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Matt Willard · 10-12-2011, 11:11 PM

All right, I'm back and I've been discovering a lot of new, crazy stuff that makes life pretty wonderful as of late. But, there's still some stuff I want to work on, and I'm thinking that public accountability would be helpful for it.

Here's what I'm aiming to do this time - I want to increase my awareness and focus. See, I tend to flit from place to place in bursts of inspiration, and while being driven by inspiration and a constant source of enthusiasm is great, I'd still like some order so I can stick to doing things more consistently. I'd also like to not get online so often and wile away a ton of time essentially looking at nothing. With awareness, I can at least have a better chance to stop that.

So here's the thing. From Saturday, October 15th to Sunday, November 12th, I'll be training my awareness and focus with a few simple physical triggers:

A. When I want to give myself the signal to focus, I'll press my fingers together. I've done movements before to snap my focus back into place, like taking a few focused breaths, so this is just an extension of that.

B. When I get online, I'll have an activity log that I'll write in so I can maintain my awareness. I'll write the next thing I'm doing every time I switch gears, so I'm in the focused moment. And I'll do the finger-pressing thing to stay aware.

And, of course, I'll keep this journal going too in the meantime.

sandy · 10-13-2011, 09:55 PM

It seemed an interesting experiment you are going through, Matt

It's not too complicated, and I believe it's doable.

Good luck with your conscious trial

Matt Willard · 10-16-2011, 02:59 AM

Day 1

I did pretty good before 5 PM. Kept aware, kept focused for the most part. But I've been struggling with this for a while...old habit, I always used to stop at 5 PM for the workday and get online, and I haven't been able to quit doing that. This is why I started this trial. But now I have an idea - if I'm gonna have the desire to screw around at that point anyway, why not schedule another activity that isn't online for that time? That way it'd be easier to pop back into doing stuff mode.

So here's what I'll do: I've been meaning to call my sister anyway, so I'll schedule that tomorrow at 5, do this for a bit, see how it works out.

Matt Willard · 10-17-2011, 02:24 AM

Day 2

Scheduling something for 5 helped, though I was also often distracted by just "whee I'm everywhere today whoo" kind of stuff. The tricky part is catching myself, then using the focus trick. Once I do that, I can focus on what particular thing to do at this moment.

Tomorrow I've got a game from 2-6, 7 PM. I'll be relying on the focus trick to spring back into action afterwards and get some other stuff done.

Matt Willard · 10-18-2011, 03:45 AM

Day 3

Did a good job staying focused and not using online so much...the rest...eh? Got a little bit introspective with how I do things as a result, wondering if my efforts to focus really hard on using my purpose to guide my day-to-day life was essentially trying to focus on the results of instant, everyday motivation...aka, trying to beat Kolrami. Sure, I want order...but I need chaos too. I want the passion of the process to invigorate me, with the order of strategy to bring me on the path I want to travel.

Still, we'll work on focusing more tomorrow.

Matt Willard · 10-19-2011, 04:12 AM

Day 4

It's strange. I get riled up to do one of these trials and then most of my thoughts are occupied with something else I want to do. Those thoughts also took up today as I wrestled with solving the problem of just plain getting started. Finally decided to chill today, with the solution to simply shut up and let my gut figure out the answer in the future. We'll give it a run tomorrow.

Matt Willard · 10-20-2011, 03:11 AM

Day 5

Slowing the hell down and focusing really helped keep me together today, though I didn't get as much done as I would've wanted. Still, most of the day was salvaged, and I got in some good focus, so I'll call it a success.

Matt Willard · 10-22-2011, 03:02 AM

Day 6 and 7

Same theme for these two days - using attentive focus, concentrating on the experience of the process, and having fun. It's felt good. Though as I try to focus on more important things, doing less, I feel anxious that I could be getting more done. Especially in the evenings when I crave internet. I'll practice focusing more around 8-9 PM, still doing what I want to do and having fun.

Matt Willard · 10-24-2011, 03:54 AM

Cancelling this. This kind of structured habit change doesn't really seem to be for me anymore, not when I've made more lasting changes with a few strategic choices. And I think I can gain better focus with the right changes anyway.

10-12-2011, 11:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	30 Day Focus/Awareness Trial All right, I'm back and I've been discovering a lot of new, crazy stuff that makes life pretty wonderful as of late. But, there's still some stuff I want to work on, and I'm thinking that public accountability would be helpful for it. Here's what I'm aiming to do this time - I want to increase my awareness and focus. See, I tend to flit from place to place in bursts of inspiration, and while being driven by inspiration and a constant source of enthusiasm is great, I'd still like some order so I can stick to doing things more consistently. I'd also like to not get online so often and wile away a ton of time essentially looking at nothing. With awareness, I can at least have a better chance to stop that. So here's the thing. From Saturday, October 15th to Sunday, November 12th, I'll be training my awareness and focus with a few simple physical triggers: A. When I want to give myself the signal to focus, I'll press my fingers together. I've done movements before to snap my focus back into place, like taking a few focused breaths, so this is just an extension of that. B. When I get online, I'll have an activity log that I'll write in so I can maintain my awareness. I'll write the next thing I'm doing every time I switch gears, so I'm in the focused moment. And I'll do the finger-pressing thing to stay aware. And, of course, I'll keep this journal going too in the meantime.

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10-13-2011, 09:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
sandy Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: China Posts: 312	It seemed an interesting experiment you are going through, Matt It's not too complicated, and I believe it's doable. Good luck with your conscious trial

10-16-2011, 02:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	Day 1 I did pretty good before 5 PM. Kept aware, kept focused for the most part. But I've been struggling with this for a while...old habit, I always used to stop at 5 PM for the workday and get online, and I haven't been able to quit doing that. This is why I started this trial. But now I have an idea - if I'm gonna have the desire to screw around at that point anyway, why not schedule another activity that isn't online for that time? That way it'd be easier to pop back into doing stuff mode. So here's what I'll do: I've been meaning to call my sister anyway, so I'll schedule that tomorrow at 5, do this for a bit, see how it works out.

10-17-2011, 02:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	Day 2 Scheduling something for 5 helped, though I was also often distracted by just "whee I'm everywhere today whoo" kind of stuff. The tricky part is catching myself, then using the focus trick. Once I do that, I can focus on what particular thing to do at this moment. Tomorrow I've got a game from 2-6, 7 PM. I'll be relying on the focus trick to spring back into action afterwards and get some other stuff done.

10-18-2011, 03:45 AM	#5 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	Day 3 Did a good job staying focused and not using online so much...the rest...eh? Got a little bit introspective with how I do things as a result, wondering if my efforts to focus really hard on using my purpose to guide my day-to-day life was essentially trying to focus on the results of instant, everyday motivation...aka, trying to beat Kolrami. Sure, I want order...but I need chaos too. I want the passion of the process to invigorate me, with the order of strategy to bring me on the path I want to travel. Still, we'll work on focusing more tomorrow.

10-19-2011, 04:12 AM	#6 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	Day 4 It's strange. I get riled up to do one of these trials and then most of my thoughts are occupied with something else I want to do. Those thoughts also took up today as I wrestled with solving the problem of just plain getting started. Finally decided to chill today, with the solution to simply shut up and let my gut figure out the answer in the future. We'll give it a run tomorrow.

10-20-2011, 03:11 AM	#7 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	Day 5 Slowing the hell down and focusing really helped keep me together today, though I didn't get as much done as I would've wanted. Still, most of the day was salvaged, and I got in some good focus, so I'll call it a success.

10-22-2011, 03:02 AM	#8 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	Day 6 and 7 Same theme for these two days - using attentive focus, concentrating on the experience of the process, and having fun. It's felt good. Though as I try to focus on more important things, doing less, I feel anxious that I could be getting more done. Especially in the evenings when I crave internet. I'll practice focusing more around 8-9 PM, still doing what I want to do and having fun.

10-24-2011, 03:54 AM	#9 (permalink)
Matt Willard Family Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 1,334	Cancelling this. This kind of structured habit change doesn't really seem to be for me anymore, not when I've made more lasting changes with a few strategic choices. And I think I can gain better focus with the right changes anyway.

Personal Development for Smart PeopleTM Forums

Personal Development for Smart People^TM Forums