Fhynix is the calendar app for families as they manage schedules across school to-dos, work, home tasks, social commitments, kids activities and more. The best part is you can share this calendar with your family and it becomes a single view of what matters to you as a unit. Read on to see how Nidhi uses Fhynix to simplify her life.
Tell us about yourself
Hello! I am Nidhi Gandhi. I started my professional career as a fashion designer and over the last 5-7 years have re-focussed my life on two things I love the most- Dance and Make-up. I toggle most of my days between either performing on stage as part of dance ballets or as a professional makeup artist, helping my clients “magnify their beauty that already exists”.. I live in Mumbai with my small nuclear family- my husband and my two adorable boys aged- 8 and 5 years. Fun fact about me: We have lived in more than 5 countries over the last 10 years and love the diversity that every culture has to offer. “Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.” – Mary Lou Retton
Recently my troupe and I did a show here at NSCI. Speaking about my passion, I’m conducting a 2 day makeup workshop in October for all makeup enthusiasts. You will learn everything about the right skincare and make up products for different skin types with hands-on practice. You can find more information on my instagram page. Let’s learn more about makeup together!
What does your typical day look like?
My day starts early at 6:45 am. I get my kids ready for school and drop them off. To stay fit, I try to workout at least 4 days a week- two days at the gym in the mornings and 2 days zumba – dance is my happy place!
I work with a lot of clients, each having their individual requirements and hence my schedule is spotty. Sometimes it’s an early morning event or late night shoot. I also travel quite a bit for my make-up assignments and my dance roadshows. So I have to plan well and make sure I am able to prioritize the things that matter to me – family, work, kids, health and self-care. In addition, I take time for meditation and read self-help books. Over the past few years, both these habits have helped me to get perspective and stay grounded on things that really matter to me.
What activities or hobbies are your kids currently pursuing?
He is currently pursuing these which is a balance of physical and mental habits:
- Cricket – Both boys are big fans of cricket. We watched the IPL at Wankhede this year and didn’t miss a match on TV. They both go for cricket coaching twice a week and love it!
- Art – My younger son loves art and can sit for hours finishing his painting. He love to try different genres of painting and has been doing for months now
- Creative Writing – Both my kids pursue this and I feel it has opened their minds to creativity and improved their ability to express themselves with words and emotions. It;s been almost 14 months now.
- Swim – The kids have been doing this before the lockdown and now have continued it again. They really enjoy it and are keen on learning more forms of swimming.
How do you currently manage your priorities and what are the drawbacks with this approach?
I have used a diary for the longest time to keep a track of my professional commitments. But not so much on the personal events. I use notes as well to manage my to-dos. So you can see that one is a digital format and one is a physical one and not sure what keeping things in the mind is. As the kids’ school activities, PTMs started adding up, it got a bit challenging to manage multiple tools and searching/editing across them. In order to consolidate my notes and tasks, I started using Fhynix – so it became my one-stop-shop for family events, kids activities, self care, work, home chores, travel planning and more.
The Calendar App for Families: Fhynix
Staying organized has helped me see how I spend my time, are my priorities being met and how I can optimize time to do what matters to me.
Before Fhynix – I used apple notes for to-do’s and my diary to manage important events not as a daily organizer. I used to keep a lot of things in my mind too!
Here is how I managed it earlier ->
After Fhynix– I have been using it for more than 6 months now. I had the inertia to switch from physical notes and try calendaring. So I kept moving back and forth on it. What got me used to it was that I don’t have to use 2 tools for notes and calendaring. Also I really like the Whatsapp feature to quickly add events.
Notes
Digital notes have been a blessing since now I can keep a track of things that are pending and mark them done without having to carry my diary around.
One feature you like about Fhynix?
I love the whatsapp event feature. It makes event creation so easy:
- I can send a text message or voice note – Add birthday for June 29th at 3 pm at Shott and it gets added to calendar
- I can also forward birthday invites images or school to-dos and it gets added to calendar
The benefit of an calendar isn’t the event addition but the consumption of events and the schedule. Helping parents use the widely used whatsapp to add events to the calendar is a great way to help them reduce stress, stay organized and plan their time better.
In addition, I love the hyperlocal events in the app where I get to see what’s coming up for the next few weeks and we can attend events as a family. For eg: The Designer Loft Event at St. Regis in Mumbai. I got to know about it via the app. Here is a preview too.
Based on your learnings as a parent, how can we make Fhynix helpful to more parents?
Staying organized helped me manage my priorities. Now I get more time to pursue my passion while being up to date with my kids and family activities. Fhynix has made it possible with its all in one calendar view that keeps me from double booking my calendar. I also get insights on the app every week helping me understand where I spend most of my time. This helped me focus better on what is important. The whatsapp bot has now made it easier to add events to my calendar helping me better than ever. I’d also love for the app to help me find time and pursue relevant activities and see how parents around the globe are managing their time.
3 tips for parents based on your experience
- Be ready to accept your weaknesses: There are many times when our kids say things that are so basic yet true. We have our biases growing up and there is no harm in accepting mistakes or learning from your kids. Our kids, our mirrors!
- Practice what you preach: There are times when I want my kids to make healthy eating choices or limit TV. It dawned on me that the best way to do so was to walk the talk. Our home gets quieter at 8:30 pm and we are very particular about what we eat.
- Trust your kids but with their minds: Parents need to trust their kids but also make sure they are not completely blinded. Our kids need to know we have their backs but also need to know that we value truth and honesty.
Can you share one hack that has worked for you?
I usually plan my meals every week so I don’t spend too much time everyday deciding what to cook. Meal planning has helped me not only save time and energy but also to source the right groceries before time. I am conscious about what we as a family eat and make sure to have healthy options for our meals. I order gluten free alternatives from Merkonfet and Gourtmesane.
Source:Whatparentsask.com
Any specific frameworks you use for time management?
I use the Eisenhover matrix, which is one of the most popular frameworks for time management and can also be used by parents. This is a productivity tool that helps people prioritize tasks based on their level of urgency and importance. It’s divided into four quadrants, with urgent and important tasks in the first quadrant, important but not urgent tasks in the second quadrant, urgent but not important tasks in the third quadrant, and unimportant and not urgent tasks in the fourth quadrant. By using the matrix, busy moms like me can manage our time more effectively and be more productive. Here’s the template one can use to divide the tasks.
What apps do you use and why
- Instagram – For local information and trends, it helps me keep updated on classes, events, fashion, etc
- Swiggy: My go to app for food deliveries & quick last minute orders. Helps me save time
- Pinterest – I create boards on kids activities, dress up days and find inspiration
- Zepto – I use it for ordering quick groceries and last minute requirements
- Spotify: Love their music recommendations and their collection of podcasts. Helps me discover new music
- Nykaa: I get all my makeup essentials from Nykaa. Amazing deals!
- Zara: I love their collection and the quality amazes me. I get most of my shopping done from Zara
- Massimo: This is a premium spanish fashion brand that also has amazing collections for everyone. Amazing quality!
- Inshorts: I get my daily news updates from Inshorts. This app helps me glance through all things happening in the world in the form of quick news that doesn’t long to read.
- Fhynix: I use Fhynix to manage my schedule, mentioned above and to organize my day and week. The timely reminders help me to remember school to-dos, dress up days and also get contextual suggestions for what’s coming up – return gifts for an upcoming birthday, summer camps, etc
Can you share any handles your follow so we can tag them
Andreea Ali: She is a Paris based exceptional beauty influencer whose content never fails to captivate me.
Puneet B Saini: She is a celebrity makeup artist and I love her content. I like to take my inspiration from this handle.
Three qualities you would like to see in you child as he grows up – confidence, humble and patient
- Confidence – Today’s kids do have a lot of confidence but i would want my boys to be confident in choices they make and be strong to handle the consequences.
- Humble – Being humble has become rare and this is seen in many day-to-day interactions. I feel being humble helps us be empathetic and form stronger bonds with people.
- Patient – Patience is a virtue. It helps you deal and react to other people’s actions. I am also learning this – so I guess we both can learn together!
We asked Nidhi’s friends to describe her
My friends are my sounding board. Excited to hear what they have to say 🙂
- “One word for Nidhi is that she is a superwoman. She somehow manages to get everything done on time, all the time and so gracefully!” – Meha, Baker
- “Nidhi is the wildest, craziest , funniest girl I know while she is also the most devoted mom, wife and homemaker as Bhartiya Nari as you can get while she is also super multi talented!” – Richa Vohra, Principal Designer- Design Dimensions
- “My core memory of nidhi is the first year when she got married and invited me home for rakhi lunch where she made all my fav things , it’s was the warmest and fuzziest feeling, the love of a sister a bhabhi I never had” – Delaruz, Baker
- “I have known nidhi for more than a decade now! One thing that describes her is free! She wears her heart on her sleeve and thinks from her heart! No inhibitions and no reservations!”- Meghana Mittal Shah, VP- Nykaa
- “What strikes me about nidhi is self awareness and the drive to be a better version of herself. She learns and unlearns and re-invents herself – she is pursuing gym and yoga which are orthogonal to her love for dance and art. She is very genuine and every conversation with her is a mood uplifter! I am so glad our paths crossed.”- Almitra Karnik, Fhynix Founder
