Uggh, when your internet connection dies in the middle of a publish, ecto erases your post and replaces it with a blank one. Time to rewrite this mother lover.
Second try at this. In my last podcast, I said that I’m making an effort to try to allocate my time in ways that are consistent with the things I value. If that were really true, for the last two weeks you’d think that the Facebook version of Bejeweled is the most important thing in my life. It isn’t, obviously, but it’s damn addictive and compelling on a minute to minute basis. Still I need to get myself straight and make sure the way I spend those precious non-sleeping, non-day-job hours is on things that create long term, lasting value for me. I fritter away a lot of time on things I can’t remember what I did the next day.
Step 1: Stop playing Bejeweled, cold turkey, immediately. Playing it anymore, even a few farewell games is like deciding to have one last fix of heroin for the road.
Step 2: Make a serious effort to collect and organize all of my various projects and tasks. I have a ridiculous number of irons in the fire and I even forget that I have some of them at times. It’s not uncommon that I have a project stalled out for weeks or months when 45 minutes of concerted effort would get it moving again. This is where GTD would be highly beneficial but I just keep bouncing off of it every time I try. I’m not sure the best mechanism for this but I need something that works for me and I need it now.
Step 3: Be mindful at all times. Whether doing something or eating something or just watching or listening to entertainment, be mindful. There is a reason that when I just upgraded phones I avoided iPhones like the plague. They are the anti-mindfulness devices. I need to do less default viewing and default munching and default activities. Do the things I mean like I mean them until I stop. Even if the thing isn’t important or urgent like reading comic books, when I’m doing that I should do it until I stop.
Step 4: More people, less machines.
Step 5: More dogs, less machines.
Step 6: ???
Step 7: Profit!
Cover me, I’m going in.
Point 3 – well put, thank you very much. This is something I wrestle with as well. I’ve been thinking of it as “be more disciplined,” which it turns out is a really unhelpful way for me to approach it… thinking of mindfulness instead, and of doing whatever I’m doing until I stop — genius. good genius (grin).
Thanks, Kelley. I was searching for a formulation that doesn’t imply an absolute importance on the thing itself. It can be filing comic books or watching David Letterman, etc. I need to do less browsing of stuff I don’t care much about while doing another task. If I care so little about each, I shouldn’t be doing either.
This post sounds a little like I’m saying I want to always be cranking out work like a machine, but that’s not what I mean. I want to work on my projects, relax when that’s my aim and have a life at all times where I explicitly mean to be doing the activity at hand.
I found you via the plug-in trackbacks where you called out a messed up WP plug-in. Long time! Just wanted to say howdy and nice post. I broke 150k for the first time on Bejeweled this week. Yes, this might mean something about how much ideal projects are getting done just now.
I always tell people that the South Park gnomes created the Blue Blood business plan. They think I’m joking.
Hey Amelia! Good to see your phosphors. I just hunted you up and friended you on Facebook.
I yield to your Bejeweled prowess. I’m quite sure my score was never that good. I just had to stop playing because once I started, it would be 90 minutes every single time. When my inbox was over 200 and I was behind on every project, it was just kind of embarrassing to be unable to tear myself away.