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One of my resolutions this year has been to read more - I set myself the task of reading at least one novel every two weeks. I'll be averaging that out - I don't feel I need to finish my current, very large, book by the 14th, though I might accomplish that.
Anyway, to do this, I'm using the timer trick - set a timer when doing a task you feel you need to do, even though you want to avoid it, and just work on that task - even in an inefficient manner - just to put the time in. You'll get something done, maybe nt a lot, but it's more than the nothing you'd have done procrastinating. I've used it for things like exercise and cleaning the garage. It's a great way to hack a broken Executive Function.
So for the last week, every evening after supper, I've set a timer for 60 minutes, turned on some tunes, fixed myself a nightcap, and... read.
It's been quite enjoyable - I used to read for pleasure, and I still find it such.
It's been hard. Because I am addicted to social media and I keep wanting to check my phone.
I doubt I'll ever break that addiction, but this is a nice way of knocking it down some, like I do over the summer when I'm bike riding. But I sure do want to, because social media is making me, and all of us, miserable, For you old timers, like me, do you remember when the news was something you read in the newspaper in the morning, and watched on the 6 o'clock news in the evening? Imagine how nice that would be, even with the current political situation. Or rather, how much it's easier to take when you're not picking that wound every waking moment of every day?
So I think I'm going to keep trying to do this. We'll see how far I get. Hopefully it will become a habit, since I can think of few activities I enjoy more than reading.
And maybe I'll start blogging more, since it's been two months since my last post.
Anyway, to do this, I'm using the timer trick - set a timer when doing a task you feel you need to do, even though you want to avoid it, and just work on that task - even in an inefficient manner - just to put the time in. You'll get something done, maybe nt a lot, but it's more than the nothing you'd have done procrastinating. I've used it for things like exercise and cleaning the garage. It's a great way to hack a broken Executive Function.
So for the last week, every evening after supper, I've set a timer for 60 minutes, turned on some tunes, fixed myself a nightcap, and... read.
It's been quite enjoyable - I used to read for pleasure, and I still find it such.
It's been hard. Because I am addicted to social media and I keep wanting to check my phone.
I doubt I'll ever break that addiction, but this is a nice way of knocking it down some, like I do over the summer when I'm bike riding. But I sure do want to, because social media is making me, and all of us, miserable, For you old timers, like me, do you remember when the news was something you read in the newspaper in the morning, and watched on the 6 o'clock news in the evening? Imagine how nice that would be, even with the current political situation. Or rather, how much it's easier to take when you're not picking that wound every waking moment of every day?
So I think I'm going to keep trying to do this. We'll see how far I get. Hopefully it will become a habit, since I can think of few activities I enjoy more than reading.
And maybe I'll start blogging more, since it's been two months since my last post.
