I think that the underlying principles here are very powerful: 1. acknowledging “trivial” inconveniences (i.e. being explicit and honest with yourself) and 2. seeing all problems as groups of sub-problems, each of which can be solved much more easily than the entire thing.
Dominik Tujmer
Karma: 76
I have a couple of sapience spells (from before this article).
Every time I step into public transport or go out somewhere, I am very aware, very meditative. I have trained myself to do this because I’ve been reading a lot of Dune and watching probably too much survivalist videos on Youtube.
Every time I feel anxious or nervous, this triggers a meditative body scan, not thinking, just feeling the sensations in my body. I am generally aware of the reactions in my body when I am doing something I don’t really want to be doing.
When I’m lying in my bed before sleep, I have a habit of doing a body scan, starting from the toes, all the way up to the top of the head.
This is basically Allen’s “Getting things done” 2-min method, I think. Just doing very short tasks right away to clear away the (mental) clutter. I think it’s a good idea to practice this, but I also think that the opposite is also good, i.e. ignoring the small things and focusing all time and energy on one big thing, first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, that way, you will do your thing, but ignoring small tasks will also lead to a dirty apartment, eating crap and not practicing the guitar… So I think, for me personally, every morning has to be one big thing, with Yoda timers sprinkled throughout the rest of the day.
Yup. Especially if it’s someone that you feel you should be close to, like toxic parents.