Well 100 days seems like a long way when you are standing at the start, but we have survived the first 2 days.
I decided to do 2 back to back to see what that was like, and because it is a bit easier at this time of year while things are still quiet. After my practice days in December I knew what to expect in terms of temptation and emotion, so got few surprises this time. But second day was hard. Not knowing what was waiting from first day. Not knowing what I may need to be doing differently (if anything).
Keeping in touch with family updates is difficult. Is my son on this train? What time will my daughter be home? The mobile makes it so easy to keep in touch. I am a little ambivalent about leaving the mobile off, as it does not appear to have the same intrusive effect on my thinking as email and internet. When I turned the phone back on I didn’t have any messages, and only had 2 irrelevant advertising text messages. Did people call me and not leave a message, when they heard mine saying I would not hear their message until Friday? Did no one call me? That of course introduces another type of anxiety. Is anyone at all trying to reach me? Funny being human – I want to disconnect to do some thinking, but then am troubled that perhaps no one called me!
By the end of the second day I felt that I had run out of things to do. This could suggest my activity is being driven by external forces, rather than myself – because there is certainly much work to do. Am I reactive, doings tasks that are framed by input from others, and can only go for a couple of days without this input? I hope not.
I can see the Project is encouraging me to get more organised, find the things that matter and focus on them. This was a habit many years ago when I tended to plan my day/week/month/year very effectively. Has my planning ability broken down as my attention span has diminished.
Having said the above, I had a very productive couple of days. It is particularly helpful when I am writing – whether workshops, articles, proposals, plans – knowing that I will not be disturbed, and that I won’t disturb myself. I could feel my thinking developing and am aware of a greater sense of focus around some of my current research areas.
When I came back online this morning I had 60 emails waiting. 42 were deleted immediately (pointless advertising, group emails that I am cc’d on that have no relevance to me, etc), 7 were deleted after reading, 7 were filed for reading later, 4 required a quick read and response
