just completed Trevor Noah’s “Born a crime” semi-autobiography and thought I would pen something down about it. When it finished, it truly felt like I was saying goodbye to a friend that I had come to know very fondly during the past few days. If you have read my previous blogs, you know how I love audiobooks and how they allow me to multitask and this one was certainly a great accompaniment to the recent transition of my life and will forever remain one my of my great reads.

Trevor, yes, we are now on a first name basis, is someone who has always seemed to be different and far removed from the kind of life I grew up in. He is currently hosting one of America’s famous late-night shows and when he was introduced in that role, I thought that was another notch that would seal our differences. Here he is now, being famous, being a millionaire etc and here I was, not being famous and certainly not a millionaire… yet. But this book gave me a glimpse of the humble beginnings he comes from and what a transformation he has made to be where he is today. Some of his early stages are somewhat like mine, not the having the white father bit or growing up during apartheid South Africa bit obviously but a lot more than I would have known had I not read the book.

Growing up in Gaborone West, G-West/G wa-wa as it is colloquially called, I can appreciate when he says he grew up in the hood. My hood had everything his hood had.

• No tarred road which meant cleaning off the dust from the house every morning only for some hoon undo all your hard work by the evening.
• Those guys who wake up to sit on the side of the road when you are going to school and you find them in the same spot on your return home
• That guy who is the hood mechanic, who has a few scrap cars in various states of repair cluttering the yard and occasionally spilling onto the side of the road
• Being sent off to buy half a loaf of bread at the neighbourhood tuckshop, which Australians call a milk bar, which was a room in someone’s house that was converted from a bedroom to a shop by installing shelves and having a large sign next to the window. My mother eventually converted our garage into one of the tuckshops which sold simple groceries and progressively added beer and braai, otherwise called BBQ, to what was on offer to its patrons. This obviously attracted a few interesting characters and we could sit at the back of the house and listen to never-ending stories about the hood.
• I was one of the girls he talks about who was essentially instructed to spend all my after-school time indoors, doing chores and studying and would get a serious hiding if ever my sister and I sneaked out and got found out.
• My mother left her teaching job to get a better-paying employment as she wanted my sister and I to attend private school despite us coming from the hood. Having been part of the public-school system, she wanted different for her children.
• There was a very famous cannabis dealer at the end our street and his place was fondly called HQ by those in the know. It was not astonishing to see the celebrities of back in the day, chilling outside the premises drinking or smoking joints as I made my way home from school.

When you grow up in the hood but then experience a totally different life compared to the average hood resident, it can be very tempting to try and shake off that part of your past. I remember battling with that part of my identity in high school where I knew no one who came from the hood like me. I have however, through passage of time, learnt to look back with fondness at my history and those beginnings I came from. I even had part of our wedding ceremony in the hood, where the whole neighbourhood was invited and we sure did have a blast. Hearing Trevor recount his memories of growing up in the hood with such affection, the laugh out loud moments of his cheekiness and the overall book made my day and allow me to proudly say that I am from the hood and glad Trevor and I somewhat share that history.

*Image from Google

Time saving tips that I use…

Time is VERY expensive in my opinion. The other unfortunate thing is that we are always buying time technically but then not using it to the max. I have heard in many situations, people saying that they really don’t have enough time for whatever it may be for example exercise, sleep, sex, or even preparing healthy meals. When you add pitta patter of little feet, it seems that you never really have time for anything at all including basic self-care in some instances.

I was listening to an audiobook recently called – I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time by Laura Vanderkam which basically talks about how to get maximal bang for your buck time-wise. It highlighted that there are actually about 168 hours per week and deducting work and sleep left ample time for a lot of things in life. It might however not seem like there is that much time “spare” when you are always feeling like you are running around like a headless chicken. I will share some tricks that have worked for me and hope you can share yours below so I can add to my mix.

1. Value your time- LITERALLY!!. Calculate how much you earn per hour in your income earning job and then see if you can pay someone to do some work to help you for a cheaper rate. For example, let us say you earn about $50 an hour roughly and you have a task to do that would normally take you about 3hrs to do ($150). If this is time that you enjoy doing said task then fine, do it yourself. But if it is a menial task, outsourcing it for $20/hour ( $60 hrs total) would actually save you money in the long term and allow you to spend your time doing things you love.

2. If it can be done in 2 mins- do it. This usually applies to tidying up the house eg cleaning the shower whilst you are in it, cleaning and scrubbing the loo after using it, clearing some toys off the floor, wipe the bathroom and kitchen bench tops etc. This then means there isn’t really a mountain of things to do all the time but just tasks that take a bit more than 2mins.

3. Learn to multitask- I try to always incorporate other things whilst doing my chores/errands. For example, I listen to audiobooks whilst doing my grocery shopping/washing dishes and doing the vacuuming. I also tend to call and catch up with my family during my commute to work (using a hands-free handset and not touching the phone whilst I drive of course) or whilst folding laundry etc.

4. Make a plan- a meal plan reduces time wasting at the store trying to figure out what is in the fridge, what needs to be bought and being distracted by sale items which you don’t need. A plan for work lunches and packing them ahead reduces stress associated with running late for lunch, queuing for meals etc.

5. In the same token as *4 – have a to do list. In the modern age, it is very common to set off trying to do one thing and then suddenly you find yourself doing other things instead. This is particularly worse if you are doing anything online. Having a to do list ensures that you still have a reference list to check off as tasks get completed which tends to give me a little boost to keep going. I tend to do this tip a lot and can find that I have a few lists on the go at any one time. It is thus important to delete lists as you go to ensure they are useful lists.

6. If you can delegate for free, why not- the main one here is paying routine stuff by direct debit. These include mortgage, credit card repayments, bills, car registration etc. This ensures you never have to pay any late fees associated with late bills. It also means tax time is easier as most transactions are available for review.

7. On the audiobook topic- listen to it at 1.5 speed. The brain eventually adjusts to the quicker version which then means you can read more books over a shorter time. WINNING!

8. Ask for help!! Mummys who work full time are usually guilty of feeling they have to be superwomen ie running a household, being the perfect wife, preparing freshly cooked meals, ironing and doing laundry in addition to everything in between. “If you don’t ask, the answer is NO” is a motto I live by so I am happy to ask for help knowing that I don’t lose anything by asking.

These are some tips I use to try and get more bang for my time. Are there some time-saving tips you use daily?

*images from Google