Another one from PsyBlog:
http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/01/how-to-avoid-procrastination-think.php
Summary: how to get things done
Here's a summary of the main conclusions from all the studies discussed:
1. To avoid procrastinating on a task, focus on its details and use self-imposed deadlines.
2. To stick to a task, while actually carrying it out, now it is beneficial to keep the ultimate, abstract goal in mind.
3. When evaluating progress on a hard task, when the chance of failure is high, stay focused on the details of the task.
4. Once tasks are easier or the end is in sight, a more abstract, goal focus is once again the psychological approach to choose.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
18 Ways Attention Goes Wrong
This is a precis of information found here:
http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/04/18-ways-attention-goes-wrong.php
1. Utilisation behaviour
...patients find themselves unable to resist the routine actions suggested by objects around them.
2. Spatial neglect
...fail to pay full attention to things they see on their left (because of the way the brain is wired, the right hemisphere processes information about the left-visual-field).
3. The rubber gloves illusion
...information from the visual system can override attention to tactile sensation (or lack thereof) from the hands, to create an apparently impossible sensation.
4. Pain
...pain is the ultimate attention-grabber...Pain pulls sufferers' attention away from task demands and forces them to continually re-focus to achieve their goal.
5. The cocktail party problem
...ability to tune our auditory attention to just one voice at a party. Unfortunately for those with hearing loss this can become the cocktail party problem, a difficulty in separating one voice from all the others.
6. Alcohol myopia
...long-term consequences of actions are ignored in favour of short-term impulses.
7. Errors of automaticity
When our attention is distracted we carry out highly practised behaviours automatically, occasionally at inappropriate times...One person reported unwrapping a sweet, throwing the sweet away and putting the wrapper in his mouth...
8. Inattentional & choice blindness
...changes people will miss when they're distracted.
9. Ironic processes of control
Sometimes too much attention is just as detrimental as too little.
10. Insomnia
...insomniacs keep themselves awake by focusing too much on the bodily sensations associated with sleep and any environmental noises that might be keeping them awake.
11. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
12. Anxiety
...a person continually thinking about themselves in social situations is bound to become more self-concious.
13. Panic attacks
Paying too much attention to bodily processes is a strong feature of those who experience panic attacks....people who experience panic attacks are hypervigilant to somatic sensations.
14. Hypochondriasis
...hypochondriacs tend to be hypersensitive to odd twinges.
15. Eating disorders
...people with eating disorders like anorexia nervosa seem to have attentional biases around body image.
16. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Excessive attention towards anxiety-inducing thoughts...
17. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
...flashbacks, nightmares and the feeling of losing control...PTSD sufferers are especially attracted to and vigilant for negative stimuli in the environment
18. Depression
...enhanced processing for negative stimuli...One important maintaining process in depression is thought to be rumination. Individuals who are more prone to going over negative experiences again and again are more susceptible to developing clinical depression.
http://www.spring.org.uk/2009/04/18-ways-attention-goes-wrong.php
1. Utilisation behaviour
...patients find themselves unable to resist the routine actions suggested by objects around them.
2. Spatial neglect
...fail to pay full attention to things they see on their left (because of the way the brain is wired, the right hemisphere processes information about the left-visual-field).
3. The rubber gloves illusion
...information from the visual system can override attention to tactile sensation (or lack thereof) from the hands, to create an apparently impossible sensation.
4. Pain
...pain is the ultimate attention-grabber...Pain pulls sufferers' attention away from task demands and forces them to continually re-focus to achieve their goal.
5. The cocktail party problem
...ability to tune our auditory attention to just one voice at a party. Unfortunately for those with hearing loss this can become the cocktail party problem, a difficulty in separating one voice from all the others.
6. Alcohol myopia
...long-term consequences of actions are ignored in favour of short-term impulses.
7. Errors of automaticity
When our attention is distracted we carry out highly practised behaviours automatically, occasionally at inappropriate times...One person reported unwrapping a sweet, throwing the sweet away and putting the wrapper in his mouth...
8. Inattentional & choice blindness
...changes people will miss when they're distracted.
9. Ironic processes of control
Sometimes too much attention is just as detrimental as too little.
10. Insomnia
...insomniacs keep themselves awake by focusing too much on the bodily sensations associated with sleep and any environmental noises that might be keeping them awake.
11. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
12. Anxiety
...a person continually thinking about themselves in social situations is bound to become more self-concious.
13. Panic attacks
Paying too much attention to bodily processes is a strong feature of those who experience panic attacks....people who experience panic attacks are hypervigilant to somatic sensations.
14. Hypochondriasis
...hypochondriacs tend to be hypersensitive to odd twinges.
15. Eating disorders
...people with eating disorders like anorexia nervosa seem to have attentional biases around body image.
16. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Excessive attention towards anxiety-inducing thoughts...
17. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
...flashbacks, nightmares and the feeling of losing control...PTSD sufferers are especially attracted to and vigilant for negative stimuli in the environment
18. Depression
...enhanced processing for negative stimuli...One important maintaining process in depression is thought to be rumination. Individuals who are more prone to going over negative experiences again and again are more susceptible to developing clinical depression.
Sunday, 19 April 2009
How to Live Life
This comes to us from
http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/04/13/how-to-live-life/
I've added some comments in itallics where I felt it necessary to respond or invite discussion of the validity of the statement offered.
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Because there is a big difference between living and merely existing…
* Educate yourself until the day you die. – The time and energy you invest in your education will change your life. You are a product of what you know. The more knowledge you acquire, the more control you have over your life.
http://www.marcandangel.com/2009/04/13/how-to-live-life/
I've added some comments in itallics where I felt it necessary to respond or invite discussion of the validity of the statement offered.
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Because there is a big difference between living and merely existing…
* Educate yourself until the day you die. – The time and energy you invest in your education will change your life. You are a product of what you know. The more knowledge you acquire, the more control you have over your life.
I agree that Education is a lifelong and impoortant quest, but is control an essential in my life ? Or yours?
* Take good care of your body. – Your body is the greatest tool you’ll ever own. It impacts every step you take and every move you make. Nourish it, exercise it, and rest it.
* Spend as much time as possible with the people you love. – Human beings are emotional creatures. Family and close friends makeup the core of your emotional support system. The more you nurture them, the more they will nurture you.
It's true, but should you nurture someone just in order to be nurtured in return ? I feel not.
* Be a part of something you believe in. – This could be anything. Some people take an active role in their local city council, some find refuge in religious faith, some join social clubs supporting causes they believe in, and others find passion in their careers. In each case the psychological outcome is the same. They engage themselves in something they strongly believe in. This engagement brings happiness and meaning into their lives.
* Excel at what you do. – There’s no point in doing something if you aren’t going to do it right. Excel at your work and excel at your hobbies. Develop a reputation for yourself, a reputation for consistent excellence.
My experience says that putting that level of demand on yourself can be pyschologically harmful. I'm not going to be acting on this one in the manner suggested.
* Live below your means. – Live a comfortable life, not a wasteful one. Do not spend to impress others. Do not live life trying to fool yourself into thinking wealth is measured in material objects. Manage your money wisely so your money does not manage you. Always live well below your means.
* Be self-sufficient. – Freedom is the greatest gift. Self-sufficiency is the greatest freedom.
Is this truly achieveable or realistic if you are living a real,modern life in the West ? I'd love to do it, but the amount of time and energy it would involve just doesn't seem to make it a viable way for me to spend my limited time on this Earth. I wonder if the original authir has managed to achieve this goal ? Has anyone ?
* Build a comfortable, loving household. – Home is where the heart is. Your home should be comfortable and lined with love. It should be a place that brings the whole family together.
* Always be honest with yourself and others. – Living a life of honesty creates peace of mind, and peace of mind is priceless.
* Respect elders. Respect minors. Respect everyone. – There are no boundaries or classes that define a group of people that deserve to be respected. Treat everyone with the same level of respect you would give to your grandfather and the same level of patience you would have with your baby brother.
* Mix it up. Try different things. – Seek as many new life experiences as possible and be sure to share them with the people you love. After all, your life’s story is simply a string of experiences. The more experiences you have, the more interesting your story gets.
* Take full ownership of your actions. – Either you own up to your actions or your actions will ultimately own you.
* Over-deliver on all your promises. – Some people habitually make promises they are just barely able to fulfill. They promise perfection and deliver mediocrity. If you want to boost your personal value, do the exact opposite. Slightly under-sell your capabilities so that you’re always able to over-deliver. It will seem to others like you’re habitually going above and beyond the call of duty.
* Listen more. Talk less. – The more you listen and the less you talk, the more you will learn and the less you will miss.
* Focus more on less. – Think in terms of Karate: A black belt seems far more impressive than a brown belt. But does a brown belt really seem any more impressive than a red belt? Probably not to most people. Remember that society elevates experts high onto a pedestal. Hard work matters, but not if it’s scattered in diverse directions. Focus on less and master it all.
* Exploit the resources you do have access to. – The average person is usually astonished when they see a physically handicap person show intense signs of emotional happiness. How could someone in such a restricted physical state be so happy? The answer rests in how they use the resources they do have. Stevie Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has 25 Grammy Awards to prove it.
* Savor the natural joys of simple pleasures. – I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the best things in life are free. They come in the form of simple pleasures and they appear right in front of you at various locations and arbitrary times. They are governed by Mother Nature and situational circumstance and captured by mindful awareness. It’s all about taking a moment to notice the orange and pink sunset reflecting off the pond water as you hold hands with someone you love. Noticing these moments and taking part in them regularly will bring unpredictable bursts of happiness into your life.
* Reflect on your goals and direction. – Not doing so is committing to wasteful misdirection. The process of self reflection helps maintain a conscious awareness of where you’ve been and where you intend to go, giving you the ability to realign your trajectory when necessary.
* Leave time for spontaneous excursions. – Sometimes opportunity knocks at unexpected times. Make sure you have enough flexibility in your schedule to respond accordingly.
* Be here now. – Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you. Right now is life. Don’t miss it.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Advice from a Friend
My best friend sent me this as part pof a chain letter. I don't do chain letters, but I liked this so I'm adding it here.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening...
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening...
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.
Monday, 13 April 2009
Seven Productivity Tips...
From: http://zenhabits.net/2009/04/seven-productivity-tips-for-people-that-hate-gtd/#more-2999
1. Create a “to stop” list. If you’re not getting the results you want, chances are you don’t care much about the things you’re doing. The best way to change this is to create a “To-Stop” list. We often spend lots of time creating lists for the things we need to do, but rarely do we reflect on the things that aren’t working. So create a list of all the things that are sucking away your energy and are wasting your time. Figure out which of those things is having the biggest negative impact on you doing the stuff you really want to do. Tackle that thing head on each day.
2. Focus on short bursts. It’s a bit sad when you realize that the reason most dreams die is because of a lack of focused action. If you’re constantly distracted by the television, surfing the internet, reading blogs, or whatever it is, you’re just dragging your heels. Yet, we think that high levels of focus is something only super-humans can attain. But mental focus is akin to building muscle; it’s something that must be trained with resistance. So figure out how much “mental weight” you can lift, and start from there. Elect to focus for 50 minutes on your most important task, then take a 10 minute break to do whatever you want. Then repeat. If you can’t “lift” 50 minutes, try 20 minutes, or even 10 minutes. Gradually increase your “resistance” (the amount of time you focus) each week.
3. Define your daily ass-kicking. What is your Something Amazing? Take the time to clearly define your deep reason for moving toward that goal. Now make a post-it note of out of it, or schedule a daily reminder of that deep reason on your email program.
4. Allow yourself to suck. One of the biggest reasons we avoid doing what we love is that we’re afraid we’re going to fall flat on our face, in front of everyone. And then they’ll laugh or think we’re not amazing and all our theories about how we’re not really a genius will be true. Here’s some good news: You probably won’t be as bad as you thought you were. Here’s some bad news: You’ll never be great unless you first allow yourself to suck. So embrace your suckiness. Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from doing what you love.
5. Focus on the Three C’s. When it comes down to it, there are three major groups of things we need to do to succeed at whatever it is we want to do. We need to Create, we need to Connect, and we need to Consume. Or in other words, we need to produce/share, build and nurture relationships, and keep ourselves savvy in our field. An imbalance in these areas will stagnate our progress. If we’re always consuming, but never getting our ideas out there, we won’t make any progress toward our goals. If we’re connecting without creating, we’ll have nothing of value to share. And if we’re creating without continually learning, we’ll become outdated. Defining a focus of one of the Three C’s helps us stay focused on our purpose for the day. It also helps us realize that spending time on Twitter and socializing is just as important as creating. It’s all about balance.
6. Stop caring about things that don’t matter. This advice seems so simple, but it bears repeating. It’s easy to get caught up in obsessing about little tasks and trivialities that aren’t really important. The best way to overcome this habit is to start thinking in terms of long term impact. Every time you start obsessing over the little details, ask yourself how long the results of those tasks will last. If you’re always spending the majority of your time doing tasks that will have little impact after a week or month, you’re always going to be stuck in the same position. Be ruthless about not caring about all the stuff that’s not important. Your life depends on it.
7. Make it stupidly simple. If you’re struggling to make headway on the stuff you really care about, maybe you’re making it too complicated. Try making a really simple commitment, like working on that “thing you love” for an hour a day. One hour, every day. Don’t commit to finishing it or making it perfect. Just commit to doing that One Thing You Love every day for one hour, for 30 days.
Complex productivity systems aren’t for everyone, and they don’t need to be. Don’t worry if GTD scares you or hurts your brain. You can still get the things done that really matter to you.
1. Create a “to stop” list. If you’re not getting the results you want, chances are you don’t care much about the things you’re doing. The best way to change this is to create a “To-Stop” list. We often spend lots of time creating lists for the things we need to do, but rarely do we reflect on the things that aren’t working. So create a list of all the things that are sucking away your energy and are wasting your time. Figure out which of those things is having the biggest negative impact on you doing the stuff you really want to do. Tackle that thing head on each day.
2. Focus on short bursts. It’s a bit sad when you realize that the reason most dreams die is because of a lack of focused action. If you’re constantly distracted by the television, surfing the internet, reading blogs, or whatever it is, you’re just dragging your heels. Yet, we think that high levels of focus is something only super-humans can attain. But mental focus is akin to building muscle; it’s something that must be trained with resistance. So figure out how much “mental weight” you can lift, and start from there. Elect to focus for 50 minutes on your most important task, then take a 10 minute break to do whatever you want. Then repeat. If you can’t “lift” 50 minutes, try 20 minutes, or even 10 minutes. Gradually increase your “resistance” (the amount of time you focus) each week.
3. Define your daily ass-kicking. What is your Something Amazing? Take the time to clearly define your deep reason for moving toward that goal. Now make a post-it note of out of it, or schedule a daily reminder of that deep reason on your email program.
4. Allow yourself to suck. One of the biggest reasons we avoid doing what we love is that we’re afraid we’re going to fall flat on our face, in front of everyone. And then they’ll laugh or think we’re not amazing and all our theories about how we’re not really a genius will be true. Here’s some good news: You probably won’t be as bad as you thought you were. Here’s some bad news: You’ll never be great unless you first allow yourself to suck. So embrace your suckiness. Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from doing what you love.
5. Focus on the Three C’s. When it comes down to it, there are three major groups of things we need to do to succeed at whatever it is we want to do. We need to Create, we need to Connect, and we need to Consume. Or in other words, we need to produce/share, build and nurture relationships, and keep ourselves savvy in our field. An imbalance in these areas will stagnate our progress. If we’re always consuming, but never getting our ideas out there, we won’t make any progress toward our goals. If we’re connecting without creating, we’ll have nothing of value to share. And if we’re creating without continually learning, we’ll become outdated. Defining a focus of one of the Three C’s helps us stay focused on our purpose for the day. It also helps us realize that spending time on Twitter and socializing is just as important as creating. It’s all about balance.
6. Stop caring about things that don’t matter. This advice seems so simple, but it bears repeating. It’s easy to get caught up in obsessing about little tasks and trivialities that aren’t really important. The best way to overcome this habit is to start thinking in terms of long term impact. Every time you start obsessing over the little details, ask yourself how long the results of those tasks will last. If you’re always spending the majority of your time doing tasks that will have little impact after a week or month, you’re always going to be stuck in the same position. Be ruthless about not caring about all the stuff that’s not important. Your life depends on it.
7. Make it stupidly simple. If you’re struggling to make headway on the stuff you really care about, maybe you’re making it too complicated. Try making a really simple commitment, like working on that “thing you love” for an hour a day. One hour, every day. Don’t commit to finishing it or making it perfect. Just commit to doing that One Thing You Love every day for one hour, for 30 days.
Complex productivity systems aren’t for everyone, and they don’t need to be. Don’t worry if GTD scares you or hurts your brain. You can still get the things done that really matter to you.
Sunday, 12 April 2009
Acceptance of our Angry Self
Is anger an unwanted visitor, or a friend who needs an ear ?
http://www.spiritualsisters.com/bailey1.htm
Spiritual Sisters of the Internet Cafe
http://www.spiritualsisters.com/bailey1.htm
Spiritual Sisters of the Internet Cafe
Procrastination et al
http://www.studygs.net/attmot3.htm
* Learning to learn
* Managing time
* Managing stress
* Avoiding procrastination ◄
* Pioritizing tasks
* Thinking critically
* Thinking like a genius
* Developing self-discipline
* Motivating yourself
* Solving problems
* Learning to learn
* Managing time
* Managing stress
* Avoiding procrastination ◄
* Pioritizing tasks
* Thinking critically
* Thinking like a genius
* Developing self-discipline
* Motivating yourself
* Solving problems
Thoughts on a journey
To reach your destination faster you might do these things...
* Lengthen your stride
* Ligthen your load
* Take a better path
Do all of these and you will travel as if winged.
Copyright to the author of this blog, 12th April 2009
* Lengthen your stride
* Ligthen your load
* Take a better path
Do all of these and you will travel as if winged.
Copyright to the author of this blog, 12th April 2009
Saturday, 11 April 2009
40 Powerful Questions
This was found on FaceBook, at 'Chris Tinney's Notes'. Many thanks to Chris Tinney for it.
40 Powerful Questions
Questions to Help You Gain Clarity Define Your Goals
1. If you decided to FULLY live your life, what's the first change you would make. What would be a small step in that direction?
2. If you could change one thing about your life what would it be?
3. What could you work on now that would make the biggest difference to your life?
4. How would you feel about doubling that goal?
5. What are you tolerating/putting up with?
6. What do you want MORE of in your life? (make a list)
7. What do you want LESS of in your life? (make a list)
8. What are three things you are doing regularly that don't serve to support you?
9. How would your life change if you accomplished all your goals?
10. If you knew there was absolutely no way you could fail what would you go do right now?
11. How can you change what you "don't want" into what you "do want"? Think of what you can move towards rather than what to move away from.
12. What do you love?
13. What do you hate?
14. What's the one thing you would love to do before you die?
15. Is now the right time for you to make a commitment to achieving these goals?
16. For your life to be perfect, what would you have to change?
17. What's one change you could make to your lifestyle that would give you more balance?
Identify Action Steps
18. What's your next step?
19. Who can you call to identify your next step?
20. Who should you be hanging out with – so that achieving this goal becomes natural? ( i.e. who's already doing it?)
21. What are three actions you could take that would make sense this week?
22. On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited do you feel about taking these actions?
23. What would increase that score? (e.g. handle fear, clearer steps, more support, more fun)
24. What would Tony Robbins do in this situation? What would "massive action" look like?
25. What will happen (what is the cost) if you do NOT do anything about this?
Gaining New Perspectives
26. What can you learn from this?
27. In what way is the current situation absolutely perfect?
28. How could you turn this around immediately, and enjoy the process?
29. What's one way you could have more fun in your life?
30. If you were your own coach, what coaching would you give yourself right now?
31. What's your favorite way of sabotaging yourself, and your goals?
32. What should your sponsor say to you you they spot you doing this?
General Diagnostics Questions
33. What are three of your greatest strengths?
34. What are you most excited about now? What are you looking forward to?
35. What's one way to get more energy into your life?
36. What's one thing you could do to give yourself more peace financially?
37. What is your life really about? What is your purpose?
38. If you had to guess your life purpose (from looking at your life to date), what would it be?
39. Who in your life should be acknowledged more?
40. What would you go do right now with your life if time or money where not an issue. What would you go do?
40 Powerful Questions
Questions to Help You Gain Clarity Define Your Goals
1. If you decided to FULLY live your life, what's the first change you would make. What would be a small step in that direction?
2. If you could change one thing about your life what would it be?
3. What could you work on now that would make the biggest difference to your life?
4. How would you feel about doubling that goal?
5. What are you tolerating/putting up with?
6. What do you want MORE of in your life? (make a list)
7. What do you want LESS of in your life? (make a list)
8. What are three things you are doing regularly that don't serve to support you?
9. How would your life change if you accomplished all your goals?
10. If you knew there was absolutely no way you could fail what would you go do right now?
11. How can you change what you "don't want" into what you "do want"? Think of what you can move towards rather than what to move away from.
12. What do you love?
13. What do you hate?
14. What's the one thing you would love to do before you die?
15. Is now the right time for you to make a commitment to achieving these goals?
16. For your life to be perfect, what would you have to change?
17. What's one change you could make to your lifestyle that would give you more balance?
Identify Action Steps
18. What's your next step?
19. Who can you call to identify your next step?
20. Who should you be hanging out with – so that achieving this goal becomes natural? ( i.e. who's already doing it?)
21. What are three actions you could take that would make sense this week?
22. On a scale of 1 to 10, how excited do you feel about taking these actions?
23. What would increase that score? (e.g. handle fear, clearer steps, more support, more fun)
24. What would Tony Robbins do in this situation? What would "massive action" look like?
25. What will happen (what is the cost) if you do NOT do anything about this?
Gaining New Perspectives
26. What can you learn from this?
27. In what way is the current situation absolutely perfect?
28. How could you turn this around immediately, and enjoy the process?
29. What's one way you could have more fun in your life?
30. If you were your own coach, what coaching would you give yourself right now?
31. What's your favorite way of sabotaging yourself, and your goals?
32. What should your sponsor say to you you they spot you doing this?
General Diagnostics Questions
33. What are three of your greatest strengths?
34. What are you most excited about now? What are you looking forward to?
35. What's one way to get more energy into your life?
36. What's one thing you could do to give yourself more peace financially?
37. What is your life really about? What is your purpose?
38. If you had to guess your life purpose (from looking at your life to date), what would it be?
39. Who in your life should be acknowledged more?
40. What would you go do right now with your life if time or money where not an issue. What would you go do?
Friday, 10 April 2009
FMyLife - Because sometimes you just need to LOL
I admit it, I am not beyond laughing at other people's misfortunes. If the things posted at FMyLife are true, I am sorry they happened to the people concerned, but I'm glad they shared so that I can draw devious pleasure from laughing at their lives of pain. I can't always laugh at my own.
Surviving my squalor
I've been visiting online with other Squalor Survivors and I am led to ask and answer questions of myself.
* Are the goals that I have set for myself clearly defined?
I regularly don't do this. The goals I set are frequently woolly or unrealistic, especially in regard to my Squalor or my eating habits.
* Am I mismanaging my time?
I prevarocate. I distract myself. I avoid. I spend more time thinking about what I should do and plan to do than I spend actually doing it.
* Am I spending time on unimportant things?
Frequently I am. I blog, or I facebook, or I do 'nice' things instead of unpleasant or challenging things.
So part of my Quest has to be changing without criticising myself. You see, I like wasting time on that activity especially.
* Are the goals that I have set for myself clearly defined?
I regularly don't do this. The goals I set are frequently woolly or unrealistic, especially in regard to my Squalor or my eating habits.
* Am I mismanaging my time?
I prevarocate. I distract myself. I avoid. I spend more time thinking about what I should do and plan to do than I spend actually doing it.
* Am I spending time on unimportant things?
Frequently I am. I blog, or I facebook, or I do 'nice' things instead of unpleasant or challenging things.
So part of my Quest has to be changing without criticising myself. You see, I like wasting time on that activity especially.
Thursday, 9 April 2009
When overwhelmed, ask yourself these questions
I've tried to add this site to my blog roll, but there's something weird that's stopping me doing so.
What follows in this post is all from here:
http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/a-guide-for-the-overwhelmed/
* Did I anticipate the unexpected?
* Have I agreed to do more than I am capable of?
* Are the goals that I have set for myself clearly defined?
* Am I mismanaging my time?
* Am I doing things that are the responsibility of someone else?
* Am I spending time on unimportant things?
Feeling like we are overwhelmed and actually being overwhelmed are basically the same thing...the person maintains a feeling that renders them feeble and thus unable to perform at their best.
Before we can regain control of our lives, we have to learn to handle that overwhelming feeling. There are several ways to handle the crippling feeling of being overwhelmed, here are the best ways I’ve found to combat this terrible emotion.
1. Stop Everything
...Don’t check another email, or take another phone call, or do anything else until we’ve stopped everything and re-examined our situation.
2. Prayer and Meditation
...Whenever you feel the overwhelming tension, close your eyes for 5 minutes, and focus solely on your breath - then clear your mind and regroup.
What follows in this post is all from here:
http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/a-guide-for-the-overwhelmed/
* Did I anticipate the unexpected?
* Have I agreed to do more than I am capable of?
* Are the goals that I have set for myself clearly defined?
* Am I mismanaging my time?
* Am I doing things that are the responsibility of someone else?
* Am I spending time on unimportant things?
Feeling like we are overwhelmed and actually being overwhelmed are basically the same thing...the person maintains a feeling that renders them feeble and thus unable to perform at their best.
Before we can regain control of our lives, we have to learn to handle that overwhelming feeling. There are several ways to handle the crippling feeling of being overwhelmed, here are the best ways I’ve found to combat this terrible emotion.
1. Stop Everything
...Don’t check another email, or take another phone call, or do anything else until we’ve stopped everything and re-examined our situation.
2. Prayer and Meditation
...Whenever you feel the overwhelming tension, close your eyes for 5 minutes, and focus solely on your breath - then clear your mind and regroup.
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