Tips for Car Driving in United States (for those of us from India):

Rule Number 1 : “STOP MEANS STOP”

Driving in the U.S. is more about following the rules. So even in the dead of a night when there is a STOP sign at the intersection you got to stop ,watch and then proceed.So, get to know the rules thoroughly. If you have a friend who drives ,sit with him in the car on the passenger seat for 3 or 4 days to get to know the signs, rules .Also each State has a driving guideline that is available online that you need to be aware of.

Rule Number 2:”Think Big Start Small”

Irrespective of your driving experience in India, don’t jump start to driving in the highways in U.S. Start small by driving locally (speed limit is 40 MPH or so) by practicing the Rule No 1. Get comfortable with signals, lane change, watching for blind spot and local traffic rules. Once you are comfortable driving locally, you can jump into the highway.

Rule Number 3:”Know the Place”

Even though you may have a GPS to help out to reach a new place, it helps to know the route beforehand so that you have a mental map of where you are heading. So, Check out the google  maps..Know the major roads/drives that you need to take.This is very important because you need to be on the correct lane to take a Turn/Exit or to even go Straight!!!  . This helps me as I my reaction time is awful…

Rule Number 4: “Take a driving Class…If you need to”

I was not confident of driving …and so I went to a driving class .While it is a shade expensive ($80 for 2 hours) , I found it to be of tremendous worth as I got the confidence to be on the road. You can search for “Asian driving  schools” in your area who offer driving lessons. They are less expensive with no language accent issues….

Rule Number 5:”Throw away your Previous driving habits ”

So throw away your habit of cutting lanes, Honking, Passing on the wrong side or Jumping the Signals. Stick to the Rules and enjoy the driving

Do not Think Twice about the same Thing!!!

The major loss in this age of Multi-tasking, Information Overload & Internet tyranny is the chain of our thoughts. We switch tasks so often that we are pushed to the limit of attention deficit disorder. Consequently, we start thinking over and over again on the same issue leading to loss of productivity. Yes..In contrary to popular opinion, Multi-tasking definitely leads to loss of productivity !!!

So What is the  alternative when we are forced to multi-task?

The solution is to track the chain of thoughts from where we left...And to do that the best way is to record the Views/Ideas/Thoughts as a running notes in a notebook. You may wonder how the Pen & Paper could become a solution to this complex problem of Multi-tasking.

The simple Pen & Paper acts as a memory dump and helps us to regain the chain of thoughts.This helps us to continue our thought process from where we left rather than to going through the same thoughts all over again. You could try the experiment for a day and fell the difference for yourself. Take a Paper and pocket notebook everywhere you go just for tomorrow. As soon as you hit upon a problem/idea/thought, make sure to record it in the notebook briefly. The next time you think about the same issue don’t worry ...be rest assured that it is already recorded and you can continue to focus on the current task on hand.If yoy strike upon a new idea record it in the notebook.

At the end of the day you can go over the notebook and see for yourself the array of potential solutions /thoughts/ideas. It would be refreshing for you as well because you are plugging the mental energy leak by avoiding to think about the same issue twice.