A Distraction Limiting Challenge

Ongoing language-learning challenges, and team challenge logs (but not individual logs)
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PeterMollenburg
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Re: A Distraction Limiting Challenge

Postby PeterMollenburg » Thu Mar 17, 2022 3:21 am

tangleweeds wrote:
luke wrote:Now you've got me thinking something like, "no processed foods", or minimizing them. It may seem like a stretch that they're a distraction, but I use them specifically for mind control. :lol: (comfort food).

I actually had "avoid blood sugar crashes" in my initial brain dump because I frequently forget to eat, but then I took it out again because I felt a similar unease. But think about it, how could food be extraneous, when keeping the body running happily makes it more generous about sharing resources to let the forebrain do some heavy metabolism.

Forgetting to eat means I frequently run out of reasonable fuel without adequate preparation to magic up more in time to maintain stable happy blood sugar. So I eat something unreasonable instead, bopping my blood sugar in the opposite direction (on adventures of varying duration), but in the end, the crashes look the same. I'll be circling the same drain, wandering the house like a Roomba bouncing off of everything until I get captured by crafty furniture, hypnotized by enticing electronics, and run out my batteries there.

Isn't that the epitome of 21st-century distraction?


Perhaps you could (if you haven't already), consider a keto(genic) diet? Blood sugars being a lot more stable is one of the many befefits. Of course there are downsides and it may not suit you for various reasons..... sorry to add to the derailing...

I find that when I eat keto I study better (earlier mornings, late evenings tolerated better, more drive to study including in tiny high pressure stolen moments - think short breaks at work where I'm run off my feet as I can leave eating until later, more energy, more clarity), so were I to compete in this challenge (I won't, sorry Cavesa), diet would most certainly factor in my personalised rules.
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Saim
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Re: A Distraction Limiting Challenge

Postby Saim » Thu Mar 17, 2022 5:29 am

What a great idea Cavesa! I've been thinking about something similar, especially since I've noticed that my social media usage has a huge affect on my concentration and mood throughout the day.

Here are my goals:

  • social media/forums only once a day
  • no social media/forums during breaks at work
  • no phone first thing in the morning (unless to read a pdf book)

Code: Select all

weak 21-27/3/2022 ✅
I massively reduced 1 and 2, but did not achieve the goals entirely. I managed to achieve 3.
Last edited by Saim on Sun Mar 27, 2022 1:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
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luke
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Re: A Distraction Limiting Challenge

Postby luke » Thu Mar 17, 2022 10:02 am

In Cavesa's format:
1. Only one box of pizza per Costco visit.
2. No exogenous mozzarella cheese (which I've found goes well on pizza and in French baguettes).
3. No cartons of ice cream.

I'm counting 1 week of success, although it's close to 2. 2 Thursday nights without ice cream. No Mozz. No visits to Costco. The pizza supply has been fully depleted, and that was done at a reasonable rate. Just for clarity, pizza boxes typically contain 2 pizzas.

This has helped my focus better. The two biggest improvements I've noticed are:
1) Less couch time sleeping off a food jag.
2) Better focus on learning during walks.

I happen to be in the middle of a book of short stories that I have wanted to read before I listen to them again. Rather than listen again when I haven't read the story, I've been doing FSI drills during walks. Overall progress on the current FSI unit seems better than the previous. The focus on the pre-read goal also has kept me from adding Anki cards, and that's helping get that track more balanced.

So, in a nutshell, rather than more study activities I find easy but have been overdoing, I'm "adulting" and doing what I "should" do.
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