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While I’ve presented many tools to get you where you want to go in your defragging process and beyond, I find that no tool is effective without knowing what exactly is going on. It’s all well and good to take time out of your day, and be grateful for all the things in your life, or to remember to let go of your attachments and your aversions when you feel them clawing at you, but unless you can get some data, you’re really just sitting in the captain’s chair of your life, pushing buttons at random.
Now, don’t get me wrong; pushing buttons at random can be fun and is almost always a learning experience. But, if you’re already dragging yourself around and know that you need to clear your mind, using the shotgun approach and hoping you hit the right button is a gamble I wouldn’t want to take.
Get the Data.
Here is where journaling comes in handy. It doesn’t have to be much. Joesgoals.com has a function where you can put in micro-notes about that day. Just rate on a scale of 0-10 or a scale of 0-100 or whatever method works for you. Don’t rely on what other people are doing or saying, as they aren’t in your position. Only you can really tell whether or not it’s working. Are you more productive? How is your stress level? How’s your blood pressure, migranes, or stomach?
If you can get some hard data, you can benchmark what does work and what doesn’t. You may well find that many of the techniques and tricks I write about don’t work for you. That’s great! You’re on the right track. Now that you have eliminated some techniques, you can try another type of technique or find something else entirely.
Once you’ve hit upon something that seems to be working, don’t forget to keep tracking the data. If you hit a plateau, ask yourself honsestly if this is as far as this technique will take you, or if this is just a normal plateau in growth. Trust your instincts. Depending on your inclination, you will want to either re-focus on your current practice, or pick up a new one.
The Other Benefit of Getting the Data.
One of the many bosses I’ve had over the years used to say “inspect what you expect”, meaning that he would follow-up on what he expected to have completed. He was not an unkind person, but he knew what he wanted done, and he expected the best from his people. They didn’t disappoint.
We are the same ourselves. If we make a habit of monitoring what we want, our automatic (behind the scenes) mental functions will kick in and start moving us in the direction that we want to go.
Remember to be as aware as possible of your situation from beginning to end. You’re wasting your time and possibly doing yourself a greater disservice if you don’t pay attention to whether or not you are actually going where you want to go.
