Tuesday, October 12, 2021
EVERYBODY NEEDS A SPACE. SO DO I. HOW ABOUT YOU?
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
My humble and safe space where I spend most of my time.
I always knew that I needed my own space no matter how small it is. Just enough for me to know that I have my space that I can trust and to always come back to whenever I want. It is a special place that I hold dearly as I am the most vulnerable here at the table and I also shine the most when I give my all doing something.
The steel bookshelf was the one that I had no regret buying as I always wanted one that can hold up all of my books. I did have the wooden bookshelves but all were dented and shaky, not safe to use anymore. Looking at the picture above made me feel happy. Though I do have my own dream space but to have this is more than enough as of now alhamdulillah.
I have always wanted a room or space to make my own mini library with my books, my husband's books, my children's books and we all hang out there reading our own and quietly indulge in our own world. Ahh, may it be a dream come true one day, aameen!
Moreover, I needed a space where I can grow myself in doing reflections, writing, journaling, reading my precious books, reciting Quran, listening to podcasts/online lectures/endless online knowledge sharing and classes, staring at the ceiling/wall blankly, writing lists of dua'as, talking to my husband and children, calling my loved ones to have chats to soothe the unease heart.
I also believe that a space that I created is where I feel safe, unjudged and be myself pouring out my tears and feelings. A space where I breakdown the most too and to stand up stronger every time.
This space also holds many events that took place as it is where I spend most of my time. Sitting while editing my resume and cover letters, attending classes on how to write a good resume, how to ace the interviews and spending hours of researching. To know that at the end of the day, all I received was, "Unfortunately, we have found another candidate that suits the position. All the best for your future endeavors." 😢
Nevertheless, I am grateful for this humble space that I have created. I will continue on writing, searching and improving myself to the best of my ability.
How about you? Do you have a space where you love to be at?
Thank you for your time reading. InshaaAllah see you in the next post!
Love always,
AliahMazli
Monday, October 11, 2021
5 TIPS ON MY TIME MANAGEMENT DURING MASTER'S DEGREE
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
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| P/S: The template is just an example of what I usually do and plan and not from my actual timetable during my master years. |
I am a planner person. I plan my day, my work and even when I go out for a particular day. For me, it is important to ensure that I manage to do all the lists I have by prioritizing and allocating my time properly. Reminiscing back on the most intense study years that I went through which was when I did my Master's degree, I thanked myself to have planned all my semesters effectively, to then be awarded an Excellence Candidate Award at the end of my study.
Master's degree is a journey of being independent with a supervisor as your guidance and the rest is all up to you. There will be no spoon-feeding and the need to read journal papers was intense—not just for 1 subject but for all 4 subjects (per semester). Reading is very crucial for master study. On top of reading journal papers, we are required to write many ourselves (for me, to write mini research papers/reports be it for individual or group work).
Initially, I did a template just for myself so that I can keep track on all the assignments for each subject. Little did I know the need to share with my master juniors as I saw them struggling on which tasks to do as the weightage for master's degree can be overwhelming and sad to see one by one left the program.
My Time Management During Master's Degree
Things to Note:
1. Scheme of Work (SOW) for Each Subject
I believe each subject has their own Scheme of Work for every University which consisted of the lecturer's details, the course outline and the schedule of the subject for the particular one semester. For me, every semester, we will be given a scheme of work (SOW) for each subject where a table of 14 weeks (per semester) of the subject is provided.
So we will know in which week do we have to submit our assignments, to do our presentations, when to have our tests and many more. For me, during Master's degree, it is compulsory to have the SOW as I will be able to plan my semester for each subject. Hence the above table shown above, which basically what my schedule will look like. If I do not be serious about the SOW given each semester by the Professors, I'll need to face a repeat paper or a bad GPA. It somehow also shows how much do you want to really learn and allocate your time properly.
2. Daily Routines Schedule & Master's Schedule
I will list down my daily routines from morning till night. Then I will put it side by side with each SOW for all subjects that I take (1 semester = 4 subjects). I will arrange all assignments into my daily routines (I am a fulltime housewife with a husband with two children and a fulltime Master student, imagine how chaotic it was).
This will then be pasted on the wall for me to alert. I also reminded my husband back then to check on it once it a while so that he knows where to help and what to do in caring for the children and working. We really work together and help each other out with our schedules.
3. Time Allocation Per Subject
This is very important to allocate your time to study, do assignments and read endless lists of journals during master's degree. If you only focus on one subject for too long, you might neglect on other subjects. It is important to first plan what do you want to do. Make a timer of 30 minutes whenever you do your work, as it will lessen the feelings of overwhelming.
These are what I do for all semesters and mostly I initiate myself to be the leader and planner of the group. So far, alhamdulillah, our outcomes received good remarks from the Professors and the classmates.
a) Form a group for each subjects that has group works. Identify how many assignments with group works. Make a WhatsApp group chat.
b) Choose a leader. Positioned each member with their strength and what they can do. Assigned tasks and set a schedule in which week that they have to update their work progress.
c) Keep updating and have consistent and healthy communications with each other. Always lift each other's spirit. Master's degree is where we work professionally and we only want to best outcomes possible. Help each other out inshaaAllah, Allah S.W.T will ease our affairs.
d) Confront crisis or hiccups professionally and discuss with the team.
4. Consistent Dua'as and Prayers
Master's Degree is also a journey where I learned that I own nothing. All belongs to Allah S.W.T. All the ideas, the easiness of my affairs, the results that I received (all 3. 75, 3.88 and 4.00) and many more are all blessings and rezq from HIM. If I were to tell about making dua'as and prayers during Master's degree, I would definitely need to write a book! 😍
- Center your master works and daily routines around the 5 daily prayers. Pray early, felt as if you have longer hours because of the barakah 💓
- Never skip your Dhuha prayers. Wake up for Tahajjud if possible (try your hardest).
- Always asks for prayers from your families and friends.
- Pray Taubah prayers everyday (if possible, try).
- Do not skip your daily Quran recitation even if it just few ayahs (if you are too occupied).
- I have a du'a book where I write all my dua'as for each subject and what I want to achieve. MashaaAllah I would cry if I were to revisit my du'a lists.
- Do your zikir if you feel too overwhelming with everything. Try to do Istighfar and Selawat. In between if you are too tired, recite Zikir Fatimiyah (Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah, Allahuakbar). InshaaAllah.
- Cry if you need to. Rest if you need to. Remember to always come back and fight stronger in this journey.
5. Support System
Reach out to your support system. You REALLY need their support throughout this demanding journey. Call out to them, have a chat and let go of whatever that you are feeling. You will feel better afterwards. Reach out to your seniors and your lecturers. Create bonds with them and have frequent conversations/discussions. Do not try to do and walk on your own all alone.
What I learned the most during Master's degree was that, you will need a whole village to reach the end of the line together. Trust me.
In a nutshell, I thanked myself for being a planner throughout my one year and a half as I can see myself being organized and well prepared on top of handling my kids, enduring online classes during pandemic & having the perseverance in burning the midnight oils along my master years. I am happy when my juniors use the template and to see themselves being more organized, prioritized their works, allocated the right amount of time & produced the best outcomes possible at the end of the day.
Thank you for your time reading. InshaaAllah see you in the next post!
Love always,
AliahMazli
Thursday, September 23, 2021
5 BENEFITS OF PUSHBIKE/BALANCE BIKE - A WORTHY INVESTMENT FOR MY CHILDREN
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
"What kind of bicycle is that?"
"How can he ride it without pedals and brakes?"
"OMG! No pedals and brakes? Is that even a bicycle?"
*staring at my son and his pushbike with a VERY confuse face*
Those were the sentences and facial expressions that I got whenever my son and I had our time at the park where he will leisurely ride his pushbike. No, I am NOT offended. I understood their confusion and maybe there were many questions popped inside their brain and hoping someone to answer them 😁 I am happy and willing to do so but unfortunately, no one was asking. Never mind, some other time maybe.
So, what exactly is a pushbike anyway?
Pushbike is basically a bicycle with pedal-free and brake-free. They will use both of their feet to move the bike, control the speed, balance themselves and brake using their feet slowly. A pushbike is also good for balancing and stability while riding.
When I first heard about it from my husband, I frowned and didn't have that much trust and interest in it. However, I didn't disagree right away, I made time to do some research on articles and read about the benefits of it before agreeing to buy a pushbike for my son. These are amongst some of the articles that talks about pushbike and the benefits of it:
I felt awkward at first maybe because the culture of a pushbike is not widely known in the Malaysian culture. We usually use the tricycle where there are two training wheels that will support them. My friend once shared this when she stayed in the UK for some time where she has seen the culture of using pushbike there was widely used amongst the toddlers.
Due to that, my perspectives have changed after researching, reading and sharing from my friends and others on pushbike. I thought that this will be good as the training wheels can somehow support them for a period of time but once they are taken off, the kids might be scared or not confident to ride the bicycle straight away due to the inability to balance themselves.
This definitely hits home where I reminisced my time when I learned to ride my bicycle with my father. We practiced non-stop at an alley of our home and I remembered that I fall most of the times and I got scarred and bruises due to the falling. I cried tons that day too! I could recall how scared I was because I couldn't balance myself and I was not confident to ride without falling.
I knew my husband and I made the right decision of buying him a pushbike instead of a tricycle because we could see all the positive improvements/outcomes just like what have been stated by some of the articles that I have read. My son started to learn and ride a pushbike at the age of 4 (pre-school).
Here are the improvements that I could see on my son after riding a pushbike for 2 years and a half now:
1. His Enjoyment and Excitement
A pushbike is surprisingly so easy to use as it only has tires and a handle. The rest is up to the body to control and move the bicycle according to your own speed and balance. Purnama enjoys himself in exploring the pushbike and he can move it all he wants freely without any obstacles (such as training wheels). Whenever he wants to ride his pushbike, he always has this excitement on his face to ride the bike and see what kind of road is he going to explore that day.
2. His Confidence & Balance
In one of the article, it says, riding a pushbike helps to boost confidence and balance. I can clearly see that on my son where his confidence now as compared to when he first started riding it has increased 100%. He sometimes confidently and proudly showed me some of his freestyle moves. That is why riding a pushbike also requires a wide and spacious space for the kids. I can also say that his balance, while riding the pushbike has immensely made him look like a pro. He is not scared at all of falling as compared to his first time. This is because the pushbike is much closer to the ground and it has low impact on the child if they were to fall on their first time using it.
3. His Development in Motor Planning, Spatial Awareness & Vestibular System
I read on the articles beforehand prior to buying the pushbike and would love to see how it will grow on my son. Fortunately and positively, my son has achieved these three developments and I can smile widely knowing how affective the pushbike to him.
Motor Planning is the ability to turn corners and Fateh is able to turn even on the most curved and challenging ones. I believe with a pedal-free and brake-free have allowed my son to freely control the bike with his body, feet and balancing altogether have made him to be able to turn to any corners safely and with proper speed.
Meanwhile,
Spatial Awareness is the ability to learn how to avoid obstacles. Again, I couldn't agree more with this as I personally see how Purnama is able to control the speed and to calculate when he should slowly slow down using his feet to avoid any obstacles seen in front of him. I truly didn't regret and encourage parents to buy this for their children. The level of freedom while being in control of the bicycle is something that our children need to learn. It teaches them to be in control of whatever that they have (responsibility/things they own) at the moment (example, the pushbike).
On the other hand,
Vestibular System is the ability to learn how to balance and move. For me, personally, this is what a pushbike is all about. It is about how the kids learn to balance themselves because there is no training wheels that are going to help them. Apart from that, they need to learn how to move and use the feet and body as they are no brakes and pedals to help them to do so. It allows them to use their ability to take full control of their body and to think fast on how to work around the pushbike.
This is definitely an investment that I believe gives a lot more positivity, skills and knowledge for our children to learn on their own with our guidance. Above all, it allows them to have fun!
4. He Is Skipping the Training Wheels
Once your kid has mastered on the balancing, moving, avoiding obstacles, turning corners and many more, they can easily change to a normal bicycle in no time. I believe there will be struggles at first in the transition of changing to a normal bicycle. However, due to the full control and balance that they have gained firsthand with the pushbike, I believe they will do well and able to adapt faster.
5. Us, Parents Can Bring It Everywhere!
A pushbike is so small as it measures your children's height and weight when you want to purchase one so it only take a small space in your car boot to bring it anywhere. During pre-covid, whenever we want to travel back to our hometown, we will surely bring his pushbike ever since he was 4. So convenient and will definitely make our children happy!
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| His pushbike is his best friend. My son at 5 years old. |
I am happy that my son is able to experience things that I never get to do. I am excited to see his improvements in doing what he likes and to be able to see the growth alongside him. We allow our son, Purnama to explore his hobbies, likings and interest and try our best to accommodate to him by giving him full support and guidance. May he grow to be a healthy, active, upright and righteous son who can benefit others for Allah's sake inshaaAllah.
Remember not to only purchase the pushbike, but to also buy all the gears, kneepad, elbow pad and a bicycle helmet for first timers. They will REALLY need it. We always bring the gear just in case and to ensure the safety of our children first.
Thank you for your time reading. InshaaAllah see you in the next post!
Love always,
AliahMazli
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
TIPS SURAH APA YANG TERBAIK UNTUK DIBACA SEWAKTU MENGANDUNG? INI YANG SAYA AMALKAN.
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم
Dengan Nama Allah Yang Maha Pemurah lagi Maha Mengasihani
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| Sewaktu saya baru habis berpantang Fateh Purnama di usia beliau 2 bulan. |
Sewaktu saya mendapat kepastian dari doktor yang saya mengandung anak pertama waktu itu, gembira tidak terkata. Namun, pelbagai perasan dan perkara yang saya fikirkan termasuklah bagaimana nak mula untuk checkup anak, bagaimana nak sambung belajar sambil atasi masalah pregnancy sickness dan lain-lain.
Mula lah mode google saya dihidupkan untuk saya mencari mana-mana artikel atau perkongsian untuk saya rujuk dan baca. Itu adalah sifat semulajadi saya di mana saya akan membaca dahulu dan membuat kajian atas apa yang saya ingin tahu. Sejurus selepas itu, baru saya berjumpa dengan mereka yang berpengalaman untuk bertanyakan lebih lanjut tentang pendapat mereka.
Antara yang saya cari di laman sesawang adalah surah apa yang terbaik untuk saya amalkan sewaktu saya mengandung. Dari satu artikel ke artikel yang lain, satu perkongsian ke perkongsian yang lain, saya lompat dari satu muka ke muka yang lain. Semuanya menyenaraikan beberapa surah yang terkenal untuk dibaca antaranya adalah Surah Maryam, Surah Luqman, Surah Yusuf dan berbagai lagi.
Waktu itu, berbunga hati saya dan bersemangat untuk mengaji selama 9 bulan dengan harapan anak di dalam kandungan mendengar suara bondanya dan sambil itu dapat mendoakan yang terbaik buat mereka.
Sejujurnya, surah yang saya amalkan sewaktu mengandung untuk anak yang pertama dan kedua berbeza. Mungkin kerana waktu anak pertama, semuanya masih baru buat saya dan saya agak kekok dan hanya mengikut apa yang disarankan. Manakala sewaktu anak kedua, saya lebih tenang dan membuat persediaan sendiri tentang apa yang saya mahukan mengikut kemampuan saya.
Surah Amalan untuk Anak Pertama
Untuk anak pertama, saya mengikut bulat-bulat perkongsian yang saya dapat. Surah-surah seperti Surah Yusuf, Surah Maryam, Surah Luqman dan beberapa surah yang lain semua saya baca dan saya ulang baca sehingga saya bersalin.
Sambil saya baca, sambil saya usap perut sambil saya mendoakan anak saya mendapat keberkatan surah tersebut. Contoh untuk Surah Yusuf, saya membaca sambil saya mendoakan anak saya sempurna fizikalnya, cantik kejadiannya, mempunyai akhlak dan kecerdikan seperti Nabi Yusuf dan sebagainya. Sama juga seperti surah yang lain.
Sewaktu surah-surah tersebut dibacakan, dapat dirasa anak di dalam kandungan bergerak, kadang menendang seolah dapaat merasakan bondanya sedang berbicara dengannya.
Surah Amalan untuk Anak Kedua
Untuk anak kedua, lain pula ceritanya. Kali ini saya memutuskan untuk tidak membaca surah-surah tertentu sahaja sepanjang mengandung 9 bulan. Saya membuat keputusan waktu itu untuk khatam Al-Quran dari mula sampai akhir. Saya juga lebih fokus untuk istiqamah dalam menulis doa untuk anak-anak saya.
Sayangnya saya tidak dapat khatam bacaan Al-Quran saya, namun begitu saya dapat membaca surah-surah lazim yang saya amalkan sewaktu anak pertama. Syukur untuk itu.
Namun begitu, saya yakin dan percaya, apa jua surah yang kita bacakan sewaktu mengandung, fadhilatnya besar apatah lagi datang dari seorang ibu yang mendoakan untuk anaknya supaya sihat dan membesar dengan baik. Setiap surah ada kelebihannya dan jika disertakan dengan doa dan harapan yang penuh kepada Allah S.W.T, inshaaAllah anak kita di dalam jagaan yang baik.
Proses mengandung adalah satu proses yang sangat intim dan hubungan ibu dan anak telah terbina sejak awal lagi. 9 bulan kedengaran seperti lama tetapi percayalah ianya akan berlalu sekejap sahaja. Rancanglah bukan sahaja tentang keperluan anak apabila sudah bersalin nanti, tetapi rancang juga untuk kerohanian buat si ibu dan si anak sewaktu anak di dalam kandungan.
Semoga anak-anak kita membesar seperti apa yang kita doakan. Aameen Allahumma Aameen.
Terima kasih sudi meluangkan masa anda untuk membaca. InshaaAllah kita jumpa di perkongsian seterusnya!
Sayang selalu,
AliahMazli
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
6 ACTIVITIES THAT I OCCUPY MYSELF WITH; ASIDE FROM CONTINUOUS JOB SEEKING (4 MONTHS TO DATE)
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
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| by AliahMazli |
Have you ever felt numb as if you are living a monotonous and automated life every single day ever since the COVID-19 pandemic hits us? I do, I feel that way. This has been the 2nd year living with COVID-19, on top of the movement restrictions that are executed nationwide in Malaysia ever since 2020. In these two years;
- Homesick hits harder than usual. The longing has surpassed its normal level than I am able to comprehend and the need to meet my dear beloved ones has become surreal.
- My mental health is something that I need to take extra care for as to avoid myself from overthinking and worrying too much about my future. I need to remind myself to be optimistic at all times possible without neglecting the need to validate my own feelings upon digesting everything that is happening nowadays.
- My children has built a sense of fear to people especially my daughter as she has been living her whole life at home only. She rarely sees people physically and the nature as well. The sensory has somewhat become limited, for example her not wanting to feel dirty, not comfortable with being messy or have messy play. I believe it will take time for her in this aspect.
- I keep on searching for something that I am not sure of myself and the uncertainties keeps me feeling anxious at times but I am grateful to have such a strong support system to get me through the tough it.
- The need to have physical touch has increased immensely as we are not able to hug with our dear families and friends. When we are so used to have meet ups with friends, family gatherings and openly have social interactions with the people pre-covid, it felt really abnormal to not have that as of now where everyone is being very cautious of each other. It has come to a point where I am thinking for the other party of not coming any closer to them and the other party is thinking the same as I do.
Nevertheless, apart from the above that I am feeling and another long-list that I better keep to myself, I decided to do something to keep myself busy, be creative and thinking constantly. Since May 2021, I have been actively seeking for a job after I have completed my Master Degree. However, to this date I have not yet to secure a job offer. I do not want to have an idle 4 months and just sending resumes day in and day out. With the help of my husband in throwing ideas, I have planned a routine and daily schedule as to make sure that I have my days filled with productive activities. Similar to make believe that I am actually working.
What did I do? Here are the things that I have occupied myself with, aside from continuous job seeking.
1. I started to be active with my blog writing.
I have this blog created since 2012 but I have not being consistent with it. Hence, I need to sharpen my writing skills by sharing knowledge or anything that I feel can be of beneficial to others. I realized that my love for writing has never faded and it blooms when I started to be active back in writing on this platform. Writing has also become therapeutic for me where I am able to pour my thoughts, to organize my ideas and share what I write with others.
2. I actively post once a week as a starter on my LinkedIn profile.
I have my LinkedIn profile as long as I could remember but after attending various classes and sharing by others, I have learned some of the tricks to edit and personalize my profile. In August 2021, I took another challenge where I decided to be active in posting on LinkedIn once a week as a starter. I also started to follow those who are in the same field of my interest as I could learn more from them. There are mountains of knowledge that I can find there.
3. I surround myself with books and people that love books.
Taking some time to have a read everyday has made me feeling a little lighter than before. Sometimes I read silently, sometimes I read aloud many times on pages that attracted me. I followed some #bookstagrammers on Instagram to have a fresh insights on books that they are reading and enjoying the pleasure of seeing the aesthetic pictures of books.
4. I post 3x a week on my Instagram Feed.
I decided to make my Instagram platform not for the sake of merely posting without giving values to it. Hence I decided to create something, at least a post that contains something that is worth to be read. Here are some of things that I have recently started to do:
- Sharing reflections under my hashtag of #AliahMazliReflections and knowledge that I learned from various platforms.
- Sharing quotes designed by me either snippets from my blogspot or a simple quote that is related to any topics that interest me and that are close to me.
- Created an IGTV Series called Purnama Read Aloud Series where my son will be reading some books of his favourites. The main reason was to nurture the love of reading besides to have more intimate time with him while doing the recordings. I may have other plans to have other IGTV Series but well, this is a good start after all right?
5. I consistently attend online classes, listening to lectures/podcasts and have weekly sessions with family and friends via online platforms.
I believe I may not able to meet anyone physically anytime soon so, it is a must for me to keep check on my social interactions even though it means via online platforms. To me, at least I am able to see them, to hear their voice talking about any updates of our lives and to have discussions on certain matters. This is also important to keep the sanity in me.
6. I sew crafts for my pastime and I have enjoyed sharing the love of creating booksleves that fit the standard paperback books both softcover/hardcover. Seeing the feedbacks of those who received the booksleeves, made me beamed with joy and happiness to have their books protected.
Some people may question, why I don't just enjoy my time that I have with my children at home? Why do I have to burden myself having this schedule and to squeeze the ideas out of my brain to create contents on various platforms?
My answer is simple;
I believe in continuous knowledge seeking and I want to be a lifelong learner. I know that I am good in writing and I love to do that. If that can give self-satisfaction aside from knowing that I can learn more in improving my self-betterment, self-confidence, self-love and all the positivity available, why don't I? I believe that being consistent in the activities that I do now, may be fruitful in the future in ways I could never even think of (God wills it).
Thank you for your time reading. InshaaAllah see you in the next post!
Love always,
AliahMazli
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Salam !
Writing is a way that I can express myself and be connected with other people. Thank you for taking some of your time here--my blog, my space. I hope you benefit something from it.
