8 years ago
11
Stop distracting yourself
Do you spend most of your free time distracting yourself?
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http://www.updevelopment.org
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I think the article is written with disappointingly biased language. I'm always focusing on something not because I'm trying to ignore something else but because I hate the feeling of being bored, because I get innate enjoyment out of mental stimulation. The article acts like that is not something that should happen, which I disagree with. Everyone is different, so it's kind of weird to me for them to push that "you need to meditate more often" agenda as if it's something every human needs to be mentally healthy.
I get what they're saying. I understand the point of the article. It's just the way they worded it, their tone of voice is a bit off putting.
Agreed.
It's weird, because whenever I get a call from someone and they ask what I'm doing I usually just say "nothing" because "thinking about stuff" has negative connotations for some reason. So a lot of the folks I know think I sit on my ass all day staring at a wall.
But that's not true at all! I'm always thinking about things to do. What is the next picture I'm going to draw? What would be a great story to tell and what medium should I use to tell it? Do I have any podcasts to edit and if so, how should I do it? What funny thing can I sneak into my Let's Play post-prod? Is there a melody running through my noggin somewhere? There's always something for me to do, I just have to spend some time thinking about them first.
This one-size-fits-all self help stuff always kind of gets on my tits, anyway, since everyone's mind works differently. My wife was telling me I should start meditating for some reason, but my brain doesn't stop running. There are projects to do! I can't spend my whole life with my eyes closed thinking about nothing.
I admit everything I know about meditation comes from the Tim Ferriss podcast, but I've understood the primary benefit of meditation is that letting your mind fully relax for a portion of the day allows it to function more efficiently / with less stress for the remainder of the day. So it is about getting more bang for the buck, so to speak.
I can relate, I'm going to try staring at a wall sometime.
Does anyone have an rss feed for this blog?
http://www.updevelopment.org/feed/
Heh, more distractions.
I'm trying, even trying to rewards myself when I don't distract myself with email/snapzu/twitter/failbook/whatever during work, for instance. But it's hard to kick the habit.
I see the point of the article, but as mentioned in the other comments; it's best to take distractions in moderation. Sometimes distractions are a good thing, especially in stressful situations where you have to disconnect. Sometimes disconnecting is jumping on your phone and looking at silly pictures. You laugh a bit, then you turn your attention to what is going on.
Actually distraction is a very useful psychological mechanisms which helps people to tolerate distress. I don't like the black ad white tone of this article. Distraction is not the root of all evil-just use in moderation-like anything.
Hmm, I think distraction can be a really healthy coping mechanism compared to other methods of pacifying feelings.
I wouldn't say distracting. I sit and work on music (composition and occasionally remixing), and I take periodic breaks for online news checks and the odd stretch of streaming (Netflix/Hulu/YouTube/Vimeo/Pluto).