How do you hit the mental brakes?

[7.62x51]

Sometimes I get so lost when working on a problem, I lose track of everything else. This can go on for days and then I start missing workouts, diet falls apart, start sleeping less, etc.

I know it comes back to forming a schedule and sticking to it. Has anyone else gone through anything like this?

 

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[Vigilante]

Sometimes I get so lost when working on a problem, I lose track of everything else. This can go on for days and then I start missing workouts, diet falls apart, start sleeping less, etc.

I know it comes back to forming a schedule and sticking to it. Has anyone else gone through anything like this?

Do you keep a planner/day timer/schedule/to-do list?

 

[7.62x51]

Do you keep a planner/day timer/schedule/to-do list?

I think it's time I started one

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Sometimes I get so lost when working on a problem, I lose track of everything else. This can go on for days and then I start missing workouts, diet falls apart, start sleeping less, etc.

I know it comes back to forming a schedule and sticking to it. Has anyone else gone through anything like this?

Is that necessarily a bad thing?

 

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[Vigilante]

I think it's time I started one

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/can-a-2-tool-help-make-you-a-millionaire.47375/

 

[7.62x51]

Is that necessarily a bad thing?

It's about principles, you shouldn't let yourself be completely consumed by anything in life because then you start to lose sight of the bigger picture. For example, the problem I'm trying to solve might not even be worth solving but if I'm so obsessed with figuring it out, I won't see that.

 

[JustAskBenWhy]

Automate and outsource

 

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[Rawr]

It's about principles, you shouldn't let yourself be completely consumed by anything in life because then you start to lose sight of the bigger picture. For example, the problem I'm trying to solve might not even be worth solving but if I'm so obsessed with figuring it out, I won't see that.

actually Derek Sivers says this is exaclty what he does - he let something consume him until he's finished/bored a few months later.

I don't disagree - I can think of a few examples of people who've done big things who go from one thing to another and obsess over it all day.

Think about this - if I got you into working out hardcore for 6 months to prep for competition. That meant everyday you were at the gym, you were doing diets, you were counting calories, you were doing stretching/learning muscle balance/etc to get to the level of competing. How much would you learn, how deep would your knowledge go? I'd say it would go much further than someone who works out 3x a week for 2 years.

 

[7.62x51]

actually Derek Sivers says this is exaclty what he does - he let something consume him until he's finished/bored a few months later.

I don't disagree - I can think of a few examples of people who've done big things who go from one thing to another and obsess over it all day.

Think about this - if I got you into working out hardcore for 6 months to prep for competition. That meant everyday you were at the gym, you were doing diets, you were counting calories, you were doing stretching/learning muscle balance/etc to get to the level of competing. How much would you learn, how deep would your knowledge go? I'd say it would go much further than someone who works out 3x a week for 2 years.

Obsession = Good : High level of focus
Being consumed = Bad : Unintentionally compromising other areas of life, unable to compartmentalize

 

[Andy Black]

actually Derek Sivers says this is exaclty what he does - he let something consume him until he's finished/bored a few months later.

I don't disagree - I can think of a few examples of people who've done big things who go from one thing to another and obsess over it all day.

Think about this - if I got you into working out hardcore for 6 months to prep for competition. That meant everyday you were at the gym, you were doing diets, you were counting calories, you were doing stretching/learning muscle balance/etc to get to the level of competing. How much would you learn, how deep would your knowledge go? I'd say it would go much further than someone who works out 3x a week for 2 years.

Ooo! Ooo! That's me! That's me!

I've been accused of being obsessive compulsive in the past.

Sprinting...

School finished at 3:30pm. I'd stay behind to go training at 6pm, then have to wait an hour for the bus to get home at 9pm. I'd also cycle 9 miles on a Saturday to the track for training, then cycle home. Wow... crazy 16 year old.​

Then cycling...

Then motorbikes...

In my first year riding motorbikes, I'd leave work on the motorbike at 5pm. Spend two hours getting out of London, play in the countryside for three hours, then spend another two hours getting back into London. No more partying at the weekend, that's now biking time. Repeat for a year. The average biker does 2,000 miles a year. I did 20,000 (and a lot of it going really slow slicing my way through London traffic). I was knee-down at 12 months.​

Then poker...

I've a cupboard full of books, all read too. (I'm cr@p btw. I think in straight lines, and poker is too much like unpeeling an onion. I've dropped this except for the odd home game.)​

Then AdWords in 2009...

Still here, loving it more and more.
​

Just create habits around the other stuff you're not obsessive over, so you like, eat and stuff.

 

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[Don Purdum]

Sometimes I get so lost when working on a problem, I lose track of everything else. This can go on for days and then I start missing workouts, diet falls apart, start sleeping less, etc.

I know it comes back to forming a schedule and sticking to it. Has anyone else gone through anything like this?

Yes, I have absolutely gone through this. In fact, I just spent a week rebuilding my site and moving it from one CMS to another. It was fourteen hour days for nearly seven days because my online presence is that important to me.

All that to say, short spurts are okay... long-term spurts are habits that need to be addressed. If that's a struggle I would recommend finding someone who will hold you accountable. For me, it's my wife. She makes sure I stop, spend time with the family and that I get my exercise. We go to the gym together at least 4 times a week.

Now that I have a new habit nearly a year later... I feel out of place when I don't go.

Hope that helps some. Short of some accountability I'm not sure what you can do to get the mental awareness you need.

 

[Get Right]

I used to do that very thing. Problem was, I would burn out 1 mile short of the finish line. Sometimes badly enough to quit the project.

Now, I look at my projects as the Tour de France. The Tour is 23 days long. You can't win it on day 1 or even day 20. You have to take it in steps. Hit the hammer too soon and you don't make it to day 23. Take steady chunks for 23 days and you have a shot.

If I feel like a short "burst", then ok. Maybe I will "win" a stage of the race Then back to the steady steps.

 

[Deleted20833]

I was currently struggling with this

Solution?

a notepad and a to-do list

I make sure I check off all the items I write
down in the morning, no matter what

 

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