Why did he do this?

Well, scientific research suggests that when people engage in new activities time seems to slow down.

Danzico wanted to know if this was actually the case. So he set himself a challenge: each day for a year he would try something new and unusual.

So what did he find?

Time in fact slowed down.

After the year long experiment, he concluded –

“For generations, mothers have told their children not sit around and let life pass them by. The Time Hack was an effort to confront the time-honoured adage and demonstrate the science-backed benefits of making the most out of life. In short: Do more and your perception of life will change for the better. Get out the house and experience the world first-hand, put yourself in unusual and uncomfortable situations.”

And before you start thinking, “But hang on a minute, there are only 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour…you can’t change time!” let me make a distinction between two types of time: physical time and psychological time.

Physical time is the actual amount of time we have in our lives (i.e. 24 hours in a day) and this will never change.

Whereas psychological time is your perception of how long something takes. Several studies show that you can extend your perception of time in a number of ways such as engaging in new experiences like Danzico did.

It’s easy to understand the psychology of how your perception of time can be slowed down by thinking back to a time when you hurt yourself or experienced excruciating pain. Perhaps you broke your leg, slammed your finger in a car door or had a splitting migraine. Did it feel like time stood still or dragged? Most likely.

When you’re in pain you perceive time to be longer than it actually is. The reason for this is that you focus in on the pain and have greater attentional focus on what’s happening in the here and now. In other words, you’re more mindful. That’s why everything seems to slow down.

The good news is that slamming your fingers in the car door isn’t the only way to expand your sense of psychological time. I’ve outlined a few other healthier and less painful ways below.

Do new things

There’s really no reason why you can’t try something new and different each day. If you look at the different activities Danzico did as part of The Time Hack experiment you’ll quickly see that the only thing stopping you is your imagination.

Ask yourself this–

“What can I do differently today?”

There is an infinite number of possibilities: make something different for dinner, take a different route to school or work, have a conversation with someone you usually wouldn’t, etc. You don’t even need much money (if any) to do most of these things. A lot of the activities Danzico engaged in (e.g. creating and tossing a message in a bottle, having dinner with an Iraqi refugee and learning to moonwalk) cost next to nothing.

Be in the moment

Do you often find yourself thinking about the future or the past? Or perhaps you find that you frequently break or spill things because you weren’t paying full attention or were thinking about something else? Do you tend to forget a persons name as soon as you’ve been told it?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider that most of the time you’re not in the present moment. You may be living life on automatic pilot, which means you experience life in a mindless, rushed and frenzied way.

If you’re sick of experiencing life like this, you may want to take up mindfulness training. Mindfulness is defined as being aware of what is going on around you (internally and externally) in the present moment in a non judgmental way.

As the authors of the journal article “If money doesn’t make you happy, consider time” state –

“One possible benefit of being present-focused is that thinking about the present moment vs the future slows down the passage of time, allowing people to feel less rushed and hurried”

Breathe Deeply

It’s firmly established that breathing deeply can help us to de-stress, but recently it’s also been shown that it can help us to expand our time.

In an experiment by Rudd and Aaker, one group of participants were told to take long and slow breaths, whilst another group took short and quick breaths for 5 minutes. The participants who breathed more deeply felt that they had more time to get things done and felt that their days were longer too.

So next time you find yourself feeling stressed out and rushed, remember that you have a choice in the matter. You can extend your perception of time through using a range of simple strategies: trying new experiences, breathing deeply and by being in the here and now.

Have you ever found yourself in a trance like state wasting hours browsing meaningless websites?

If so, you experienced being “screen sucked”.

The term “screensucking” was created by medical doctor and author of the book “CrazyBusy”, Edward Hallowell. He defines screensucking as –

“Wasting time engaging with any screen – for instance, computer, video game, television and BlackBerry”

He goes onto state -

“Held by a mysterious force, a person can sit long after the work has been done or the show he wanted to watch is over, absently glommed on to the screen, not especially enjoying what he is doing but not able to disconnect and turn off the machine.”

The thing about screensucking is that we are largely unaware of the amount of time we spend doing it. We sit at our desks in front of our computers and have a tendency to collapse our mindless browsing with actually doing productive work. By “productive work” I mean the stuff that will actually bring you closer towards achieving the things you want in life.

It wasn’t until I actually tracked my time that I realised that I was wasting hours of my day getting screensucked.

Here’s the thing – your time is finite. It’s your most precious resource and it’s non renewable, meaning once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. You’re never going to get it back.

Once you realise that you’ve been spending a significant chunk of your life doing things that aren’t that important to you (i.e. screensucking), you can’t help but feel a little pathetic and want to change things.

The beauty about the concept of “screensucking” is that once you’re aware that every time you turn on the TV or computer you can be screensucked you have some control at that point. As Edward Hallowell states –

“It’s similar to drinking alcohol: Once you start, you need to be careful how much you consume. Insight can lead to moderation”

Sure, insight and awareness can make a huge difference but often we need other structures and strategies in place to help us change our behaviour.

Below I have outlined some strategies you can use to avoid being screensucked.

1. Set limits and stick to them

Before you turn on your television or computer, decide on a period of time that you are willing to spend engaged in this activity. Grab an electronic timer and set the timer for this amount of time. Then tell yourself that when the alarm goes off, that’s it, time out. At this point, you need to step away from the computer.

2. What else could you be doing?

Often when we are bored and restless we tend to do one of two things –

1. Shop
2. Go on the computer or turn on the TV

These activities give us a sense of purpose and are easy ways to avoid the discomfort of feeling bored and pass the time. But the reality is, both of these activities are not likely to get you to the places you want to go in life.

Most people go through life on automatic pilot and never really ask themselves the questions –

Spend some time, even if it’s just 5 minutes, reflecting on these questions. Getting clear on the things we value in life can help us to see inconsistencies in our lives and bridge the gap between what we say is important and what we actually do.

The last thing you want to do is end up joining the socks and sandal brigade full of regrets (“I wish I had spent less time on Facebook in my younger years!”). Make sure you use your time to do the things that matter most to you.

3. Work with a pen and paper

Work in an environment that doesn’t allow you to be screensucked. Leave your mobile and laptop at home and head to a café or quiet library with a pad of paper and pen for a writing or planning session.

Note: I actually wrote this blog post with a pen and paper far away from my computer screen. It took me about 25 minutes to write. It probably would have taken me twice as long to write if I had been at the computer and plagued by screensuckers ugly relative – Uncle Multitask.

4. Have a technology (screen) free day in your week

Think of the last time you couldn’t find your mobile phone, what was your reaction? Slightly panicked? What about when you couldn’t connect to the internet? Did you feel a bit lost? Found yourself pacing around the house?

Many of us have become a little addicted to technology. Going online, checking our email and turning on the TV are ingrained habits like brushing our teeth.

But it can be liberating when you cut back on your screen time by taking a technology detox one day a week.

Don’t get me wrong, initially you may feel jittery and uncomfortable doing this. You may experience withdrawal symptoms. But everytime you feel like turning on a screen, take in a deep breath and tell yourself that this moment will pass.

5. How do you want to be remembered?

How do you want to look back on your life? As someone who spent a lot of their time updating their Facebook status? Superficially engaged in the virtual space? Or connecting with people face to face?

Spend a moment thinking about what you would like people to say about you when you die. Sounds a little morbid right? Not really. The point is for you to get clear on what you want your life to be about. Once you get clear on this, you can start to take action to live in line with what you truly value.

I know that I want to look back on my life and be able to say that I made the most of the short time I had on this planet. I think the following words of George Bernard Shaw sum up how we could all live if we didn’t spend so much time getting screensucked–

“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations”.

Now is the time to put these strategies to the test. Close down this webpage and turn off your computer. Make the most of this beautiful day.

A conversation I had with a friend last year nicely illustrates this point. We were discussing the year ahead and he said –

“This year is going to be better than last. This year I’m going to be fit and healthy. No more smoking!”

A moment later, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it up and took a puff.

Naturally, some of us have become cynical about new year’s resolutions. “They don’t work” and “Don’t waste your time with them” I hear my friends and family say.

But research findings indicate that we may have underestimated the power of new year’s resolutions. A longitudinal study by Norcross, Ratzin and Payne tracked over 200 people and the progress of their new year’s resolutions. They asked themselves the research question “How long would these people last in sticking to their new years resolutions?”

The results were impressive. Over 77% of participants had kept their main resolutions after 1 week, 55% after 1 month and 40% after 6 months.

This study also looked at the factors and strategies people used to stick to their new year’s resolutions and examined the effectiveness of each.

There appeared to be two main factors that predicted people’s success when it came to sticking to their goals. Firstly, people had to be ready to change and take action. Simply having a strong desire to change wasn’t enough. Secondly, they had to believe that they could. Having confidence in their ability to change their behaviour was key.

We can also look to people who have successfully overcome powerful addictions (e.g. alcoholism and smoking) for insights into how to break bad habits and develop healthier ones.

The researcher Glasgow and his team followed over 100 people who were trying to quit smoking. Those that managed to do so, used more positive self-talk than those that failed to quit.

For example, instead of saying positie statements such as “I’ll feel great and be able to breathe more easily”, they’d say “I’ll be a loser if I can’t quit the smokes”. Positive self talk appears to make a huge difference.

“Stimulus control” and “reinforcement management” are other psychobabble terms that are used to explain strategies that can help you to change your behaviour. According to behavioural psychologists, the surrounding environment shapes human behaviour.

In other words, if you have an endless supply of chocolates and lollies in your pantry, then most likely you’re going to eat them and may even develop a sugar addiction. Similarly, if your friends and family always offer you cake and chocolate and even praise you for eating these foods (i.e. reinforcement), then it’s highly likely you’re going to develop some bad habits.

The idea behind stimulus control is really quite simple. Look around and ask yourself “What is triggering me to eat chocolate?” (i.e. what’s the stimulus or trigger of the undesirable behaviour?) It may be the sight of the chocolate on your desk. So then what? Get rid of the chocolate. Throw it in the bin and don’t buy any more. Too easy.

But what about that big Aunt who always force feeds you her chocolates as a way of expressing her love, and gives you boxes of the stuff for Christmas? Well, according to behavioural psychology you need to manage the stimulus and reinforcer, which means Bye Bye Aunty. Stop seeing her.

But if you’re like me and you know you just couldn’t do that, this is where the power of impis come in.

Impis (short for implementation intentions) take the form of “If…then…” statements and allow you to make a desired behaviour automatic. For example, I could set myself the impi of –

If my aunt offers me chocolates, then I will politely say “No thanks”.

The beauty of impis is that they are pre-decisions. This means you have made the decision before the situation arises, so the next time you see your aunt you immediately know what you’ll say and do. “No thanks”.

Here’s the thing, I don’t smoke. I don’t drink alcohol. In fact, I’m pretty fit and healthy but I’m not going to pretend that my life is perfect because it isn’t.

Like most people, I want 2012 to be better than previous years. There’s room for improvement. I know that I spend more time than I would like on the internet. So I’m resolving to cut back on my internet use. No internet before 10:30am. Checking emails only twice a day.

In a nutshell, the research is clear – new year’s resolutions can and do work. Now is as good a time as any to establish some healthier habits for a happier year. So what are you setting out to create for the new year? Let me know by posting a comment below.

In fact, my advice is don’t just make mistakes. Aim for full-blown failure.

I realise this flies in the face of how most of us have come to view making mistakes and failure.

Most of us live by these equations –

Mistakes + Failure = Bad and Perfection = Good

Alina Tugend in her book “Better by Mistake” argues that we often get punished for making mistakes. As a result, many of us desperately try to cover up our mistakes and learn to avoid them at all costs.

Interestingly, when I look back on the periods of rapid development in my life it has never been due to someone telling me what a great job I’ve done or after receiving a really good grade.

My most important learnings have come from big fat failures and mistakes. The disappointment of failing on numerous occasions propelled me into action.

But I’m not a special case. There are many examples of famous people who have exceled in certain fields due to making a mistake or not being successful the first time round.

Take Michael Jordan as an example. He was cut from the high school basketball team for not being “skilled enough”. When reflecting back on that day (many years later) he stated –

“I went through the day numb. I sat through my classes. I had to wait until after school to go home. That’s when I hurried to my house and I closed the door of my room and I cried so hard. It was all I wanted – to play on that team.”

Here’s the really amazing thing though, he went onto state –

“It’s OK, though. It’s probably good that it happened.”

Jordan has a mindset that welcomes mistakes. He states -

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”.

The hurt of losing and making mistakes is often a gift in disguise. “Although winning is sweet, and it hurts to lose, or make mistakes, once we see that these are necessary gifts on the road to improvement and success, we will embrace such experiences rather than try to avoid them” says Chess master and Tai chi champion John Waitzkin.

Why is that we don’t always learn from our mistakes?

It comes down to three main reasons –

1) No feedback: If you have no debriefing on how you went or the feedback doesn’t follow the behaviour in a timely fashion then it’s highly likely that you won’t understand where you went wrong. When this occurs it can be hard to make change because you simply don’t know how to move forward in the right direction and improve.

2) Rigid Mental Models: Humans have mental models (mental categories) that have developed from their past experiences. We often view the world in relation to these mental categories and try to fit in new information into these pre-existing mental models. The problem with having such rigid thinking is that it can be difficult to adjust and learn from one’s mistakes.

3) Cognitive Dissonance: Sometimes we resist admitting that we made a mistake due to cognitive dissonance (discomfort) experienced as a result of having conflicting ideas, beliefs and/or opinions. According to the theory of cognitive dissonance humans try to reduce this dissonance by either changing their attitudes, beliefs or actions.

For example, I know that eating fried crispy chicken is bad for me (belief) but I order a bucket of the greasy stuff from KFC (behaviour). Naturally, I feel guilty and uncomfortable about doing this (“Fried chicken is bad” I think) but in an attempt to avoid experiencing these negative emotions, I reduce the dissonance by modifying my belief. For instance, I could say to myself “I work hard and deserve to treat myself with some tasty chicken”.

In doing so, I miss the opportunity to admit that I made a mistake by eating the bucket of chicken in the first place.

So how can we best learn from our mistakes?

Firstly, get a coach. A coach or an expert can give you feedback and show you where and how you can improve. I am lucky to have a team of supervisors for my PhD research who give me ideas and feedback on how I can improve my thinking, writing and research skills.

Secondly, many research scholars believe that rigid patterns of thinking can be overcome through cultivating mindfulness (moment to moment non judgemental awareness).

We mustn’t let the fear of making mistakes stop us from learning and being all we can possibly be. After all, it’s mistakes that make us smarter and expand us. Not correct answers.

In her book “Mindfulness” Langer argues that from a young age we are taught to focus on goals rather than the process by which they are achieved.

With such an intense focus on achieving goals and high results you may have become locked in a certain way of thinking. “Mindless” is how Langer describes this state.

Instead of asking “How do I do this?” or “How can I do this?” you find yourself anxiously thinking “Can I do this?” and “What if I fail?”. The joy of learning ceases to exist.

It can be tough being a student in a highly competitive, results oriented school system. As Author and Educator Allison Zmuda states -

“In their efforts to do well in school, students have largely become low level bureaucrats who complete the requisite paperwork but suffer from the monotony of the experience”.

Sadly, this was the case for me. In high school I was a rote learning parrot. Bored out of my brain but extremely driven.

Did I care about whether I had a deep understanding of my subjects? No, not at all. All I wanted were gold stars, high percentages and the letter A on my work.

Then almost overnight everything changed.

I got 1 out of 20 on my first test at Law school.

That’s right. 1 out of 20. And boy, did that hurt.

High school had trained me to become a masterful rote learner, capable of churning out hundreds of abstract, sterile facts. But this skill no longer served me well in a system that required you to have a deep understanding of complex ideas.

In my heartbreak of receiving such a lousy mark, I remember asking myself –

“What is the point of going through another 5 years of study if it’s only for a piece of paper? Is there any point if I don’t enjoy myself and grow as a person?”

At that point I let go of my obsession with results. I became fascinated by the process of learning (eg. How does one learn information at a deep level?). For the first time in my life I started to enjoy learning. I mean really enjoy learning. Some subjects gave me such joy and changed my entire outlook on life.

10 years later, I am now doing my PhD. My uncle would call me a “professional student” but I don’t see it that way. I love learning.

I spend my days exploring original ideas that fascinate me. It’s common for me to stumble across an idea that makes me want to scream out with joy. I only wish it hadn’t taken me so long to arrive at this point.

When you shift your focus from results to the process, not only do you experience greater happiness and fulfilment, but you stop comparing yourself to others. I’m sure you’ve had the experience where you compared yourself to another person and subsequently, felt jealous.

Langer argues that often when we feel jealous of another’s accomplishments it’s because we focus on the end result (not the process the person has gone through).

When I first started my PhD I would compare myself to a 70 year old accomplished professor. I found myself thinking “He is so smart”, “Look at these articles he has written…I can’t write like this” and “His ideas are so deep…I’m so simple”.

Here I was embarking on the beginning of my research career comparing myself to a professor who had been developing and thinking about ideas for over 50 years!

This is indeed a trap that many postgraduate students fall into. Langer states –

“They begin their dissertations with inordinate anxiety because they have seen other peoples completed and polished work and mistakenly compare it to their own first tentative steps.

With their noses deep in file cards and half-baked hypotheses, they look in awe at Dr So-and-Sos published book as if it had been born without effort or false starts, directly from brain to printed page.

By investigating how someone got somewhere, we are more likely to see the achievement as hard won and our own chances as more plausible”.

In my experience, learning can be a tremendous source of fulfilment and joy. But to experience this takes valuing the process over the end result and not comparing yourself to others.

The paradox is that when you immerse yourself in the process, you will most likely get a better result and experience far more rewards along the way.

Are there any common elements that result in having a really good day at work, school or university?

Whether you get to the end of the day and say “What an awesomely productive day!” or “What a waste of a day” often comes down to a few factors that are within our personal control.

Based on empirical research, my own experience and some informal qualitative research conducted on Facebook, I have compiled a list of the core elements of an “awesome day”.

1. Have a good breakfast

A good breakfast sets you up for the day. Dietician and performance specialist Julie Meek discusses the importance of filling your body or tank full of the right petrol to get you through the day. She states –

“If you look at your day as a football game and divide it into quarters, you will be able to fuel your body with the right foods at the right time”.

So what constitutes a good breakfast? Julie Meek recommends high fibre cereals with low fat milk, fresh fruit, wholegrain toast with baked beans, spaghetti, tomato or egg, and yoghurt.

2. Have creative, focused work time

Reserve the hours when you are most alert and energised for the projects that require substantial energy and are most important to you.

I have the most energy first thing in the morning. By getting solid work done between 8:30am and 10:30am creates a positive tone for the rest of my day.

On the other hand, if I spend the first few hours of the day checking my email and on Facebook, I usually end up experiencing some low level frustration and annoyance for the rest of the day.

3. Shower first thing in the morning and suit up

Have you ever had the experience where you worked from home in your pyjamas or tracksuit pants for most of the day? Initially, it may have felt good, but by around 11am you may have felt a little uncomfortable and stressed. Your productivity may have also started to suffer.

When you don’t look and feel your best very rarely do you produce good quality work. Feeling clean and being in fresh neat clothes signals to your brain – it’s business time.

4. Exercise for 1 hour each day

Most of us don’t move as much as we need to during the day at work. Sadly, because we live such sedentary lives we may not know just how good post-exercise endorphin boosts can be.

Research shows that movement helps us to be more creative, learn more effectively and decreases our stress levels.

In the book, Teaching with the Brain in Mind, Eric Jensen states –

“30 minutes of vigorous exercise at least 3 times a week can contribute to enhanced mood, increased brain mass, better circulation, more brain cells and improved cognition”.

5. Focus on one thing at a time

People who multitask can be up to 40% slower to finish a task. As Leo Babauta states –

“When we switch between creating and communicating through email, say, we lose a little bit of our creative time, a little bit of our creative attention, each time we switch. Our mind must switch between modes, and that takes time. As a result, our creative processes are slowed and hurt, just a little, each time we switch”.

It takes time to develop the art of ninja style focus. Initially, you may need the help of a few extra tools such as internet blocker programs (e.g. Self Control and Freedom) but with time and practice, you will become less reliant on them.

6. Create a compelling, clutter free workspace

Being surrounded by clutter can send a message to your brain that you’re not in control. In fact, if you’re feeling even just a little bit stressed, clutter can exacerbate your stress levels tenfold!

If your work environment overwhelms you and doesn’t draw you to it, then you have a problem – you’re not going to want to work there. Chances are you’re not going to want to work at all.

So clean up your act. De-junk your life. In other words, get organised. As the authors of “Paper Flow” state–

“Having a well organised office provides you with a solid foundation and gives you the confidence to pursue your dreams…As each opportunity comes along, you can decide with a clear head what you want to do. You are free to take on new opportunities and you know when you’ve got enough on your plate”.

7. Do a variety of activities – writing, reading, de-cluttering

We’re all familiar with the saying “Variety is the spice of life”. Well, there is now scientific evidence to back this statement up. According to research, variety in our thoughts and behaviours appears to be very rewarding and stimulating and humans tend to “habituate more slowly to pleasurable stimuli that vary” (Chancellor & Lyubomirsky, 2010).

Even if you need to focus your energies on a particular piece of work, you can break it up by taking 10 to 20 minutes de-cluttering, skimming an article or making phone calls throughout the day. By mixing up your activities, it may also help you to go back to the project with a new perspective.

8. Take regular breaks

You are not a machine. Your body is not designed to work non stop being fuelled by sugar and caffeine. Taking regular breaks is essential.

Often when I work with students I show them a picture of Cathy Freeman and ask them “What does a sprinter do?” They respond with “They run…really fast”. “Then what do they do?” I ask, to which they usually say “They rest”. The students understand the idea that athletes use work-rest ratios to perform at their peak. Without that rest, they wouldn’t run as fast as they do.

Studying and working is no different. If you want to learn and/or work effectively you need to treat yourself like a word class athlete training for the Olympics – work intensely for a period of time (e.g. 30-45 minutes) and then rest and recover. Tony Schwartz from the energy project states -

Give yourself 100% to the race. There will be an end point where you can stop and recover”.

9. Stock up on healthy snacks

To avoid feeling low in energy, make sure you have plenty of healthy snacks available. Fresh fruit, nuts, chopped vegetables, rice crackers with cheese, fruit bread and a tub of low fat yoghurt require very little (if any) preparation and will give you the energy you need to keep going throughout the day.

Avoid highly processed junk foods because they will slow you down, make you feel sluggish and maybe even depressed in the long run. Research by Dr Felice Jacka suggests that people who eat junk food are more likely to be depressed. Whilst it is early days for this research and we cannot say whether depressed people are more likely to eat junk food or if junk food makes people depressed, it is worth considering that what we put in our mouths effects the way we feel as well as our ability to think and work effectively.

10. Focus your mind

In our fast paced, busy lives very rarely do we take time to stop and reflect or simply sit still. Taking 5-10 minutes first thing in the day to sit quietly and focus on your breath or the sounds around you can help you to quieten and focus your mind for the day. As Dr Ian Gawler says –

“The more we learn to give our full attention to whatever or whoever we are engaged with, the better everything flows”.

Final thoughts

Of course, the above list isn’t comprehensive. Other elements may include laughter (as a friend said “At least one opportunity a day to laugh about something – even if it’s just a chuckle to myself”), a good sleep the night before or power nap and a decent cup of coffee.

To begin, perhaps choose one or two of these awesome day elements to test out and see what kind of difference they make. You’ll be surprised that even minor changes such as eating more healthy snacks throughout the day can have a significant positive impact on your day.

This free eBook contains dozens of practical suggestions to help you enjoy life more, enhance your creativity and get things done.

If there ever was an equivalent of steroids for focus, this book is it – it’s a great tool to help anyone develop razor sharp focus and churn out quality work.

After reading this book, I made a number of changes that dramatically sharpened my focus. I have summarised a number of the strategies in the mind map below.

Create Focus Rituals/Habits: Babauta defines a ritual as a set of actions you repeat habitually.

He argues that rituals can help us to get into a focused mindset and suggests a number of rituals for the morning, before you begin your work, to help you refocus on your work and for the end of the day. For instance, my morning ritual involves having a shower, eating a bowl of healthy muesli with fresh fruit and 10 minutes of meditation. Nowadays, I resist the urge to check my email and Facebook in the morning.

Managing Email: A lecturer once told me “You’ll get 10% more done in the day if you don’t check your email first thing in the morning”.

She was partly right. A more accurate assessment would have been 30%!

I’ve noticed that when I check my email first thing in the morning I feel slightly out of control for rest of the day. In reactive, agitated mode. Far from proactive, productive and peaceful.

Babauta states –

“Have a disconnect time each day. It’s like setting office hours if you’re a professor – you set the times that work best for you, and you can even let people know about these times”.

Set your office “disconnection” hours and be strict with them (8am – 10am is what works best for me). It’s highly likely that you’ll get the majority of work done for the day during these distraction free hours.

Take Time to Reflect and Review: Babauta recommends that we create a simplified list of the top three things we need to do in the day and then complete task number 1 before checking email, Facebook, etc.

Sometimes it’s really tempting to want to check your email before completing the first task. But Babauta states -

“If you feel the urge to check your email or switch to another task, stop yourself. Breathe deeply. Re-focus yourself. Get back to the task at hand”.

Help for Addicts: Don’t kid yourself, Facebook and email is highly addictive. Behavioural psychologist B.F Skinner’s experiments with rats in the skinner boxes illustrated just how addictive unpredictable rewards can be. The reality is Facebook is designed to be addictive. It’s full of unpredictable rewards.

So let’s face it, some of us need help when it comes to controlling the number of times we log into these sites. That’s where blocker programs come in – they either lock you out of the Internet entirely or certain sites that you specify.

When it comes to writing on the computer, some of us are easily distracted. Writing programs, such as Write Room and Typewriter, clear away all distractions and take up the whole screen on your computer. Some programs even make the sound of a typewriter as you write (but a word of warning, this gets kind of annoying after awhile!).

It’s important to note that these applications won’t miraculously solve your problem of getting easily distracted. They are just tools. They will help you sharpen your focus but only if you’re committed and disciplined enough to use them in the first place.

Take a Digital Detox: We need time away from the Internet, television, video games, etc. Time when we disconnect from these digital devices and immerse ourselves in other creative pursuits that will help us to grow. It’s also important for us to take time to reflect on our lives (when was the last time you sat back and thought, “Am I really doing what I want to be doing with my life?”)

Babauta suggests –

“Go on a mini cleanse. Start with something that’s not so scary: perhaps a day, or even half a day. Do this once a week. Later, as you get used to this, try a 2-3 day cleanse and maybe even work your way up to a week.”

Managing Your Space: Remove 95% of all the posters and bits of paper stuck to your office wall (all I have is a Gantt chart and colourful picture of a Hindu goddess). A clear wall means you have less stuff to be distracted by.

You may also want to consider investing in a pair of comfortable headphones. Headphones serve two functions – firstly, they block out the noise made by others so you have more attentional resources available. Secondly, they signal to others that you’re deep in thought and don’t want to be disturbed.

How to Work: Work in focused bursts for 50 minutes (no distractions) and then take a 20-minute break. In your break get away from technological devices. Go for a walk, do some stretches, etc.

When you work it can also help to get away from your computer and work with just a notepad and pen. Again, it’s most likely that you’ll feel the urge to want to go online when you do this for the first time. If this is the case, take a deep breath and refocus.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading “Focus: A simplicity manifesto in the age of distraction”. It was easy to read and written in a clear and focused way. Babauta provides a lot of valuable information and strategies that can easily be incorporated into one’s life.

I have no idea how I managed to get through the school day with a diet that was so high in fat, sugar and salt and extremely low in fruit and vegetables.

Thankfully, my diet has dramatically changed since high school. A few years ago, I boycotted all fast food. I went cold turkey on the lot – McDonalds, Red Rooster, Hungry Jacks, Chicken Treat, KFC…..

In my experience, a healthy diet has made all the difference to my ability to think clearly and get things done. Nowadays, I eat the recommended amount of fruit (2 serves) and vegetables (5 serves) every day. But this didn’t happen overnight…it took years to get to this point.

The thing is if healthy eating habits are never modelled for you and you’re never taught in a compelling way why you should eat more fruit and vegetables, why would you say no to a piece of fried chicken and chips that costs only $3.95?

If you’re used to feeling sluggish and depressed, it’s really hard to imagine that you could feel more vibrant and alive and have razer sharp thinking by eating more beans, carrots and apples. As students many of us just want a quick, delicious and cheap fix.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to take you years to kick the junk food habit, eat healthier and start feeling great. You can fast track the process by learning from the experience of others.

For what it’s worth, here’s my experience and advice.

Go cold turkey

A professor in nutrition said “If you eat well 80% of the time, then it’s OK to have a burger and fries every now and then”. This is a great idea in theory. The problem for me was junk food wasn’t just the occasional indulgence. I was addicted to the stuff. It was what I ate 80% of the time!

I needed a radical intervention.

I read that it takes 3 months for the brain to rewire and recover from junk food addiction. It’s for this reason that I went cold turkey and refused to go to fast food outlets.

To break such an unhealthy habit, you need to get serious about what you’re putting in your mouth. Just like an alcoholic at AA decides to never touch a alcoholic drink again, you need to commit to keeping your hands off junk food for at least 3 months until your neural circuits rewire.

Cooking 101 – Let go of your “cooking baggage”

Deciding to cut out junk food and eat healthier is the first step. But then you may be presented with a new challenge – what do you eat/cook now?

Learning to cook healthy meals is like riding a bike. You can’t get good at it by reading a book or watching Master Chef. The only way is to learn by doing. And this can be really daunting for those of us with “cooking baggage”.

I’ll admit, I had “cooking baggage”. In my first high school cooking class I managed to break a bowl, burn my muffins and was scolded by the teacher. Hence, I developed a fear of kitchens and associated utensils.

I decided to overcome this irrational fear by participating in Indian and Japanese cooking courses. By observing other confident people cook good food and get some hands on experience in a non-threatening environment, I started to believe that I could improve my cooking and it didn’t have to be a stressful experience.

Keep your meals fresh and exciting

You can sometimes get yourself into a cooking rut where you find yourself cooking the same meals over and over again. If you eat too much of anything (e.g. sushi), I can almost guarantee that it won’t be long before that food begins to taste bland.

On my weekends I like to plan out my meals for the following week. I do this by taking out a few good healthy cookbooks, some post it notes, a blank sheet of paper and pens.

I spend 30 minutes to an hour going through the books placing post it notes on the recipes I want to try. On a blank sheet of paper I plan out my lunches and dinners for the next 7 days and a list of ingredients I need to buy (I have separate shopping lists for the farmers market and supermarket). I then scan each day to make sure I’m getting an adequate amount of fruit and vegetables.

If you don’t have many good cookbooks at home, try this process at a public library or log onto websites such as taste.com.au and jaimeoliver.com for meal ideas. For something a little more creative and fun, check out They Draw and Cook.

Slow down and smell the garlic in the pan

There was a time when I had the attitude “I’m too busy to waste my time cooking. I should be working instead of slaving in the kitchen!” so I would buy my lunch and dinner nearly every day.

Sure, I gained a bit more time to work on projects, but I felt terrible and I’m not sure how productive I actually was with my foggy brain.

Making the decision to slow down and spend time cooking my meals was probably one of the best things I ever did. At least I know what’s going into each dish, I feel good about saving on unnecessary packaging (e.g. plastic throwaway containers) and my brain is much sharper too.

So even though I now spend more time in the kitchen and less time doing work, I’m almost certain that I get more done in my working hours because I have better attention and feel more alert.

Get clear on what “a serve” looks like

For years I thought that consuming 5 serves of vegetables a day was mission impossible. After all, what did a serve look like? Was it a whole broccoli? Or a medium sized potato? Did it change if I cooked the vegetable?

The latest edition of The Healthy Food Guide (July 2011) contains an article called ”Ever wondered what a serve of veges actually is?” (pages 28-29). As a general rule one serve of vegetables is approximately 75g in weight. To get a better idea of what a serve of vegetables actually looks like, see below for some examples.

1 serve of vegetables is equivalent to….

What about fruit? Well, 1 serve of fruit is roughly 150g in weight.

According to the “Go for 2 & 5 campaign”, 1 serve of fruit looks like…

Cutting out junk food wasn’t easy at first, but it became a lot easier as I started to feel the positive benefits of healthy eating and I became more confident in my ability to cook healthy meals. If you’re committed to taking better care of yourself, then my final bit of advice would be – Keep at it.

Somedays you will feel like you’re on a roll, eating really well for most of the day, but come the evening you may find yourself eating a bag of chips. If that happens, don’t stress. That was a minor blip. Tomorrow is another day and an opportunity to eat foods that will make you feel more alive and add more years to your life.

If you have any ideas or strategies that have helped you to eat healthier, I would love to hear them.