SlayWriter

Credit: istock Sleep is vital to human health. There is a saying: "A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book." It's an Irish proverb and to a great extent, it's true. Especially when you consider some of the benefits of sleep: Sleep helps to reduce stress. Sleep plays an important role in weight control. Researchers say that short sleep can affect appetite and lead to increase in BMI. Sleep acts as a mood booster. Sleep aids mental alertness. When you sleep, your body repairs itself. While many people understand the importance of sleep, somehow, they are unable to tap into it. Illnesses aside, our modern world seems to make it more difficult to enjoy these benefits. The thought of bills, social media, excess screen time, long commuting time, working multiple jobs and even deliberate sleep deprivation(for certain reasons) deprive many of good sleep. If you are unable to enjoy long sleep, this post is for you. I will give you simple, actionab...

Our climate change reality means that the earth's temperature is rising. Basically, our environment is getting warmer.  Greenhouse gases like Carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are some of the leading causes of ozone layer depletion and global warming. In trying to cool ourselves and our homes, we resort to technologies like air-conditioning systems. Air-conditioners are sadly one of the biggest sources of CFCs.  So while it's cooling us, it is releasing ozone layer depleting substances, which leads to more warming, then us trying to cool ourselves again - as you can see, it's a vicious heating cycle. Now, most ACs have stopped running on CFCs and now use halogenated CFCs which are supposed to be safer. However, they are not completely safe and production of ACs with halogenated CFCs are expected to stop by 2030. But, there's still the issue of energy conservation. According to the US department of energy , air conditioners use about 6% of all the elec...

    Image: Shutterstock Should you even workout during your period? Especially when PMS seems to be working against you. Bringing with it: Cramps Weakness Nausea and Dizziness Let's not forget the fact that as women, our bodies are so different that working out may be therapeutic for some, while to others it's torture. If exercising during your period sounds like torture to you, you probably think it's a bad idea. Pause! Before you rule out working out during your period, read on for how best to do it. What to consider before working out during your period Before you workout, it's important to consider the kind of symptoms you experience during your period. Cramps With cramps, working out may either reduce or aggravate them. This depends on the kind of workout you do though. In my experience and for some other women I know, ab workouts tend to worsen period cramps. Weakness Exercising requires energy and working out during periods is no different. If you find that you...

Online learning is here to stay.  And if you ever doubted its effectiveness, the closure of schools(as a result of covid-19) and migration to virtual classrooms by schools all over the world should have cleared it. Now if you were observant, you may have noticed two kinds of people this period: People  who complained about online learning : For this ones, they probably thrive in the classroom or enjoy face to face learning. So adapting to virtual classrooms isn't the easiest for them. People who were sharing multiple certificates - sometimes up to 3, 4, 5 e-learning certificates. On LinkedIn, I saw someone upload 12 certificates and I was wondering how he did it. Not because I think it's such a rare feat. No. I was wondering, did he actually learn? This, in fact is the crux of the matter and exactly why I'm writing this blog post. How can you get the most out of online learning? There are steps you must take for this to happen. Each of those steps will be in phases: Before ...

Cancel the trip! Girls trips are overrated. Seriously, cancel it. Why would you want to go ahead? All you would have is whining, complaining, drama,  passive-aggression, comparisons and ultimately regret. What's the fun in that? Some want to stay in a fancy place and have the time of their lives while some others are complaining about funds and feeling like the rest are showing off. Do you really want that? Unless of course you want to end up on a budget vacation, go ahead. But let me tell you what a budget vacation looks like: 1. Since everyone doesn't have the same lifestyle, taste or funds, you are going to miss out on quality fun because you want to carry everyone along. 2. You are going to come out of pocket for a lot of things because the penny-pinchers in your group won't be able to spend. You don't want to miss out on certain activities, so you would cover costs. You'd complain silently, then you'd hear them gossiping about you, you'd be...

It's selfie time!!! You know what a selfie is. When you scroll past your favorite social media, you are inundated by beautiful faces. You look at your fave slay queens in awe at how the camera seems to love them. "How can I replicate that? How can I get the perfect selfie?" you wonder. Not to worry, after reading this, your selfie game will never be the same. Now is taking selfies a vain hobby? It depends! What I can tell you is there are benefits to selfies. Why you should take great selfies 1. Opportunities- especially on social media, a pretty face can open doors. There are ladies I know who as a result of their super selfie powers have been asked to model face products, be the face of a photo project, etc. There are even people who you follow due to their cute pictures. By increasing their follower count, you open up opportunities for them to be brand influencers. 2. Emphasize your features - because a selfie is basically a self portrait, it emphas...

Last year was a bit difficult for me. Had my share of ups and downs with things seeming down for longer. In the midst of it all, my eyes opened to different things, the seemingly small things, the things we take for granted. Things like asking "How are you?" You see, I have a small but healthy circle of friends with whom I have a relatively constant communication with. I reach out to them and they reciprocate but that in itself isn't enough. It's cool hugging and giving high-fives to each other when you meet, diving straight into the gist you've been waiting to share and complimenting each other's outfits and complexion, but: You must be deliberate about care. You must be deliberate about the welfare of your loved ones and you must be intentional when you ask, how are you? This question is sadly asked really loosely. How many times have you asked how someone is, waited to hear the reply, and asked a follow up question or two? I can co...

A role model according to Merriam Webster dictionary is – a person whose behaviour in a particular role is imitated by others. A role model is often imitated in terms of looks, mannerisms, attitude and even life-changing decisions such as career, family and spiritual inclinations. Now the big issue here is: who is an ideal role model or who is qualified to be a role model? Should anyone be saddled with the burden of being anyone’s role model? Let’s face it, being a role model is a full time job. You are almost not allowed to make mistakes, have to put on a certain conduct; both in speech and action especially in public. You have to be careful knowing that your critics are ready to jump on you and your admirers, whether or not they realise it, are waiting to blame you for their missteps.  Here are the facts: Everyone, whether they like it or not, is someone’s role model. Everything you do is inspiring someone somewhere, good or bad.  You are a book anyone...