avatarDr Mehmet Yildiz

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Abstract

May</li><li>preparing an application for a coaching certification</li></ul><p id="f352">All of these tasks were stimulated by the productivity urge.</p><p id="d2f7">I was overloading myself. Also, I noted with more than a hint of regret that many of these quests to be productive were putting undue pressure on others to be productive too.</p><p id="cd85">It was time to be <i>less productive</i>.</p><p id="fb98">I set about culling my list.</p><h1 id="47d5">Forgiveness</h1><p id="fbe1">Let’s be real for a second. There’s a pandemic out there. We’re all in quarantine. A lot of people have lost their jobs and even those of us lucky to still be working have all but lost the structure to our days and weeks.</p><p id="dc2f">News cycles are punishing. Everything takes more effort. Energy levels are low. Mood can be low too. It is not a time to overload: it is a time for self-care.</p><p id="4f3b" type="7">That can actually mean doing less. And that is ok.</p><p id="3467">I began cancelling things. I cancelled the webinar on remote working. My friend who was organising it with me immediately said thank you.</p><p id="1f94">I postponed the second work-related webinar. Two work colleagues agreed it was a good idea.</p><p id="09b7">Launching the new Medium Publication is still an ambition, but I am taking my foot off the gas with that. It can happen later in the year. I forgive myself.</p><p id="0812">I am also taking the pressure off myself to write at all. I still get huge enjoyment out of writing for Serious Scrum, but my inspiration is lower, and that is ok: it always ebbed and flowed. I forgive myself for my lower rate of publication.

Illumination is a new project for me. I have no idea how much I will write here and, you know what, I forgive myself for that uncertainty as well.</p><p id="e954">Writing this feels confessional and unusual for me. It is not how I normally write. But it feels good. As I write, I forgive myself for over-sharing.</p><p id="4a1d">I hope others will recognise something in my story and perhaps begin to forgive themselves for doing less too.</p><h1 id="87bd">Distraction</h1><p id="a2be">It’s probably fair to point out: I didn’t cancel <i>everything</i>.</p><p id="e2c4">The meet-up in May was a request from a friend and the topic is one I’ve written ab

Options

out already, so I’m going to continue with that. My friend did ask me this weekend if I was still ok to do it, and I had an opportunity to say no. For once, I didn’t automatically dismiss the idea of saying no. I forgive myself for thinking about saying no.</p><p id="0f00">Also, I continue to be inspired to apply for a coaching certification. This is a long-term ambition of mine, and there is no time-sensitivity to the application process. I choose to take that pressure off myself now, and I also choose to forgive myself for taking my own sweet time with it.</p><p id="d7b2">I allow myself these distractions because they are meaningful to me.</p><p id="53ec">Also, without the overload of other tasks, I can do these at a pace that makes more sense to me.</p><figure id="20f5"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*IiUm2PXzVt6r4zhg"><figcaption><b>Flight Safety Instructions</b></figcaption></figure><h1 id="e2b3">Moving forward, one step at a time</h1><p id="9703">You do not <i>have to</i> be productive.</p><p id="c7d3">You need to care for yourself so that you can care for others. Watch out for the to-do list and that feeling of being a little overwhelmed. It can creep up on you.</p><p id="9383">Forgive yourself for taking on less. It’s ok.</p><p id="2b1a">Forgive yourself for your low energy. It’s ok.</p><p id="4d89">Forgive yourself for your low mood or for those days when you don’t want to do anything at all.</p><p id="5160">It’s ok to not be ok.</p><p id="b459">Flight safety instructions tell us:</p><blockquote id="a104"><p>“If you are travelling with a child or someone who requires assistance, secure your mask on first, and then assist the other person.” (Source: <a href="https://activerain.com/blogsview/2535480/put-your-own-oxygen-mask-on-first">Active Rain</a>)</p></blockquote><p id="0be5">Self-care means that, rather than feeling pressured to be more productive, you might need to go out for a walk instead.</p><p id="45ff">By taking on less and looking after yourself, you will put your figurative oxygen mask on. This will help you to breathe better.</p><p id="5277">First things first. Breathe.</p><p id="8085">If you can, cancel the things you don’t need to do right away.</p><p id="5e33">It’s ok. You can forgive yourself.</p></article></body>

Daily Success Stories from ILLUMINATION

A New Bridge for Greater Success

ILLUMINATION is extending capabilities beyond Medium to bring more subscribers and fresher content to the ecosystem.

Image by Marcos Silva from Pixabay

Every success story is a tale of constant adaption, revision, and change. — Richard Branson

We are further stretching ourselves to grow and gain further success. This is an attempt for us to reach millions of readers. Our ecosystem is getting richer and stronger with constant innovation, fusion, and focused entrepreneurship each day. We have no fear of change and growth. We are committed and determined to succeed.

Today I created an additional challenge for writers to connect with published authors, established bloggers, and eminent educators. I shared my plan in a story to invite these professionals from outside of Medium to collaborate with us. My goal is to create a strong bridge between Medium writers and non-Medium writers.

To facilitate this collaboration effectively, I offer promotional use of our Slack channel as free of charge. You can find details from my story, which will be distributed to a large number of published authors, established leaders, and eminent educators in the industry.

I’d appreciate your brief comments to indicate yourself as a writer and your views for this extended collaboration. This initiative can create an important synergy for our writers and enable serendipitous encounters for our growth. Here is the story that you can provide comments and showcase your ownership of our publication.

Based on an assessment made by Arthur G. Hernandez, ILLUMINATION is the fastest growing publication on Medium. As of today, we have 7906 followers and 15K+ writers. Attached is the data-driven story by Arthur.

What did ILLUMINATION writers create today?

We try a new technique to engage our writers in the curation process. Based on good feedback from writers and readers in the last four days, I used the same approach today.

The more comments you add, the more visible our distribution list can get. Please remember to add tags to your comments. Tags help the readers to find the right content. Attached is a list of stories we created on ILLUMINATION today. You can start adding your comments. Shyness is not for writers, you need to promote your stories creatively to be known.

New Writers of ILLUMINATION

Requests are coming from multiple sources. It is possible to lose some requests. If you applied before and are not added to the publication yet, please send a request again from this link and I will make sure you join our publication on a timely basis. You are valuable to us!

I added many writers to our Slack channel today. Thank you for your requests. New writers are invited to join our Slack to have a chat and collaborate with other inspiring writers. We discuss editorial matters, Medium policies, content quality, and overall writing skills improvement. You can request an invitation to Slack from this link. Please type Request for Slack on the heading as I have many other requests from this link.

Please check our FAQ document for details of our publication. Our submission guidelines is in this document. If you can’t find answers to your questions in this article, please ask your questions to our editors and writers on Slack.

Articles about illumination

Arthur G. Hernandez

Timothy Key

Stories from ILLUMINATION distributed to Medium Topics

Eight fantastic stories were distributed to topics today. I enjoyed each piece and hoped they gain further visibility to a broader audience.

A story by Helen Cassidy Page was distributed to #mental health #self.

As story by Caelyn H. was distributed to #culture #society #world #self.

A story by Rosennab was distributed to #spirituality #religion #self #women #equality.

A story by Julia E Hubbel was distributed to #relationship #self #women.

A story by Kim McKinney was distributed to #work.

A poem by J.D. Harms was distributed to #poetry.

A poem by Bradley J Nordell was distributed to #poetry.

Content Quality Focus

Our current writers know that we strive for excellence. We aim to increase the quality of your stories and provide an enjoyable reading experience to our followers. Quality is an iterative process. I notice that the quality of our stories is increasing day by day.

New writers: please ensure that you check your stories for typos, spelling, and grammar errors before submitting them to the publication.

We have some volunteering editors who can perform proofreading for writers from non-English speaking backgrounds. You can search for volunteers from our Slack channel. One of the proofreading tools our writers recommend is Grammarly.

ILLUMINATION Social Media Links

We share our stories on the following platforms. We encourage our new writers to join and follow these links.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, Flipboard

Invitation to writers who may be interested in ILLUMINATION

If you want to join our growing and supportive publication as a writer, please leave a message via this link. We curate valuable content for our readers; we create awareness and visibility of our content to a wider audience. We also amplify Medium articles on social media to bring new readers and subscribers.

If you have already applied from different means and not added to the publication yet, please try again by directly writing to me. Some messages are easily lost on articles.

Several new top writers joined us. We now have over 15K+ writers. The more, the better for our diversity. We aim to appeal to millions by providing diverse and insightful content globally.

As a new reader, you might check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting on my reviews, observations, and decades of sensible experiments.

Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers

Make Your Lungs Healthier via Lifestyle Approaches

Make Your Pancreas Healthier via Lifestyle Choices

Make Your Kidneys Healthier via Lifestyle Choices

Make Your Brain Healthier with Ten Lifestyle Approaches

Six Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Lower the Risks of Mental Disorders

What Can We Do About NCDs Killing 41 Million People Yearly?.

Five Tips to Prevent Infectious Diseases.

Three Tips to Improve Cardiovascular Health.

Three Lifestyle Habits to Lower Dementia Risks

Reduce the Risks of Neonatal Disorders to Prevent Infant Mortality.

Reduce the Risks of Major Diseases with Healthy Lifestyle Habits

Defeat Fatty Liver Disease with Three Doable Tips

Lower the Risks of Heart Disease and Strokes in Five Steps

Defeat Metabolic Syndrome and Slim Down Waistline with Three Tips

Why 442 Million People Live Diabetic and What We Can Do About it

Reduce Liver Cancer Risks with Healthy Lifestyle Choices

I also write about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:

Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.

I publish my lifestyle, health, and well-being stories on EUPHORIA. I wrote several articles on major diseases and valuable nutrients for health. My focus is on metabolic, cellular, mitochondrial, and mental health. Here is my collection of Insightful Life Lessons from Personal Stories.

You might join my seven publications on Medium as a writer by sending a request via this link.

You might find more information about my professional background. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.

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