It feels like there is just too much going on. As I reexamine what I’ve done that could cause the hours to vaporize, I see so many different interruptions or distraction that I don’t know which one to blame. Why is it so much easier to give self-destructive behavior priority over sound, healthy, logic?
I understand that we invest the most time into the things from which we want the most benefit. An example is that if a child learns that more attention is gained from misbehaving than from being good, they will be naughty…even if the attention they receive is painful. We get endorphin releases from every emotion we feel whether it is pain or pleasure. After a while, our addiction to the chemical causes something similar to making a scratch on a record...it becomes an easy path to follow. I believe that when we are not getting enough endorphins from 'happy' or healthy habits we fall back on the other.
There may be a way to retrain the source of my stimulus. A few years ago I learned a handy sales tool. It was to write a ‘5 Most Important Things’ list. To do this, simply write a list of the 5 things that you want to complete
the next day. It helps to write them in order of their priority. Then check off each item as it is completed; a nice neurochemical release in itself. The list helps keep you on track regardless of interruptions. If by some chance, the list is not completed by the end of the day, just move that item(s) to the top of the next day’s list. Ahhhh, that feels better already.
