Hey friends,

It’s been a while, but I promise my absence hasn’t been wasteful.

This newsletter has always been my pride and joy in content and I have truly missed writing unscripted each week. One of my goals for the second half of 2024 is to show up here weekly, so you can expect a weekly dose of Daanish’s unfiltered thoughts from now on.

I started this newsletter during my gap year before med school and I’ve just completed my 4th year. It’s unbelievable how much has changed in those 4 years. Pressing send on that first email all those years ago had a domino effect and changed my life.

I just want to thank anyone for reading, especially those of you who have been around from the start - I recognise all of your names btw. I’m super grateful that I can take a break and come back after some time off and still have people from around the world interested in what I have to say.

For all of you, I promise to bring you value.

I’ve got around 7 weeks of summer holidays now, my last every summer break before I graduate and go into the working world as a doctor, so I’m trying to be intentional with how I spend my time off.

Today I’m going to let you in on my plan, so if any of you have a long summer break you can too use it productively in terms of work and rest.

You must know where you are before you plan on making a change

I did a giant journal entry using The Daanish Method - the best journaling method of all time. That helped me reflect on everything and figure out where I’m at with Deen (Faith), Studies, Health, Finances, Relationships and Creativity.

Since I just came out of an exam season my work ethic and productivity is at it's peak. I had days where I genuinely did 10 hours of work (Wallah 10 hours of focused work. I do not recommend that.) but it showed me how much I’m capable of in one day.

I intend to transfer that level of intensity into everything else in life.

Don’t oversubscribe with too many projects

It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing too much at once, so the first step to a productive summer is to prioritise the few things you REALLY want to focus on. I intend to focus on the following:

• Content creation → Rebranding and becoming a thought leader in the USMLE, positioning myself as a mental health/psychiatry-focused creator and bringing back the high-quality videos that you’re all used to.
• USMLE → Completing the exams (USMLE Step 1 & 2), my elective and documenting that process to show others how it’s done.
• Zen Mode → Going back to my early to sleep, early to rise, reading books, writing, curating, and creating a zen-like routine.

I don’t write ‘Family time’ in my goals because family time is a given. It’s not something I should need to plan for.

Break everything down into Small, Specific, Simple (SSS) tasks

I’ll give you an example.

I want to pick up where I left off with my Step 1 prep. Instead of saying ‘Study for Step 1’ I broke it down into steps:

1. Open Pathoma textbook
2. Read through highlights
3. Rewatch videos
4. Complete Anki reviews for those chapters
5. Practice relevant AMBOSS questions
6. Repeat Step 1

This makes the task of studying super simplified and easy to follow.

Don’t schedule tasks, time-block your day for different ‘modes’

If you try to plan your day meticulously with those SSS tasks you will spend too much time planning and not enough time doing. But how do you decide what to do and when? Timeblocking.

It’s been studied as one of the most effective productivity principles that high-performing CEOs use. It’s what Cal Newport talks about in Deep Work. Categorise your time in the day. Group tasks that require a similar mental frequency and energy together.

I like to split my day into the following:

• Zen mode → Morning routine, Walk, Stretching, Meditation, Breakfast, Writing
• Work mode → USMLE studying, Scripting, Editing, BTS work of social media
• Creative mode → Filming, Recording, Uploading, Posting stories & engaging, front-end stuff

Here’s what my calendar looks like when I time-block (I use Google Calendar).

It’s flexible too, I can take breaks to pray, speak to my family or run errands if I want to. You can see I have nothing planned after 6pm just incase I need extra time for anything or feel like working more. Otherwise, I can take the evening off.

That’s how I plan my summer in a nutshell. The only thing left to do is execute. Hopefully this time next week I’ll have made some good progress and will have another useful reflection for you guys.

Thankyou for reading,

Daanish

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🩺 Medical School Update

I just finished the UKMLA exam, the biggest exam I’ve done to date. Crazy how they examine us on 4 years worth of content, even crazier that I managed to pull it off, Alhamdulillah. I’ll be adding an article all about the UKMLA on my website soon along with some content reflecting on the exam. I know the medics coming into 4th/5th year now will want me to spill the tea.

I got you.

I’ve realised that medicine isn’t all that hard. I know it seems like a lot but as each year passes by, you seem to remember and understand more stuff. Sometimes it’s just a matter of sitting down and telling yourself, I’m going to sit here until I understand this. I now feel confident with ECGs, CXRs, CTs and MRIs just because I forced myself to sit down and understand them.

It’s funny that every year the exams feel somewhat challenging, but a year later you look back and they look easy. I could sit the Y3 exam right now and ace it. But a year ago I was finding it challenging. It’s very nice to see and feel that progress.

My doctor friends tell me that it is very satisfying when you work and use the knowledge with real patients. That makes me feel better about learning all this seemingly pointless information.

I have a little break now then Y5 starts again in August. I’m really looking forward to next year, as it’s my last I’m going to make the absolute MOST out of being a student for another year.

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👇🏽 Cool Stuff

🎥 TV Show: Upload (iMDB 7.8)​

This is a show on Amazon Prime Video, it’s about a futuristic world where you can upload your consciousness to a digital world where you can live forever (if you’re rich and can afford it). It’s basically like a RomCom movie but as a series, light and entertaining. I rarely watch series so trust me this one is good.