To much Routines

[EddieEddie1995]

I feel like I'm having to much routines that are making me counterproductive. For example I'm working on my LP, reading Self-Help books, and working on fear and many more  at the same time. All this  are broad topics and have bunch work sheets and contemplating work . I feel like I can do everything, but I can't make myself do one at the time and see whats better hehe  How do you guys deal with this ? Do you work on more or one at the time ? What makes you better at connecting the dots? How do you balance your work? Thank YOU, for now  

[kira]

@EddieEddie1995 you gotta concentrate on one thing at the time

one habit at the time.

for me is that affirmations, i set myself the goal (for personal reasons) to do a 90 days affirmation challange. im at day 57 right now without missing one single day.

i have an app "habit tracker" in which i track my progress   

i do meditate regulary and listen to audio books , mostly on the way to work and back from it. but I only Have ONE daily goal

i find this works better, special at the beginning when you are learning so mutch and trying to get things done . when u put so mutch on your plate 9 out of 10 you end up not doing anything. which is worse than if you would only focus on one thing at the time   

seing as I have a full time job, 2kids + plus all the hobbys   2dogs and a full house to take care of  

so yea concentrating on one thing at the times does work for me and my schedule.

[EddieEddie1995]

@kira  Looks like you are doing a great job balancing your schedule, and having time to help   me I will try and reduce the numbers on my plate, and see what happen's  Thank you ! 

[kira]

@EddieEddie1995  you are welkom, keep me updated

 

[Rigel]

The smaller the focus the better. You can move on a lot faster that way and what you do learn is deeply integrated. 

[ivory]

10 hours ago, kira said:

you gotta concentrate on one thing at the time

This! It took me a long time to figure this out. Recently I cut out drinking and that's all that I'm focusing on now.

[EddieEddie1995]

@Rigel Can you give me an example and how you do it ?  @ivory Cheers for cutting out Alcohol Ivory

[Rigel]

@EddieEddie1995 let's say I am learning a new language. Instead of learning a whole bunch of vocabulary and trying to memorize it I would focus on one word and try to use it in bunch of different context until I don't even have to think about it. That way my mind is free to shift focus on another word and so on. 

Let's say I am learning to play the piano. I could start to learn all the exotic scales that are out there but it would be too much for my mind to actually make music with that. Instead I can focus on one note. That way I have all my mental energy to integrate how that note feels, how I can change it's meaning with dynamics, articulation, etc. I can make music with that one note until I know it intimately, personally, until I don't have to think about it.(that is key) then I can focus on another note, etc. 

My point here is that you have limited focus and you don't want to overwhelm yourself. By going small you can learn much more efficiently. Verify it for yourself. After a while all the small things you integrate start to add up and your ability to observe and integrate things grows. Before you know it you have enough words integrated in you that you recognize petterns within the language and you can integrate whole sentences at a time. Before you know it you have enough experience with your major scale that you can transcribe a whole phrase without even having your piano at hand because you know the notes deeply, personally. 

There's no rush. It's tempting to try and take a lot of things or to big of a thing all at once but it's counter productive you actually end up shooting yourself in the foot.

I feel like I lack the language to communicate what I mean to you but remember that true learning happens when you totally loose yourself in what you are doing. When there's no distinction between you and what you are learning. When your awareness is able zero in on the thing and nothing outside of it exists. Learning is awareness really.

In your case I would say pick the habit that you feel the most, that inspires you the most and focus on that specific habit until you don't have to exerce willpower anymore. When you feel that it has become who you are. Then shift to something else.

Edit: Picture it like this: imagine that you want to carry 300pounds worth of rocks from point A to point B.(the rocks are your habits) The only way you are going to even be able to do that is to break that down in chonks and carry all of those individually. I don't know you but imagine yourself trying to carry a 300pounds backback full of rocks on your back lol. 

 

Edited November 13, 2019 by Rigel

[Lento]

@Rigel If I may add in a bit to your great advice, that I prefer to taste the waters as well at first and every now and then. What do I mean by that? Well, consider the first example you gave about learning a new language. I think it's wise to focus on one topic at a time, yet I would take a look every now and then at the whole project, how it is going, how big it is, what are the main keys (highlights/headlines) to it, how other people are handling it, where I am best and where I have to work more, and so on... The point is to get a clearer picture of what I am going after, and to make my actions optimal for achieving the best results possible in the shortest period of time, and to get myself motivated towards the end of the project as well.

Another example is when I'm reading a book, the obvious thing is to read it chapter by chapter. The counter-intuitive move is to always check with the index.

Another example is when you're studying a chapter and you need to memorise it, you don't try to memorise it first, but rather you take a wider look and read the whole chapter to get in touch with the points being made, and then after you've finished you can start memorising stuff.

[Rigel]

@Lento ?

[kira]

@ivory I'm glag u came to the conclusion ?

[Identity]

Focussing on one thing at a time? But I want it all, and I want it now! ?

[kira]

@Identity don't we all ??

[Commodent]

I certainly think you can have a lot of balls in the air at the same time. The main problem is just that most people tend to get a massive ego backlash when going there, and they might fail at implementing even small things due to overwhelm. Ego backlash is way more manageable when you make less drastic changes.

That said, don't use ego backlash as a limiting belief from taking massive action. Doing one thing at a time can certainly be beneficial, but at the same time doing multiple things can be even more powerful as it pushes your subconscious to work even harder. I feel like there's a certain limit to how much your brain can improve at one thing in one day, so if you do multiple things in one day then that would increase the total degree of improvement.

[Identity]

The thing that has been helping me a lot is by going into changes with acceptance of death.

For example, I am making a big step into becoming an entrepreneur. Whilst tripping and at other instances I made it concrete that I would surrender to whatever comes, even if it means death.

Just saying it isnt enough though. You do actually have to be willing to die. And if you go into a mushroom trip those motherfuckers will test you on it ?

[EddieEddie1995]

@Rigel Thank you Rigel I will reduce and organize my Rocks and how i carry them, until i can do 300 at once  

@Lento Thats great advice! I usually have a monthly preview of my work and journal where i can look things more objectively, thats where i realized that im being counter productive, i guess i should do that more often

@IdentityThats what im SAYING! hahahah

@Commodent That's how i feel. Us i started Self-Actualizing last year i juggled a lot of balls in the air and worked wonders for me, I just had a big egobacklash and thats why i started this topic . Egobacklash and Resistance is a bich 

@Sambodhi I will rearrange my daily schedule now  

[Lento]

@Commodent

Not trying to disprove your point or anything, but do you think that pushing yourself beyond your limits is healthy and sustainable on the long-term? I'm saying this because my experience was not very pleasant with always pushing forward, even though I got some special fruits, but I wouldn't do that ever again unless I have no other choice.

[Commodent]

@Lento I don't think pushing beyond your limits is healthy, no. I do however think that most people severely underestimate their own capacities. So I think you should get to know your limits really well, and not simply assume that you won't be able to handle the internal resistance of doing what you want. Because resistance is not necessarily the same as limits. You can be facing massive internal resistance without even being close to your limits. At the same time, one can face resistance towards not pushing past your limits. So it goes both ways. Are you always tense, forgetting to eat and ignoring sleep? Probably time to chill out a bit and get your priorities straight.

And having lots of balls in the air doesn't necessarily mean you're having 16 hour workdays. It's mostly just a matter of scheduling. Like, working on three projects every day for two hours each vs. working on one project every day for one month and then cycling each month or something. What works best usually depends on the goal and your own work style.

@EddieEddie1995 Yeah, that's to be expected. The good thing is that the next time you might be more prepared and know how to handle it better. For example with scheduling, a strong work ethic and mindfulness.

[Lento]

@Commodent Appreciate the awesome response ?❤️