sleeping beauty

After another good sleep, I'm feeling positively ... positive! (Although I did wake up ruminating a bit over "lists".

My day has been productive: calibrated my new scale, did laundry, fixed my knitting, had an animated conversation with a drop-in visitor,  and planned my "easy win" tasks for Monday morning. Meditation fit in neatly between tidying the kitchen and my visitor's arrival. I wasn't hungry til mid-morning (oatmeal) and I had an apple when I was feeling a little peckish later. I've updated my new Noom app and put things away as I go. Rested, clean, fed and tidy. That's definitely a win.

I learned caffeinated tea definitely leaves me hyper tending toward anxious - that's an easy switch. And I identified a character trait that is definitely a time-gobbler: perfectionism. Knitting. Organizing my desk. Rerouting cords. Calibrating a scale. I'm not satisfied, even if I get the job done, if it's not just so. I know to quit when it's good enough, but that doesn't give me the same satisfaction.

I lost half the afternoon to researching insurance policies (necessary to be well-informed) and sleep tracking apps (necessary to have one. Not necessary to plan to review 3 and find a snoring app for my Dad, to boot. Well, maybe that's a good thing.) So that turned into commitments to have a longer conversation with my insurer Monday and several weeks to try out and review apps. I'm still ok with those decisions, but I see where that's my m.o. I go at everything like a tonne of bricks.

I did reschedule my walk to the farmers' market—I couldn't bear to miss hanging laundry on a sunny day to be disappointed by an eggless market too late—but I'll still get out for a short jaunt for groceries before the sun disappears.

It appears I even won the fight with my Android—it recognizes my voice again. (Sadly, I can't change to a male voice.)

After a start like that, I believe I can write a page for our new site before I go out this evening.

Recipe for change

I slept well last night.
But I ended up on social media this morning for a while (but I was enjoying it).

Then I ended up signed up for a Noom trial offer ...
 I immediately went face and eyes into completing the first day's tasks whoot!
 Then I started obsessing over how to hook up with google fit to collect data (one step - simple) - done.
I've been indoctrinated: "I believe."

 Then I ended up on a bad review—not the most ethical company, from that account
 ... so I honed in on how to cancel after the trial and set a reminder—done.
 That led me to ... a youtuber whose claim to fame is "The 4 Things [he] did to Lose 20 Pounds"
 ... I misread it - he lost *200* pounds. I was hoping for a long term habit—and I lucked out. He's (allegedly) a nonpaid speaker on the subject and had several recommendations for a variety of methods and podcasts, but just had some good common sense advice on how to make a long term change. (Watch it and learn!)

In a nutshell:

1. right motivation → "I'm doing this because I love myself. I'm a blank check. I have a half-life to go. "I'm already working on self-esteem with Headspace - check!
2. simple → I've got this too. "Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and milk for breakfast, veg & dip for lunch, half an apple to defeat hunger pangs between." Supper? work in progress ...
3. support → hmmm... Although the Noom Coach might get me pointed in the right direction, I'm not loving the idea of the Noom Group or logging foods. I'll try it for a couple weeks and see how that feels. But I really do need an accountability coach. Someone who's dependable, not someone who already has a full plate. Someone who needs a connection—someone who'd like someone to nudge every day. Someone who won't let me down later and throw a wrench in the works when their life intervenes. Someone like ... my A.I. Reminder set.
4. consistency → I hate making trivial decisions every day, so I've been building habits for a year now. work in progress ...

"Andy" (my Android) just got a new job. (Note to Google: I'd like an option to get a verbal reminder for some things, or at least a different sound to catch my attention.)

I think I'll sleep well tonight.

Tim Bauer's talk:


Other notes from his talk:

• "Don't strive for perfection." My approach to "today's intentions" has been working well for that.
• "No sugar, no white flour, and only ingredients that you can find in the store." His half plant/half animal plate looks like a simple way to balance my bread with potato and a side of starch. But it's a bit extreme. I've been leaning into white flour a lot lately - time to get a back of whole wheat again.
• "Burn the ships." Don't keep old pants. I'm cool with that. I need to apply that to other things cluttering up my life. Don't look at the living room.
• "Plan first." He plans his workouts for the week every Sunday night. I've started looking at planning my week by Sunday evening for booking appointments.

Tim espouses the Japanese philosophy of Shu Ha Ri:
Shu→"hold" Follow the rules religiously.
Ha→"break" Learn how to work the rules and tweak/break them once you understand the reasons.
Ri→"leave" Just live according to your philosophy.

The cure for procrastination: mono-focus

So I'm in the midst of a month-long youtube diet and decided (consciously) to enjoy some vegging out this afternoon. After a sampling of my usual feed of murder mystery, humour and ack I don't even remember what went before... I'm reminded why I decided I really need to get out of this as a habit.

I'm so glad an episode from my latest organizing guru popped up in my "recommended" before I tuned it out again (using Block Site). My sister in organizing has an approach to getting things done that I haven't tried: picking one thing and focusing on that only for a whole month.

In her case, it's a diet on learning. I didn't know taking a break from new info was an option, but that actually sounds delicious! Come to think of it, after starting up a new business (and website) and retraining in a new industry and learning to sew and relearning to knit a project and ... and ... and... I think my brain needs a rest! (I just signed up for a free coding course ... maybe I'll leave that for now.) I've recently developed a philosophy of "just one thing" (vs multi-tasking and listicles). Now she takes that a step further. So I'm going to pick one pet project this month.

Now, the mountain of paperwork that permeates every room of my house is a beast. That's a multi-year guilt-ridden heap that's recently been driven off my desk, at least, but I just hid a pile of unsightly boxes in my bedroom under a blanket. (That doesn't really work, as I know exactly what lurks under it.)

But maybe I can turn that on its ear. One of my newly revived skills is writing, and I've been procrastinating writing minutes for a meeting, writing copy for our new website, writing a code of ethics, writing a sci fi novel, writing scripts for new podcasts ... What if my One Month Challenge is to ... write every day? By the end of the month, 30 writing projects will eliminate a pile of procrastination and given me serious practice at the thing I want to excel at. (Yes, I'm aware of the dangling proposition.)

One of the writing projects arose out of a recent workshop on 'zines (which I've also committed to this month). Just finishing that project has the potential to empty, or at least assign, an entire box of old papers that would have a new life.

As opposed to a chore (exercise or cooking healthy meals, say), this actually sounds like a fun challenge!

(And in case you want to see this one episode, focused on one method to accomplish one thing, I recommend "One Month Challenge".)

The cure for multi-tasking: delegation

Back in the day, before women had equal rights to work ... well, before we got paid for work (ok, it's a work in progress) ... anyway, waaaay back in the (19)80's, multi-tasking was the buzzword. People were judged to be more productive if they could find a way to do more than one thing at a time. Someone "people" always seemed to equate to "women".

The boss had to focus on something, so the secretary a.k.a. "girl Friday" took up the slack: she (always 'she') was responsible for scheduling the boss's time, reacting to emergencies, taking care of mundane chores like picking up his drycleaning. All for the reward of a pat on the head.

The result: subordinate workers (i.e., women) being brainwashed into thinking that juggling multiple things was the way to Get Stuff Done. And failing - forgetting one thing while doing another, letting something drop to meet conflicting deadlines, begging forgiveness to find a way to recover. Research shows that multitasking lowers productivity.

The myth of the "superwoman" entered the lexicon: the woman who could juggle home life while working and maintaining high standards in both. At the same time, the ratio of women to men smoking, having heart attacks and ulcers started to close.

The cure: delegate. Traditionally, women didn't have as much opportunity to delegate: kids, if they cooperated; your partner, if he was enlightened; an inferior worker, if you were lucky. Now, we have the democratization of labour with the advent of A.I. Everyone (with a smartphone) has a personal assistant in her pocket. Everyone (with an up-to-date operating system) has another in her computer.

Have you tried delegating to your AI?

How to set up your phone to recognize your voice (Android 9)

1. Open the Google app (swipe up and tap "Google")
2. Open settings (More... > Settings > Voice
3. Turn on voice recognition: Voice Match > toggle "Access with Voice Match" on
4. You will be redirected to train google to recognize your voice.
5. Accept changes.

Now, when I think of something I want to do later, I just ask Google to set a reminder. When I hang the laundry on the line, Google will remind me to bring it in at sunset. When I put bread dough in to rise, Google prompts me when it's ready to go in the oven ... and when it's baked I don't miss the buzzer when I'm off reading.

While you're at it, set Wind Down in your Digital Wellbeing on Android. (Details to follow in a later post.)

Instead of attempting to multitask,

Mini-project: corralling glue sticks

This mini-project solves a recurring problem: getting somewhere with a tool, but no attachments.

I needed my glue gun to put the finishing touches on some slippers for a fashion show, so I packed my glue gun into my backpack and walked over to the venue. Heated the glue gun up, tracked down the slippers and ... no glue sticks. After fighting to coax the last bit of glue out with the end of a toothbrush, my sewing instructor came up with a brilliant solution: a glue stick bandolier!

Needless to say, someone else has already thought of that. So I rummaged thru my trunk for an old pair of jeans, cut a 3" wide slice of denim out of them from cuff to cuff and found a long piece of grosgrain ribbon 1" wide. Following Miss Demeanor's instructions, I glued the ribbon to the denim starting about my collarbone and working down stick by stick until there were slots for a dozen. 

It was a little tricky gluing close to the sticks, and some got a little glue stuck to them, in spite of trying to rotate the sticks as soon as the ribbon was pressed into place. (I shaved any ridges off with a paring knife so they'll still fit in the gun.) 

Then I overlapped and glued the ends of the denim strip, leaving a few inches of excess seam dangling. That came in handy for tying the loop of the velcro strip that wraps around the coil of cord. 

Finally, I glued a couple loops of ribbon to fit the glue gun for a "holster".

This is my left-handed bandolier and holster.

 I'm armed and dangerous!

Week 1 wellness check-in: Fine tuning

This is a check-in at the end of the first week with my 30-day wellness commitments:

   1. every day get dressed before I use the computer room.
   2. meditate. every. morning.
   3. every day do 30 minutes of some kind of exercise.

I've been succeeding at #2 and #3, but #1 was sabotaged by another habit, allbeit a good one.

Clearing my wallet and updating my accounting is entrenched in my morning routine (to good effect - no more chasing loose receipts around my desk like a brood of chicks). But that still puts me in front of the screen before I'm dressed. I need a trigger to go from my morning cuppa at my computer to my meditation in my hammock chair ... My new friend Block Site has been helping my "internet diet", but how can I get a nudge to just leave the computer?

How to turn the computer into a manager

Google: "How to set a time limit in osx" ... Ahhh, so that's what "Parental Controls" is for.
Diving into System Preferences:

• Parental Controls: (unlock) I set a daily limit: 5 hours (!)
• Energy Saver: set sleep for midnight

That gives me a clue how to sleep the screen after 20 minutes using a little Applescript. It's sort of the opposite of a "pomodoro timer". Instead of reminding you to take a break and get back to work, it reminds me to put the keyboard down and step away from the computer by putting the computer to sleep. I quickly cobbled together a "quick action" in Automator. I have to manually start it thru the Services menu each time I sit down (as Automator can't tell when the computer wakes). That's a work in progress, but at least if my intention is not to spend the rest of the day here, I can make my decision before I begin.

Let's see if that will be enough to get me focused on necessary tasks.

To facilitate commitment #2, I've "delegated" the role of Meditation Guru to my old android. I still seem to procrastinate meditation, but I managed 6 of 7 days.

For #3, Google Fit is a boon: it cheerfully tracks my progress thru the day with the occasional beep to let me know I've gotten off my duff. *But* after a week, it just decided to increase my activity goals (since I was doing so well and had surpassed the goals for the week by Tuesday). That sounded like a great idea ... until it quashed the allure of the Great Outdoors with an unreasonably heavy dread. Fortunately I can edit the goals in the app, so I reset them to the WHO minimums. After all, my personal goal isn't to be an athlete: I'm aiming for good healthy habits that aren't deterred by any feeling of guilt or disappointment. By resetting the goals, this is an easy win every day.

My "internet diet" has been partly successful. I started with one site (youtube) and found out that I don't even miss it. But, even without the continuous flow of videos on the side, I was still investing too much time playing backgammon, so I added that to my scheduled block list.

I did get derailed when I engaged with an external crisis yesterday (note to self: don't volunteer to help solve problems without considering the time and mental costs), but that was the only day I didn't meditate or go for a decent walk. And the only day I sought out youtube as a sleep aid.

Most importantly, my sleep is becoming more regular. I'm falling asleep before midnight without a dose of youtube (up until last night, but that wasn't enjoyable enough to bother repeating). I've been generally wakeful in the daytime except for one day: that's the only day I drank a caffeinated tea late in the day as a pick-me-up for a public event (which could be the trigger for poor sleep the night before). I'm still ruminating and waking up dreaming about unresolved issues. Hopefully that will fade away with more regular meditation.

Let's see how Week 2 goes ...

The Great Escape

Imagine aliens devise a trap with the lure of entertainment to draw us in, a trap in which we are instantly immobilized, our vision tuned into one direction, sedatives applied so we ignore physical discomfort.

I just lost about 4 hours to facebook video. They were riveting, amazing, adorable, mindblowing ... and time-wasting. That is not how I intended to spend Tuesday.

How does it feel? It's like eating cotton candy - it tastes oh-so-good while you're munching it, but the instant you stop, you feel like you just rotted your brain. Numb in the keyster, a little twinge in my lower back, tension in the back of my neck.

What did I intend to do? Nothing I had planned will be a tenth as entertaining as what I just witnessed ... How can real life compete with the top produced videos continuously poured into my eyes with no effort, no cost. Except my time.

How do I extricate myself from switching channels and diving into Youtube or Amazon Prime or Solarmovie?

No matter how long I "invest", I don't feel any different. Nothing has changed in my life except for the passage of time. I've eaten breakfast and drunk a cup of tea without notice, while my eyes and ears continued to be mesmerized. It's like getting caught in a force field.

How do I escape the trap?
Step 1: recognize it. Label it as a trap designed by someone else to steal my time and prevent me from tackling my own goals.

Step 2: Move. Get up. Get dressed. Meditate to clear my mind and identify the goals I choose for today. Write them down. Put the computer to sleep and set out on a mission to tackle a task.

Step 3: Set counter-traps to evade capture the next time I dare enter this room.
I'm closing all the "look at later" tabs and I've added the Block Site extension to Chrome.
Now this is cute - the default website to block is facebook :-) My redirect is guidetothegood.ca. I can only peak in after 10PM to catch Rachel Maddow ... if I really feel the need to spend a single minute more in that dystopian universe.

I've also raised my keyboard and monitor so this is a standing workstation - now I'm more inclined to *move!*
And my new personal assistant, Andy the Butler, has been warned not to notify me of new youtube videos.

I think I just eluded the Talosians!