Starting work on the house...

I'm going through a crunch at work, and now starting work on the house so I can put it up for sale.  Got some other stuff going on too, like this app and its follow on efforts as well as making sure I have some time for "me" stuff.  Let's see how things go.  I see opportunities to use the prioritization matrix to make sure I focus on the important stuff (sometimes it looks like everything is important to me), looking out for overgeneralizations (I'll never get "me" time, I'll never get this done), and other stuff.  If I catch these early I can mitigate their impact.  If I know they may be coming, I can be pro-active, practice my counter thoughts and mitigate their impact.  We'll see how things unfold.  Looks like the next month or so will be game time.

Reminders - try something simple...

If you don't know what to do with the reminders, try something simple, such as in the morning, try this:
"Set your daily goals." That's simple.  See how that works.  Then try something like: "Review My Experiences and update."  Or even something totally different such as "Eat a healthy breakfast."  Trying out simple reminders is one way you can learn if/how this app can help.  For the mid-day, something simple might be: "take a walk" or "get out of the office" or even "call a friend to say hi."  There are a lot of easy things you can remind yourself to do.  Finally, at the end of the day, a simple reminder might be: "review and update My Experiences" or "Set some goals for tomorrow" or even "brush and floss before bed."  That last one might seem odd to some people, but taking care of yourself is important and if you're going through a funk you may need to remind yourself to do it.

Some Notes on Using Mood Sentry

Every now and then I'll take the time to give some guidance on using Mood Sentry, and this is one of those times.  Since this is an app intended to be customized by the user for the user's benefit, there is a lot of stuff that can be modified.  First, remember that just about any text box can be edited via a double tap.  My Experiences, Reminders, Daily Goals, etc.  That's fairly easy to remember, but since there are not a lot of apps like this, I need to state this.  Also, just about every page has a "hints" page that is accessible from the navigation menu.  I put those in there for guidance and hope it helps.  I tried to keep the number of visible buttons low, and only show elements that I think are relevant.  Elements that I think the user will need less frequently I put in the navigation menu.  My intention is to have a fairly clean interface, with very little noise.

Essay: Forecasting Rejection (part 6)

Well, I'm going to wrap this up.  If you compare this to the previous post, you'll see that I edited the first part for clarity and brevity.  I expanded the second part, but only a bit.  I'm pushing the input limits on number of characters.  I think I've captured my thoughts and have some stuff I can use to counter these thoughts a bit.  Here's where I'll end this...

"I tend to forecast rejection when seeking input from others. For example, when I have to review a design concept with someone, I forecast that the person will find some rudimentary flaw in the design. This leads to forecasts of the person calling me stupid, or telling me that they can't believe I made such a stupid mistake. The same thing happens when I need to ask for or comment on something, I automatically forecast "no" and/or imagine the person being insulted or annoyed by me."

"These thoughts tend to make me feel anxious and depressed. I still present my ideas, questions, and comments, primarily because it's my job. However, these thoughts do not represent the norm. The last time I presented a design concept it was well received. In fact, the previous concept was well received too. I can't remember the last time someone thought my question or remark was stupid, though I have been told I can be weird at times. The people I interact with treat others well.  It is common for others to appreciate my input."

It's just a little more direct now.  This is something I can review in the morning, mid-day, or evening, as needed.

Essay: Forecasting Rejection (Part 5)

I'm finishing this one up.  The first paragraph is mostly the same, but I am trying to cut stuff out now...

"I tend to forecast rejection when seeking input from others. For example, when I have to review a design concept with someone, I forecast that the person will find some rudimentary flaw in the design. This then leads to forecasts of the person putting me down for being stupid, or telling me that they can't believe I made such a stupid mistake. The same thing happens when I'm just looking to ask for or comment on something, I automatically forecast "no" and/or imagine the person being insulted or annoyed by me."

"These thoughts tend to make me feel anxious and depressed. I still present my ideas, questions, and comments, primarily because it's my job.  However, these thoughts do not represent the norm. The last time I presented a design concept it was well received. In fact, the previous concept was well received too.  I can't remember the last time someone thought  my question or remark was stupid, though I have been told I can be weird at times.  It is not uncommon for others to appreciate my input."

 I'm going with the past experience defense. I'm also picking up on some things I've forgotten about, specifically  being told I can say weird things at times.  That's something I can work on.  I'm running out of space on this one because I limited the entry to 1024 characters (that includes spaces).  What I'll be doing next is cleaning this up.  I think it captures what I needed to capture.  We'll see.

Birthday Greetings!

Well, it's my Birthday today.  So how am I feeling?  Overwhelmed.  Not from my birthday, but I seem to have filled my plate with lots of stuff.  Work, this app, volunteer activities for an environmental organization, oh yeah, getting ready to put my house on the market.  This is a good time to make use of my prioritization scheme.  Other than work, there really is nothing with a hard deadline coming up.  Most of the other things have deadlines that I created just to push myself a bit and give myself a goal.  I identified that the crunch at work is very important, this app is next in line, and as long as I balance those with maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I'll be in good shape.  This thought helped alleviate a lot of stress and beat thoughts of not having enough time.  I do have enough time for the stuff I really need to address.  The thoughts  that I'll never get things done are not only incorrect, but predicated on the notion that I have to do it all.  I really don't.  Ha.  Take that, distorted thoughts.

Taking a break today...

from the essay.  Been feeling a bit depressed today, more so than usual.  Feeling overwhelmed.  I've loaded my plate with lots of stuff.  The prioritization scheme helps, as does the daily goals list.  Also, it helps to look back periodically and see that I've actually accomplished things I needed to.  I actually did some neat things such as kayaked and saw some sea lions, relaxed at a Peet's and read an article in the Harvard Business Review, did some programming, laundry, shopping, and lots more.  I think I'm still reeling from the distraction yesterday regarding my wife's computer.  I think the general thoughts have to do with missing free time from my weekend.  Looking back, I think I got everything done that I needed to  get done and did plenty of fun stuff too.  Fun stuff I did: hike, wine tasting, kayaking, reading, talked to family, played dress up and went to a party.  Hmmmm.  Looks like I had a good weekend.  Yes, I did have to deal with an unexpected problem, but those things happen.  It did not ruin my weekend.  It did not take up all my time.