Some rocking chair thoughts about STORED VALUE.

[GordonJ]

'Thanks Dien.

There is a difference in hunting for sport (deer, duck, etc.) than in hunting for food, where if you didn't bring home the bacon, no dinner for you.

We of the ADD/ADHD family, make good hunters for food, because we notice small movements, sounds, have a higher sensory alert...not so great as hunters, sitting for hours in a blind, trying to remain motionless and not fidget.

So, we tend to be good with eating and having meals, not so good with heads to hang on the wall or down for the pillows.

Before I was even diagnosed, I knew I had to focus for short bursts of time, and to switch activities quite often, and my many jobs reflect that, those in a chair were short lived, whereas, when freely moving around, I did OK (still not great).

NOW, also a family ADD trait, is we can get lost in a project and hours, maybe even days go by. There's a bit of a manic in us too.

My attention span is about 22 mins. I can't quite make it to the Schwartz 33.33. When I get the two minute warning, I start bullet points, akin, in IM lingo to Keywords for SEO...so when I come back to it, there is an unfinished sentence, with keywords for thoughts I didn't want to lose. Over time, this habit makes it very easy to slip quickly back into your flow and train of thought.

As you test, keep an eye on your sweet spot, it may be more than 33 or less than 22. Once you get that fidgety feel, make note, that would be a good time to write key thoughts out and move on to next.

It is like playing with your daughter, it is fun, you get lost in it, but if it is closing on nap time, you don't want to kick her excitable self unwilling...so fifteen mins before, you wind down with a sit still story time, hypnotize her.

Of course this theory, my #2 I had to literally walk around for an hour every evening or we were in for a long night.

Anyhow, set your important, must finish work up to match your time, or circadians, I get more done in the AM, although I tend to be a night bird...when on deadline, I get into my Clayton Makepeace mode (he used to get up at 4 am)...and start an earlier schedule.

Once you have your sweet spot, and habit, count on it being broken and interrupted, which is why my masterpiece, now 5 times longer than War and Peace, with only 15 min a day for, only, 30+ years. Another 5 and I'll be ready to edit.

Gordon

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Gordon,

For me, this was a great post!

One thing I got from it is how you can spend just 10 or 15 minutes a day working on one thing, and split your time during the day between different projects...

I haven't mentioned him much, but my Ph.D. advisor, Charles Osborne, was a remarkable man...

(Sadly he passed away in 2012...)

He's someone who did many things, in many different fields...

(Sound familiar? I suspect you, me, and him have some things in common... )

He was a professor of physics...

Yet he also was involved in many other areas...

Probably his biggest claim to fame is that he coined the phrase "digital watermark" - which is an important field.

(A "digital watermark" is a way of putting a kind of "hidden tag" in electronic data)...

You can see his name mentioned in the Wikipedia article on "digital watermarking" (in the "history" section)...

In his youth, he was a guitarist in a rock band, The Sapphires... (He's briefly mentioned in this Jan. 17, 1962 article, in a magazine called "The Australian Women's Weekly"... here, under the subhead, "Local Talent"...)

Along with his Ph.D. in physics, he also got himself a diploma in psychology... and had his own psychology practice on the side!

(It probably differs around the world... In those days, you could open up a psychology practice in Australia with just a diploma, which is not permitted any more nowadays...)

Anyway, you've reminded me of some advice Charles gave me...

He also recommended to have multiple projects going on at one time.

His advice was - when you get bored with one project, then go on to the next one...

I had no idea about ADD/ADHD at the time... but I think he recognized it in me...

And with hindsight (and now that I'm more knowledgeable about the topic), I think he may have had it himself, too...

Thanks for the advice, Gordon!

So... what I'm "testing" now is kind of like a modified "Pomodoro" technique...

The Pomodoro technique (for those unfamiliar with it) is where you work for a certain amount of time... 33.33 minutes seems popular among copywriting circles - since that's what copywriter Eugene Schwartz did, apparently.

When the 33.33 minutes were up, Eugene Schwartz would then take a 10 to 15 minute break... Then start another 33.33 minute session after the break.

However... Sometimes "switching" tasks is almost as "mentally refreshing" as a break... (At least to me.)

So, I'm testing out a modified version (inspired by your post)... Work for 15 minutes on one task or project. When the 15 minutes is up... Switch projects...

Though I'm allowing myself not to switch if I'm on a "roll" and want to keep going...

Anyway, I'm testing this out... We'll see how it works out. I was testing it all day, and so far I like it, and I do feel it helps to make me more productive...

Best wishes,

Dien