LIVING A DAY AT A TIME
A MANDATORY STRATEGY FOR HAPPINESS

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DAY TIGHT

Live in "day tight compartments" counsels Norman Vincent Peale in How To Stop Worrying And Start Living, a highly recommended book.

But how do I do that? 


UNCLOSED LOOPS = PRIMITIVE MIND CONCERN

David Allen in Getting Things Done suggests that our minds are occupied and concerned about any unclosed loops involved with our to-dos.  He suggests we close them by writing down a specific action that is to be taken and when it is, so that we (our minds) know that it is going to be dealt with - then we no longer need be concerned with it - and we can let our primitive mind let go and stop searching for ways to close the gap..


STOP TIME CRAMMING AND RUSHING

We tend to do "time cramming" or "time collapsing" as discussed in Hurried, Rushed, Overwhelmed Syndrome - Leads To And Connects With The Anxiety Syndrome.  Never, never, never rush (except in true emergencies, of course.  Rushing is bad news for our emotions and body.  Arrive 10 minutes early for all appointments.

At the end of my to do list, I write:  "And this is enough for this day.  All shall work out over the long term, in its own due time.  I am simply building more and more, but these are all bonuses, as I have already more than enough."

I will enjoy the creation process as I go.  It is great to see my working on this.  I can only create just so fast...


A BREEDING GROUND

Recall that "vagueness" is "lack of clarity", in which anxiety and doubt will thrive.  Clarity provides greater certainty and therefore greater strength and solidity.   "Everything tacked down provides a foundation of certainty in life."

When everything is attached to everything else, as it is with undones being in a general category of our thinking, we feel the entire burden of it all together.  The more we tack down (organize, make certain) the less is on our minds.

When we worry about undones and "problems", this is strictly a mental construct, not a reality, that we feel anxious, as if there is some actual danger, when we think about our undones.  Vaguely thought of: "if I don't get this thing done I will experience something bad in consequences" - but there is very little that is actually critical.  We must have the perspective to know this is "all small stuff" (except for those few items that are important - which of course are all doable if we only focus on what is important - and what is not doable is also nothing to worry about, as it can't possibly be something to put on our to do list!  (One of the most important things to learn in life, and probably the one to work on first in order to free up time for "learning life", is "Life Value Productivity" - Producing The Maximum Life In Your Life.  )



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PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

I have frequently experienced a feeling of having to hurry and/or not being far enough along, so that I would be tensing and fretting in a sense as I worked on things - that tensing and fretting did not help me accomplish more, and in fact causes a resistance (competing need, to rebalance body) that slowed me down and tired me also.

Coaches, notable among them Dan Sullivan, made a huge difference for me, as I learned to not rush and to take time off during the week and to have many more "free days", yet still be more productive.