The Now and Scheduling

[rei]

So, in another thread Kishka asked about inability to focus on the past. I want to start a discussion about another side effect of presence.

I find myself dividing things into "now" and "non-now." But then it's still all now. Let's see, how to explain... anything on my list of things to do has an immediacy to it. But if I don't look at the list then it's gone. Out of sight, out of mind but a bit extreme in how gone it gets. Mainly though, it's this sense that anything on the list has an immediacy to it because I don't have a linear, structured experience of time.

This creates trouble when the project is too big to tackle in one setting. I take breaks, recharge, renew, but because of how I naturally experience time I am not good at judging how long it will take to finish something in a linear sense.

I think I have some HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) traits mixing in with this. Like, even if I just have three tasks I can be overwhelmed by that, and feel it bigger than it really is... since my senses are so delicate. But then there's also a depth to the task completion, so in that sense it is "bigger" than it looks on paper.

So I think the issue I'm posting about is a blending of both high sensitivity and presence to the extent of not really having the linear time experience.

Those of you who have a similar experience of time, what do you do in situations like this? How do you pace yourself when it's all Now? How do you estimate the "amount" of time it will take to complete a task in pieces when it is all now? How do you create reminders to complete a task that don't lead to stress? (Busyness is a difficult thing for me to experience, the sense of having many things to do...)

Interested in your thoughts, if you can relate to this.
Even if you can't relate, if you have suggestions that might work I'm open to them...

[wstein]

Disclaimer, I do not experience things like you do.

Being present is very much like being in the 'now'. It is when you are attentive to your current and actual situation. Being in the now means not using up resources trying to deal with things that are either gone in the past or have yet to arrive. Often the two come together.

Keeping a list of tasks is a way to be more present when you are distracted or you have trouble with memory. It's also possible that one's awareness is just not sufficient to maintain a complete view.

The 'now' is not a singular time. As suggested, tasks that have a lead time or prep work need to be started before they formally start. For example, work comes into the now when you need to leave to be on time to start. This necessarily implies non-linear time.

If you are experiencing immediacy to tasks on your to do list that are not in the now, then you are not being totally present. Learning detachment can help with this.

It's not entirely clear to me if you are unable to determine how long a task actually takes or if you are just unable to anticipate the effects of being overwhelmed and distracted.

I cannot adequately comment on being overwhelmed as this does not happen much to me.

A purely practical suggestion: Keep a master list of tasks but do not carry it around with you. Once a day only, copy only the tasks for that day to a mini list and carry that around with you. This will not solve the problem per se but might reduce the overwhelm.

[rei]

Originally Posted by wstein

Disclaimer, I do not experience things like you do.

Being present is very much like being in the 'now'. It is when you are attentive to your current and actual situation. Being in the now means not using up resources trying to deal with things that are either gone in the past or have yet to arrive. Often the two come together.

Hmm, well, maybe this is less the Now/Presence talked about by Ekhart Tolle.

Maybe it is more like the right-brained experience of time. Not naturally nostalgic (in some ways nostalgia 'doesn't work' for me, reflecting backwards just doesn't feel like it seems to feel for most people who do it), and not really naturally focused on "long-term planning" either. I suppose it might be more accurate to say this is the right-brained experience of time.

Things unfold in the moment, but say, when I record client requests I have to write down the date the request was submitted and move way out of my natural way of being to discuss "how long" it will take, or even just to figure out how much "time" has passed since they made the request.

I feel like I am constantly all-too-aware that linear time is an illusion. I suppose this shifts when I have, say, an appointment because I make myself step into the artificial passage of time more in cases like that.

Originally Posted by wstein

Keeping a list of tasks is a way to be more present when you are distracted or you have trouble with memory. It's also possible that one's awareness is just not sufficient to maintain a complete view.

My memory has been much worse since I had some intense metaphysical experiences. But again, this seems to be due to this right-brained experience of time.

Originally Posted by wstein

The 'now' is not a singular time.

What makes you say that? It is all Now, and we can divide up the Now however we choose - it can be this moment (this moment) this moment or it can be all those moments combined into Now.

Originally Posted by wstein

As suggested, tasks that have a lead time or prep work need to be started before they formally start. For example, work comes into the now when you need to leave to be on time to start. This necessarily implies non-linear time.

If you are experiencing immediacy to tasks on your to do list that are not in the now, then you are not being totally present. Learning detachment can help with this.

It's not entirely clear to me if you are unable to determine how long a task actually takes or if you are just unable to anticipate the effects of being overwhelmed and distracted.

I don't really pay attention to how long it takes, unless it's a task that I've learned in the past was more time-consuming than expected. This could also be a side effect of this right-brained experience of time. The left hemisphere is in charge of the linear, logical, structural so would be more inclined to measure duration.

Originally Posted by wstein

A purely practical suggestion: Keep a master list of tasks but do not carry it around with you. Once a day only, copy only the tasks for that day to a mini list and carry that around with you. This will not solve the problem per se but might reduce the overwhelm.

Yes, I've heard of this idea before. And as most of the culture I'm involved in uses a more structured approach to things, I can see the value in stepping into that even though it seems to conflict with my natural way of being. Thanks for the response.

[nicbrahms]

In my experience of being present, which I can't be 100% because I have a sense of things, albeit vague that will occur in the future of 3d world. However, my sense of now, which is where I am focused, I often miss appointments and what not cause I forget that they arrive guess I become so emmeshed in now nothing else matters.

To be honest I don't understand where you are coming from, I guess I am not there yet.

However, I have found that when I am now everything seems to take care of itself and if I do miss appointments, its cause I don't have an interest in attending anyway.

Yep so when I am now, everything pops into my mind as and when it needs doing and so it is all cool, like expanded me is keeping an eye on everything so I don't have to here.

Can you explain further what you mean in terms of losing linear time, or not having a sense of it etc?

Ta chuck.

[rei]

Well, Nic, I wouldn't say I am losing linear time, it's not like I glance at the clock and say wow where did the time go. That happens once in a while but isn't really the experience I'm talking about here. I just do not naturally feel a linear progression of time. I mean, I see how in the daytime the sun is out and later it sets but I do not feel a structural movement of time going forward, even when I check the clock throughout the day. I guess I might also say it's like I am one with time, so as time flows forward I'm in the moment of that flowing.

The culture of busyness and rushing around to get from a to b to c just feels rather foreign to me, so I end up quite overwhelmed at first when I throw myself into a situation that involves that kind of consciousness. This may also involve the sense of being a human being not a human doing, and when I'm doing I'm also more expressed as beingness.

Speaking in terms of my natural way of being, though. If I have somewhere I'd like to be at a certain time, then it's like I slide further into the cultural way of experiencing time but when I do not have anything set in my schedule like that I'm coming from this natural way of being.

[james6]

Do you think you may confusing doing and not doing, with now and not now?

[rei]

Originally Posted by james6

Do you think you may confusing doing and not doing, with now and not now?

Not sure? I do things in the present moment too. The above post where I talked about having things set in my schedule, I would still have tasks to complete but I take on my natural way of experiencing time when I am the one creating my schedule, and I still act within this way of experiencing time.

Another way this comes up is comparisons involving time - I do not usually feel like I can answer questions about whether current moment is more/less x than some previous moment. Or whether current experience of something is more/less x than a previous manifestation of that experience. It is just all happening now, and I'm sure my mind files away various experiences and patterns but I just don't consciously process information in ways that work well for comparisons involving linear time.

I don't really have an issue with the way I experience time, as I said I can slide into the more culturally accepted experience of linear time when I decide to - and I don't really see the purpose in shifting out of my natural state otherwise. But I do notice how my time experience interfaces with scheduling, was curious to see if others with a similar experience have found any hacks for this sort of thing.

I wonder if it has something to do with being psychic? I dunno.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by rei

But I do notice how my time experience interfaces with scheduling, was curious to see if others with a similar experience have found any hacks for this sort of thing.

There's a really great hack you might want to try, by shifting your timeline (your unconscious, "natural" sense of time) deliberately from being "in" your body to just outside and in front of your body, so that you are observing the whole timeline outside of yourself.

I use this deliberate shift depending on the results I want to get. Moving myself "outside" of time, so that I can observe and manage my movement through it, is very useful for entrepreneurial and other tasks where appointments and other agreements with others are involved. Being "in" time is wonderful for communicating, accessing intuition and other inner resources, and fully being present for others and to the moment. And it's delightful to be able to move freely and deliberately among time representations, like a fairy.

[Tanemon]

Originally Posted by rei

The culture of busyness and rushing around to get from a to b to c just feels rather foreign to me, so I end up quite overwhelmed at first when I throw myself into a situation that involves that kind of consciousness. This may also involve the sense of being a human being not a human doing, and when I'm doing I'm also more expressed as beingness.

Speaking in terms of my natural way of being, though. If I have somewhere I'd like to be at a certain time, then it's like I slide further into the cultural way of experiencing time but when I do not have anything set in my schedule like that I'm coming from this natural way of being.

I know the two ways of being. I had a brief couple of years in my 20s when I was living real cheaply and had little in the way responsibilities when, as you said, "rushing around to get from a to b to c just feels rather foreign to me". But mostly I've been a working guy, so I had to adapt to the world's schedules (the work hours of businesses during the day, the five-day work week, the months, the annual cycles, etc).

My issue has been a little different: I'm too left-brained to bring all of my intuitive capabilites into my waking life to the degree I might like, and too right-brained for the left-brained, scheduled modern world!

Anyhow - lacking much in the way of tangible description of just what you wish to do, Rei, in the way of tasks that need to be scheduled, I'll offer the following for what value it might have. Lists can be good things to make. And beyond the basic list, in my work life, I've learned to break tasks down into components - and at the end of each component is a "target". The target is the point at which the component is completed. It gives you something to work toward, and a teeny sense of accomplishment when you achieve it. (In essence, you can then 'check it off' of your list.)

Did you say you are keeping notes on tasks you are doing and how long they require? You can work out some averages by doing this, and these averages (while they can never, by definition, describe all possible anomalies of the future) might help you.

If you're self-employed, then decide on some regular hours of the day that you will work within and some hours that you will not. Exceptions to this must of course be allowed for, but it will likely drive you crazy less to generally stick within your defined work hours.

Because I'm in some ways too left-brained and in some ways too right-brained, my challenge has always been a kind of balancing act. The habits I've described have helped me do an acceptable or good job in the prevailing cultural world.

[st33med]

Originally Posted by Angela

There's a really great hack you might want to try, by shifting your timeline (your unconscious, "natural" sense of time) deliberately from being "in" your body to just outside and in front of your body, so that you are observing the whole timeline outside of yourself.

I use this deliberate shift depending on the results I want to get. Moving myself "outside" of time, so that I can observe and manage my movement through it, is very useful for entrepreneurial and other tasks where appointments and other agreements with others are involved. Being "in" time is wonderful for communicating, accessing intuition and other inner resources, and fully being present for others and to the moment. And it's delightful to be able to move freely and deliberately among time representations, like a fairy.

I like fairies!!!

I don't get what you are getting at. Outside of time? It sounds all sci-fi-ish and interesting. Can you elaborate more?

[Angela]

Originally Posted by st33med

I like fairies!!!

I don't get what you are getting at. Outside of time? It sounds all sci-fi-ish and interesting. Can you elaborate more?

Everyone has an unconscious way that they represent time, and it tends to imply a line. For instance, some people have their past behind them and their future in front of them; others have their past to the left and their future to the right; and others have very different sorts of "lines" like nautilus curves, spirals, slants, angles, all kind of things. It shows up in very interesting ways -- for instance, people say, "let's put all that behind us" or "let's look forward to the future," or you'll notice they wave off to the left when they're speaking of something that already happened, etc.

Most people tend to believe that everyone experiences time in pretty much the same way, but my experience has shown that no two timelines are exactly alike -- and our memories of the past and future are represented and organized in myriad ways.

If I were to think of something that happened two weeks ago, where would you point to it, relative to your body? And if I were to ask you about something that you're expecting to do two weeks from now, where would you point to that? Notice that it implies a line.

And notice if that line goes through your body, or if it runs outside your body, so that you can "see" the entire line. People whose timelines are inside their bodies (they pass inside time or time passes through them) tend to be very "in the moment" -- they are completely engrossed in what's happening right now, and they're often late for meetings, or suddenly look up and wonder how several hours have passed when it felt like minutes. People whose timelines run outside their bodies tend to be very timely () - they are on time for everything and get a little miffed when others aren't; they tend to enjoy using datebooks and planners. ("In time" people might buy a planner, but they'll never get around to actually using it. )

And some people go between the two without volition, and some deliberately change their representations of time to suit their purposes.

Take a look! It's pretty interesting, and there's nothing sci-fi about it -- it's a very natural world phenomenon that your unconscious mind takes care of time for you.

[st33med]

Hrm... I noticed that my line goes through my body. How do I put it it outside me and turn into a fairy ()?

[Angela]

Originally Posted by st33med

Hrm... I noticed that my line goes through my body. How do I put it it outside me and turn into a fairy ()?

Just use your active imagination. Let yourself know that this is a temporary thing and you can put it back inside your body when you're done. Relax and get in touch with your timeline, notice it going through your body. Now, just use your imagination to move it out in front of you, and notice you can see the whole timeline, past, present, and future. Notice how that feels. Does it feel good? Maybe you'll want to leave it there for awhile, and notice how your unconscious mind rearranges time for you -- maybe you will feel a stronger sense of what time it is throughout the day, maybe you will notice that you can set your unconscious alarm clock for a particular time and wake up at exactly that time. If it doesn't feel so good, just use your imagination to bring the timeline right back where it was.

By the way, please only do this exercise when you're feeling WELL.

[st33med]

It feels weird. Not bad, but different...

I feel like I am a little more aware of time and things around me. I am not letting myself disappear into the computer monitor; sorta like my focus is all around me. I'll leave this little ribbon outside me for now, see how things work!

(Sorry for hijacking the thread, I took some personal interest in this stuff )

[wstein]

Originally Posted by rei

What makes you say that? It is all Now, and we can divide up the Now however we choose - it can be this moment (this moment) this moment or it can be all those moments combined into Now.

Perhaps this was unclear. People often confuse the now with a singular time on the clock. I agree that 'now' is a singular moment. That singular moment occupies many points in (clock) time.

[rei]

Thanks for the replies. Got a bit overloaded today but wanted to respond briefly.

Angela, I tried the exercise you suggested. At first it felt like my unconscious mind kept sliding the timeline back to run through me. When I moved it again it made me feel slightly ill. So, not sure what to make of that or whether it would be beneficial to try it again - I sorta got the impression there was a good reason to leave it as-is.

A couple more points... I have not always had this type of time experience. I used to be a bit more, err, Type A with planning and scheduling and all of that. Oh, and st33med no apology necessary I wasn't able to respond in the thread but I was lurking and also curious to hear about the method.

Angela, a question - do you have any experience using your methods on a Highly Sensitive Person, someone whose entire nervous system is tuned to process things fully and deeply and has a reaction to environmental stimuli much sooner/faster/deeper than the other 80% of the population? Addressing the underlying origin of this particular situation so the person can, say, only continue to experience the felt-positives of the sensitivity? The HSP experience also leads to a lot of interesting and enjoyable experiences and tendencies... so I'd want to keep those...

I am just wondering whether an NLP type of approach to the situation can work in reformatting things so the system has the same overwhelm threshold as a non-sensitive. Also wondering whether an NLP type of approach can work without constant monitoring of things afterward. It's really not about the thoughts an HSP thinks, it's ultimately about the nervous system and genes and such. (As for belief, I had experiences fitting this description long before I heard of it.)

So much for brief

[BeyondtheWrap]

Originally Posted by rei

Things unfold in the moment, but say, when I record client requests I have to write down the date the request was submitted and move way out of my natural way of being to discuss "how long" it will take, or even just to figure out how much "time" has passed since they made the request.

I feel like I am constantly all-too-aware that linear time is an illusion. I suppose this shifts when I have, say, an appointment because I make myself step into the artificial passage of time more in cases like that.

Work tends to be like that. You have to do things that don't come naturally to you.

Sorry I can't be of more substantial help.

[nicbrahms]

Originally Posted by rei

Well, Nic, I wouldn't say I am losing linear time, it's not like I glance at the clock and say wow where did the time go. That happens once in a while but isn't really the experience I'm talking about here. I just do not naturally feel a linear progression of time. I mean, I see how in the daytime the sun is out and later it sets but I do not feel a structural movement of time going forward, even when I check the clock throughout the day. I guess I might also say it's like I am one with time, so as time flows forward I'm in the moment of that flowing.

The culture of busyness and rushing around to get from a to b to c just feels rather foreign to me, so I end up quite overwhelmed at first when I throw myself into a situation that involves that kind of consciousness. This may also involve the sense of being a human being not a human doing, and when I'm doing I'm also more expressed as beingness.

Speaking in terms of my natural way of being, though. If I have somewhere I'd like to be at a certain time, then it's like I slide further into the cultural way of experiencing time but when I do not have anything set in my schedule like that I'm coming from this natural way of being.

Hun, I don't think anyone has a structured or linear concept of time moving forward. That would involve clock watching.

We are all aware of time because it is built into our pysche, we couldn't become timeless yet if we tried. And losing time is the best way to be for it means you are so engrossed in the moment that you are unaware of the time.

Time is a mental concept and I can be in my store all day yesterday, long shift for 7 hours, however, before I knew it it was closing time. I have a few moments of awareness of time cause I checked it, but the rest of the time I was too engrossed in what I was doing to be asked with time and therefore there was no progression of time in my mind.

But if you mean you are experiencing time dilation then that could be a nuisance, I have that happen and have lost 3 hours plus at time, but I figure it wouldn't happen if it was supposed to happen.

So perhaps your struggle with time is a sign you need to look at something that is going on in your life. You seem frustrated with it somewhat, or at not putting accross what you mean clearly. Is that the case.

Just flow baby, just flow.

peace

[Angela]

Originally Posted by rei

Angela, I tried the exercise you suggested. At first it felt like my unconscious mind kept sliding the timeline back to run through me. When I moved it again it made me feel slightly ill. So, not sure what to make of that or whether it would be beneficial to try it again - I sorta got the impression there was a good reason to leave it as-is.

Trust yourself, and leave it as is. It can make people pretty seasick to move among time perspectives, and if it doesn't feel right to you, or if it has you feeling bad, there's no reason to force it -- there are other ways of accomplishing the same outcome.

Angela, a question - do you have any experience using your methods on a Highly Sensitive Person, someone whose entire nervous system is tuned to process things fully and deeply and has a reaction to environmental stimuli much sooner/faster/deeper than the other 80% of the population?...It's really not about the thoughts an HSP thinks, it's ultimately about the nervous system and genes and such.

Do you believe that your nervous system operates independently of your thoughts?

[rei]

Originally Posted by Angela

Trust yourself, and leave it as is. It can make people pretty seasick to move among time perspectives, and if it doesn't feel right to you, or if it has you feeling bad, there's no reason to force it -- there are other ways of accomplishing the same outcome.



Do you believe that your nervous system operates independently of your thoughts?

I do not believe it operates independently of them per se, but based on my experience my nervous system has that way of processing things whether I'm seeing it this way or not. When I have tried on the frame of 'person who can explore the environment easily with natural stamina' (before I found out about the label) I have still ended up needing to rest and recharge.

So it seems my thoughts can effect the intensity of the experience but my nervous system seems to respond to things this general way regardless of the thoughts I think.

[rei]

Originally Posted by nicbrahms

Hun, I don't think anyone has a structured or linear concept of time moving forward. That would involve clock watching.

We are all aware of time because it is built into our pysche, we couldn't become timeless yet if we tried. And losing time is the best way to be for it means you are so engrossed in the moment that you are unaware of the time.

Time is a mental concept and I can be in my store all day yesterday, long shift for 7 hours, however, before I knew it it was closing time. I have a few moments of awareness of time cause I checked it, but the rest of the time I was too engrossed in what I was doing to be asked with time and therefore there was no progression of time in my mind.

But if you mean you are experiencing time dilation then that could be a nuisance, I have that happen and have lost 3 hours plus at time, but I figure it wouldn't happen if it was supposed to happen.

So perhaps your struggle with time is a sign you need to look at something that is going on in your life. You seem frustrated with it somewhat, or at not putting accross what you mean clearly. Is that the case.

Just flow baby, just flow.

peace

Not really frustrated about it. In fact yesterday I decided to slow down time in my reality and that helped with the sense of busyness. Hmm, the thread was more about wondering if others have this experience and ways to address having a right-brained experience of time when there are more left-brained ways you would like to relate to time. I tried what Angela suggested but it did not feel very good so I dunno about trying again.

I like to flow and that is what I naturally do but then in some situations (like business situations) it's beneficial to have a more logical, structural, 'planning' way of approaching our experience in time.

@Angela: I know I'm probably coming across as resistant here. I think that is because it has been such a relief to find out why I experience that particular pattern. I have appreciated a sense of understanding and acceptance for myself in learning about it, felt touched in a deep and real place, felt heard and understood and accepted as I am. I would still enjoy the sense of boundless ability to interact with a very stimulating environment but based on my experience (more based on my experience than the label) that seems pretty unlikely. On the one hand I'd enjoy that sense of freedom, on the other hand I would feel some devastation if I made the effort to shift things in in a lasting way and found the pattern continued. So yeah if there was a guarantee that a specific approach would work as I want it to work I would organize my resources to use it/experience it, but since I'd not feel so great to go through that without the desired change I am interested in knowing how likely it would be to work. I wonder if I sound unreasonable here.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by rei

I do not believe it operates independently of them per se, but based on my experience my nervous system has that way of processing things whether I'm seeing it this way or not. When I have tried on the frame of 'person who can explore the environment easily with natural stamina' (before I found out about the label) I have still ended up needing to rest and recharge.

That sounds more like an affirmation than a reframe, and I can see how that might feel like it's not terribly effective for changing your experience of what's going on.

How about trying on the frame of "Resting and recharging are a couple of the many tools I joyfully use to expand into the limitless power, joy and abundance that is who I am"?

How does your nervous system feel about tools you can joyfully use for THAT purpose -- and how does that feel compared to seeing them as an overwhelming burden?

So it seems my thoughts can effect the intensity of the experience but my nervous system seems to respond to things this general way regardless of the thoughts I think.

Sure! We're human, and our nervous systems have general tendencies of how they respond to stimuli, and our thoughts can effect the intensity of the experience of those responses -- and can even transform our experience of the responses.

For instance, the stimulus of the ocean, as it occurs for two people, one is a person who surfs and the other is a person who has a phobia about the sea. One's nervous system as he walks into the water feels the icy chill creeping up his body and his thoughts interpret it as Joy, Adventure, Thrill, Delight, Vitality. He feels invigorated and alive! The other person's nervous system as he walks into the water feels the icy chill creeping up his body and his thoughts interpret it as dire threat. He feels pretty overwhelmed!

And at any point in their lives their situation could be reversed -- the surfer could have a near-drowning experience and transform his nervous system, or the other person could resolve and release his phobia. Their nervous systems would remain the same, but their experience of being alive would transform.

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by rei

Those of you who have a similar experience of time, what do you do in situations like this? How do you pace yourself when it's all Now? How do you estimate the "amount" of time it will take to complete a task in pieces when it is all now? How do you create reminders to complete a task that don't lead to stress? (Busyness is a difficult thing for me to experience, the sense of having many things to do...)

Rei, just use lists.

Every project, no matter how large, is just a series of many small steps. Eg a very complex project may ultimately consist of 300 individual action steps. At the start of the project, you probably won't know what Action Step No. 130, or No. 253, or No. 298 is going to be. But you probably know what Steps No. 1 to 5 are.

So write down Steps No. 1 to 5, and take action on those .... And be assured that as the outcomes of those first few steps unfold, you will be able to see from those outcomes what are the next steps you need to take.

Eg How to Build An Airport

Step 1. Google "How to Build an Airport".
Step 2. Print out the top five hits.
Step 3. Read the articles.
Step 4. Get a file and file the useful reading.
Step 5. Based on your reading, identify the next steps you need to take.

At any point during the process, all you need to handle is whatever you know you need to handle right then.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by rei

@Angela: I know I'm probably coming across as resistant here. I think that is because it has been such a relief to find out why I experience that particular pattern. I have appreciated a sense of understanding and acceptance for myself in learning about it, felt touched in a deep and real place, felt heard and understood and accepted as I am. I would still enjoy the sense of boundless ability to interact with a very stimulating environment but based on my experience (more based on my experience than the label) that seems pretty unlikely. On the one hand I'd enjoy that sense of freedom, on the other hand I would feel some devastation if I made the effort to shift things in in a lasting way and found the pattern continued. So yeah if there was a guarantee that a specific approach would work as I want it to work I would organize my resources to use it/experience it, but since I'd not feel so great to go through that without the desired change I am interested in knowing how likely it would be to work. I wonder if I sound unreasonable here.

Why's that (the bold part)? What would it mean about you that would have you feeling devastated if you made the effort to shift things in a lasting way and found the pattern continued?

(You don't sound unreasonable to me, by the way.)

[rei]

ALG, I'm honored that you shared in this thread, thank you! Lists work well for me when I let myself focus on what I actually need to accomplish in the current chunk of time.

Originally Posted by Angela

Why's that (the bold part)? What would it mean about you that would have you feeling devastated if you made the effort to shift things in a lasting way and found the pattern continued?

(You don't sound unreasonable to me, by the way.)

Heh, I almost added something related to this question in that post. I don't think it's a gremlin thing, though. I know my gremlin and I have actually seen evidence that it has been addressed to a large extent. It is more like I just feel everything deeply and I would not enjoy putting all that effort into shifting this experience unless it was going to work. In other settings or circumstances it might be about 'letting people down' or something like that, but in this situation I would just not enjoy that outcome because it's a bit exasperating to have already done so many different things to address this particular pattern without letting it go completely. The most I have come to is recognizing it, accepting it, understanding how it affects my way of being in the world, and doing what I can to make that easier. (Come to think of it, isn't that the outcome of what you do to help folks find their gremlins?)

It would mean that I am sensitive.
It would mean that I am tired of trying things to shift this pattern that don't work.
It would mean that I am better off accepting that I am this way.

Btw, I liked the other option you provided for a reframe. I guess I've preferred faster results. Rather than creating opportunity and seeing what neat ways it shows up for me, I have preferred to just try on a new way of being that's not so likely to take time to show how it's shifting my experience. (Changed those sentences from "I prefer" to "I have preferred" and I like how that feels - thank you )

[Angela]

Originally Posted by rei

AThe most I have come to is recognizing it, accepting it, understanding how it affects my way of being in the world, and doing what I can to make that easier. (Come to think of it, isn't that the outcome of what you do to help folks find their gremlins?)

No, "making things easier" is coping and surviving -- more of the same. The outcome of Gremlin Hunting is Transformation -- the presence of inspiring brand new possibility, choice, and opportunity, such that it makes you laugh to remember that old "problem" you used to think you had.

Btw, I liked the other option you provided for a reframe. I guess I've preferred faster results. Rather than creating opportunity and seeing what neat ways it shows up for me, I have preferred to just try on a new way of being that's not so likely to take time to show how it's shifting my experience. (Changed those sentences from "I prefer" to "I have preferred" and I like how that feels - thank you )

Glad it helped!

[st33med]

I always thought I had ADD. I was diagnosed with it by doctors, I believed I acted like having ADD, and I had a hard time paying attention. Whenever I went off of medication, I felt tired and hard of concentration.

But, when I thought about it, there is no time in my conscious life that I was not on any meds! Whenever I was off my medication, I was actually feeling the withdrawal effects on my body!

Now, I have been off my meds for about five months . I feel great and more in control of my body.

My two cents

[Angela]

Just to be clear, I don't mean to say that you don't experience the signs of high sensitivity, that they are not *real,* or that your experience of them is invalid, wrong, delusional, or bad.

Only that, just like ADD is a collection of symptoms that st33med experienced, or someone might *have* the symptoms that are described by the name "schizophrenia,* that collection of symptoms is not who a person is, at the level of identity -- except to the extent that they take it on as their identity.

[rei]

Originally Posted by Angela

Just to be clear, I don't mean to say that you don't experience the signs of high sensitivity, that they are not *real,* or that your experience of them is invalid, wrong, delusional, or bad.

Only that, just like ADD is a collection of symptoms that st33med experienced, or someone might *have* the symptoms that are described by the name "schizophrenia,* that collection of symptoms is not who a person is, at the level of identity -- except to the extent that they take it on as their identity.

Okay, I get that and I understand there is a difference.

I have not personally felt a lot of difference in using the label, though, at this point. There was a mild increase in sensitivity but rather than being something I was creating it seemed more like I chose to become more conscious of the experience I was already having - and it seems like greater self-acceptance about that experience can lead to more effective action on my part. My goal is still just about addressing the ways that high sensitivity occurs in my life. Or in the case of the thread topic, how the high sensitivity affects planning because I can feel overwhelmed by simply having three tasks on my list. I thought creating a more left-brained time experience might help but as you know my energy didn't like the option you provided earlier.

Thanks for clarifying.

st33med I was also told I had ADHD. I don't take the medicine anymore though, because I don't want to. Except when it comes to reading printed text things seem just fine without it.

[Tanemon]

Originally Posted by Acting Like Godot

Rei, just use lists.

Every project, no matter how large, is just a series of many small steps. Eg a very complex project may ultimately consist of 300 individual action steps. At the start of the project, you probably won't know what Action Step No. 130, or No. 253, or No. 298 is going to be. But you probably know what Steps No. 1 to 5 are.

So write down Steps No. 1 to 5, and take action on those .... And be assured that as the outcomes of those first few steps unfold, you will be able to see from those outcomes what are the next steps you need to take.

Acting, you are suggesting something very similar to what I suggested, above. I feel now that it's not what Rei resonates with or wants.

She has explained her situation in another thread, titled "overwhelm and high senstivity" :
overwhelm and high sensitivity
If you read her posts in that, you'll see what I'm getting at.

I used to have some of the sort of sensitivity she describes when I took LSD, and later (after I stopped doing acid) when I sometimes did too much deep meditation per day. For instance, I definitely did not like being in crowds at those times, did not like being around certain individuals, reacted strongly to the depressed vibrations of certain places (like a downtown fast-food cafe in evening with overworked waitresses), detested flourescent-lit shopping establishments, etc.