Thursday 29 March 2012

Change Of Plan

I am switching to Kelly McGonigal's methodology for now. The book is called "Maximum Willpower" in the UK (it has a different title in the USA), and a good overview can be found by searching for her name and "authors at Google" in YouTube (the January 2012 video). For reference, here are the changes I was going to make if I hadn't stumbled on this brand new programme:

* have one daily point of focus / rallying call instead of multiple ones each day - which is confusing and dilutes the message

* keep a record of how long each daily rallying call was used for, and how useful it was

* dealing with exceptions that arise to following the rules (they seem to grow like weeds!)

* following links is a particularly strong urge in my case

* think about improving robustness to distraction

* too much browsing at lunchtime

* think about a reward model that takes account of hyperbolic discounting

In Kelly's programme, the step I am on at the moment is getting more sleep. Unfortunately this has been the week that the clocks went forward one hour - and I tend to have difficulty in adjusting my circadian cycle forwards, so this hasn't worked out very well for me. I have had success at getting myself to bed at a reasonable time - but am still feeling over tired, and in deep sleep when the alarm goes off.

Action: bed time tracking spreadsheet to be opened an hour earlier. I hope that this will also teach me to read fewer entries in the AR links: actionable items only! This should end at 20:00 sharp when modelling work will begin. Any unread links will keep until tomorrow morning!

Seinfeld chain will continue for the time being. However - it will not now be used for its original purpose as a source of motivation, but instead to monitor progress only. It hadn't been successful as a motivating tool anyway - but it is a quick and easy way to both record and view progress.

Morning and afternoon starts are both going VERY badly at the moment. Will try the following "restart" procedure:

private void procedure() {
  switch (currentTime) {

    case before_9:   allowForums();
                     allowNews();
                     allowAR();
                     break;

    case afterLunch: allowNews();
                     allowAR();
                     break();

    default:         disallow();

  }
}

It is set up in task scheduler to open each time the workstation is unlocked.

For bedtime control: tracking spreadsheet is now triggered for 21:00. If AR isn't read, it will have to wait until the next day.

One other step I have taken during the creation of this blog entry: I have removed my football news feed (as well as "Hark! A Vagrant"). The football feed just had too many entries in, and was becoming a regular distraction.

A big session today, with several important changes being made!

Wednesday 7 March 2012

Small, But Very Useful, Change To Exercise

If feeling tired, it is still a good idea to do 2 minutes warm-up before doing the stair exercise (2 minutes at gentle pace, 1 minute at intensive pace). However - I just tried doing 1 minute warm up and 1 minute intensive, and it worked very well! It saves time, and is much less boring! From this tiny, non-scientific experiment, it seems that intensive exercise is best done as a quick warm up followed by quick action - the benefit coming as both saved time and increased excitement!

Saturday 3 March 2012

In Praise Of A Cheap Toothbrush

Have recently started using an AquaFresh toothbrush from the pound shop. It has plain bristles (I usually go for cross action) and a bendy neck to prevent excessive pressure. Not only does it clean my teeth very well, but the pressure limiting system means that I am no longer making my gums sore - and cleaning my teeth has become a quicker, pain-free process. Next time I go down the road, I'm going to buy every one in the shop!

The moral is self-knowledge: use the product/method that best suits yourself - even if it is... cheap!

Friday 2 March 2012

The Astonishing Value Of HIT And NEAT Exercise!

Last night, I saw the recording of Tuesday's episode of Horizon (link). It was VERY good! Two major points came out of it:

* 3 minutes HIT exercise (3 x 20 seconds 3x per week - flat out exercise bike was used in programme) will increase aerobic fitness and significantly improve insulin sensitivity

* avoiding sitting down (NEAT exercise) keeps calories burning and keeps the digestion of food working (the opposite is food sat in the digestive system either doing nothing or raising the fat level in the blood)